Deputy Speaker, the fact that we are having this debate today on the UN resolution with regard to universal access towards zero new HIV infections, zero cases of discrimination and zero Aids-related deaths clearly highlights how far we have come as a country in the fight against HIV/Aids. Ten years ago, a debate such as this one would not have happened in Parliament.
We have come a long way since the Western Cape first rolled out the availability of life-saving antiretrovirals, ARVs, and set a platform for the rest of the country. The expansion of ARV treatment to people infected with HIV is welcomed by the DA.
If we are to achieve the three zeros we are, however, going to need to do much more. Despite the hard efforts of many in our country, the sexual behaviour of most people has unfortunately not changed. Many men still believe that having unprotected sex is the norm - in fact, their right - and the scourge of the rape of women and children continues at sickening levels, resulting in women and children bearing the brunt of the HIV/Aids pandemic.
If we are to achieve the three zeros, we as a country have to push the platform of our ARV programme to the next frontier by ensuring that all those who are infected have access to ARVs. Many of you will be asking how we can afford universal cover. My answer to you, with regard to the ARVs, is how can we continue not to do so.
A recent study conducted by the HIV Prevention Trials Network has revealed that by initiating treatment of HIV-positive people, it reduces the risk of transmission to their partners by 96%. We have roughly 1 700 new infections per day in South Africa, which relates to about 620 000 infections per annum. We are simply not breaking the stranglehold that the pandemic has on our country. If we take the findings of the research and extrapolate it to the annual number of new infections, we would be able to reduce this number by a staggering 595 000 new infections per year. The study known as HTPN 052 was designed to evaluate whether or not immediate versus delayed use of ARVs by HIV-infected individuals would reduce the transmission of HIV to the HIV-uninfected partner and benefit the HIV-infected individual. Findings from the study were reviewed by the independent Data of Safety Monitoring Board. The board concluded that the initiation of ARVs to HIV-infected individuals substantially protects their HIV-uninfected sexual partners, with a 96% reduction in risk. The study is the first randomised clinical trial to show that treating an HIV-infected individual with ARVs can reduce the risk of sexually transmitted HIV. The study began in 2005 and was conducted in 13 sites across Africa, Asia and the Americas. HIV-infected persons were required to have a CD4 count of between 350 and 550 and therefore did not require HIV treatment for their own health.
In addition, a year ago South African medical scientists received worldwide acclaim for their successful field trials of the vaginal gel that can protect women against HIV infection. This gel, developed by the Centre for Aids Programmes of Research in South Africa, Caprisa, was used in the field trial of among 890 uninfected women in KwaZulu-Natal. The trial found that a cut in the rate of HIV of between 39% and 54% was recorded.
The gel was viewed internationally as a breakthrough because for the first time it gave women an unobtrusive way to take control of their own sexual health, instead of relying on their male partners. But after the standing ovations and publications in prestigious science journals, the expansion of the research project has halted, thanks to the bureaucratic inertia of the Medicines Control Council.
Seventeen month ago, in March 2010, Caprisa applied for a new clinical trial. The Medicines Control Council, MCC, has still not responded. It is unacceptable that the MCC should hold up the progress of the significant breakthrough in HIV infection and the DA appeals to the Minister of Health, who is not here today, and to his colleagues in Cabinet to put pressure on the MCC to approve this trial and the subsequent licensing of the gel with appropriate speed.
These exciting breakthroughs need to be taken seriously. We need to lead the way and take the initiative so that we do not miss these golden opportunities. We need to determine the cost of the initial outlay of providing universal ARVs and what the future savings would be as a result of drastically reduced infections and health costs. We failed 10 years ago to take decisive action against HIV. We dare not fail again.