Premier David Makhura will on Wednesday, 1 December 2021, lead the Gauteng World AIDS Day commemorations in Duduza, Ekurhuleni. The commemoration will be held under the theme “Working Together to End inequalities, AIDS, TB and COVID-19 Get Tested. Get Vaccinated.

Adhere to Treatment”. The province will take stock and chart the way forward on the 90-90-90 target. The 90-90-90 was target set by UNAIDS to ensure that by the year 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status; 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy, and 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.

The world did not reach the 90-90-90 targets by December 2020 (84-73-66) with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbating the situation due to lockdown regulations which interrupted HIV and TB services.

The Gauteng Province performance against the 90-90-90 target as at September 2021 are: 90% of the population in Gauteng know their status, 74% of people living with HIV are on antiretroviral treatment and out of those, 89% are virally suppressed.

Premier Makhura, who is also the Chairperson of the Gauteng AIDS Council, will be joined by co-chairperson, Mr Oupa Shumeni and MEC for Health, Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi and civil society.

Source: Government of South Africa