The SANAC secretariat has published draft Zero of the National Strategic Plan for HIV and AIDS, STIs and TB, 2012 – 2016 for public comment and consultation (the draft was previously circulated through an Advocacy Alert).  Written comments must be submitted by 7 September 2011 and addressed to the SANAC Secretariat at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

South Africa has over 5.3 million people living with HIV and AIDS. This means that one in six people in South Africa are infected. Young women and girls are at the greatest risk of infection. The rate of both new TB and HIV infections is not declining significantly. Therefore, the NSP prioritises collective efforts towards prevention, in order to stem the tide, alongside the provision of appropriate care and treatment for those already infected.

Goals and Strategic pillars of the NSP 2012 – 2016

Key populations should be targeted for prevention, care and treatment, including young girls, infants and children under the age of 15, sex workers and their clients, men having sex with men, mobile and migrant populations, people living in unstable communities such as informal settlements, HIV-pregnant women, and TB-HIV co-infected patients, amongst others. Within each pillar, these key populations must be prioritised.

The goals of the NSP are to:

• Reduce the rate of new infections by 50% by 2016;
• Reduce new infections in children by 90% by 2016;
• Reduce HIV-associated maternal mortality by 50% by 2016;
• Improve life expectancy by five years;
• Ensure access to appropriate treatment, care and support to 90% of all HIV positive people;
• Ensure early diagnosis and treatment;
• Reduce new TB infections to 2010 levels;
• Expand access to TB treatment;
• Reduce HIV and TB mortality by 25% and 50% respectively;
• Reduce mother to child transmission to less than 2%;
• Reduce the psychosocial impact of HIV and TB;
• Measurably reduce stigma; and
• Increase the TB cure rate to 85%.

The four pillars are:

• Universal HIV testing and TB screening: The objectives are to prevent new infections, ensure universal knowledge of HIV and TB status, and prevent TB infection.
• Sustain health and wellness: The objectives are to reduce disability and death due to HIV and TB, ensure universal access to care and support, ensure that people infected with HIV, TB and STIs remain within the health system, and ensure that systems and services remain responsive to the needs of people.
• Increase safety and reduce vulnerability: Some of the objectives are to build the capacity of communities to reduce their vulnerability though exercising their rights, build the capacity of all duty bearers to effectively implement laws, reduce the vulnerability of children with a special focus on orphaned and vulnerable children, and expand and ensure equity in coverage.
• Changing societal norms and values: Some of the objectives include facilitating a culture of participation of all citizens, including children and people with disabilities in social dialogue, mobilising society at all levels to be tolerant and respectful towards each other, leadership at all levels to publicly promote core values of the South African Constitution and speak out against stigma, and implementing a national campaign focussing on gender roles and harmful practices and promoting positive sexual behaviours.

Strategic enablers

The Plan calls for the following strategic enablers to be in place so as to realise effective implementation of the Plan:

• Effective leadership at all levels;
• Strong and resourced coordinating structures at national, provincial and district level;
• An accountability framework;
• Effective representation of sectors;
• Adequate resources. In this regard, chapter 12 deals exclusively with financing the NSP.

WEB LINKS FOR THIS ARTICLE

Click here to view draft Zero of the NSP.