Zuma's new Aids stance welcomed, but words must be met with action

The acknowledgement by President Jacob Zuma that South Africa needs to make the fight against Aids a top priority of government is a welcome change from a decade of Aids-denialism that has come to be associated with ANC misrule. This commitment now needs to be backed up by concrete and detailed plans.

Earlier this year, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi revealed that South Africa will not meet the target President Jacob Zuma identified in his State of the Nation Address - of providing anti-retroviral drugs to 80% of people living with HIV/Aids by 2011 - due to logistical problems and a lack of personnel. In other words, as is increasingly becoming the case with Jacob Zuma's administration, a very public and critically important undertaking on behalf of the government proved to be misguided and poorly thought through, with the consequence that it had to be downscaled.

Time will tell whether or not Jacob Zuma's latest commitment will actually manifest in real delivery. The clearest way to prove his intention on addressing this enormous problem is to deliver tangible results, such as:

• Detailed plan of action with a list of deliverables
• Intervention in the dismal service delivery at public hospitals and clinics
• Increase in the rollout on antiretroviral medication
• Stop the Department of Health (DoH) from forcing out temporary placed nurses in a bid to appease Cosatu

The Health Minister's admission suggests that the problems facing the government in this area - capacity and a lack of skills - is not something that can simply be overcome with a new plan. In order to build up the required capacity to deliver real services there needs to be a fundamental shift in the way which existing personnel are supported and new personnel are sought out, trained and retained. These more fundamental issues need to be the cornerstone of any new approach to fighting HIV/Aids.

The DA is anxious to be part of the solution in the fight against Aids and will do our part to monitor the progress of Zuma's commitment.

The President would do well to keep in mind that transparency and accountability within the DoH will be key to ensuring efficient and dependable service delivery, something which has been sorely lacking to date. The DA will be engaging the DoH on this matter.

Statement issued by Mike Waters, MP, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of health, October 30 2009

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