South Africa's ANC weak in fight against AIDS

JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) in KwaZulu-Natal has admitted the party has been weak in fighting HIV/AIDS and has relied too heavily on the government, the South African Press Association reported.

"As leaders of society, the ANC should be seen to be playing a role in the fight against HIV/AIDS," the provincial executive committee said in a statement on Monday after its monthly meeting.

The province wants the ANC to develop a "comprehensive plan" to take the fight against the disease to the "grass roots level".

"The plan should include addressing the issues of social conduct such as the abuse of alcohol which leads to our people including many of our youth to engage in unprotected sex," the committee said.

The PEC agreed that "extraordinary measures" are required to fight the pandemic, given the high prevalence in the province.

It urged people to get circumcised, but cautioned that this does not mean one is immune to HIV.

"As the ANC, we also believe that drastic action needs to be taken to ensure that everyone knows his or her status."

"As the ANC in KZN we will engage on the debate of calling on the government to make it compulsory for people to test and know their status which will help in getting treatment early," the committee said.