It's time for former president to face the HIV/Aids music 02 December 2009 One indication of South Africa's worsening mortality rate is the fact that, of the 59% of women who died in childbirth between 2005 and 2007 and were tested for HIV, 79% were found to be infected. This is one of the shocking statistics released two weeks ago by the minister of health, Aaron Motsoaledi, when he announced plans by the government to drive a major voluntary HIV counseling and testing campaign.
The number of South Africans who die each year has leapt from 300000 in 1997 to 756000 in 2008 and is already at 900000 for 2009. The statistics further revealed that our life expectancy has dropped from 63 years in 1990 to 47, and is now equal to the life expectancy in countries at war, such as Afghanistan. We have reached a stage at which HIV/Aids and tuberculosis account for 35% of deaths in our country. We are effectively in a state of emergency and are held hostage by a pandemic that could have been controlled by providing political and moral leadership to our people. This means that the economy is affected, families are destroyed, children are orphaned, people die young and every South African is at risk of being infected or affected. Worse still, these figures do not provide a true reflection of the situation because they only take into consideration women attending ante-natal clinics, who are obliged to take an HIV test. The call to hold our former head of state, Thabo Mbeki, accountable for his role in this debacle cannot be reduced to a popularity contest; neither should it be classified as vindictive prosecution by the government. It should be a lesson that one must take responsibility for one's actions. It should also be used as a sign that we are turning the tide and strengthening our war against HIV/Aids. The health minister concedes that we are in this catastrophe because of our attitude towards HIV/Aids. Mbeki denied pregnant mothers antiretroviral drugs, which could have prolonged their lives and reduced mother-to-child transmission. Mbeki cast doubt on the [scientifically established] link between HIV and Aids. He made a mockery of our country and failed to provide sound political guidance to a nation in distress. His argument that there is a link between poverty and HIV/Aids stigmatized the disease. His theory that the prescription of ARVs should be linked to a good meal demoralized health practitioners. This led to some of them being persecuted, thus creating further damage to an already deteriorating healthcare situation. Perhaps most bizarre were his questioning of statistics collected from hospitals and clinics, and his assertion that he "did not know anyone who had died of Aids". His attitude inhibited South Africa's war on HIV/Aids and did not assist the situation or challenge the youth (who are the most affected) to change their behavior, attitudes and lifestyle in order to prevent HIV infection. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids, in 2005 more than 5.5million adults, 18.8% of the adult populations of South Africa, were infected with HIV/Aids. Many of these people are dying "before their time" precisely because the government refused them antiretroviral drugs and disputed scientific facts, creating an impression that HIV does not exist. As the government intensifies the war on HIV/Aids, we need to show that we are prepared to break with the policy of denial and fairytale theories about the treatment and causality of Aids. To do so, we have to take action and encourage people to take responsibility for their decisions. Because of the link between the politics of patronage and political power, people submitted to the weak political leadership of the Mbeki era and chose to follow the leader's line instead of believing qualified medical practitioners who advised that antiretroviral’s should be made available. It was never government or ANC policy to deny the link between HIV and Aids, or to deny people antiretroviral drugs, even when they were being provided free by foreign governments and NGOs. It was a view held by one individual supported by a group of pseudo-scientists and yes-men who suspected the profit motives of multi-national companies rather than doubt their prescription. The Young Communist League believes that, in order to hold Mbeki accountable, we should explore one or all of the following options. - Set up a state-led judicial commission with prosecutorial powers to determine whether Mbeki is guilty of mass killing; or - Convene a commission on HIV/Aids similar to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission through which victims and perpetrators will receive their respective justice through forgiveness and remorse. The notion that "Mbeki is one of our own" and therefore should not be liable for his actions defeats the purpose of the justice system and the fundamental right enshrined in the supreme law of our country that "we are all equal before the law". Reconciliation and healing are inconceivable without acknowledgement or remorse from those who caused mass pain, suffering and death. Issued by the National Secretary of the YCLSA (Cde. 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