Speech delivered by the MEC for Health and Welfare on the occasion of TCE/ Humana People to People Launch Bakenberg Community Hall

04 November 2004

Programme Director
Colleagues from the Legislature
District Mayor of Waterberg District Municipality
Mayor of Mogalakwena Local municipality
Kgoshi Mahlaba
Members of TCE/ Humana People- to- People Organisation
Ladies and Gentlemen

HIV and AIDS epidemic continues to present a major challenge to the country and the province.

The findings of the survey conducted by the Department of Health in 2003 to provide information on HIV and Syphilis prevalence among pregnant women attending antenatal care in the public sector estimates that in South Africa 5.6 million individuals have acquired the HIV infection, with women being the hardest hit (3.1 million)

Accordingly while the prevalence rates remain high the epidemic is beginning to stabilize and has not yet begun to decline.

In terms of prevalence among the various age cohorts, there has been a constant decline of prevalence among the teenagers (15. 8%) with the age-group 25-29 recording higher rates (34.4%)

The maturity of the epidemic varies across provinces. Our province remains the third lowest with a prevalence rate of 17. 5% as compared to the national figure of 27, 9%.

These figures require urgent intervention by everybody if the battle against the disease is to be won.

Government is increasingly strengthening and providing integrated and comprehensive health care services to mitigate the impact of the disease, which has the potential to undermine and reverse the human development gains across the country and the province.

Strategies such as the Comprehensive HIV and AIDS Care, Management and Treatment Plan, which is making a difference in the fight against the disease, need to be supported by all sectors to improve the health status of our people.

As part of implementing this programme government has accredited eight sites in our province, that is Mankweng, Polokwane, Mokopoane, St. Ritas, Mapulaneng, Letaba, Tshilidzini and Siloam Hospitals to provide treatment. The accreditation of these sites is a clear indication by government to commit and pump more resources in the infrastructure needed for universal access to services to deal with the scourge comprehensively.

More resources are still needed to help meet the other challenges that range from the filling of posts, installation of information systems and improvement in reporting to the marketing of this service in order to holistically respond to the challenge.

At the same time, and consistent with the Comprehensive HIV and AIDS Care, Management and Treatment of HIV and AIDS, we are raising to higher levels, large scale media, information and education campaign, tailored specifically to vulnerable groups.

It is the view of government that, HIV and AIDS, besides being a health care concern, is also a human development issue which suggest that economic development is the cornerstone for expanding people’s choices. People need decent levels of educations, health and income to have real choices.

Government will therefore proceed with its plan to eradicate poverty and create more jobs.

Part of this plan is to extend the reach of government’s social security services to cover all the intended beneficiaries. This programme is proving to be one of the most tangible poverty alleviation programmes.

At the same time, through the Expanded Public Works Programme government will attempt to increase and transfer income and skills to the poor.

Combined, these two programmes have the potential to alleviate poverty and free our people from ignorance and suspicion that the epidemic was met with, for quite sometime.

The core of our plan to mitigate the effects of HIV and AIDS remain prevention of infection, aimed at changing sexual behaviour and promotion of healthy lifestyles, encouraging delayed engagement of sexual activity among the youth, controlling and treating opportunistic and infectious diseases, expanding VCT campaign, widespread and consistent use of condoms and caring for those infected.

At the centre of this campaign to totally control and roll back the epidemic is a partnership, because the effects of the epidemic manifest themselves in a multitude of ways.

At a social level, the epidemic feeds on and exacerbates social marginalisation, poverty, stigma and intolerance.

Economically HIV and AIDS attack the human capital leading to more cases of absenteeism from work and low levels of productivity.

As a health issue, the disease is a cofactor of other diseases. It attacks the body’s immune system with fatal consequences. As a result it reduces life expectancy and quality of life while exhausting our scarcely funded public health systems. In fact the disease is pushing our systems to limits they have not yet faced.

HIV and AIDS breeds insecurity and reduce the capacity of the security agencies to fulfil their mandates.

While our public health and welfare systems must be at the core of any response to HIV and AIDS, addressing the behavioural and other socio-economic factors that determine the vulnerability of our people requires coordinated actions by many individuals and organisations, directed towards a common goal.

Our province is characterised as rural and therefore harbours the fastest growing rates of infection. This presents more challenges in terms of reaching out to more people

The partnership of grassroots organisations such as Total Control of the Epidemic (TCE) and Humana People to People will therefore add value in terms of reaching out to the majority of our people.

As government we have noted with appreciation that having started in June 2003, the organisation has already reached approximately 50 000 people drawn from learners, workers, farm workers, children, youth, sex workers and truck drivers.

Some of the campaigns that were initiated like door-to-door are challenging while at the same time effective. Talk shows and rallies add value though they are possibly not as effective as door – to- door.

Taken together the success of these campaigns confirms the strategic importance of grassroots organisations in the fight to roll back the epidemic.

In fact the absence of these much-needed representatives of civil society constitutes a major institutional gap in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

As government we must remove all the red tape and barriers that are preventing the rapid development of the NGO’s wishing to work in the area of HIV and AIDS and other fields like TB.

Government will continue to support and cooperate with the private sector, NGO’s, Faith-based Organisations and people living with HIV and AIDS and make use of their experience and advice in formulating and implementing prevention and care policies.

Actually working with people living with HIV and AIDS in designing and implementing appropriate responses is critical to better outcomes.

Together we must step up our campaign and lobby capacities to promote cooperation between local and multinational pharmaceutical companies to increase production and affordability of generic antiretroviral drugs.

We must and we will continue to create open and inclusive environment where comprehensive, multisectoral programmes and innovative partnerships to help built trust and reduce the stigma of HIV and AIDS, so as to turn back the tide of the epidemic.

Already the partnership is finding expression in the form of the work that our partners – ABSA, NDA, Land Bank, Spoornet and TCE are doing to turn the tide against the disease.

However there is an urgent need by all our partners to ensure that we build in some form of impact assessment on the extent to which these partnerships are changing the lives of our people for the better.

Building the conditions for change requires information, leadership and inclusion. It requires action across all sectors – civil society, businesses, government and religious organisations. Through this partnership victory is within reach.

Thank you.

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