South Africa has one of the highest HIV/AIDS infection rates
in the world, with 5 million of the population HIV positive according to UNAIDS
and more than six million people expected to die of Aids related diseases over
the next ten years unless the government takes urgent, though expensive, steps
to counter the threat. The disease has already had a marked effect on the
country’s economy, having affected some of the most productive members of
the country’s population and South Africa is one of the few countries in
the world whose population is expected to decline over the next twenty years.
The government’s reaction to the problem is generally
considered to have been slow with widespread confusion caused by President
Thabo Mbeki’s questioning the accepted medical opinion that AIDS is caused
by HIV. The government adopted an official view that HIV causes AIDS in early
2002 but was slow to take action even in the face of court action.
The South African government’s first concerted effort
to combat the disease was made in 1998 with the launch of an AIDS Action Plan
due to be implemented between 2001 and 2003. The goals of the plan were to
increase public awareness and to coordinate the efforts of all levels of
society against the disease. The plan, although ambitious, did not initially
include any efforts in the area of preventative treatment.
This was addressed in 2002 when the government changed its
policy and reluctantly began a national programme for the provision of
Nevirapine to HIV-positive pregnant women and rape victims. The programme was
initiated at various pilot sites in country and will be extended as more
clinics acquire the capacity to administer the drugs.
The Department of Health has established a national AIDS
unit that provides information, assistance and counseling for those affected by
the disease and the Department of Education has stated that no learner may be
discriminated against as a result of their HIV positive status.
Business and NGOs, frustrated by the slow action on the part
of government, have initiated a number of programs aimed at both prevention and
mitigation of the symptoms. The Treatment Action Campaign is an alliance of
various interest groups that actively campaigns for the rights and treatment of
those affected with HIV/AIDS. A court action by this group resulted in the
government’s Nevirapine roll-out referred to above. Love Life is an
initiative aimed at educating the population, particularly the youth and their
parents and dispelling the myths surrounding the disease. There are a number of
initiatives addressing the increasing number of Aids orphans, often looked
after by an elderly grandparent or even the oldest child.
The problem of HIV/AIDS in South Africa is aggravated by the
correlation between this disease and tuberculosis (TB), an opportunistic
disease which is one of the most common causes of an HIV/AIDS sufferer’s
death. At present there is no coordinated strategy from the government to
combat TB and HIV/AIDS simultaneously. Because of social stigmas and the
presence of related diseases, death records certainly understate the incidence
of Aids related deaths.
The major international drug companies have offered to
provide medication at no or low cost and a South African pharmaceutical company
has been awarded a temporary licence allowing the manufacture of a generic
antiretroviral drug.
For companies there are numerous challenges including hiring
practices, worker education, medical aid structuring, sick leave policies,
provision of medication and death benefits. However the main impact is on
productivity when staff turnover rises and companies are forced to overstaff to
compensate for future losses.
South African companies and organisations are world leaders
in introducing policies and practices in the workplace and we encourage them to
document their successes and failures so that we can publish them as an aid to
companies operating elsewhere in the world where HIV / Aids is also starting to
take off.
Resources:
Department of Health
Love Life
Treatment Action Campaign
