Govt slammed on Aids deaths
2004-03-03 19:00
Cape Town - The increase in deaths on the population register was an indictment of the government's handling of the Aids pandemic, the United Democratic Movement and Democratic Alliance said on Wednesday.
The Medical Research Council has found the total number of deaths on the population register had risen 68% in the past six years, from 272 000 in 1998 to 457 000 in 2003.
UDM spokesperson on health Nonhlanhla Nkabinde said the figures were a further embarrassment to a government that continued to "quibble" about the statistics.
President Thabo Mbeki said recently South Africa did not have statistics to show how many people were dying of Aids.
Nkabinde said it was for this reason the UDM wanted the disease to be made notifiable.
"...so that the bickering about statistics can come to an end and everybody can focus on saving lives and providing treatment."
Expressed alarm at study
Presidential spokesperson Bheki Khumalo would not be drawn on the issue, but emphasised that the government was committed to the fight against Aids.
"South Africa will spend R12bn on Aids in the next three years. We have the best plan on the continent. The government is very committed to the fight against Aids."
DA spokesman Mike Waters said no amount of "evasion" on Mbeki's part would change the facts.
Waters also expressed alarm at a study, published in the latest South African Medical Journal, that found 14 children had contracted HIV while being treated in hospitals.
The children were treated at eight Western Cape hospitals - including Tygerberg and the Red Cross Children's Hospital - before diagnosis. Two were treated at private hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal and in the Eastern Cape.
Waters said Mbeki should launch an investigation into how children become infected with HIV while in state hospitals.
"If evidence of negligence is found, disciplinary action must be taken against those responsible."
The health ministry should ensure adequate sterilisation standards and procedures were implemented at all hospitals and clinics.
"This terrible tragedy is yet another consequence of the devil-may-care attitude to the HIV/Aids pandemic displayed by President Thabo Mbeki, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and the ANC government," said Waters.
- SAPA