INLSA
KZN Premier Zweli Mkhize. Picture: Jacques Naude
Only two of the 11 districts in the province have managed to lower their HIV/Aids infection rates this financial year.
The eThekwini and Umzinyathi districts have reduced new HIV infections, while the other nine districts are still battling to curb soaring infection rates.
In this financial year alone, about 303 000 new cases of HIV have been reported in the province.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Dr Zweli Mkhize made the revelation at the sitting of the annual KZN Provincial Council on Aids in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday.
“We in KZN have the highest infection rate in the country. We need to look seriously at these figures and work to change them in terms of prevalence and prevention. The situation is bad,” Mkhize said.
Sexual assault and underage sex were highlighted as the main causes of newly recorded infections.
In Ugu district alone, 40 percent of the sexual assault cases reported involve children under the age of 12.
Wednesday’s meeting also looked at weaknesses in local preventative activities, with the lack of quality healthcare blamed for the failure to stem the pandemic.
The Council on Aids was chaired by Mkhize and attended by delegates from the national government and other provinces, including national Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi.
According to an Aids council report tabled by the eThekwini district municipality, there were 34 978 tuberculosis cases reported from April 2011 to March this year.
And of 22 331 TB patients tested for HIV, 15 864 tested positive.
They also revealed that the number of patients tested for HIV increased by 3 percent during the period January to March this year. Of the 462 542 patients tested for HIV, 26 percent tested positive.
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