Motion with Notice: Government must review HIV/Aids policy
African Christian Democratic Party MP (NCOP) Kent Durr

5 June 2003

The House notes:

That the HIV/AIDS pandemic is South Africa's worst crises as government has an inadequate treatment plan;

The government's flawed policies to fight the disease have contributed to the erosion of the socio-economic stability of the nation;

That government policy decisions have given rise to scandals such as Sarafina; the Virodene embarrassment, an international HIV/Aids summit held in Durban, to ascertain whether HIV leads to Aids, elevating the views of dissidents as infallible and refusing to make antiretroviral drugs available and especially procrastinating regarding prevention of mother to child transmissions and rape victims.

Therefore calls on government to:

§ Review its HIV/Aids policy in the light of the current 12% (estimated 5 million people) of South Africans living with HIV/Aids, estimated to increase to 17% in 2006 and between 600 and 1600 people estimated to be dying daily of aids related illnesses;
§ Speedily implement provision of antiretroviral treatment to Aids patients;
§ Form partnerships with NGO's and CBO's utilising their expertise and proven track record in working with HIV/Aids patients;
§ Fund NGO training programmes, that already have adequate infrastructure and personnel, to train our nurses and other health workers to effectively treat Aids patients,
§ Improve relations with health workers and to listen to their remonstrations on the whole question of Aids treatment;
§ Declare a health state of emergency with notification, tracing, and compulsory testing going hand in hand with antiretroviral treatment.



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For more information: Kent Durr MP (NCOP) at 021 403 3519
Media Liaison: Charmaine Horne at 084 370 3550 or 021 403 3307