Thank you, hon De Villiers. I have noticed that in the first part of your question reference is made to both the board and the council. I assume that you are specifically referring to the work of the council, which is a multistakeholder advisory platform where decisions are made and implementation monitored. Therefore, I will confine my reply to the SA National Aids Council, Sanac, which I chair.
Sanac holds up to four meetings annually. Meetings are held in the provinces to enable the council to engage with the provincial Aids councils and to consider, among other things, provincial reports on the implementation of HIV and TB-related programmes, as defined in the National Strategic Plan for HIV and Aids and Sexually Transmitted Infections.
Sanac is made up of government and 19 civil society sectors. Each sector sends three representatives to attend council meetings. Attendance at each meeting is well over 95% and each meeting allows for engagement with the community, through a community dialogue or a visit to a health facility. This approach allows the national council to experience policy in action and to support and acknowledge health workers at the coalface of service delivery.
All nine provinces have an established provincial council on Aids and premiers lead these provincial structures. In some cases, an MEC has been delegated the responsibility to perform this function by the respective premier. The provincial Aids council monitors their performance against agreed targets, while the national structure executes an overarching monitoring function in accordance with its mandate as approved by Cabinet.
Sanac has full representation from the stakeholders described above. The council is supported by a secretariat, which is being strengthened through the appointment of skilled persons, such as the chief financial officer and the chief executive officer.
In the past years, Sanac has achieved a number of significant milestones, notably the launch and successful execution of the world's largest HIV counselling and testing campaign, with over 15 million people tested for HIV and a significant number screened for TB. The council also developed and launched the new National Strategic Plan for HIV, TB and Sexually Transmitted Infections from 2012 to 2016, through an extensive consultative process.
On 24 March 2012, which is World TB Day, the national implementation plan for the national strategic plan 2012-16 will be launched. We expect all stakeholders, communities and Members of Parliament to rally behind this important initiative, so that we can meet our target of reducing new infections by half.