Treatment Action Campaign

The Southern African HIV Clinicians Society has written a letter to the Minister of Health about the delay in the registration of antiretrovirals by the Medicines Control Council. TAC endorses it.

       

Vuyiseka Dubula-Majola, TAC General Secretary
Thembilihle Dlamini-Ngcoya, TAC Acting Deputy General Secretary
Nonkosi Khumalo, TAC Chairperson
 

TAC is concerned about the lack of human and financial resources to meet universal access targets and the international trend away from funding HIV/AIDS programmes. Over the next two weeks TAC’s female leadership will be involved in a number of international activities to ensure that meeting universal access targets remain a global priority.

The Budget and Expenditure Monitoring Forum (BEMF), which draws together individuals and organisations from civil society, academia, government, organised labour and business, focuses attention on ensuring that sufficient money is budgeted for and appropriately spent on meeting the treatment and prevention targets of the national HIV & AIDS and STI Strategic Plan for South Africa 2007-2011 (NSP) as well as for health more broadly. BEMF held its first meeting on 21 August 2009.

BEMF’s second meeting, which was held in Johannesburg on 5 February 2010, drew together over 40 people from 19 organisations, including legal experts, clinicians, economists, government officials, epidemiologists and trade union and civil society activists. The agenda focused on the upcoming antiretroviral (ARV) drug tender and the need to ensure that it is structured and run in a manner that enables the state to procure an adequate supply of appropriate medicines at the lowest possible prices.

By Vuyiseka Dubula, General Secretary of the Treatment Action Campaign

President Zuma’s leadership on AIDS needs some constructive scrutiny. However, we do not want to impose moral judgements on people, especially on their private matters. Many of the responses to the President's actions have been hysterical and self-righteous. But the President is not just any person. People look to him to set an example. In a country without a serious HIV epidemic, it might be arguable that his extra-marital affairs are for him and his family alone to resolve. But South Africa has the world's largest HIV epidemic. The President holds the highest office in South Africa and therefore there are high expectations of him, as a leader, as an elder and as a role model.

 

HIV, TB and Malaria continue to be the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in Sub-Saharan Africa. The region remains home to 62% of global HIV infections and 72% of global AIDS mortality - mainly amongst women and children. It is estimated that there are 33.4 million people living with HIV. Most of them continue to face illness and death if they are unable to access treatment.

South Africa remains the epicenter of the epidemic. The country has 28% of the global population of people with dual HIV/TB. South Africa has a maturing HIV epidemic, mainly driven by heterosexual sex, multiple concurrent sexual partnerships, intergenerational sex and mother to child (vertical) transmission. HIV prevention strategies are not succeeding in cutting the number of new HIV infections – largely because they are unfocused, lack resources, and lack full and ongoing political commitment.

In South Africa and across Sub-Saharan Africa there are visible signs that we will not meet the targets of achieving universal access to treatment by the end of 2010. Universal access targets were agreed to by G8 members and, subsequently, heads of states and governments at the 2005 UN World Summit. The main reason why we are not meeting the targets is due to a lack of committed national and international leadership to prevent and treat HIV.

TAC believes that civil society must remain vigilant and monitor the implementation of HIV/AIDS plans across the region.

President Jacob Zuma made a commitment to HIV and AIDS treatment in December 2009 when he announced the new HIV and AIDS policy stipulating that the provision of treatment to TB co-infected patients, infants and pregnant women will now be available up to a CD4 count of 350. As of end of September 2009, the health HIV and AIDS conditional grant has commendably supported a massive enrollment of AIDS patients on the ARV treatment (ART) programme, with a cumulative number of more than 920 000 patients initiated on the treatment. This marks a 91 per cent increase of patients enrolled on the ART programme from the 483 084 patients enrolled by April 2008. Budget 2010 released on the 17 February 2010 has progressively added new funds amounting to R3 billion to fund the president‟s new policy and to sustain existing programmes and projects in the 2010/11 – 2012/13 medium term, and to support the increase of AIDS patients receiving ARVs to 2.1 million by 2012/13 . Of concern though, is the lack of increasing commitment to prevention interventions, without which the treatment needs and costs will continue to increase.

TAC is pleased with the additional funds that will be made available for HIV programmes and that government is projecting to meet the target of the HIV&AIDS and STI Strategic Plan (2007-2011) (NSP).

However in order to ensure that money is effectively spent and the policy is properly implemented, the Department of Health must develop the capacity of the provincial Departments of Health to effectively budget for the provision of health services.

Further government must improve the monitoring and evaluation of its Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) and Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programmes so that it can more accurately budget for drug procurement of the programmes.

Finally TAC is concerned about a projected decline in funding for TB which remains the leading cause of death of people living with HIV.

         

TAC Lusikisiki distributed 60 800 during Condom Week in the Flagstaff CBD. Condoms were supplied by the Department of Health and distributed in support of Ingquza Local AIDS Council on 9 February.
Condom week, held every February, was initiated by the Local AIDS Council to distribute condoms in the area. TAC Lusikisiki also distributes condoms throughout the year for the Department of Health through its Prevention and Treatment Literacy Practioner and Community Health Advocate programmes.
Target locations for condom distribution included: bargain wholesalers, uNcedo and border taxi ranks, hair salons, clinics, garages , driving schools, B & B’s and bus ranks.
 

American leaders are currently discussing the future of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, PEPFAR. Global health activists and experts have warned that these discussions could lead to reduced funding for, and threaten the autonomy of, PEPFAR in a period of declining donor interest in HIV/AIDS.

In order for South Africa and many other countries to reach universal access, a commitment endorsed by the United States, PEPFAR will need to continue to expand funding for HIV.
 

       

 

On 10 December 2010 (International Human Rights Day) TAC had the honour of accepting the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Human Rights Award. TAC Chairperson, Nonkosi Khumalo, and Lusikisiki District Coordinator, Noloyiso Nthamehlo, accepted the award on behalf of TAC. To see photos of the awards cermony click here.

To hear the audio interview with Nonkosi Khumalo please click here.