On World AIDS Day, South Africa AIDS group says country's response to the disease is stalling

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — One of South Africa's largest AIDS awareness groups said the country's response to the disease is beginning to stall.

Marking World Aids day in Johannesburg on Monday, the Treatment Action Campaign said that while government-issued drugs had saved millions of lives, South Africa's health care system is struggling to ensure that every HIV-positive person is receiving treatment.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is chairman of the National AIDS Council, said in a separate statement that about 2.7 million people are receiving treatment, but warned that an estimated 2 million HIV positive people do not know they are infected with the deadly virus.

According to the South African government, more than 6.4 million South Africans are living with HIV, and about 400,000 more are infected each year.