Deputy President warns against complacency in fight against HIV/AIDS

Ramaphosa has been speaking at a meeting of the Tripartite Business Summit being held in Durban today. It comes less than 24 hours before the start of the 21st International Aids Conference. Ramaphosa says AIDS remains a global emergency and a threat to social, human and economic development. 

He says heads of state and government remain hopeful to achieve a dream of an AIDS free society by 2030.

"Importantly, the heads of state and government recognise the role of the private sector in tackling HIV, ranging from the role the private sector has in drug research, provision of health services, expanding treatment programmes to workplaces as well as the support that it gives and the mobilisation that it has bee able to get involved in for behaviour change," he said.

Ramaphosa says eastern and southern African countries carry the highest HIV burden in the world with nearly 20 million in the region infected with HIV. He says South Africa alone is home to around 6.9 million people living with HIV.

"There are 940 000 new HIV infections that took place in the region in 2015," Ramaphosa said. 

"This is almost half of all new HIV infections around the world. These are sobering figures," he said.

(File photo)