The global response to HIV is In Danger. South Africa is no exception.
Last year, United Nations Member States agreed on ambitious targets for ending the AIDS pandemic.
But a new report by the U.N. Joint Programme on HIV and AIDS - UNAIDS - shows that those plans are off track.
The news is alarming, and the promise of ending AIDS is under threat New HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths are not falling fast enough. Adolescent girls and young women are very vulnerable to HIV infection. Millions more South Africans need access to HIV treatment, especially children who are being left behind.
The United Nations stands with the people of South Africa.
Let us work together to defeat stigma and discrimination, ends AIDS as a pandemic, and secure our health and the health of our loved ones.
Thank you.
Ayodele Odusola
UN Resident Coordinator South Africa