During the 2006 Aids conference held in Toronto, Canada, controversial Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabala-Msimang opened the South African exhibition stall with a display of vegetables such as beetroot and garlic.
The act was intended to promote natural remedies in the treatment of Aids; however it generated a flurry of negative criticism towards South Africa's Aids policy.
The then UN special envoy for AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis told the 2006 conference that the South African government would never achieve redemption for theories which were "more worthy of a lunatic fringe than a concerned and compassionate state."
Manto Tshabalala-Msimang addresses the UN in June
"Certainly garlic and beetroot are not part of the National Strategic Plan (NSP)," says Johannesburg paediatrician Ashraf Coovadia.
The NSP aims to reduce transmission from mother and child, which varies from eight percent in the Western Cape to 22 percent in Kwazulu-Natal, to five percent nationwide and cut all new infections in half by 2011.
Among the measures that have been recently introduced is the adoption of new Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission guidelines. The new PMTCT guidelines were adopted in February after much pressure from AIDS activists, another victory in recent years for a country whose government was accused in Toronto of being "obtuse, dilatory and negligent about rolling out treatment."
Since February, pregnant mothers in South Africa have been able to receive improved dual therapy, a move that has saved many young lives.
A sample of 45 mothers at the Johannesburg Coronation Hospital, whose children were tested shortly after the new guidelines were rolled out, showed that only two children were positive.
"It is the one area in HIV where we could see the immediate product of HIV prevention. Where we can give more good news than bad news," says Coovadia.
Since 2006, the Department of Health has led the country's massive antiretroviral (ARV) rollout programme. According to the Health Department's June statistics more than 480 000 people are currently receiving ARVs, making South Africa's programme one of the biggest in the world.
The 2008 conference also provided an opportunity for local researchers to highlight the key contribution they are making towards the development of Aids policy in South Africa. According to Dr Shisana of the Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland are the only Sub-Saharan African countries that include children in their national HIV population based surveys.
"Countries are unlikely to prioritise HIV prevention, care and treatment for children as long as epidemiological data on children with HIV are inadequate," Dr Shisana told conference delegates, urging them to follow South Africa's example.
South African's Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Judge Edwin Cameron gave the country another moment to shine during the conference when they were announced as members of a new campaign. Known as the Champions for an HIV-free Generation, the two will join a group of other African leaders in filling the leadership void on issues of HIV/Aids on the continent.
Shortly before the 2008 AIDS Conference, UNAIDS released their 2008 report, which showed that the epidemic in South Africa is beginning to stabilize - a sign that suggests we are now moving in the right direction. But, as deputy head of the South African National AIDS Council Mark Heywood suggests, with some 5.5 million people affected by the virus, we still have a long way to go.
Heywood does concede however that South Africa has changed its tune considerably.
"Compared to Toronto we are in a completely different political environment around AIDS," he said.
AFP/Sapa/ SAGN
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