During the opening ceremony of the 2008 AIDS Vaccine Conference in Cape Town, Barbara Hogan who was recently appointed Minister of Health following the demise of Dr Beetroot, said “We know that HIV causes Aids”.

It was a “breath of fresh air” reacted Alan Berstein, executive director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise.

Unfortunately I missed this historic moment but the Cape Times reports that Mrs Hogan is confident that a reform of the health system is possible and will scale up treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission. She also challenged scientists and researchers to work harder and faster to develop an HIV vaccine in the coming years.

Twenty five years into the epidemic, South Africa has the highest number of people living with HIV, more than 5.5 millions.

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