WATCH: US Health Attaché Steve Smith leaves SA
He has been hailed for as one of the many people who have contributed to ensuring that millions of South Africans living with HIV are on treatment and now he is about to leave the country in pursuit of other interests. But ahead of his departure, US Health Attaché Steve Smith concedes that the battle to reduce HIV infections in SA is still ongoing and will be for quite some time.
Smith went on to say: "I arrived here six years ago and I couldn't believe we had two million people on treatment, We had a government that was supporting science-based public health. It was phenomenal and I was so proud to see the results of that partnership. But I also then very quickly realised that it is a house on fire issue and that we still have public health emergency as it was back then and frankly what it will be for some time to come.
When I was here we worked with UDF, Black Sash, Legal Resources Centre. While they may mean nothing to you, they meant a lot to me. What I came away with from that experience and in meeting South Africans all around the country is that there were many people who were incredibly optimistic during this really difficult time," adding their optimism also signalled great things that were to come in the future.
With President Cyril Ramaphosa's administration committing to getting two million more people on antiretroviral treatment by December next year, Smith said his wish as he moves on would be for South Africa to increase not only increase the number of people on ARVs but to also increase the quality of the programme as well as new scientific innovations.
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