Mrs Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, Member of Parliament
19 September 2006
Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has a right to protest. We are all in pain.
Despite the tremendous efforts being made in our country by both government and
civil society, we continue to lose people to the scourge of HIV/AIDS. On
average, according to the Medical Research Council findings for the year
2005/06 every day in South Africa over 800 people die and a thousand are
infected. We are losing people in the prime of their lives. We are losing our
children and youth, our future. We are losing mothers and fathers and seeing an
ever-growing number of orphans and child-headed families. Our health
professionals are in pain facing a pandemic for which there is as yet no
cure.
There have been important initiatives to accelerate the implementation of
the comprehensive plan on HIV treatment, management and care. Yet much remains
to be done. We need the participation of all in this huge task. TAC is an
activist group, representing the rights and needs of people living with HIV. It
is their right to ask us as members of parliament to listen to them. Government
has taken the steps to communicate and manage the messages communicated. Now is
the time for unity and dialogue on HIV/AIDS. It is time to set aside our
differences and find common ground if our efforts to fight the HIV pandemic are
to succeed. The spread of HIV thrives on divisions and ignorance. We need to
overcome party political and individual personality differences. There is much
common ground and there are many forums in government and civil society that
can be used to unite on the common ground and air our differences responsibly
and respectfully as we all seek to address this scourge that has affected us
all. We must all refrain from demonising one another or to personalise the
debate.
As members of parliament we have a task to unite all our people behind this
campaign. We can provide leadership. We can do so by opening up the space for
people to speak to us about the scourge of HIV. We can lead by speaking out and
talking openly about our own direct experience of the pain of HIV. We can lead
by volunteering for counselling and testing for HIV and in this way fight the
stigma around HIV. As elected leaders we can help spread a message of hope.
That message is contained in the governmentâs comprehensive strategy and the
comprehensive plan on HIV treatment, management and care. The comprehensive
strategy and plan emphasises prevention and research, balanced nutrition,
treatment of opportunistic infections and treatment with antiretroviral (ARVs)
for those who need them and prevention of mother to child infection. This is
the basis for the message of hope.
Issued by: Department of Health
19 September 2006
