S Sekoati: Provincial Partnership against AIDS

12 October 2006

Programme director
The Executive Mayor of Waterberg District Municipality: Councillor (Clr) Pinky
Kekana
The Mayor of Mogalakwena Municipality: Clr Bob Mmola
Councillors
Health professionals and government officials
Home-based care groups, non-governmental organisation (NGOs) community-based
organisations (CBOs), faith-based organisations (FBOs) and the private
sector
Ladies and gentlemen

We have gathered here to celebrate the 8th anniversary of partnership
against HIV and AIDS. The partnership was first launched in 1998 by the then
Deputy President Thabo Mbeki. This is a multi disciplinary approach adopted by
the government to ensure that we collectively fight the scourge of AIDS. Our
theme for this year is partnership against AIDS is "stop AIDS, recommit
yourself".

In trying to analyse this theme, we will discover that it is an effort to
call upon, individuals, women and men, leaders, business people, churches,
political organisations, all stakeholders and ordinary South Africans to the
battlefield against HIV and AIDS. We call on every one to rise up to the
challenges posed by the epidemic.

As a nation we have little choice but work together in a collaborative
manner to defeat this scourge that is destroying life and disintegrating
families. We have said in the past, and we are still saying that the department
is committed to work in partnership with every organisation that is determined
to contribute towards reducing the infection , providing care and support to
those affected and infected by the pandemic.

In reiterating this call, NGOs, the private sector and people living with
HIV and AIDS are urged to increase their efforts to reduce the stigma and
discrimination by mobilise communities against such practices. Whilst we
deliberate on the importance of this partnership let us look at the status and
the position of the department in relation to HIV and AIDS in the province:

1. Prevention is highly important and we have declared this year of the
acceleration of prevention. We have the ability to prevent the AIDS from
spreading by Abstaining, Being faithful and Condomising.
2. Those who are HIV positive should lead a healthy lifestyle.
3. Those with CD4 counts below 200 are put on treatment which include
antiretrovirals (ARV)
The three points are the cornerstone of our HIV and AIDS comprehensive
programme.

At present we have 26 sites, mainly hospitals, giving out treatment and we
will be opening eight sites that were accredited in September. This is out of a
total of 262 sites nationally. We are funding 267 organisations who are
involved in voluntary counselling and testing (VCT), home based caring, high
transmission areas, youth HIV and AIDS programmes and NGOs dealing with people
living with HIV and AIDS. We are paying a stipend to about 3 300 carers. Since
the inception of this programme in 2004, we appointed 301 officials to focus on
the implementation of the comprehensive programme. We also intend increasing
the number of officials in the current financial year.

In this province more than 2 112 patients have been assessed while more than
8 000 people are on treatment. So far we have 15 structures on partnership and
there is room for expansion. We have an annual Sexual Transmitted Infections
(STI)/condom awareness campaign during Valentine's Day in February.

Having mentioned our efforts it is clear that the government alone cannot
win the battle against HIV and AIDS .We therefore appeal to our families,
friends and peers to know that they can save themselves and save the nation, by
changing our behaviour and leading positive lives.

Let us use this partnership to ensure that the youth, women and children
have access to information, education and services to reduce their
vulnerability to HIV and AIDS and its prevalence.

The emancipation of women is also an important factor to reduce the impact
of the epidemic, unless we ensure that women have equal access to effective HIV
and AIDS prevention and treatment services, we must forget about overcoming our
struggle against HIV and AIDS.

We need to strengthen our partnership and always remind ourselves that our
strength lies in our unity .We need to act in synergy with each other as
partners at all times. In so doing it will be easy to quickly identify
opportunistic, faceless people and organisations who go around robbing people
money in the name of a fight against HIV and AIDS.

We have cases reported in the department of organisations going around
colleting money from the public, teachers and nurses in particular, promising
them laptops and overhead projectors and salaries for more that what the
government pays. Our community members need to remain vigilant against people
who will go around claiming to be helping them on HIV and AIDS programmes while
their intentions is money extortion, especially on unsuspecting teachers and
nurses. We need to report such activities to the police and government.

We want to reiterate and emphasise that stigma and discrimination against
people living with HIV and AIDS, compounded by gender inequality, remains the
biggest challenge to HIV and AIDS prevention.

We must therefore recommit ourselves to care for those living with the
disease and the children of those who have died of this disease. In
partnership, through our support, they must not be subjected to any form of
discrimination and abuse. We urge people who have not tested to visit the
nearest health institutions, clinics, health centre or hospitals for voluntary
counselling and testing. They do not have to pay, it is free.

We call on those infected with HIV and AIDS and who qualify to receive
treatment to our visit health institutions. Whilst we acknowledge that the
issue of HIV and AIDS is complex, as there are more questions than answers, our
view is that currently there is no cure for AIDS. Without making any excuses,
human resources development is a big challenge in the department to deal with
the management of the disease. We will however support academic and medical
institutions to find medical solution to this problem.

In conclusion we call on all of us, individuals, youth women and men,
business people, NGOs workers, religious people teachers, traditional healers
and professionals to rally around our theme that says, "Stop AIDS, recommit
yourself". Let us continue working in partnership from the accelerated
prevention of HIV and AIDS.

Issued by: Department of Health and Social Development, Limpopo Provincial
Government
12 October 2006
Source: Limpopo Provincial Government (http://www.limpopo.gov.za)