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Statement by African delegates at the National HIV/AIDS Treatment Congress
TAC
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We as people living with HIV/AIDS, and as activists working to the betterment of the quality of lives of people living with HIV and AIDS have been privileged to attend the joint Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and COSATU congress on Access to treatment in Durban, South Africa taking place from 27-29 June 2002.
AIDS is managing to undo almost all of the progress that we, as African countries, have been able to achieve in the time since independence. AIDS is robbing our countries of its most productive citizens. It is depriving our children of mothers and fathers; it is decimating the structure of our societies. Parents are now burying their children. We have the strong understanding that there will be no African Renaissance without a consistent full-scale confrontation with the epidemic.
The most effective strategy to the alleviation of misery and suffering this virus has brought to our beloved countries is to provide access to treatment for those who are in need. For years now, most of us have been told that this is not feasible and affordable. People are dying when they could be kept alive. This is no longer acceptable, and we can no longer stand by and watch the painful destruction of our collective societies by this virus. Our different countries are in different stages of development in the battle, but together, we can learn from each other and support each other in our various endeavors on access to treatment whilst mindful of the holistic approach needed to triumph over this disease.
We support the progress made by TAC in such a short period of time. Furthermore, we have learnt an extraordinary amount from the tenacity displayed by TAC and their refusal to stand by and watch people die. We believe that there is nothing to stop us from joining the treatment access campaign embarked upon by our South African comrades and saving as many lives as possible in our collective African countries.
We are calling for a partnership promoting increased and urgent access to treatment in Africa, to share experiences on successful initiatives and to provoke a turnaround in the fight against the epidemic. This is a fight that cannot and will not be lost! A gathering will be organized in the near future to strategize on a continental access to treatment campaign. Treat the people now, HIV/AIDS spares nobody!
Contact Winstone Zulu (at [email protected]) or Tenu Avafia ([email protected]) for more information on this initiative. Kindly sign this statement as an expression of solidarity. |
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