There are 50 million people in South Africa, with an estimated 5.7 million HIV positive people, more than any other country.
The government took action in April, by starting a counseling and testing campaign. (see LA Times article from previous blog) However, nurses and other health providers complain of the program's insufficiencies. They claim there is a lack of personnel and time and others think that it's high goals will break the country financially.
Then there's the stigma of being HIV and or AIDS positive in South Africa. It's seriousness is neglected in the culture. A 16-year-old from Ilembe says:
"Here, if you have HIV, people laugh at you and think you're going to die. And that you've done bad things,"
It's quite clear that with such high HIV positive and AIDS rates among South Africans, the country will have to seriously execute a widespread campaign to see any improvement in it's citizen's health. It's sad that the stigma of AIDS and HIV in the country keep most of them away from testing sites and treatment facilities. If the program intends to see any results, more money, personnel and testing of public officials are needed to counteract the current problems.
Nevertheless, the country is going in the right direction. A change is needed and it is clear that the country is stepping away from it's past denial of a problem and beginning the process of recovery for it's people.
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