Abstract #323  -  An AIDS Free Generation in our Time?
Authors:   Presenting Author:   Dr Ashraf Grimwood - Absolute Return for Kids
Additional Authors:
Aim: President J Zuma in his inaugural speech committed SA to reaching the NSP target of 80% of those needing ART by 2011. Challenges like the Global Economic Crisis, shrinking donor budgets, ongoing crisis in human resources, limited government and civil society capacity, ageing infrastructure, growing food insecurity make reaching these targets a near impossibility. Despite these SA has made enormous strides in achieving one of the largest treatment programmes on the globe, be it with less than perfect ME&R, limited drug combinations and a health department that has since the adoption of the Comprehensive Treatment Plan of 2003 focused on other priorities than ART. It is not known exactly how many are on treatment currently. There is an idea of how many have been initiated since Nov 2003 in the public sector. Figures from the private sector, the military, unions and other treaters remain obscure. Responses to treatment can only be gauged by reports from NGOs who are better able to track their patients. It is also not clear how many people continue to die every day in SA due to the complications of HIV, estimated between 800 -1000. It is apparent that the treatment backlog continues to increase, with the treatment levels set by the NSP underestimating the numbers of patients with CD4<200. Thus the impact on life expectancy remain unchanged despite the gains made in the numbers accessing treatment. For an AIDS free generation SA needs to initiate over 500000/yr including all positive pregnant women on treatment with over 90% remaining in care with good virological response.
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