Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
health, Manto tshabalala-Msimang, authorised the delivery of antiretroviral drugs to
public hospitals only in 2004, years behind many of its neighbours, including Zambia
and botswana. the sacking of the deputy minister of health by Mbeki in august
2007 was a further indication of what is tragically going wrong with South africa's
lacklustre and often disappointing approach to tackling the HIv/aIDS pandemic.
critics contend that the deputy minister was punished for her outspoken criticism
of the state's controversial HIv/aIDS policy regarding art and the unorthodox
attitudes toward AIDS among certain government officials, including the president.
Mbeki and tshabalala-Msimang have been criticised for questioning the link
between the HIv virus and aIDS and the extent to which the disease has spread in
South africa. on a number of occasions, they argued that the championing of art
by pharmaceutical companies was a ploy to maximise profits, while the safety and
effectiveness of these drugs were questionable. Mbeki emphasised prevention as the
main driver behind the government's aIDS policy. Meanwhile, tshabalala-Msimang
was known as 'Dr. beetroot' for her suggestion that HIv patients eat beetroot and
garlic as substitutes to ART, the efficacy of which she questioned on more than one
occasion. at the 2006 International aIDS conference in toronto, food products such
as beetroot and garlic were displayed prominently on the country's exhibition stand.
widespread criticism by the event managers and reporters prompted the minister of
health to add art to the display.
Domestically, the treatment action campaign, a South african organisation
founded by the HIv-positive activist Zackie achmat in 1998 to advocate for the
rights of HIv-positive people in the country, condemned the government for its slow
response. achmat publicised the situation by refusing to take art himself until it
was distributed to all HIv-positive patients around the country.
on the international front, Stephen lewis (2006), in one of his last speeches as
Un Special envoy for HIv/aIDS in africa, said that:
South africa is the unkindest cut of all. It is the only country in africa … whose
government is still obtuse, dilatory and negligent about rolling out treatment. It is the
only country in africa whose government continues to propound theories more worthy
of a lunatic fringe than of a concerned and compassionate state … I'm of the opinion that
they can never achieve redemption.
the government's decision to administer art to HIv patients was made possible
following a court battle in which pharmaceutical companies such as GlaxoSmithKline
agreed to allow low-cost generic versions of their drugs to be produced in the country.
This allowed South Africa to become one of the first African states to produce its
own low-cost HIv/aIDS drugs. although the decision to administer art was widely
applauded both domestically and internationally, many have since expressed their
disappointment about the slow pace at which these drugs have been made available
to HIv-positive patients and the low number of people who actually received them
as part of the government's aIDS programme. although the government's 2003 plan
aimed to put more than 381 177 HIv-positive people on a generic art cocktail by
