25 October 2005
Following the article in the New York Times today about a book published by the United Nations' special envoy to Africa on AIDS, Mr Stephen Lewis, the Ministry of Health would like to state very clearly that there is no "extraordinary breach" between the South African Government and the United Nations over HIV and AIDS.
The book is said to be a compilation of lectures that Mr Lewis delivered as a private citizen (of United States of America) over the past year. Our understanding is that opinions expressed in this book do not reflect the views of the UN on the South African AIDS programme.
In the latest report to the UN General Assembly Special Session on AIDS, the Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan singled out and commended South Africa for tripling its resource allocation for HIV and AIDS programmes since the adoption of the UN Declaration of Commitment on HIV and AIDS in 2001.
"Most countries are increasing their financial commitment to HIV/AIDS programmes, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where domestic allocation has grown. This year, the Government of South Africa tripled its investment in HIV/AIDS programmes to US$89 million," said Annan in the report.
The World Health Organization (WHO) progress report on the expansion of AIDS treatment released in June this year emphasize this point: "South Africa has committed US$1 billion over the next three years to scaling up Antiretroviral Treatment, by far the largest budget allocation of any low- or middle-income country."
These resources are being used effectively to curbing the spread of HIV infection and reducing the impact of AIDS on the ground.
Our condom distribution programme cannot be compared to any in the world. Public health sector male condom distribution has increased from 270 million in 2003 to 302 million in 2004 and female condom distribution rose from 1,3 to 2,6 million during the same period.
There are now 192 public health facilities providing HIV and AIDS related services, including antiretroviral drugs. These facilities are spread across all the 53 districts in the country and cover at least 62% of local municipalities. By the end of August 2005, 78 000 people had been initiated on ARV treatment in these facilities. More than R3,4 billion has been allocated for procurement of antiretroviral drugs for the period up to the end of 2007.
There are clear channels of interaction between South Africa and various UN agencies and none of the UN employees are banned from carrying out their duties in this country.
South Africa is committed to continue working together with various UN agencies in a global response to HIV and AIDS. In this regard, we will continue to strive for alleviation of poverty that exposes our population to diseases and work towards the strengthening of health systems to ensure delivery of quality health care (including HIV and AIDS treatment) in South Africa.