KZN still tops HIV/Aids prevalence rate
KwaZulu-Natal continues to be among the provinces with the highest prevalence of HIV/Aids in the country.
Marking World Aids Day at a stadium in Bloemfontein on Thursday, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said we must work harder to reduce infections.
"KwaZulu-Natal has a prevalence of 18.3% and Mpumalanga at 15.9% and the Free State at a level of 14.8%. The Western Cape was the province with the lowest at 8.3% followed by Northern Cape. At the end, we want zero infections."
He said they continue to be worried about the continued rise in new HIV infections among young people between 15 and 24.
READ: Young women need to be given priority in fight against HIV/AIDS, urges KZN doctor
The Treatment Action Campaign says poverty and gender-based violence are the main reasons behind the high numbers of infections among young people.
The campaign's Sibongile Tshabalala says they are asking for a youth-friendly strategy to deal with the pandemic.
"Young people are affected by poverty and they always opt to have transactional sex with older people and at some point also the issue of discrimination.
"Clinics are not comfortable, they are not able to access facilities to access preventative methods like PrEP and condoms in most cases and they can hardly access contraceptives because of the stigma at facilities."
