Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday November 19, 2003
Gordon Bell
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang told reporters that within a year there would be a network of centers to distribute anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, which the government previously resisted providing to the public sector.
"Cabinet today in principle approved the operational plan for comprehensive treatment and care for HIV and AIDS," Tshabalala-Msimang said after a cabinet meeting.
Nearly five million of South Africa's 45 million people have AIDS or HIV, the virus which causes it, giving it the world's highest caseload.
Activists say 600 South Africans die of AIDS each day, and that many of them could be saved by ARVs.
President Thabo Mbeki's cabinet has long resisted calls for free drug treatment to those infected, but under huge domestic and international pressure ordered the Department of Health in August to draw up a national treatment plan.
Last week Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said South Africa would spend $1.75 billion over the next three years on HIV/AIDS, with 1.9 billion rand earmarked for the roll-out of anti-retroviral drugs.
Tshabalala-Msimang said that within a year there would be at least one center distributing anti-retroviral drugs in each of South Africa's 50 or so health districts, rising to at least one in every one of over 250 local municipalities by 2009.
She added the government estimated more than 50,000 people could be getting the drugs in the first year of the program.
LOTS OF WORK AHEAD
She stressed that ARVS were only one prong of South Africa's AIDS strategy, saying more than half the government's AIDS budget would go to "upgrading health infrastructure, emphasizing prevention, and promoting healthy lifestyles."
The question of treatment had threatened to dominate the run-up to next year's general elections marking 10 years since the end of apartheid rule.
Mbeki himself long backed so-called "AIDS dissident" scientists who questioned the link between AIDS and HIV. He has since withdrawn from the public discussion over the disease.
Tshabalala-Msimang -- dubbed "Dr No" by the local media for previously rejecting calls for public ARV treatment -- said the government had finally approved a drug plan because of falling drug prices, increased experience in managing ARV treatment programs and expanded financial resources.
"So it has nothing to do with elections, it has absolutely everything to do with the capacity that we have," she said.
Mbeki's ruling African National Congress gave a grudging welcome to the plan.
"For too long, opportunists have used the AIDS epidemic and the suffering of our people as a political football. The government has correctly remained above the fray, consistently working instead to develop responses which are feasible and sustainable," the ANC said in a statement.
Activists were overjoyed by Tshabalala-Msimang's announcement, saying it marked a victory after years of pushing the government for action.
"I'm so excited regarding the plans produced today," Ntombozuko Khwaza, a provincial coordinator for the Treatment Action Campaign, a pressure group which has led public protests demanding ARV treatment.
"It will save the lives of our people, our friends and family -- and mine."
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