The DA in Mpumalanga calls on the Premier, Mandla Ndlovu, to recall the MEC of Health Sasekani Manzini as the recent HIV statistics by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) found that the province has the highest HIV prevalence in the entire country.
According to the findings, Mpumalanga had the highest HIV prevalence of any province in 2022 — 17.4% — which corresponds to an estimated 890 000 people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the province.
It is reported that the survey revealed that the province’s HIV prevalence among adolescents aged 15 to 24 years was 7.8% overall, with males having a 1.5-fold greater prevalence (9.8%) than girls (6.3%) in the same age range. Among adults aged 25–49 years, HIV prevalence was 26.4% overall and 1.6-fold higher among females (31.9%) than males (19.9%).
The report further indicates that by locality, the HIV prevalence was higher among those residing in rural formal/farms (21.1%) and rural informal areas (18.4%) and lower in urban areas (15.5%), but the difference was not significant.
In 2022, HIV prevalence among all ages was highest in Gert Sibande (20.5%) and Ehlanzeni (16.0%) and lowest in Nkangala (13.1%).
This can be attributed to poor leadership in the province’s health department as there is no clear plan or strategy to help reduce the prevalence rates.
The Department of Health has been terminal for many years and it has gotten worse under the leadership of Manzini.
Premier Ndlovu must show the people of Mpumalanga that he takes their health seriously and replace Manzini with a competent political leader who can turn around the department of health once and for all.