Taking action - community perspectives at the SA AIDS Conference 2003

HIVAN's "eyes and ears" were active at the SA AIDS Conference held in Durban during August this year, particularly in networking with grassroots organisations who staked their claim at the gathering through presentations, display stands, informal discussion and general sharing of materials and ideas.

Nhlanhla Ndlovu from IDASA's Budget Information Service works in the area of HIV/AIDS and public finance. He presented recent research findings on provincial government's HIV/AIDS spending, showing that there has been improvement in the delivery of funds to community level over the last two years, although underspending is still an issue. He described the challenges faced by local government structures in this regard, and outlined the policies being developed to overcome these in the future.

To gather this information, IDASA researchers interviewed finance division officials from the Departments of Health, Social Development and Education. It became clear that, although more money had been made available by national government and had found its way to community structures during 2002 and 2003, the key problems obstructing roll-out were:

1) the rigid procedures of the "Conditional Grant" system of funding, and
2) lack of management skills within treasury sections.

Heads of provincial departments are now strategising to deliver the available funds more efficiently to those in need.

Other studies featured at the Conference examined the problems experienced by public sector healthcare workers in the face of the epidemic, the legal rights of people living with HIV and AIDS, the progress of research on vaccine trials, community participation in HIV/AIDS research, and access to anti-retroviral treatment.

In their presentations, the scientific community and civil society representatives described their achievements, setbacks and ongoing search for solutions in stemming the tide of the epidemic.

There was a strong focus on cost issues relating to the provision of housing and food, to poverty alleviation and to Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT). The fact that the researchers and government officials attending the Conference were grappling with practical measures to deal with these issues, rather than merely talking about their importance, showed that there is growing and genuine commitment to achieving results across all sectors.

Of particular interest was a report given on the Yabonga Children's Project, an encouraging example of a multi-layered approach to empowerment for HIV-positive women. The need to provide skills-training and access to support groups for infected mothers was identified in order to save babies from being abandoned or orphaned, and to uplift communities in general.

During 2002 and 2003, 70 HIV-positive mothers were trained as patient treatment advocates, who, once graduated, would be able to serve as advisors and monitors of anti-retroviral treatment programmes.

These women will assist primary healthcare teams in the care of large groups of patients in their communities. The project is run by volunteers, so the programme costs are low, and the spread of information and skills to a wider range of stakeholders is assured. Income generation is enabled through ongoing skills-training, and some graduates have joined other agencies as paid workers.

For more information about the Yabonga Children's Project, contact:
Dr Ursel Berlin (Co-director)
Private Bag X1, Mowbray, Cape Town 7705
No 2 Main Road, Wynberg, Cape Town 7800
Tel: (021) 761 2940
Fax: (021) 761 3407

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