The Ministry of Health on Monday said good progress is being made on tabling an anti-retroviral treatment plan for South Africa.
The ministry also hit out at media reports alleging the opposite, saying it had “noted with concern a false newspaper report that there will be a delay in the provision of anti-retroviral treatment for people with Aids”.
The ministry in a statement denounced the report as “just a piece of pathetic journalism based on dismal understanding of the development of government policy on anti-retroviral treatment on the side of the reporter concerned”.
The statement comes after the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) expressed concern on Sunday at reports that Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang had announced that anti-retroviral drugs would not be distributed this year.
A Sunday paper reported that Tshabalala-Msimang said on Saturday there would be no roll-out of the drugs this year.
“I have no idea when the long-awaited roll-out will begin. I cannot speculate. How can I report on speculation to the Cabinet?” she was reported as saying before the launch of a project for volunteers providing home-based health care for Aids patients in Durban.
The ministry said on Monday it had been tasked by the Cabinet to develop a detailed anti-retroviral treatment plan before the end of September.
“We have taken this task with enthusiasm because we understand the urgent need for enhancing treatment for people with Aids. Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang immediately appointed a task team made up of local and international experts, including the Clinton Foundation, to work on the plan.”
The team has been divided into 10 working groups that are looking at specific issues such as human resource capacity and training, procurement and production of necessary medications, laboratory services and other support systems for an anti-retroviral programme.
It has visited all the provinces to access capacity and to assist in the development of provincial treatment plans that cover selection of facilities and schedules for the extension of the service, the ministry said.
“The team is meeting today to discuss the initial draft of the plan and we are confident that there is enough expertise to enable the team to deliver on the request of the Cabinet. The plan will then be forwarded to Cabinet for consideration. It is also Cabinet that has power to decide on implementation and the time frames thereof.
“It is, therefore, grossly irresponsible to accuse the minister of delaying any process or request her to speculate on the implementation of an anti-retroviral treatment programme that Cabinet has not decided on,” the ministry said. — Sapa
Cosatu concerned about Aids delay