.){kind=link}
By Charmaine Ndlela
The Eastern Cape Department of Health will on Friday formally launch a high-profile provincial mobilisation campaign that aims to close a 1.1 million antiretroviral treatment (ART) gap and support a “5 Million End TB” drive.
The event will be led by the province’s MEC for Health, Ntandokazi Capa, and is part of a broader national effort to accelerate South Africa’s fight against HIV and tuberculosis (TB).
At the launch, integrated service delivery will be offered on site to thousands of community members, with free services including HIV testing and ART initiation, TB screening, child health, cervical cancer screening, family planning, chronic and emergency care, dental and rehabilitation services, psychosocial support, as well as services from Home Affairs and Social Development.
The campaign will specifically highlight children, adolescents and men, groups that lag behind in HIV testing, treatment initiation and retention metrics.
Eastern Cape accounts for 18.8 % of people living with HIV in South Africa, making it a key province in efforts to close the treatment gap and push toward ending TB, the health department said.
Despite expansions in service coverage, over 142,000 people in the province remain unengaged or lost to follow-up at clinics, according to the department.
This shortfall threatens progress toward the 95-95-95 targets (95 % of HIV-positive people know their status, 95 % of those diagnosed are on treatment, and 95 % of those on treatment achieve viral suppression).
Nationally, South Africa is currently at 96-79-94, according to the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC). That implies the largest gap is in the second 95 — people who know their status but are not yet on treatment.
The campaign aligns with a national “Close the Gap” effort launched in February 2025, which seeks to enrol an additional 1.1 million people on HIV treatment by year-end.
Across South Africa, an estimated 7.8 million people live with HIV, of whom about 5.9 million are on treatment.
In terms of TB, Buffalo City Metro is among South Africa’s highest TB-burden districts. The national “End TB” drive aims to test 5 million people for TB in 2025/26 as part of efforts to sharply increase case detection and diagnosis.
“The integrated approach reflects the government’s commitment to tackling HIV, TB, and related health challenges holistically and at the community level,” the Eastern Cape health department said. It added that the provincial launch is not only a “call to action” but also a platform for holding “ourselves accountable.”
The initiative also sits within the framework of South Africa’s 2023-2028 National Strategic Plan (NSP) for HIV, TB and STIs, a key pillar of the country’s pursuit of the 2030 global targets on ending HIV and TB.
INSIDE METROS