75 This has been achieved by increasing ARV sites from 490 in February 2010 to 3000 in April 2012. There has also been an increase in the number of nurses certified to initiate ARV treatment from 250 in February 2010 to 10 000 in April 2012. Within the same period Government conducted 320 000 medical male circumcisions, as an effective mechanism of limiting the spread of HIV by men. There are efforts to reduce mother-to-child transmission. Government has reduced transmission of HIV from mother to child from 8% in 2008 to 3,5% in 2011 or even to 2,5% in the case of KZN province; a reduction of over 50% which saw 30 000 babies being saved from contracting HIV from their mothers. A significant reduction in the prices of HIV drugs was also achieved. The NDoH awarded a tender to the value of R4.2 billion over two years for procurement of ARVs. The department amended the usual procurement strategies which resulted in a saving of 53% (R4.4 billion). The benefit of the savings to South Africans is that the health sector will be able to treat more patients with the same resource envelope. An innovative initiative started by the national Department of Health during the reporting period is the single-dose ARVs, an intervention which was launched in 2013. Approximately 180 000 HIV-positive patients will soon start taking fixed-dose combination antiretroviral (ARV) medication, which involves one tablet instead of three to five pills a day, reducing the risk of patients defaulting from treatment. The number of people living with HIV in South Africa rose from 5.2 million in 2005 to 6.1 million in 2012.44The increased number of people living with HIV is attributable to the increased access to Antiretroviral Treatment which increased life expectancy. Fig.1. Number of people living with HIV in SA 2004-2012 (Estimates based on Spectrum Model). Source: HSRC HIV&AIDS Population Survey 2012. The results of the HSRC 2012 population survey show that an estimated 6.4 million people are living with HIV&AIDS in 2012.45 In 2012, three provinces - KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and 44 45 Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) HIV&AIDS Population Survey 2012. Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) HIV&AIDS Population Survey 2012. 75