Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
third, as the prevalence of HIv continues to rise in a number of southern african
countries, more and more lives will be lost to the virus over the next decade. It is
now projected that more than 16 million people will be infected by 2015, which,
according to UnaIDS, is up from the previous estimate of 14.5 million (UnaIDS
2008). as more people become infected, it is widely expected that the number of
cases that develop into aIDS in the region each year will ultimately rise. UnaIDS
expects that there will be up to 1.6 million new cases annually in South africa by
2015, which is up from 0.8 million in 2000. this will take a heavy toll on economic
and social structures, already severely weakened by, among many other factors, the
onslaught of the disease.
Fourth, there is consensus among nGos and international health organisations
that Zimbabwe's response to the aIDS crisis has been relatively effective, given
the country's huge economic and other social problems. with HIv prevalence in
Zimbabwe declining—albeit slowly—among a large number of age groups as a
result of the acceleration of prevention and treatment programmes in recent years,
the country seems to be on the path to controlling the spread of the disease, at least
in the short term. this was made possible by the implementation of a comprehensive
national policy on HIv/aIDS. this policy was characterised by a participatory
approach that provided ample scope for involvement by all sectors of society
and resulted in a consensus policy adopted and implemented by all stakeholders,
including nGos, business, community leaders, and government. However, it remains
questionable whether the government can sustain all the progress that was made given
the economic meltdown and other difficulties that the country is now facing.
Fifth, South africa has more people infected with HIv/aIDS than any other
country on earth. It continues to face acute problems in responding effectively to
the epidemic that has affected the lives of millions of its people. For a long time, the
government resisted efforts to provide art to the millions of HIv-positive people
who desperately needed such therapy. Meanwhile ambiguous statements made by
thabo Mbeki when he was president alleging that the connection between HIv
and aIDS is poor, and calls by his minister of health Manto tshabalala-Msimang
for beetroot and garlic as substitutes to aIDS drugs, complicated and delayed the
government's response and plan of action to tackle the disease. nonetheless, there
is room for optimism due to the intense criticism the government had to face from
aIDS activists in the country and international health organisations, as well as the
subsequent appointment of barbara Hogan as health minister. this pressure resulted
in the expectation that increased treatment and counselling services will be made
available to most HIv-positive South africans over the coming years.
Sixth, there are increased funding initiatives by donor communities. at the
2008 Hokkaido toyako Summit of the G8 leaders renewed their 2007 pledge to
allocate US$60 billion—of which no less than US$30 billion would come from
the U.S. and PEPFAR—to fight tb, HIv/aIDS, and malaria in africa (G8 2007,
2008; white House 2007). In addition to PePFar, designed to expand and intensify
the U.S. government's HIv/aIDS support to national prevention and treatment
programmes in southern africa in particular, there need to be strong communication
 
 
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