NEWS
Leading Africa Activists in U.S. seek new AIDS policy from South African Government

Contact: Salih Booker 202-546 7961
http://www.africaaction.org

Tuesday, April 9, 2002 (Washington, DC) ? In a letter released today to South African President Thabo Mbeki, Africa Action, TransAfrica and actor-activist Danny Glover criticize the South African government's HIV/AIDS policies for "blocking needed medical efforts to address [the AIDS] crisis." The letter charges that the shortcomings of Mbeki's approach are responsible for the loss of countless lives and for undermining the larger global fight against the AIDS pandemic and the structural inequities that sustain it.

The letter's signatories share a long history of solidarity work with the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African struggle against apartheid, including support for the government of South Africa in its efforts to tackle the legacy of poverty and inequality. Indeed, the significance of this letter lies in this very relationship.

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April 8, 2002

His Excellency Thabo Mbeki
President of the Republic of South Africa
Private Bag X1000
Pretoria 0001
SOUTH AFRICA

Dear President Mbeki,

We write to you today because we are alarmed about the unnecessary loss of life resulting from the South African government's stance on combating the HIV/AIDS crisis. We are concerned that your government's approach lacks the effectiveness of the HIV/AIDS policies of other developing countries such as Brazil, Uganda and Senegal.

As you know, we share a long history of solidarity work with the South African struggle against apartheid, including support for the ANC and the new government of South Africa. We salute your government's efforts to address the cruel legacies of apartheid, especially the fight against poverty and inequality. We support these efforts as well as much of what your government has done to address the public health crisis that South Africans face, and that is also a part of apartheid's legacy.

We agree that the AIDS crisis is closely related to poverty. Indeed the pandemic, and the larger health emergency that it represents, is the most visible manifestation of a system of global apartheid and vulgar corporate greed.

Where we disagree with your government's AIDS policies, however, is so important that we believe it must be publicly contested. We are convinced that the shortcomings in the position of the South African government are responsible for the loss of thousands - perhaps millions ? of lives and tragically undermine the larger worldwide fight against the AIDS pandemic and the structural inequities that sustain it.

As you are aware, Mr. President, South Africa is the country with the highest number of HIV-positive people in the world. An estimated five million of your citizens are currently living with HIV/AIDS. While the spread of the disease is fueled and exacerbated by poverty and other systemic factors, it can be greatly reduced by strong government policies on prevention and treatment. We are aware of, and applaud, the initiatives undertaken by your government to prevent the transmission of the virus and to educate the public against unsafe practices.

However, a nearly exclusive emphasis on prevention is fatal for the millions in South Africa and elsewhere already living with the virus. The provision of anti-retroviral (ARV) treatments has been proven to save lives and to safely and effectively inhibit transmission.

Your government's hesitation regarding the expansion of ARV programs, especially those designed to reduce mother-to-child transmission, is contributing to the unnecessary and unacceptable loss of life, and hindering the advancement of national development.

An accelerated roll-out of the South African government's existing program to expand access to Nevirapine could prevent as many as 35,000 babies from contracting the virus every year. Your government's victory over the international pharmaceutical industry last year proved to be a pyrrhic triumph when the opportunity was not seized to advance a strategy, including parallel imports and compulsory licensing, to ensure the provision of essential medicines for all your people. The global justice movement suffered a serious setback when the South African government failed to provide leadership for the global regulation of socially irresponsible corporations.

We and millions of other activists share your concern about the sustainability of treatment programs. But in the face of a health crisis of this magnitude, it is imperative that each government do all it can to save lives now. Moreover, treatment helps cut overall costs by reducing hospital stays, decreasing the numbers of HIV cases, and enabling thousands to stay in the workforce. The inability to provide treatment to all who require it is not an excuse to discriminate against those who can be reached, especially when such discrimination leads to death. Treatment programs strengthen prevention efforts, expand local health infrastructure, and improve overall delivery of care and support. The availability of treatment is an incentive for HIV testing, and it helps remove the stigma and discrimination against individuals living with HIV. Failure to provide treatment now to all those you can, and to urgently press for access for all, is tantamount to imposing a death sentence. And there is no greater stigma than this.

Mr. President, the position of your government in addressing South Africa's AIDS crisis has implications far beyond your own country. The AIDS pandemic is now recognized as the worst plague in human history. And while AIDS does not discriminate by race, gender or geography, at present it is mainly killing Africans and people of African descent across the globe. This is the cruel truth about why the Western world has failed to respond with the urgency required. Your government's failure to provide strong leadership on this issue is allowing the U.S. and other rich countries to evade their responsibility to address this human catastrophe. It is critical that African governments be at the forefront of the war on AIDS.

As President of South Africa, ground zero of the global AIDS pandemic, your government is in a unique position, and with that comes a unique responsibility. The country worst affected must rise to define the response to the global threat of HIV/AIDS. The terms in which you choose to frame the debate matter tremendously. At the moment, the impression among many of your supporters internationally, as well as among medical leaders within South Africa, is that you and your government do not believe that HIV causes AIDS and that you are blocking needed medical efforts to address this crisis. If you feel that you or your government have been misrepresented, represent yourself with a clear-cut and consistent acknowledgment of the catastrophic nature of this crisis, and with a proactive policy to confront it. The great moral standing of your government and your people affords your government the authority to challenge the injustices and the obstacles that fuel the pandemic and hinder an effective response. Indeed the historic and structural causes of poverty in Africa must be primary targets in the war on AIDS.

We are well aware that we cannot afford to win the war on AIDS and lose the war on poverty. Victory in both requires the following:
(1) unconditional cancellation of Africa's illegitimate foreign debt,
(2) full funding for the United Nations' global fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, in order to ensure access to essential medicines and effective localized treatment for all,
(3) a renewed global emphasis on public investment in social services,
(4) an end to international discrimination on the basis of race, gender and HIV status, and
(5) the promotion of a public discourse on reparations to emphasize the need for the West to invest in Africa's healthcare as an obligation not charity.

Though the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) shares much of this vision, we strongly believe that it is impossible to promote sustainable social and economic development in Africa without defeating HIV/AIDS as an essential first step.

Mr. President, please act now so that no one can doubt any longer your unswerving commitment to addressing this most devastating crisis. We must save who we can with what we have now. Our communities and organizations do support you, and will continue to support you, in the larger struggle for human security for all. Truly, our destiny is tied to what happens in South Africa.

Yours in struggle,

Rev. Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker, President
Salih Booker, Executive Director
Danny Glover, Actor and Activist
Bill Fletcher, President, TransAfrica

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