Close Menu

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    Centlec ordered to reinstate spokesperson amid legal showdown

    July 2, 2025

    Lesotho national jailed 18 years for copper cable theft in Bloemfontein

    June 28, 2025

    Court orders eviction of Bloemfontein business in property dispute

    May 27, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    The Free Stater
    • Home
    • News
    • Local
    • National
    • Property
    • Business
    • Sport
    • Opinion
    • Economy
    • Lifestyle
    • Entertainment
      • Audio
    The Free Stater
    Home»Opinion»HIV remains a significant public health concern
    Opinion

    HIV remains a significant public health concern

    The Free StaterBy The Free StaterDecember 2, 2020No Comments5 Mins Read
    Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    OPTIMISTIC . . . Dr Riana van Zyl believes having an HIV-free generation is an attainable goal
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email Copy Link

    Dr Riana van Zyl

    World Aids Day has been commemorated on 1 December every year since 1988.

    On this day, people around the world unite to show support for people living with HIV and also to remember those who have lost their lives due to Aids-related illnesses.

    The red ribbon has become the universal symbol of HIV awareness and symbolises support for and solidarity with people living with HIV.

    World Aids Day was the first-ever global health day, and the iconic red ribbon led the way for many other coloured ribbon awareness campaigns, like the pink ribbon for breast cancer.

    Each World Aids Day has a specific theme with this year’s theme being “Global solidarity, shared responsibility”.

    Like many other public health issues, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought additional challenges to the HIV and Aids programme.

    Disruption of service delivery at primary healthcare level – including HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care – will undoubtedly haunt us for years to come.

    The call to solidarity is made to re-focus efforts to reach the goal of ending the HIV and Aids epidemic by 2030. 

    In the short-term, this means restoring and maintaining essential HIV services that were disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    In the medium term, this means intensified efforts to prevent new infections, while awaiting a breakthrough in the area of developing a vaccine.

    Having an HIV-free generation is an attainable goal: it has been proven that when an HIV-infected person’s viral load is undetectable, they cannot transmit the virus via unprotected sex.

    HIV viral load refers to the amount of HIV in your blood.

    Antiretroviral treatment (ART) suppresses viral replication and, if taken regularly, results in the amount of virus in the blood being undetectable.

    The message that undetectable equals untransmittable (U=U) has given people living with HIV (PLHIV) new hope.

    Especially women living with HIV can now be almost certain of not transmitting HIV to their unborn child if their viral load is undetectable.

    One of the great success stories of the HIV and Aids programme in South Africa is the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programme.

    Vertical transmission (meaning from mother to child) of HIV can happen during pregnancy, during labour or after birth via breastfeeding.

    In 2010 the rate of vertical transmissions in South Africa was 16 percent. This decreased to three perecent in 2019, but renewed efforts are now being made to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

    The current South African consolidated ART guidelines allow access to treatment for all HIV-infected people.

    The latest UNAIDS data revealed that 97 percent of pregnant HIV-positive women are accessing HIV treatment.

    In order to eliminate vertical transmission, we need to ensure these women attain and maintain full virological suppression, but more importantly, we need to prevent new infections in women.

    National prevention strategies include public health education programmes, post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and voluntary male medical circumcision (VMMC).

    Education on prevention of HIV includes HIV risk reduction counselling and education on the correct use of condoms and lubricants.

    Despite all these measures, there were 200 000 new infections recorded in South Africa in 2019.

    With complacency setting in, demonstrated by this rise in new HIV infections, it is critical to continue education and awareness programmes.

    PEP is offered to individuals after a high-risk exposure with the potential transmission of HIV, e.g. after rape or to healthcare workers sustaining an injury on duty.

    Effectiveness of PEP is reliant on early presentation and good adherence.

    Due to the advances made in ART, PEP is now also as simple as taking one tablet once a day with minimal side-effects, improving compliance and outcomes.

    PrEP is defined by the WHO as the use of ARVs by HIV-negative people who are at substantial risk of acquiring HIV before potential exposure to HIV to prevent HIV acquisition.

    Specific populations considered to be at significant risk of HIV infection include, among other, adolescent girls and young women, men who have sex with men, people with more than one sexual partner and sex workers.

    South Africa was the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to fully approve PrEP.

    The preferred regimen is also a fixed-drug combination containing two ARV drugs in a single tablet taken once daily.

    Although we have very effective preventive strategies as well as excellent treatment available for PLHIV, a cure still has to be found.

    A cure is either defined as “sterilising” or “functional”.

    A sterilising cure would remove HIV from the body altogether.

    A functional cure means that HIV is not entirely eradicated from the body, but the virus is no longer increasing; thus, treatment is not needed.

    So far, two people have been cured of HIV.

    Both of these patients received bone marrow transplants as part of blood cancer treatment.

    In both cases, the donor cells were naturally resistant to HIV.

    The cancer treatment eliminated the already HIV-infected cells from the body, and because the new cells were not susceptible to HIV, no more new viruses were produced.

    Unfortunately, the first patient, Timothy Ray Brown, passed away this year due to a recurrence of cancer.

    A sterilising cure of this nature is clearly not the answer and, therefore, intensive research in this area is ongoing.

    Despite the enormous scientific strides made since the identification of HIV in 1984, HIV remains a significant public health concern.

    Globally, millions of lives are still lost every year due to Aids-related illnesses.

    In South Africa, 72 000 deaths were recorded during 2019.

    This number is substantially higher than the deaths due to COVID-19 in 2020.

    World Aids Day remains as relevant today as always, reminding people and governments that HIV has not gone away.

    It is a public responsibility to continue to fight the epidemic together as a society.

    • Dr Riana van Zyl is a senior lecturer and medical specialist: paediatrics and child health at the University of the Free State

     

    ARV Health hiv and aids riana van zyl UFS world aids day
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    The Free Stater
    • Website
    • Facebook

    Breaking news and more

    Related Posts

    Erasing diversity does not erase reality

    March 4, 2025

    Time to revisit SANDF mandate and means

    February 17, 2025

    Why we matter more than ever

    November 8, 2024
    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    Don't Miss
    Local

    Centlec ordered to reinstate spokesperson amid legal showdown

    THE Free State High Court has granted an interim order reinstating Centlec spokesperson Lele Mamatu,…

    Lesotho national jailed 18 years for copper cable theft in Bloemfontein

    June 28, 2025

    Court orders eviction of Bloemfontein business in property dispute

    May 27, 2025

    Over 200 learners fall ill in food poisoning scare at Bloemfontein school

    March 10, 2025
    Demo
    Top Posts

    R429-million housing claim hits brick wall

    February 5, 2025120K Views

    #SopaFS2025 | Free State poised for economic expansion, says premier

    February 22, 2025713 Views

    Jealousy: the dark side of academia in SA

    March 4, 2025220 Views

    Deregistered lawyer ordered to provide R300 000 security

    February 5, 202572 Views
    Stay In Touch
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • Vimeo

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from SmartMag about art & design.

    The Free Stater is an independent English-language newspaper published in and for the Free State province of South Africa that offers authoritative and trusted journalism cutting across various quality-of-life issues.

    Email Us: editor@thefreestater.co.za
    Contact: +27 76 183 2923

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube WhatsApp
    Our Picks

    Centlec ordered to reinstate spokesperson amid legal showdown

    July 2, 2025

    Lesotho national jailed 18 years for copper cable theft in Bloemfontein

    June 28, 2025

    Court orders eviction of Bloemfontein business in property dispute

    May 27, 2025
    Most Popular

    REVIEW | The 2019 Mercedes-Benz A200 sedan is a mixed bag

    December 18, 20190 Views

    Country Music Superstar to Host Enormous Concert to Benefit Hall of Fame

    January 6, 20200 Views

    Palm Springs Film Festival Awards 2024 Red Carpet: All National Celebrity Looks

    January 7, 20200 Views

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.