Conference chair and deputy director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation, Professor Linda-Gail Bekker, told the over 4,000 delegates that South Africa was still in the "red zone" on maps reflecting the severity of the virus, "always seeming to have more numbers of HIV-positive people and TB patients".
The reasons why the southern Africa region has been worst hit by the epidemic were explored by Dr John Hargrove, director of the Centre of Excellence in Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA) at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.