Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - October 22, 2006
Brett Horner
Dr Vanga Siwisa, a Gauteng doctor who single-handedly set up the first antiretroviral (ARV) clinic in Taung, has been credited with saving the lives of many HIV sufferers there who, without his determination, might have succumbed.
Recognising the dire lack of medical experts in the public sector, Siwisa sacrificed his comfortable lifestyle and busy practice in Randfontein to establish the outpost clinic at Taung Hospital.
His efforts have not gone unnoticed. The 65-year-old has won the prestigious Pierre Jacques Rural Doctor of the Year award from the Rural Doctors' Association of South Africa.
Dr Elma de Vries, a member of the association's executive committee, who also chaired the annual award's selection panel, said Siwisa's story stood out among the other entrants.
"Here was a city GP realising there was a need for doctors to help with the ARV roll-out in rural areas. As an older doctor who didn't study ARVs in medical school, there were a lot of things he had to go learn."
Siwisa's selfless act prompted a stinging rebuke from Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge to the government's - and her own department's - dithering over the distribution of ARVs. Commending Siwisa on the award at a conference on rural health in Empangeni in August, Madlala-Routledge deviated from her prepared speech and stunned delegates, saying: "The time for denialism is over. Each of us has to act and act decisively."
Siwisa recalled the deputy minister's words, but declined to discuss the government's controversial attitude towards HIV and Aids, citing department protocols.
"Let's just say I saw too many people dying from the disease and I thought I would be able to help," he said.
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