Let us remember that the National Strategic Plan on HIV and Aids says that we must cut the rate of infection by 50% by 2011 and make sure that the 80% of people that need to be on drugs are reached by 2011.
While the President clearly elaborated the four new treatment interventions, he also emphasised the need to cut the rate of infection, because the treatment of any disease starts with prevention. No amount of treatment can successfully replace the time-honoured art of prevention of disease. This is where the concept of primary health care emanated from, and we shall never deviate from it.
The hon Meshoe has just asked what the President meant when he said that we will implement all the undertakings made on World Aids Day relating to the new HIV and Aids prevention and treatment measures. I wish to clarify this for you, Reverend.
Immediately after 1 December last year, we formed a task team to work on and perfect a plan to implement the new measures. The task team consists of the following: the national Department of Health; and all the 19 sectors that constitute the SA National Aids Council. And by the way, Reverend, these 19 sectors include the religious sector. The only missing sector amongst the 19 is political parties, but rest assured, members, I'm going to engage you as political parties to be gainfully employed in the fight against HIV and Aids, and there shall be no period to idle. So even Cope might find something to do rather than dreaming in broad daylight!
We also have intergovernmental agencies like the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, Unaids; The World Health Organization, WHO; and the United Nations' Population Development; as well as funders like the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, Pepfar; the Department for International Development, DFID; the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida; United States Agency for International Development, Usaid; and a list of many others.
The teams have been working around the clock to deal with the readiness and logistics, communication and social mobilisation of individual health facilities. It is through this social mobilisation that I expect all political parties to access gainful employment, for it is all South Africans, regardless of party political affiliation, who are losing their lives because of this merciless scourge. I'll be communicating with members within the coming weeks on your respective roles in this battle.
I wish to state in this House today that at least two weeks before 1 April we shall publicly outline our state of readiness in clearer details with respect to activities and locations, and where appropriate, even in regard to numbers.
Furthermore, a treatment task team consisting of HIV and Aids specialists, clinicians, researchers and practitioners has been hard at work since last month drawing up our treatment protocols and guidelines in line with what the President has announced.
Doctors, nurses and other health workers within our health institutions, even in the primary health care institutions, will be workshopped in a series of meetings. These meetings will be starting in the next ten days or so and will be on how to apply the new measures; and work in this regard is fast approaching completion.
I want this House to know that in our resolve to fight this pandemic, we're not prepared to pull any punches. We shall never give up the fight.
Let me also quote the President's World Aids Day address, when he said:
In another moment in our history, in another context, the liberation movement observed that the time comes in the life of any nation where there remain only two choices, to submit or to fight. That time has now come in our struggle to overcome Aids and let us declare now, as we declared then, that we shall not submit.
I am declaring again today, as the President declared on World Aids Day, that we shall never submit - nomakanjani! [no matter what!]
I also wish to take this opportunity to inform the House about our state of readiness to host the 2010 World Cup in so far as health is concerned. One of our biggest nightmares is the fact that 2010 is going to be held in June when there's a possibility of another bout of H1N1. We all know what happened to our country as well as the world regarding H1N1, and if many people are going to gather in South Africa it is going to be a challenge to us.
I am happy to announce that the department has been able to acquire 1,3 million doses of an H1N1 vaccine and we are going to be starting vaccinations soon. It's also my honour to announce that a day after the President's state of the nation address, we received a letter from the World Health Organization telling us that they are going to donate 3,5 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine to South Africa, which will arrive in this country by March.
This then means that we will have 4,8 million doses. We are going to be vaccinating all the people who will be selected, starting with pregnant women, people at the entry points, as well as people who are involved in sports administration. We wish to inform hon members that when the time comes, we would like your leadership to help to guide the nation. We are aware that we've got 50 million people in South Africa, but we are only going to have 4,8 million doses.
This donation from the World Health Organization has saved the country no less than R250 million. We wish to take this opportunity to thank them as they are working with us in the fight against HIV and Aids. They will also work with us on this issue of H1N1, so that we have a very smooth and successful World Cup. Thank you.