WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2007-12-02 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
[No suprises here, not that I actually care. Jan]
South Africa faces a “lethal cocktail” of corruption and shoddy oversight within HIV and Aids programmes, according to new research which identifies political lethargy as a major constraint in tackling the pandemic.
“A massive, committed and coherent response by the government and its political leaders is required to meet the challenges of HIV and Aids effectively,” according to an Institute of Security Studies and Transparency International report into corruption around efforts to deal with HIV and Aids.
South Africa was an example of how an absence of clear and decisive leadership damaged HIV prevention activities, the report found. And when it came to treatment, the government’s attitude was characterised by suspicion and mistrust.
Examples were the constitutional court’s forcing of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang to introduce antiretrovirals to HIV-positive pregnant women. The ministry also resisted ARVs in the public health sector until the Cabinet undertook to provide free drugs.
“Political leadership, which must begin at the highest level if there is to be national success, is a necessary requirement for preventing the spread of HIV and Aids or turning the epidemic around.”
Despite massive funding increases, positive results remained slow and uneven.
The treatment roll-out had received large donor and government funding, but funds had not been mobilised by the department.
However, the report identifies “Aids denialism and deliberate mismanagement, rather than incapacity to manage resources” as a major reason for slow budgetary spending.
Quoting various authors, the report states that political inertia was seen as the major constraint and tackling HIV and Aids and stemmed from debates about the nature and causes of the disease.
The politicisation of the disease dated back to President Thabo Mbeki’s controversial questioning of the causal link between HIV and Aids in 1999 and 2000.
“Conflict and confusion stemming from the politicisation of HIV and Aids create space for abuses of power by political actors in support of controversial views.”
The health department was singled out for ordering the release of impounded tablets imported by the controversial vitamin salesman Matthias Rath, who peddled a supplement claiming the ability to “reverse Aids”.
Tshabalala-Msimang was said to have challenged and eroded scientific authority by portraying ARVs as “poison” and by supporting and protecting purveyors of untested alternatives.
Accountability was challenged by a lack of budget-tracking mechanisms, a lack of tracking of donor funds and a lack of accountability for financial management. Further problems were massive underspending in provinces, and resource distribution that was ad hoc and poorly thought out.
Theft of ARVs and patients suppressing CD4 counts to remain ill to qualify for disability grants were also highlighted.
Whistleblowers within the health department often faced heavy ramifications, and the report also highlighted controversies like a non-tendered R1,9-million Aids pamphlet and the controversial R14-million educational play Sarafina! II.
“Our ability to control corruption in the prevention of HIV and Aids is as dramatic and clear-cut as a choice of life over death,” argues the report.
HIV-Aids state spending shot up from R137-million in 1999-2000 to R2-billion in 2005-2006, but prevalence rates had increased from 22,4 percent to 30,2 percent over the same period. The cost implications of Aids-related care for the government were R1,493-billion in 2000, which would rise to R4,077-billion in 2009.
South Africa has the most HIV-positive people in the world, according to UNAids. Official government figures point to 5,4-million people infected.