Hon Speaker, Ministers and members, we welcome the launch of the HIV Counselling and Testing campaign here in Parliament. It sets the scene for focusing on the National Strategic Plan on HIV, STI's and TB. We support the realistic approach to health care.
It is an acknowledgment that we have finally moved away from the terrible days of Aids denialism that robbed so many South Africans of their lives, that took mothers and fathers which led to Aids orphans left as heads of households, bereft of parental guidance and support, forced to fend for themselves.
I remember little children being excluded from schools and crches, people losing their jobs and being reduced to the status of outcasts for fear of contamination from the mysterious disease. The discrimination and stigma was enormous and led to great hardship, fear and isolation. Poverty and hunger increased and the needs of the people became desperate. It became obvious that antiretrovirals should be rolled out throughout all the provinces and not just in the Western Cape, where good results were being obtained and lives were being saved.
In 2000 the global community signed the historical United Nations Millennium Development Goals acknowledging that an effective response to HIV/Aids needed to be taken, setting it within the context of a broader development agenda. Millennium Development Goal 6 calls for strong action to halt and try to reverse the Aids pandemic.
The 2015 deadline for the MDGs is closer now, about 900 days away, and we still have a long way to go to reach the targets that were set in 2000. We were to reduce sexual transmission of HIV/Aids by 50% to eliminate HIV infections amongst children and reduce maternal deaths. There has been an improvement in the former, but unfortunately there has not been sufficient improvement in maternal deaths, often due to other health care factors. We were to halve the deaths due to tuberculosis amongst people living with HIV by 2015. In 2000 we lacked crucial medical treatment and preventive measures for HIV/Aids. But now, due to international support and medical research, we have made much progress. We have the tools to end the HIV/Aids epidemic.
However, we still fall far short of eliminating gender inequality. Domestic violence and gender-based abuse are known to contribute to the vulnerability of women to HIV and Aids. A recent review found that women who have experienced intimate partner violence are 50% more likely to be living with HIV/Aids.
Should we not make programmes available to integrate HIV and sexual and reproductive health services and education at clinics and schools? Should we not be putting more resources into engaging men and boys in constructive programmes to teach them about building solid loving relationships built on respect and consideration rather than power and exploitation? Women and girls need to be encouraged to stand up for their rights so that they can be protected from HIV/Aids. Far too many women are still subservient and subject to patriarchal attitudes, where they have no choice about relationships, about safe sex practices or about the need for family planning. They are regarded as mere chattels, sexual objects to be used and abused.
How much funding is government making available for safe havens and Thuthuzela Centres, for shelters for women and children who are victims of rape and abuse? We lack sufficient social workers, counsellors, psychologists and psychiatrists. If government is serious about reducing the burden of HIV/Aids, we need to look at these matters holistically.
As leaders of the nation, we all have a responsibility to set an example of how to conduct our lives and how to treat our partners with respect and consideration and not to engage in casual exploitative relationships. Moral regeneration is not a programme for a particular occasion, but it is how the leaders of our state and nation conduct their relationships every day. Now, some 13 years later, South Africa is ready to focus on the National Strategic Plan on HIV, STI's and TB.
We are fortunate to have received R3 billion from the United Nations Global Fund to support the country's programme. We have better resources now. We have the benefit of research and experience. I trust that the HIV/Aids portfolio committee will be reinvigorated in the next term and will serve as a catalyst for action in supporting the current Ministry in undoing the legacy of denialism.
We need to focus on the general wellness of the nation, including mental health, and encourage people to take personal responsibility for their sexual practices so that HIV/Aids can be eradicated. I agree, we need to promote general wellness, but this we need to do together. We all need to set the example. Thank you very much. [Applause.]