Cosatu backs Hogan's plan

2008-10-07 16:21

Cape Town - Newly appointed Health Minister Barbara Hogan should be applauded for her admission that HIV/Aids is the country's most serious challenge, the Congress of SA Trade Unions said on Tuesday.

"After years of denialism and foot-dragging from the Department of Health, it is encouraging to hear the minister confirm that she regards HIV/Aids, which infects around half a million people each year, as one of the most serious health challenges facing this country," the federation said in a statement.

Cosatu shared the minister's view that the country needed a persistent and consistent political leadership to get the message across about prevention and treatment.

"The federation welcomes the minister's intention to press for more funds to roll out life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs to as many people as possible and meet the target to give 80% of HIV-positive people access to ARVs by 2011."

The public health system had become a national disgrace and the new minister had a responsibility to restore its integrity.

Too many patients waited months for treatment in dilapidated clinics and hospitals, and, as Hogan had said, the majority of South Africans could not afford long queues and extended waiting times at health facilities, said Cosatu.

- SAPA