SOUTH Africa's failure to fund an Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) treatment programme is a "disgrace" and the country risks falling apart unless it tackles the crisis, according to campaigner and singer Annie Lennox.
South Africa has the world's largest AIDS epidemic. At least 5.7 million people are infected with Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) and AIDS kills an estimated 1,000 people a day.
South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, according to Reuters, said last week that the government's HIV programme had a shortfall of around one billion rands and that South Africa would not meet a target of providing life-prolonging drugs to 80 percent of HIV/AIDS sufferers by 2011.
"This is a disgrace, this should not be happening. South Africa has many, many resources," Lennox said.
"It's a very young democracy, but at the same time if they don't address this issue, things are just going to fall apart in my opinion," she said.
South Africa, rich in natural resources, is battling its first recession in 17 years.
The former Eurythmics star has set up a campaign called "Sing" (www.annielennoxsing.com) to raise awareness of the AIDS crisis in South Africa.
Acknowledging South Africa faced a "massive" challenge, she said: "I think we have to give as much attention to this and full support to really try and make that challenge be met." If successful, it would offer a blueprint for the rest of the continent, she said.
Life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs were not widely enough available, Lennox said.
"Only 40 per cent of the people that actually require treatment are receiving it ... You have in rural areas for example such a broken-down healthcare system where you have two doctors to half a million people," she said.
"People will walk, will crawl, they'll be pushed in wheelbarrows or carry people on their backs to get to the clinic," she said, after giving a talk on the crisis to business leaders and policymakers at a London conference.
South Africa's response under former President Thabo Mbeki was heavily criticised, but President Jacob Zuma's appointment of Motsoaledi - a respected doctor - has been welcomed.
Lennox, who met Motsoaledi a few months ago, said he understood the problems and knew what needed to be done.
Lennox, 54, sold millions of records as part of the Eurythmics duo and went on to a successful solo career.
Her campaign against AIDS in South Africa was inspired by a visit to Cape Town in 2003 to perform at a concert to launch Nelson Mandela's HIV-AIDS campaign. In the last two years, she has raised more than $2 million for the cause.
In a related development, the World Bank has granted Malawi $30 million to fight HIV/AIDS which has ravaged the southern African nation in the last two decades.
World Bank manager for Malawi, Timothy Gilbo, and the country's Finance Minister Ken Kandodo, said the money would also help government efforts to give more people access to free treatment.
"The money would help increase access to HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment and mitigation services," said Gilbo.
AIDS has killed more than 800,000 people in Malawi since the first case was reported in 1985, decimating a generation of the adult age group and leaving more than one million orphans.
But prevention interventions have lowered the overall prevalence rate to 12 per cent from 14 per cent, and greater access to free medicine has helped to reduce the number of people dying from HIV related illnesses by 70 per cent.
No comments:
Post a Comment