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
[Yes, blame Mbeki squarely… he deserves it! Jan]
President Thabo Mbeki and the national health ministry have been singled out in a shock new report which blames the mismanagement of South Africa’s HIV and Aids battle on Mbeki’s questioning of the link between HIV and Aids and the politicisation of the pandemic.
In spite of billions of rands in donor aid to South Africa since 1997, the country has failed to produce positive results in an arena undermined by corruption and poor oversight, the study says.
The report is a collaboration between South Africa’s Institute for Security Studies and Transparency International Zimbabwe.
If massive funding increases did not translate into positive results, the organisations said, the fault had to lie in factors such as lack of accountability and corruption.
Politicisation of the disease was also blamed for creating many channels for abuse.
Where systems were weak, the report said, “it becomes difficult to disentangle corruption from mismanagement and system failure as the root causes of poor HIV and Aids responses”.
Mbeki’s Aids “denialism” is targeted as being at the centre of the government’s “notoriously controversial” stance on prevention and treatment.
But Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and director general Thami Mseleku do not escape mention – the report calls their views “controversial”.
It is further critical of the government’s “antagonistic” relationship with civil society groups, especially the Treatment Action Campaign.
Later, it cites “the problem of political will” as a major constraint to successful implementation of prevention and treatment efforts.
“Political inertia is regarded as the major constraint in the fight against HIV Aids in South Africa.
“The politicisation of the disease goes back to President Thabo Mbeki’s controversial comments in 1999 and 2000 that questioned the causal link between HIV and Aids, and the efficacy of ARVs such as AZT,” the report said.
Since then, several (provincial) health ministers had been criticised for their lack of support for antiretroviral rollout, for their stance on alternative treatment and nutrition, and for their delaying tactics in ARV tender processes.
On corruption and accountability, the report suggested that politicisation of HIV Aids afforded “protection” to public officials and individuals in abuse and corruption.
The report showed that donor funding to South Africa since 1997 totalled R2,3-billion, but cited lack of accountability for financial mismanagement as cause for concern.
Highlighted “hot spots” were around the “somewhat dismal” efforts of loveLife and Khomanani to achieve set targets.
It also said there were “alleged reports” of fictitious non-government organisations operating in South Africa.
“Many believe the problems affecting the overall performance of prevention and treatment programmes may be partly due to the abuse of resources, fraud or corruption, but also relate to management problems and issue of polticisation and political will,” the report said.
It was impossible to assess the amount spent on HIV and Aids “because direct donor funding is not accounted for”.