South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - December 18, 2002
A pronouncement by Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang that South Africa must be militarily prepared for a possible invasion by the United States is totally irresponsible , Afrikaner Eenheidsbeweging (AEB) leader Cassie Aucamp said on Wednesday. He was reacting to a report in a British newspaper, the Guardian,
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - December 12, 2002
An application to compel Correctional Services to hand over certain safe sex policy documents to a former Pollsmoor inmate who is suing them for R1,1-million was withdrawn in the Cape High Court on Thursday, SABC radio news reported. SABC said the application was withdrawn because the department had agreed to hand the
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - December 12, 2002
The government was coming round on the issue of providing anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) to people with HIV/Aids, former president Nelson Mandela said on Thursday. His upbeat assessment, during a visit to a pioneering treatment facility in Cape Town, coincided however with activists claims that the government is stalling
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - December 5, 2002
Former president Nelson Mandela said on Thursday that while South Africa was in the midst of a serious Aids epidemic, a study he commissioned on HIV prevalence showed changing sexual practices, especially amongst the youth. Although the report carefully analyses the situation, it also leaves us with hope that in the en
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - December 5, 2002
KwaZulu-Natal does not, as previously believed, have the highest HIV-Aids prevalence rate in the country, according to a new study. Former president Nelson Mandela released the report - South Africa s first ever nationally representative study of HIV prevalence - in Sandton today. Mandela, who has become a stalwart in
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - December 1, 2002
People should stop blaming and criticising government for the research it is conducting into the safety of anti-retrovirals use in Africa, former president Nelson Mandela said on Sunday in Bloemfontein. They (the government) are right in conducting the research, Mandela said, speaking at a World Aids Day event for trad
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - December 1, 2002
Visiting European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy, in a statement issued by the Delegation of the European Commission in South Africa , on Sunday called for all stakeholders able to influence the course of the Aids pandemic to join forces. Lamy, who made the call to mark World Aids Day on Sunday, said: To everyone affe
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - December 1, 2002
The government denied a media report on Sunday that an agreement had been reached at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) which could see antiretroviral treatment being made available in the public sector next year. Labour director-general Rams Ramashia said in a statement that although such a
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - October 10, 2002
A guide on the likely impact of HIV/Aids in the public service and how civil servants should respond to the pandemic will be launched by Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi on Thursday evening. The minister told reporters in Muldersdrift, outside Johannesburg the guide, titled Managing
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - October 5, 2002
The Partnership Against Aids has the capacity to garner support from all people in South Africa , Deputy President Jacob Zuma said at Langa near Cape Town on Saturday. Speaking at the start of the Partnership Against Aids week, he said the partnership launched by President Thabo Mbeki in October 1998, was a powerful we
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - October 5, 2002
The fight against the spread of HIV and Aids was one that needed a concerted effort from all sectors of society, Deputy President Jacob Zuma said in Parow near Cape Town on Saturday. Speaking at a Men s Imbizo aimed at highlighting the commitment by men to the struggle against the spread of the disease, he said the Par
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - October 4, 2002
The upcoming tour of South Africa by American jazz artist Michael Franks, as well as an HIV/Aids benefit concert in which he was the headline act, has been postponed after a dispute between the local promoter and the singer. Franks was due to appear at an International Jazz Against HIV/AIDS Concert at the Standard Bank
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - August 30, 2002
One of the reasons Aids was such a low priority at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) was possibly that it had to do with sex, and a lot of political leaders did not understand sex, UNAids ambassador Mechai Viravaidya said on Friday. Viravaidya, nicknamed Mr Condom in his home country
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - August 20, 2002
Financial institutions would stop unfair discrimination on various grounds, including HIV status, and access to financial services would be provided to poor South Africans, according to a declaration signed in the National Economic, Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) on Tuesday. In addition to the agreement, the f
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - August 20, 2002
The SA Medical Association has again urged the government to provide treatment in the public sector for all HIV/Aids sufferers. We have not changed our position, and neither has the Department of Health, Sama chairman Dr Kgosi Letlape said in a statement on Tuesday, a day after he met Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-M
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - August 16, 2002
The Medicines Control Council (MCC) says it is difficult to predict whether it will withdraw its approval of nevirapine for preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission. MCC registrar Precious Matsoso was speaking after a presentation on Friday to Parliament s health portfolio committee on the council s decision to revi
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - August 16, 2002
Former President Nelson Mandela on Friday reiterated his stance that anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) should be made available in the public sector. He did this in a statement issued to express his condolences to the family and specifically the four children of singer Anneline Malebo, who died in Cape Town on Wednesday nig
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - August 15, 2002
Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Thursday criticised mining giant Anglo American for committing government to the company s antiretroviral medicine programme without consultation. Briefing the media at Parliament, she said neither she nor the health department had been approached by Anglo regarding its pl
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - August 6, 2002
Western Cape premier Marthinus van Schalkwyk vowed on Tuesday that his provincial government would continue to use the anti-Aids drug Nevirapine to prevent the transmission of HIV from mothers to their unborn children. The province s government remained firmly committed to empowering men and especially women with the m
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - August 5, 2002
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) on Monday threatened to challenge the Medicines Control Council (MCC) in court if it decided to ban the anti-Aids drug, nevirapine. We haven t decided on an exact legal route yet but we will make sure that any reverse decision is heard. We re not going to quietly sit by if this is a
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - August 1, 2002
It seems that the busy schedules of former President Nelson Mandela and President Thabo Mbeki are delaying a meeting between the two to discuss the issue of anti-retroviral treatment for HIV sufferers. On Monday, Mandela formally requested a meeting with his successor on the matter. This followed Mandela s weekend talk
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - July 30, 2002
Almost a third of Lesotho s population is infected with HIV/Aids, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Maseru announced on Tuesday. The announcement was made during a workshop to determine how best to deal with HIV/Aids in the landlocked country. Lesotho s Aids Programme Co-ordinating Authority (LAPCA) ex
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - July 30, 2002
The number of new-born babies registered in South Africa last year grew by only 1,82 percent from 2000, Statistics SA reported on Tuesday. At the end of 2001, the figure stood at 1433432 compared to 1407833 a year earlier. University of SA demographer Carel van Aardt ascribed the dreadfully low increase partly to the
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - July 27, 2002
Former president Nelson Mandela is to take up the Treatment Action Campaign s call for antiretroviral therapy for people with HIV directly with President Thabo Mbeki. He made the announcement on Saturday after a meeting in Cape Town with TAC leader Zackie Achmat, who is himself HIV-positive, and who Mandela described a
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - July 25, 2002
Mining giant AngloGold on Thursday signed an agreement on HIV/Aids regulations in the workplace with five labour unions, the company said in a statement. AngloGold has a well-developed response to HIV/Aids, ranging from preventative management programmes to the provision of assistance to and treatment of those who are
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - July 25, 2002
President Thabo Mbeki s announcement Thursday that government will put the R600-million grant from the Global Fund to fight Aids awarded to a KwaZulu-Natal project into national coffers jeopardises the grant, the Democratic Alliance said on Thursday. The Global Fund s terms of reference require that it channel all mone
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - July 23, 2002
African first ladies established the Organisation of African First Ladies against HIV/Aids at a three-day summit in Geneva, a statement said on Tuesday. However, South African first lady Zanele Mbeki did not attend the event, presidential spokesman Bheki Khumalo told Sapa. Asked why she was not present, he replied: I
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - July 12, 2002
CAPE TOWN - Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang is not trying to block a R720-million grant from the United Nations Global Fund for Aids, intended for the prevention and treatment of the disease in KwaZulu-Natal, her ministry said on Friday. On Thursday this week, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) threatened
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - July 11, 2002
BARCELONA - The Treatment Action Campaign is threatening to bring an urgent court application to stop the government from blocking a R720-million grant from the United Nations Global Fund for Aids prevention, care and treatment in KwaZulu-Natal. Mark Heywood, the director of the AIDS Law Project, told a press conferenc
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - July 9, 2002
CAPE TOWN - A 40-minute HIV/Aids awareness video directed at the people in the workplace was launched by Pieter Dirk Uys, alias Evita Bezuidenhout, at the Cape Town Press Club at the Castle in Cape Town on Tuesday night. Uys had the Press Club in stitches when he launched the video entitled Having sex with Pieter-Dirk
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - July 9, 2002
PRETORIA - Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Tuesday rejected reports by an overseas newspaper quoting her as saying that anti-retroviral drugs were poisons killing our people . According to Tshabalala-Msimang the report was made by a Newsday reporter in Barcelona, Spain with whom she had a brief intervie
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - July 5, 2002
BARCELONA - The New Partnership for African Development (Nepad) did not get the support from the G8 it hoped for because it failed to adequately address HIV/Aids, said UNAids director Peter Piot on Friday. In an interview in Barcelona he said, This is the first time there has been a comprehensive plan for African devel
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - July 5, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - Both sides to the Constitutional Court dispute on the provision of nevirapine to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV were claiming victory on Friday night. Government said it accepted a judgment handed down earlier in the day, adding that the ruling confirmed its approach to the pandemic
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - July 5, 2002
CAPE TOWN - Aids activist Zackie Achmat has welcomed Friday s Constitutional Court ruling on antiretoviral (ARV) drugs, but says it will not change his personal decision not to take them. Achmat, who is ill and reportedly close to full-blown Aids, says he will not take ARVs until the government has begun to make them a
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - July 4, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - The Constitutional Court is expected to rule on Friday on the government s application for leave to appeal a high court order forcing it to provide nevirapine in state hospitals pending the outcome of another appeal. Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson recalled the court while it was in recess during April t
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - June 25, 2002
PARLIAMENT - Aids was officially the biggest killer in the public service, a fact government was loath to make public, Democratic Alliance public service spokesman Mike Waters said on Tuesday. Government was working on the assumption that nearly a quarter (250000) of all South African public servants would die as a res
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - June 24, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - Not treating HIV-positive people was more expensive than buying them medicine, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) said in Johannesburg on Monday. That s the thesis that our experts are testing and they are looking at hard figures to support it, TAC secretary Mark Heywood told reporters in Johannesburg.
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - June 21, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - The mother of a child who was denied admission at a private Johannesburg nursery school, allegedly because of her HIV status, has decided against sending the girl to the school for now. The Johannesburg High Court last Friday ordered the Buccleuch Montessori Nursery School to consider four-year-old Thola
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - June 14, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - A private nursery school accused of refusing to admit an HIV-positive child was ordered by the Johannesburg High Court on Friday to take steps that could lead to the child s enrolment. Judge Meyer Joffe said the child should be allowed to go through the normal assessment process followed by all children
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - June 2, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - The Nelson Mandela Children s Fund and the Department of Social Development will host a conference on children living with HIV/Aids in Midrand from Sunday to Wednesday, the organisers said in a statement. The event will be supported by the Health Department, the National Aids Children Task Team and Save
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - May 29, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - Former president Nelson Mandela has called on South Africa s traditional leaders to join the fight against Aids. Speaking at the Huhudi High School near Vryburg in North West Province on Wednesday, he urged a gathering of 250 traditional leaders to support and care for those infected and affected by Aids
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - May 29, 2002
The Health Department on Wednesday said it had reached agreement on protocols for the provision of antiretroviral drugs to rape survivors. This follows Health Minister Manto Tshabalala Msimang s announcement on April 17 that rape victims would be provided with anti-Aids drugs at public hospitals as soon as possible.
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - May 28, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - Deputy President Jacob Zuma spoke frankly with members of the disabled sector about their vulnerability to the Aids epidemic at conference in Kempton Park on Tuesday. He said that it was important for the disabled to be involved in the Aids campaigns that would culminate in the South African National Aid
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - May 28, 2002
PARLIAMENT - The inspecting judge of prisons, Judge Johannes Fagan, came in for a fair measure of criticism in the National Assembly s correctional services committee on Tuesday for his statements last week about the rate of HIV infection among prisoners. However, he was also praised for the good job he is doing as ins
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - May 21, 2002
PARLIAMENT - An estimated 6000 of the 10000 prisoners released from South African jails each month are HIV-positive, says Prisons Inspecting Judge Johannes Fagan. Briefing the National Assembly s correctional services committee on Tuesday, he said the situation was worsened, because HIV-positive prisoners leaving priso
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - May 16, 2002
PRETORIA - Staff at the Pretoria Academic Hospital on Thursday expressed relief at the inclusion of their institution in the government s pilot project for the provision of the anti-Aids drug nevirapine to HIV-positive pregnant women. It is very painful for us to see children dying on a nearly daily basis due to this d
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - May 14, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - The Gauteng health department is to provide anti-retrovirals to rape survivors before the end of the year, health MEC Gwen Ramagkopa said on Tuesday. We are a step closer to providing the drugs to rape survivors, she told the Gauteng legislature. On the recommendation of the World Health Organisation a c
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - May 8, 2002
PRET0RIA - An HIV-positive woman on Wednesday asked the Pretoria High Court for relief against the doctor she claims denied her the option of taking drugs to try and prevent her baby contracting Aids. The child was stillborn three years ago. She was deprived of the right to do whatever she could to prevent the transfer
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - May 6, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang lit a candle for people living with Aids at the launch of the 19th annual International Candlelight Memorial on Monday. This little light of mine, I m gonna let it shine... let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, the minister sang along with her colleagues atten
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - May 6, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - The Constitutional Court has reserved judgment in the State s appeal against a Pretoria High Court order that it roll out its anti-retroviral programmes. Those opposed to the government s view that the anti-retroviral drug nevirapine , which was registered in April 2001, should be used to prevent moth
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - May 3, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) on Friday accused the government, in argument before the Constitutional Court, of foot-dragging and vacillation on its anti-retroviral programme. Death is different, the TAC s senior counsel Gilbert Marcus said, arguing that there was not enough urgency in the state s
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - May 2, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - The two parties doing battle in the Constiutional Court on Thursday, the state and anti-Aids activists, agreed on one thing -- the issue at stake was one of life and death. Arguing for the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), Gilbert Marcus, SC, said the state s policy, at the time TAC took the government to
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - May 1, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - The government and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) will meet in court yet again on Thursday and Friday to get the final word on whether nevirapine should be provided at state hospitals to prevent mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV. The Constitutional Court will hear the appeal of Health M
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - April 25, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - The Congress of SA Trade Unions asked the government on Thursday to drop its Constitutional Court appeal against a High Court that it provide nevirapine to HIV-positive pregnant women in state hospitals. The appeal is set down for Thursday and Friday next week. We appeal to the government to drop it
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - April 22, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - Former president Nelson Mandela said on Monday he was relieved that the South African government had changed its policy on HIV/Aids. These are responsible people who could not allow babies to continue to die, Mandela said in Soweto where he was receiving a R150-million donation from an international phar
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - April 17, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - Political parties greeted Cabinet s decision on Wednesday to provide anti-retroviral drugs to sexual assault victims with mixed feelings. I cannot help but being a bit sceptical about the announcement, Pan Africanist Congress MP Patricia de Lille told Sapa. They have not announced any time frames... it m
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - April 16, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - The Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa) has applied to intervene as friends of the court in the Constitutional Court case between the government and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC). Idasa s constitutional analyst Thabani Masuku told Sapa on Tuesday afternoon the organisation wanted to enc
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - April 16, 2002
PRETORIA - A circular giving public hospitals and clinics the go-ahead to provide the anti-Aids drug nevirapine to HIV-positive pregnant women was being distributed on Tuesday, health authorities said. The document outlines the circumstances in which nevirapine can be prescribed, the required doses, and topics for pati
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - April 14, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - The Democratic Alliance on Sunday launched a plan that would see at least 10 percent of HIV-positive South Africans receive antiretroviral treatment. At present between 0,1 and 0,2 percent -- between 5000 and 10000 people -- got such treatment, said DA Aids spokeswoman Sandy Kalyan at the party s federal
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - April 10, 2002
STELLENBOSCH - Former president Nelson Mandela reiterated previous criticism of government s reluctance to roll-out the anti-retroviral nevirapine to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child. Individuals should be allowed to decide for themselves if they wanted to use Aids drugs, Mandela said at a dinner he
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - April 8, 2002
CAPE TOWN - The South African government s tragic stand on HIV/Aids was unlikely to affect United States financial aid for fighting the disease, a key US legislator said on Monday. Speaking during a tour of USAid projects in the Cape Town area, Congressman Jim Kolbe, chair of the appropriations subcomittee with oversig
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - April 5, 2002
PRETORIA - There was no clarity by Friday afternoon as to when the Health Department would issue a circular advising public hospitals and clinics of a Constitutional Court ruling that the anti-retroviral drug nevirapine be provided to HIV-positive pregnant women. Departmental spokeswoman Joanne Collinge said a draf
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - April 4, 2002
PRETORIA - The United States played down its differences with South Africa over the use of the anti-Aids drug nevirapine on Thursday, indicating that discussions on the matter were continuing. The partnership between the two countries in the fight against HIV-Aids re
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - April 4, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - The government will accept and respect the Constitutional Court ruling that anti-retrovirals be provided to HIV-positive pregnant mothers pending another court hearing, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said in a statement on Thursday night. This morning the Constitutional Court issued an interim
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - April 4, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - The UN deadline to halve Africa s poverty by 2015 would not be met as a result of the escalating Aids epidemic, ongoing conflicts and poor education and health systems, United Kingdom Secretary for State for International Development Clare Short said on Thursday. In September 2000 the UN General Assembly
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - April 4, 2002
CAPE TOWN - Former president Nelson Mandela on Thursday vowed to continue his campaign for greater access to free anti-Aids drugs in the public health system despite the African National Congress rejection of his views. He also unequivocally supported President Thabo Mbeki for a second term in office, saying he would n
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - April 3, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - The government s position that the anti-retroviral drug nevirapine was never to be prescribed by the public sector outside its pilot sites, even if there was capacity or the patient was prepared to pay, was untenable, the Constitutional Court heard on Wednesday. Senior counsel Gilbert Marcus, appeari
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - April 2, 2002
CAPE TOWN - South Africa s top judges will on Wednesday break a month-long recess in the latest round of litigation by the government challenging a high court order compelling it to provide nevirapine in state hospitals pending the outcome of another appeal. The Constitutional Court is in recess from April 1 to Apr
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - March 27, 2002
CAPE TOWN - Government would never refuse to implement a judgment of a South African court, Justice Minister Penuell Maduna said on Wednesday. We will implement all of them, even those court judgements that cause us some concerns, he said at the official opening of the revamped magistrate s court in Mitchell s Plain, C
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - March 27, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - Whether HIV-positive pregnant women attending state hospitals would receive the anti-retroviral nevirapine between now and when the Constitutional Court rules on the matter, was still uncertain on Wednesday. Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Misimang has not officially clarified whether she will comply wi
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - March 23, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Aid (Unaid) would continue supporting the use of nevirapine for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, despite irregularities found to have characterised the Ugandan study on the use of drug, the two organisations said on Saturday.
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - March 22, 2002
PRETORIA - The Treatment Action Campaign had no reason to believe that the Medicines Control Council would withdraw the registration of the anti-retroviral drug nevirapine , the Pretoria High Court heard on Monday. Gilbert Marcus, SC, for TAC, referred to a letter by the MCC to Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - March 22, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - There is no reason to stop prescribing the anti-retroviral drug nevirapine to prevent mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV, the United States s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAD) said on Friday. In a statement issued in Johannesburg, the institute -- part of the US s Nat
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - March 21, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Thursday said the government s response to Aids was based on the premise that HIV causes Aids. She made the statement at a rally at the Alexandra stadium in Johannesburg where the National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NAPWA) and other organisatio
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - March 20, 2002
JOHANNESBURG - The African National Congress on Wednesday reaffirmed its support for the government s policy on HIV/Aids. A report released at the party s headquarters in Johannesburg on the findings of its national executive committee meeting last weekend, said the policies and strategies in place were -- under the cu
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