Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge talks to Kerry Cullinan about government'€™s '€œnew energy'€ on HIV/AIDS

Our last '€œLiving with AIDS'€ feature explored the debate for and against making the HIV test a routine procedure offered to anyone attending a health facility. This week, we look at routine testing in relation to human rights.

Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge emerge as new powers in government HIV/AIDS plan.

The burden of HIV on South African society has got the country asking the question: How can more people be encouraged to test for HIV? One school of thought is for the introduction of a routine opt-out model, while another is in favour of the current Voluntary Counselling and Testing option.

The national Department of Health recently revealed that about 179 000 people were accessing antiretroviral therapy through the public health system. Just over 31 000 were on the waiting list for treatment. Gauteng is responsible for treating about a third of all those on ARVs. The province'€™s MEC for Health reports back on AIDS treatment.

A two-day meeting on extensively drug-resistant Tuberculosis (XDR TB) has resolved that in the absence of quicker diagnostics and new medication to treat TB in all its forms, national TB programmes need more strengthening, especially in the face of HIV/AIDS.

The deadly strain of extremely drug resistant TB has reared its head in Gauteng. Experts fear that the outbreak '€“ first detected in KwaZulu-Natal - is a potential killer, particularly for people living with AIDS. There are concerns that it also places South Africa'€™s AIDS treatment programme at enormous risk.