This is according to Anthony Lake‚ United Nations Children’s Fund executive director‚ who was speaking at the 21st International Aids Conference in Durban on Monday.
Lake said the country should be proud of its growing legacy of lives saved and improved. There is “almost universaltesting among pregnant women”‚ and there has been a drop of 80% in new infections among children since 2002. On top of this‚ since 2008‚ the rate of mother-to-child infections had dropped from 8% to 1.5%.
He said South Africa’s commitment and progress towards dealing with mother-to-child transmissions was “an inspiring model for other countries travelling the same path”.
“But these achievements are best reflected not in statistics‚ but in the happiest measurement of all: in individual lives. A pregnant woman is now about to be tested for HIV and hoping for a negative result‚ but knowing she’ll receive treatment if the news is bad.
