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Manto slams Anglo's Aids plan
15/08/2002 21:39 - (SA)
Brendan Boyle
Cape Town - Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Thursday criticised Anglo American, South Africa's biggest company, for implementing an Aids drug programme without consulting her.
Anglo said on August 6 that it would make antiretroviral drug therapy (ART) available to its HIV-positive miners for as long as they were able to keep working.
The company's chief executive Tony Trahar told reporters at the time that healthcare should be the government's responsibility, but he urged other companies to follow its lead.
"I haven't had any discussions with Anglo American, neither have I received any communication from Anglo American as the national minister of health of this country," Tshabalala-Msimang told a news conference.
She suggested Anglo's decision could oblige the government to pick up the burden of treating patients when they leave the company because they cannot keep working.
"I don't think it is correct for an organisation out there to commit government, having not discussed with government.
"The correct thing that should have happened was for Anglo to have come and discussed with us so that they can understand our concerns and we will understand their generosity," she said.
Several companies have since announced similar programmes to fill a gap left by the government's refusal to prescribe antiretroviral drugs at state clinics.
Anglo employs about 90 000 people in southern Africa. Its AngloGold subsidiary has 44 000 staff and diamond miner De Beers, of which it owns 45%, employs around 18 000 people.
South Africa has more people living with HIV and Aids than any other country, with about 4.7m people infected. Most surveys indicate that HIV infection amongst miners is higher than the national average of one in nine people.
ART is available to most patients with private medical insurance, but not to the majority of South Africans who depend on state hospitals and clinics for healthcare.
Therapy too expensive - govt
South Africa's top judges recently ordered the government to prescribe drug therapy for HIV-positive women hoping to avoid transmission of the virus to their babies in childbirth.
But the government still refuses any step towards provision of ART to adults and children living with HIV and Aids, saying the therapy is too costly and too dangerous.
Tshabalala-Msimang also said the government would not back down in a row over an award by the UN's Global Fund for the Fight against Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) to KwaZulu-Natal, the province worst affected by Aids.
The fund recently awarded $23m to projects in the province to care for people living with Aids and a further $27m to a national programme approved by the government.
The government has refused to send the necessary letter approving the provincial disbursement, saying the money should go into a national fund for distribution by the government.
KwaZulu-Natal is one of only two of the nine provinces in which the ANC does not have outright political control. The fund has said South Africa cannot reallocate the money and should reapply for the grant if it wants to change the terms.
- Reuters
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