During a visit to South Africa, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé met with President Jacob Zuma and First Lady Tobeka Zuma to discuss the country’s response to HIV.
During their meeting, President Zuma and Mr Sidibé applauded the contribution made by community health workers in reducing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. They discussed a successful service delivery model in KwaZulu-Natal that puts community health workers at the centre. This model has helped to drive down the number of new HIV infections among children in the province. If replicated across the country, the model could put South Africa firmly on track to eliminate new HIV infections among children.
In his meeting with Ms Zuma, discussions focused on the health of young women and adolescent girls, who are at particular risk of HIV infection.
“South Africa has a good news story to tell about AIDS. We work really hard but we don’t always tell people what we do. We turned around the AIDS response in a short space of time. This story ought to be told.”
Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa
“Thank you to UNAIDS for the leadership it has provided to South Africa. We would not have been able to take the bold steps that we did without the support of UNAIDS. Now we are seeing the results of that investment.”
Tobeka Zuma, First Lady of South Africa
“South Africa has one of the highest national investments in AIDS in the world. We must continue to work together in the next five years to ensure that South Africa and its partners continue to invest in the national response so that we stay ahead of the AIDS epidemic here.”
Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director
