Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - December 1, 2002
Labour director-general Rams Ramashia said in a statement that although such a proposal had been made at Nedlac, negotiations on the issue had not been completed.
"While it is true that organised labour and community constituency have placed a proposal to this effect, the announcement is premature as parties are still negotiating the text which would (be) finalised by members of the task team, be presented to their respective principals for obtaining the necessary mandate," the statement read.
The Sunday Independent newspaper reported that last-minute negotiations at Nedlac had culminated in a deal between the government, unions, religious leaders, community organisations and Aids activists which could see antiretroviral triple therapy being made available in the public sector sometime next year.
It said no deadlines had been set for the provision of the anti-Aids drugs to people living with the virus. However, there was an agreement that the parties who brokered the Nedlac deal would return to negotiations next year, once a report by the departments of health and finance on the affordibility of antiretrovirals had been completed.
New discussions would then be held on the logistical aspects of providing triple therapy to the estimated 4,7 million South Africans living with HIV.
The newspaper quoted Nedlac executive director Philip Dexter as saying: "It looks like we have reached an agreement.
"It's subject to some modification, such as detailed wording, but the principles are all agreed."
The Nedlac document is reportedly an all-encompassing agreement that deals with everything from prevention programmes to medication to goals for the reduction of the country's HIV prevalence rate.
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