Thank you, hon Speaker. Hon Deputy President, is antiretroviral therapy, or ART, being considered as a means of HIV prevention in South Africa, as was proposed by a WHO official at an Aids forum in Cape Town in July?
Statistically, each person living with HIV infects one person every one-and- a-quarter years and, since the current life expectancy after infection is 10 years, seven new infections occur for each initial person living with the virus.
Since ART can lower viral load - the single greatest risk factor for HIV transmission - to undetectable levels, it should also severely decrease transmission rates, offering hope in eliminating this scourge from South Africa. Has this theory been discussed within Sanac or at Cabinet level, and where does government currently stand on this issue? Thank you.