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Special report on a decade of democracy - HIV/AIDS
IRIN PlusNews. 09 April 2004. Republished courtesy of IRIN PlusNews.
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In May 1994, a month after being sworn in as the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC) drew up a National Health Plan, with technical assistance from the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Children's Fund.
The plan dealt at length with HIV/AIDS, pointing out that, "In view of the devastating implications of the epidemic for South Africa, it is mandatory to define prevention and control interventions, plus comprehensive care for those already infected, within the context of the Bill of Rights."
The ANC called for the development and implementation of an effective HIV/AIDS strategy by the end of 1995. Only now, a decade later, is a comprehensive treatment plan being rolled out.
By the end of 2002, an estimated 5.3 million South Africans, in a population of more than 42 million, were infected with the virus.
As a result of HIV/AIDS, the South African Bureau for Economic Research predicted in 2001 that growth would decrease by half a percent for each year through to 2015, production costs could rise by up to 2.3 percent annually, and prime interest rates could increase to 2.9 percent per year between 2002 and 2015.
According to the Bureau, by 2015, South Africa's total labour force would decrease by 21 percent, including a 16.8 percent decline in highly skilled workers, a 19.3 percent drop in skilled workers and a 22.2 percent decrease in semi-skilled and unskilled workers.
Not only the work force is being affected: a recent survey revealed that one in every five young South Africans aged between 15 and 24 are infected, with the epidemic disproportionately affecting women. The study, conducted by the University of the Witwatersrand's Reproductive Health Research Unit, found that nearly one in four women aged 20 to 24 were testing HIV positive, compared to one in 14 men of the same age. By the age of 22, one in four South African women has HIV.
The ANC had a "sound policy in place regarding its approach to HIV/AIDS. Unfortunately, other priority needs, such as education, diverted our resources, and then the subsequent confusion about the causal link between HIV and AIDS delayed the process towards treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS," Sadiq Kariem, the secretary of the ANC's health secretariat, told IRIN.
Critics point the finger of blame over the delays and "confusion" at President Thabo Mbeki and his willingness to listen to the views of AIDS dissidents.
In 1994, with Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma at the helm of the health ministry, access to cheaper AIDS drugs was a priority. She moved for the amendment of the Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act, allowing compulsory licensing that would enable the government to use a patent without the consent of the patent-holder in certain cases, and parallel imports, which meant the government could shop around for patented drugs at cheaper prices from foreign suppliers of antiretrovirals (ARVs), rather than sourcing them from the manufacturer's local subsidiary. The legislation came into effect in 1997.
The Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association (PMA) challenged the amendment in court.
That year saw the emergence of the AIDS activist group, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC). "Realising the need to lobby for cheaper (ARVs), TAC was formed in November 1998," recalled Mazibuko Jara, the organisation's spokesperson at the time. TAC stood with the government in the court case.
The organisation led a series of demonstrations outside several pharmaceutical companies that were party to the lawsuit. The PMA acquired an interdict in 1998, preventing the government from implementing the amended act until the court case had been resolved.
"Dlamini-Zuma was a people's minister - her priority was to provide access to cheaper medicines. She came to our meetings, wanted to attend our demonstrations - we worked together," said Jara.
The trial dragged on for three years. In the meantime, power at the health ministry changed hands after the second general election in 1999. Dlamini-Zuma moved on to take charge of the foreign affairs portfolio, with Manto Tshabalala-Msimang replacing her at the health ministry.
The relationship between TAC and the government began to deteriorate during that period, said Jara. "The president's [Mbeki] views on HIV/AIDS had become known by then. The government began dragging its feet on the court case involving the amendment to the Medicines Act - it was no longer a priority," he pointed out.
So TAC began lobbying the pharmaceutical companies nationally and internationally, sparking a series of global demonstrations. "The entire world community was watching the court case now," said Jara.
The full report can be downloaded on the righthand side of this page.
This item is delivered to the English Service of the United Nations' Humanitarian Information Service but, may not necessarily reflect the views of the UN |
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