COSATU is extremely worried by the statements by
Minister of Health casting doubt on whether the South
African government will provide anti-retrovirals even if
they become more affordable. The main concern of
the Minister centers around toxicity, lack of infra
structure and government’s ability to monitor the
treatment.
These statements have been repeated enough in the
recent past that COSATU feels that unless they are
contested they would settle as truth in the minds of the
unsuspecting public. The prevarication by the Minister
of Health amounts to snatching defeat from the jaws of
victory, particularly after the victory scored against the
Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association.
COSATU believes that there is sufficient reason for
the government to begin a programme of providing
anti retrovirals as part of a comprehensive treatment
strategy. For that reason we would like to cite the
following facts:
· In the industrialised countries, the introduction of
anti-retroviral treatments has led to a decline of up
to 80 per cent in deaths from AIDS.
· In Brazil, which like South Africa has a relatively
weak health system and massive income
inequalities, systematic provision of anti-retrovirals
has cut the death rate by half.
The Brazilian experience suggests that, with
systematic provision of anti-retrovirals, we would be
able to substantially prolong the life of at least half of
our fellow South Africans with HIV. With a conservative
estimate that 10 per cent of the entire population is
infected, that would benefit some two million people.
Surely we should unite as a nation to explore ways to
reduce the levels of infection and by ensuring that all
people living with HIV/AIDS, particularly the poor have
access to anti-retrovirals.
From a purely economic standpoint, now that
affordable options are available, the benefits of anti-
retroviral treatments certainly outweigh the costs. For
every worker who becomes too ill to work or dies, five
dependents lose their income. And that does not even
take into account the cost of treating opportunistic
diseases, lost of productivity, or the expense of
training replacements. And who can bear to count the
human anguish of both the sufferers and their families?
Given these facts, COSATU cannot understand why
the Ministry of Health says we cannot introduce anti-
retroviral treatment. Already the health system
manages, on a very broad scale, many medical
treatments that require monitoring over substantial
periods. For instance, T.B., sugar diabetes and high
blood pressure must be treated over months, even
years. The Department of Health has developed
systems to manage these treatments throughout the
country. Similarly, the challenge with anti-retrovirals is
to establish a monitoring system based on the existing
network of clinics and communities.
It is equally wrong to argue that because AIDS is associated with poverty, we
should not treat it with anti-retrovirals. After all, T.B.
and cholera are equally associated with poverty. Yet
no one would deny treatment to T.B. patients until we
have eradicated poverty, or let people die of cholera
until all South Africans have clean water. Even worse
the concerns about toxicity are exaggerated since the
health system already provides treatment for cancer,
which is also toxic, but bring relief to the patients.
COSATU has called for HIV/AIDS to be declared a
national emergency because of its toll on the economy
and communities. To that end, there is a need for a
national strategy for education, treatment, support and
care. The statements of the Minister of Health are not
being helpful in this regard and amounts to fiddling
whilst Rome burns.

Patrick Craven and Moloto Mothapo
Acting COSATU Spokespersons

[email protected]
082-821-7456
339-4911

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