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Government to decide on phased rollout of ARV's
Christelle Terblanche. 08 August 2003. Cape Times. Republished courtesy of Independent Newspapers (Pty) Ltd.
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The cabinet is set to adopt the report of the joint task team on enhanced anti-retroviral treatment on Friday and will most likely decide on the phased release of the drugs at pilot public healthcare facilities.
Sources close to the cabinet said on Thursday that the long-awaited decision would be taken at a special cabinet meeting on Friday, when ministers and deputy ministers discuss the report, which has become a focus of civil disobedience and opposition outrage.
A cabinet decision would also end a week of high drama at South Africa's first national AIDS conference in Durban, where Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane severely reprimanded the government and called on it to speed up treatment of the pandemic.
In a separate development, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Thursday gave the thumbs-up to anti-retroviral treatment, indicating that the cabinet would respond positively to the report on Friday.
Tshabalala-Msimang said in a statement to Independent Newspapers: "Anti-retroviral drugs can help improve the condition of people living with AIDS when administered at certain stages in the progression of the condition in accordance with international standards."
She said these standards included appropriate infrastructure, capacity to safely administer and monitor the effects of the drugs and patient compliance. "Appropriate support systems and a caring environment are critical for the success of such a programme and our constitution dictates that public health services should be accessible to all," she said.
"I am confident that, as cabinet processes the report of the task-team, necessary consideration will be given to the amount of work and resources needed to strengthen the overall capacity of the health sector. We must all ensure that in spite of the magnitude of the problem, human rights are respected."
Reliable sources said her statement suggested the cabinet was likely to release the drugs cautiously through pilot sites. The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) recently decided to go back to civil disobedience and to proceed with litigation because the government was dragging its feet over the task team's report.
TAC spokesperson Nathan Geffen said late on Thursday that they wanted to proceed by sending "a legal letter of demand to the government to find out when they intend to roll out".
"If their answer is satisfactory, there will be no reason for us to proceed with litigation and civil disobedience," Geffen said.
"We hope that, after the finding of the global fund agreement and the conciliatory speech by (KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC) Dr Zwele Mkize on behalf of the minister, the conflict with government can be resolved."
Tshabalala-Msimang also welcomed the outcome of the Durban conference. She said it had brought to the fore the negative effects of poor communication between the parties involved.
"It highlighted the need for continuous interaction between the government and various stakeholders with a common purpose of intensifying our efforts against this major challenge," she said.
She said the discussion on anti-retrovirals had caused "unnecessary animosity and undermined possibilities for extended joint efforts in many other sectors". |
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