Hon Deputy Speaker, hon Ministers and members who are here, Cope acknowledges that government has done a lot in the long drawn-out fight against HIV and Aids. The provision of antiretrovirals combined with education and HIV testing and counselling, HTC, provide a platform for people living with HIV/Aids to come forth for assistance. The role of the Treatment Action Campaign, TAC, in the destigmatisation of HIV and Aids cannot go unnoticed.
The problem with the HIV and Aids and TB diseases is that they are diseases without borders. As South Africans, we won't deal decisively with the problem without co-operation and co-ordination with the Southern African Development Community, SADC, countries as a start and Africa in general.
Whilst the research for medication continues, it is important to note that education can play a vital role in ensuring that we have an HIV-free generation in the near future. The campaign should also be driven by nongovernmental organisations and government to ensure that we reach all corners of South Africa, encouraging people to change their lifestyle. The South African National Aids Council, Sanac, and the Department of Health are mostly seen as the only bodies waging the fight against HIV/Aids. This is something we have to work towards countering so that all of us can be part of the battle against HIV and Aids.
We believe that it is important for the nation to move towards removing such a misunderstanding and encourage all sectors, including business, nongovernmental organisations and all political parties, to join hands in intensifying the fight against HIV/Aids.
The most important measure to indicate success in the fight against the pandemic will always be the reduction of deaths, the increase in life expectancy and the improvement in the standard of living of the people, especially the poor. We cannot talk about HIV/Aids without talking about the conditions under which our people live. Although HIV/Aids do not have any class, it is not a secret that it severely affects the poor. Therefore, social upliftment becomes vital in the fight against HIV/Aids and TB. We need to ensure that there is a provision of basic services, including clean water, proper sanitation and a violence-free society in the fight against HIV/Aids.
Cope is aware that from time to time there are disturbing reports about people living with HIV not receiving their antiretrovirals for different reasons, including inefficiency, corruption and general lack of skills of people employed in our clinics, hospitals and the provincial health departments. To Cope, corruption is also a problem in the fight against HIV/Aids because it denies people on the antiretroviral programme their constitutional right to free health, and their health is severely compromised. The chronically out-of-stock medicine also compromises the health of people living with HIV. They then become prone to drug resistance.
It is also unfortunate that the funding to sustain the fight against HIV/Aids depends to a large extent on the Americans. When the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, Pepfar, announced that it was discontinuing funding of a number of African projects, the fight against HIV/Aids suffered a severe blow and Africa was indeed petrified. Once you rely on a foreign nation for the health care of your fellow citizens, you are failing to provide them with their constitutional right to free health care and the right to life.
The other problem in the fight against HIV/Aids in South Africa is that corporate citizens become citizens only when there is free publicity for them to benefit. They are more concerned about public relations than a sustainable fight against HIV/Aids. We should therefore ask ourselves what contributions have they actually made in the fight against HIV/Aids. What sustainable programmes have they embarked upon to ensure that the fight against HIV/Aids takes place within the workplace? I thank you.