LAUNCH OF THE NEW NATIONAL STRATEGIC PLAN
The 2012-2016 National Strategic Plan:
The Office of the ANC Chief Whip welcomes the new National Strategic Plan against HIV and Aids, unveiled by President Jacob Zuma today. The new five year plan represents a concerted intensification of our country's sustained battle against one of the world's biggest pandemics.
The unveiling of this plan today also marks yet another milestone in our ongoing successful fight against HIV and Aids, which has been commended by international institutions such as UNAIDS. We are satisfied with the course of action led by the government and SANAC towards the eradiation of this pandemic.
Between last year and this year about 13 million people have come forward to test for HIV; more than 8 million have been screened for TB; the number of public facilities initiating patients on ARVs has increased from 495 to 2 948; the number of nurses accredited to provide treatment has increased from 290 to 10 542; there has been 50 percent reduction in HIV transmission from mothers to children between 2008 and 2010; the number of people on TB preventative therapy increased from 23 000 in 2009 to 300 000 between April 2010 and June 2011. These are just some of the remarkable achievements, arising out of a strong partnership between stakeholders and government in the fight against HIV and Aids.
The new plan unveiled by the President will further accelerate our country's fight to amongst other things, drastically reduce new HIV infections; further widene antiretroviral treatment and reduce TB infections and deaths.
The Office of the ANC Chief Whip will ensure that Parliament continues to partner government in this battle and that, through its oversight role, monitors the implementation of this progressive plan.
Zille Must Scrap HIV-Testing Lottery:
As we mark the World Aids Day, we condemn in the strongest terms the Western Cape government's HIV and Aids testing lottery, announced recently by Premier Helen Zille.
Zille's HIV/Aids testing lottery trivialises one of the world's most challenging pandemics. It unfortunately gives an impression that HIV/Aids is a problem of the poor, who should be easily enticed by Zille's prize money of a few thousands rands.
It is an outrageously ill-advised plan that smacks of cheap publicity. It undermines the research statistics which shows that HIV/Aids is also prevalent amongst the rich, who in all probability might not find the R10 000 prize enticing enough to test. By targeting the poor in this controversial campaign, does Zille therefore hold a view that HIV/Aids is a poor man's disease?
Her campaign also undermines the importance of HIV/Aids education, whose objectives include ensuring that people understand the importance of testing, counselling and the advantages of knowing one's status. We need a nation that recognises and appreciates people's individual power and role in the fight against the pandemic. The battle against HIV/Aids must not be a game where people's participation is motivated by winning the jackpot.
Zille's strategy is reprehensible; it muddies the national fight against HIV/Aids, and takes the battle against the pandemic a few steps backwards.
As the international community today marks the World Aids Day to once again draw the attention to one of the world's biggest challenges, Zille's antics is exactly what this country's battle against the pandemic can do without. The success of the Department of Health's HIV testing campaign, in which 13 million people were tested for HIV and more than 8 million screened for TB between April 2010 and June this year, is a clearest indication yet that education, rather than an ill-conceived lottery, is important in encouraging people to test.
We call on Zille to scrap this reckless and misguided campaign with immediate effect and channel the funds towards worthy and progressive HIV/Aids pNational Aids Council and the Department of Health.
Statement issued by the Office of the ANC Chief Whip, Parliament, December 1 2011
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