Ramaphosa: There's no room for complacency in fight against HIV
Updated | By Khatija Nxedlana
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa says the fact that 3.4 million people living with HIV are on treatment shows government's determination to save lives.
Ramaphosa made the comment while speaking during the opening ceremony of the 21st International Aids Conference at Durban's Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre last night.
He says eradicating stigma and discrimination is key.
"We want to live in a society were there is no shame in having a virus, in being ill or in seeking treatment. That is the type of society we want to live in.
"We aspire to a society in which the circumstances of ones birth, ones social status or income level is no impediment to quality health services and social support" he said.
The Deputy President says there is no room for complacency.
"We know that rates of infection are not declining as rapidly as we'd like them to decline, we know that adolescent girls as well as young women are particularly at risk.
"Their vulnerability derives from social attitudes and economic circumstances. In South Africa, each week we have an estimated two thousand new infections in adolescent girls and young women that are aged between fifteen and twenty four years.
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