Durban - Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has called on South African men to get tested for HIV and Aids, saying their women must “bring them in kicking and screaming” to testing stations.
“And, if they ask any questions, refer them to me,” the minister said.
He was speaking at the opening of the sixth South African Aids Conference, which is under way at the International Convention Centre in Durban.
“Men present a special problem for me,” he said.
UNAids recently found that, while 80 percent of HIV positive women eligible for antiretroviral medication were receiving the drugs, only 65 percent of eligible men and children were on the treatment.
“We know why we are not doing as well with putting men on treatment,” he said. “We are simply not testing a sufficient number of them.”
During the national HIV counselling and testing campaign which was launched in 2010, only a third of those tested were men.
“We must do better in getting to men in their workplaces, communities and homes,” Motsoaledi said.
The low number of children on antiretroviral medication was because those needing treatment were not being identified early enough.
Calculating the treatment for children was more complex, so many clinicians lacked confidence when prescribing it, he said.
Against the backdrop of June being Youth Month, the minister made special mention of targeting the youth in HIV and Aids campaigns.
The latest census data suggested 49 percent of the population was under 24, Motsoaledi said.
“Keeping young people, especially girls, in school until matric protects them from pregnancy as well as HIV infection,” he added.
He also said many female pupils “fell prey to older men who had the resources to buy sex”. Motsoaledi called this the “sugar daddy syndrome”.
The minister hoped the conference would provide innovative ideas on how to encourage more men to get tested and on how to decrease the number of new infections in girls and young women.
The conference ends on Friday. - The Mercury