Government's new approach on HIV/AIDS

On 15 April 2010, the Government of President Zuma under the auspices of the Department of Health will launch a nation-wide HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) campaign. This will arguably be the most ambitious HIV/AIDS initiative in Southern Africa, if not on the African Continent. After years of debate under the government of President Zuma regarding how best to deal with the HIV/AIDS problem, it is encouraging that government is now taking a clear stand on dealing with this problem. The details of the HCT programme will be unveiled in April, but what we know so far is that the campaign will target South Africans aged 12 years and older. 

Finding a Cure 

At the heart of any effort to alleviate the HIV/AIDS programme is the extent to which the HCT will deal with the issue of prevention against infection as well as the treatment of those who are already infected. It is my hope that the details of the HCT reveal a plan that deal with both prevention and treatment as opposed to one versus the other. Unfortunately as far as HIV/AIDS is concerned we can not really talk of a cure as none exists at this stage. Indeed now that a plan will soon be in place to deal with the immediate problem of HIV/AIDS in our society, the debate about what causes AIDS must still continue with vigor and perhaps in time the Department of Health will see it fit to invest money in the research required to discover and development of a cure for AIDS and an antidote against the Human Immuno Virus.