Cape Town chalks up million HIV tests in a year

Just over a million Capetonians have tested for HIV in the past year, setting a new record, the City of Cape Town said on the eve of Saturday's World Aids Day.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of World Aids Day, and the 2018 theme is “Know your Status”.

JP Smith, the mayoral committee member for social services, attributed the success of the HIV screening programme to the public health sector’s efforts and its NGO partners.

Between September 2017 and October, 1,065,386 people were tested at city clinics, he said, and the number was expected to increase when the city introduces self-screening in the near future. The population of Cape Town is just under four million.

Even though HIV/Aids was now regarded as a chronic condition rather than a death sentence, Smith said the journey started with testing and knowing your status.

Data suggests that most HIV-positive Capetonians already know their status, but Smith said some had never started lifesaving antiretroviral treatment, while others had stopped taking their medication.

“Ideally, everyone who is HIV-positive should be on ART for their own health benefit, but also to protect others, such as their sexual partners, from acquiring HIV," he said.

"We urge all those who are HIV positive to take steps to get onto treatment, or to get back onto treatment.”

To improve access to treatment and speed up collection of medication, the city had introduced ART Clubs for stable patients, and was piloting a new appointment system.