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: 2009-01-22 Time: 06:00:07 Posted By: Jan
HIV-positive members of parliament should publicly disclose their status to overcome the stigma associated with HIV and Aids and to encourage communities to be tested, said National Assembly Speaker Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde.
Speaking on improving access to HIV treatment at a regional training seminar on HIV and Aids in Parliament on Wednesday, she also called for affordable antiretroviral drugs, saying there was a need for parliamentarians to make a “moral demand” on the government to safeguard human life by highly subsidising the medicines.
The two-day seminar was attended by parliamentarians, researchers and lawmakers from the SA Development Community (SADC) and East African Community (EAC).
“The stigma is still there.
“People in our communities only speak about HIV and Aids when it’s too late.
“We are saying if we as public representatives don’t talk about HIV and Aids and overcome the stigma, then it’s going to be very difficult for communities to come out,” she said.
It was very encouraging to see a few MPs disclosing the status of their children who had died of the disease, she added.
Mahlangu-Nkabinde also called for MPs to use their power and put pressure on government to ensure the affordability of antiretroviral drugs.
“Parliament must make a demand for affordability of medicines it’s a moral demand, and it is not a demand for something glamorous.
“We can bring the disease to the same level as other curable diseases if we are able to stand up and take a position as parliamentarians,” she said.
Aids activist and founder of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) Zackie Achmat described Mahlangu-Nkabinde’s comments as the first strong and clear direction given by a parliamentarian in almost 10 years.
He also called for the prices of medicines to be brought down, saying the cost of antiretroviral drugs and treatment of extreme-resistant TB (XDR) was already putting a strain on the country’s health system, with XDR medicines costing more than R30 000 a patient.
The country was also unable to afford the new HIV drugs used in other parts of the world such as Brazil and Europe because of their exorbitant prices, and many HIV-positive people were still on old drugs that had severe side-effects.
“South Africa has a hyper-endemic with a high number of our population living with the disease. We have six million Zimbabwean refugees and many other African refugees in this country, and it is critical that they have access to treatment.
“The new medicines, such as Prezista, need to be made affordable and be in the first line of treatment as they have fewer side-effects,” Achmat said.
Achmat said the reduction of medicine prices could be achieved through the competition commission as it had been very successful in the past.