Babies and mothers’ HIV care expansion in South Africa

All HIV-positive babies in South Africa will be treated said the president of the country which has more people living with HIV than any other.There will be treatment for all HIV-positive children under 1 year old, and earlier treatment for patients infected with both the virus that causes AIDS and tuberculosis, and for women who are pregnant and HIV-positive.

President Jacob Zuma's announcement on World AIDS Day, yesterday was seen as a turning point for South Africa where the previous governments distrusted drugs developed to keep AIDS patients alive and instead promoted garlic treatments. Calling on South Africans to get tested for HIV, Mr Zuma even said he would take an HIV test himself, which may help his credibility after his notorious claim he had a shower to avoid contracting HIV after sleeping with an infected woman.Presently, treatment is available in South Africa only for people whose immunity levels have been significantly reduced by HIV.In a speech broadcast across South Africa on state radio and television, Mr Zuma said that the new policy changes would take effect in April. "It means that people will live longer and more fulfilling lives," he said. Zuma said all health institutions, not just specialist centres, would provide counselling, testing and treatment.

The UK's Department for International Development welcomed the turnaround. "South Africa has turned a corner and is embarking on a new and bold drive to take responsibility for tackling HIV and Aids," a spokesperson told the BBC. "The UK will continue to support South Africa to realise its ambition of reducing new HIV infections and increasing access to effective treatments." Zuma’s predecessor, President Thabo Mbeki, questioned the link between HIV and Aids. A US study said that more than 300,000 premature deaths in South Africa could have been prevented if officials here acted sooner to provide drug treatments and to prevent pregnant women with HIV from passing the virus to their children.

An estimated 5.2 million people were living with HIV and Aids in South Africa in 2008, more than in any other country. It is believed that in 2008, more than 250,000 South Africans died of Aids. According to national figures, around 11%, are infected with some age groups hit particularly hard. This week, South African charities warned that 5.7 million children, a third of all the country's children, could lose one or both parents to Aids by 2015. Currently there are 1.4 million Aids orphans in the country.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children