Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
South African Press Association - November 17, 2006
In an article on the African National Congress's (ANC) website on Friday, she called for the country's citizens to use World Aids Day on December 1 to join hands against the pandemic.
The need for strengthening partnerships in response to HIV and Aids could not be overemphasised.
"The process of reviewing the South African National Aids Council as the expression of our multi-sectoral response to HIV and Aids is being capably coordinated by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
"The magnitude of our social challenges and the scarcity of resources available to us as a developing nation require that we rise above sectarian interests and complement each other in improving the lives of the people of South Africa," she said.
Tshabalala-Msimang reiterated the importance of nutrition in fighting HIV /Aids, particularly in Africa.
The government and the ANC had faced severe attacks in their efforts to ensure that the global response to HIV and Aids took into consideration the peculiar challenges facing the African continent.
"We were all expected to follow the route taken by developed countries of the North in responding to HIV and Aids. For them, the challenge of HIV and Aids has been perceived as a problem affecting marginalised communities such as immigrants, men who have sex with men and injecting drug users," she said.
With more resources at their disposal and more sophisticated social and health systems, antiretroviral drugs -- which were introduced into the market at a very high price -- became the main element of the response of the developed world.
In under-developed Africa on the other hand, HIV and Aids was affecting the general population. The continent had very weak health and social systems and limited resources to meet the needs of its populations.
They faced social challenges including unemployment and lack of access to basic services, such as water, sanitation, education and housing. Even before HIV infection, their health was already compromised by poor nutrition and a lack of access to basic health services.
"Nutrition is critical in prolonging progression from HIV infection to development of Aids-defining conditions. It is also critical in enhancing the effectiveness of medical treatment.
"Unfortunately, others chose to interpret this simple and straight-forward statement as suggesting that nutrition might be an alternative to treatment. It is not," she said.
As a result, through reductions in the prices of drugs, the increase in social budget allocation and the improvement in the capacity of the health system through a number of policy interventions, the government added antiretroviral therapy to a series of interventions that now constituted the comprehensive plan.
Tshabalala-Msimang, presently recuperating from a lengthy stay in hospital, also claimed there had been an attempt to oust her.
"[M]y illness was portrayed as an opportunity to turn others into champions of a campaign to rid our government of the so-called 'HIV and Aids denial[ists] at the highest level'," she said.
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