Cape Town - Deputy President David Mabuza has called for efforts to prevent new cases of HIV and Aids.
Mabuza told the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the South African National Aids Council in Tuynhuys on Friday that the government must increase efforts to reduce the infection rate.
This was the first meeting of the IMC on Sanac since the elections in May when the new administration was elected. Mabuza, who chairs Sanac, said one of the things the government must do is to look at the funding of the HIV and Aids programme.
Health is one of the biggest expenditure items in the budget with more than R250 billion allocated to it.
“Our next focus should be on prevention and more prevention. Over the course of this term we must consolidate our partnerships and collaborative work with all key stakeholders such as traditional healers as we fight HIV and TB epidemics,” said Mabuza.
The deputy president said strides have been made to get more people on anti-retroviral treatment.