South Africa has the highest number of HIV-infected people in the world. In 2021, the total number of persons living with HIV was anticipated to be around 8.2 million.
According to mid-year population estimates released by Statistics South Africa in July 2022, an estimated 19.5% of adults aged 15-49 years were HIV-positive.
Despite significant progress in recent years in getting individuals to test for HIV and meeting the 2020 objective of 90% of persons with HIV knowing their status in 2018, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, continue to be a severe public health burden in South Africa.
The high prevalence of HIV in South Africa has been linked to several factors, such as sexual assault, incorrect condom use, multiple sexual partners, condomless sex, socio-economic power imbalances, negative gender norms and alcohol and drug abuse.
Following a study analysis of the 2017 National Population-Based Survey on the HIV Epidemic in South Africa, most of the HIV transmission occurs through heterosexual transmission, including commercial sex.
Condoms are an important component of a comprehensive and long-term approach to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) prevention, and they help avoid unplanned pregnancies.
In 2013, an estimated 2.1 million people became newly infected with HIV and an estimated 500 million people acquired chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis or trichomoniasis.
In addition, every year more than 200 million women have unmet needs for contraception, leading to approximately 80 million unwanted pregnancies, reported the UNAids.
Like many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa faces a multitude of challenges in reducing HIV infections and teenage pregnancies.
Since condoms are one of the most effective ways to protect against STIs, including HIV, when worn correctly and regularly, there is a need to increase public knowledge and education about sexual health, according to the World Health Organization.
Condom use has had an enormous impact on the global Aids pandemic: evidence shows that increased condom use since 1990 has averted an estimated 117 million new HIV infections, close to half (47%) of them in sub-Saharan Africa and more than one-third (37%) in Asia and the Pacific, according to a report made available by the UNAids.
In response to the STI and HIV pandemic, South Africa has rapidly expanded its national public-sector condom programme. In the public sector, male condoms are widely accessible and free of charge. However, the department of health called attention to some of the issues preventing the condom programme’s success in the battle against STIs and HIV, including irregular and inaccurate use of condoms.
To further highlight the work being done by various departments within the department of health and other NGOs in eradicating the scourge plaguing the healthcare system and generations that are health-conscious, the goal of the campaign is to increase awareness and sensitise society – particularly young people – to the use of condoms.