JOHANNESBURG--The South African
government was criticized for providing inadequate
support in the fight against HIV/AIDS during a presentation
held by The Greens/European Free Alliance (EFA) at
the WSSD Civil Society Global Forum.
"The South African
government is not prepared to allow the production of generic anti-retroviral
drugs within the country," said Dr. Costa Gazi, Secretary of Health for
the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania. "The government is reluctant to
allow even the import of generic drugs that combat AIDS." He added, "Thabo
Mbeki has admittedly turned his back on those who cannot pay for healthcare."
One in nine South
Africans is infected with HIV, and between 70,000 and 100,000 babies are
born HIV-positive each year in the country.
Doctors and activists
have continually condemned the South African government for its lack of support
for preventative initiatives. Anti-retroviral drugs are largely unavailable
in state clinics, and pregnant mothers did not receive nevirapine until South
Africaís constitutional court ruled against the governmental policy
denying administration of the drug in July 2002. Nevirapine has been shown
to reduce the transmission of the virus from mother to infant significantly.
"The national government wants to avoid the expense of paying for antiretroviral
drugs," said Dr. Gazi. He then suggested that it would rather use those
funds to build up the military and repay debt accrued during the apartheid
regime.
The head of the National Health Department's HIV and STD program, Dr. Nono
Simelela, was absent from the presentation and was unavailable to rebut criticism
of the government.
In the past, South
Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki has openly questioned the link between HIV
(human immunodeficiency virus) and AIDS.
Only recently has
he changed his position publicly in an interview published in April by Independent
Newspapers, South Africaís largest newspaper publisher.
Former president Nelson Mandela has also been critical of his predecessor's
HIV policies and has consulted with experts who disagree with Mbeki's view
that anti-retroviral drugs do more harm than good. Just this week Mandela revealed
that three young members of his family had succumbed to AIDS in the Eastern
Cape. This Sunday, Mandela confirmed reports by local newspapers that his 22-year-old
niece and two sons of his nephew had died from AIDS.
Dismayed by Mbeki
and the government's stance on HIV, EFA and European Parliament member Rod
Didier said, "Aid should not go through the South African government,
which may block it." While the European Union is sympathetic to South
Africaís HIV problem, Didier suggested that funds be used to directly
support grass roots efforts to fight HIV--such as those run by the Harvard
AIDS Institute and Medicins Sans Frontieres--bypassing state controls.
|
