Acting DG Toni, Representatives of the Department of Social Services, and all workshop organizers and participants, good morning. It is a pleasure to join you for in opening this event. It is another milestone in the U. S. Agency for International Development’ partnership with the government of South Africa and its Department for Social Development in pursuit of the millennial goals for curbing HIVAIDS.
Our Deputy Mission Director, Rebecca Kryzwda, delivered opening remarks at the Government Capacity Building and Support Program (GCBS) held in Pretoria, on August 2-3, under the theme: Policy to Practice: Strengthening policy, systems and practice for improved service delivery to Orphaned Vulnerable Children and Youth. This learning event was an important milestone for our PEPFAR partner, PACT, and the South African Department of Social Development (DSD), in tracking what has been achieved over the past five years since the launch of GCBS in terms of rendering services in health care and welfare.
USAID staff joined provincial health officials and the King of the Zulus Goodwill Zwelithini to celebrate 1 million victories against HIV in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. During the multi-faceted event, South African singer and actor Melusi Yeni became the 1 millionth man to undergo Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision under a national HIV prevention program supported by USAID and PEPFAR, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Providing medical circumcisions is part of a comprehensive USAID approach to HIV prevention and treatment.
USAID through it's partner Foundation for Professional Development (FPD) joined the MEC for Health in Gauteng, Dr. Gwen Ramokgopa to launch the General Practitioner (GP) Care Cell pilot project in preparation for World AIDS Day. The launch took place at Dr. Lindi Shange's medical practice - Attmed Health Center, one of the five GPs involved in stage one of the three stage pilot. The GP Care Cell pilot project supoorted by PEPFAR/USAID is a collaboration between the Gauteng Provincial Department of Health, FPD and PPO Serve, designed to use the advantage and capacity of private general practitioners (GPs) to create additional HIV Testing Services (HTS) and ART initiation, management and retention capacity outside of public sector health facilities in a controlled manner.
South Africa is burdened by one of the most severe TB epidemics in the world, while also dealing with the greatest burden of HIV-infected individuals. TB prevalence is the world’s third highest, and millions are living with HIV/AIDS with hundreds of thousands of new infections each year.
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Last updated: August 06, 2018
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