NATIONAL: PO Box 74, Nonkqubela 7793. Tel: 021-788 3507 Fax: 021-788 3726 GAUTENG: PO Box 31104, Braamfontein 2017. Tel: 011-403 7021 Fax: 011-403 2106 KZN: 717 Colonial Building, 330 West Street (off Mark's Lane), Durban 4001. Tel: 031-304 3673 Fax: 031-304 9743 WESTERN CAPE: Town One Properties, Sulami Drive, Site B, Khayelitsha. Tel: 021-364 5489 Fax: 021-361 7051 EASTERN CAPE: PO Box 1103 East London 5200. Tel: 043-760 0050 Fax: 043-760 3135 EMAIL: info@tac.org.za WEBSITE: http://ww.tac.org.za 2nd MAY 2002 To: Deputy President the Honourable Jacob Zuma and Members of the Presidential Task Team on HIV/AIDS; Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa; Minister of Health: Dr. Manto Tshabalala-Msimang MEMORANDUM AT CONSTITUTIONAL COURT HEARING We are marching today to affirm the human rights enshrined in the South African Constitution. Our Constitution guarantees all people in South Africa access to housing, health, clean water, food, basic education, social security and a protected and healthy environment. Our march affirms all of these rights, but today we are particularly concerned with the rights to life, dignity and access to health-care. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is causing immense suffering to all of us and by affirming these rights and ensuring their implementation we can mitigate its effects in a humane and just way. The Constitution is respected throughout the world. Its emphasis on dignity and socio-economic rights obliges Government, irrespective of which party is in power, to progressively meet the needs of poor people. When the courts are called upon to enforce these rights, and when this results in changes in Government policy, they are merely affirming the highest democratic principles and contributing to the fight against poverty. We will respect the decision of the Constitutional Court and we call on Government to do the same. Thousands of parents throughout South Africa have lost and are losing their infants to HIV/AIDS. Most of them are desperately poor and marginalised by a society in which the rights of women and children are frequently trampled upon. However, today's court case and recent events, including the commitment by Government to extend mother-to-child HIV transmission prevention irrespective of today's ruling, give hope to many women and children who will use public antenatal clinics in the future. While the mother-to-child transmission prevention programme does not guarantee HIV prevention in every case, it will save thousands of lives and allow mothers to feel that they have been given the choice to do something to reduce the risk of transmission of HIV to their infants. Irrespective of the outcome of this case, we must move together beyond the conflict of the last two years. Only by Government working with civil society, can the challenges of the epidemic be met. We will not always agree with each other, but our disagreements must be constructive and not hamper efforts where there is consensus. In this regard it must be emphasized that the views of the HIV/AIDS denialists are an insult to millions of people living and dying with HIV, as well as their friends and families. Debating life and death questions that have been settled by science is not constructive and we are pleased that Government has disassociated itself from these demeaning and dangerous views. We truly welcome the Cabinet statement on HIV/AIDS of 17 April 2002. The decisions to implement post-exposure prophylaxis for rape survivors and to rollout mother-to-child transmission throughout the country, as well as the affirmations that antiretroviral therapy is effective when used appropriately and that Government will support scientific efforts, but not be a protagonist in scientific debates, are critical steps forward in the fight against HIV/AIDS. As they are implemented they will greatly help HIV prevention. TAC and its allies rise to your call for partnership and can mobilise our volunteers and supporters to implement the Cabinet statement. This is an excellent opportunity for Government and civil society to collaborate; it must not be lost. We humbly request an urgent meeting with the Presidential Task Team on HIV/AIDS to concretely plan the future. It is just over one year since Government, TAC and civil society worked together to a just victory over the pharmaceutical industry. This was a clear demonstration of what can be achieved by unity. We call on government to support new efforts to bring down the prices of essential medicines. However, we are concerned that the Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act of 1997 has not been promulgated. We call on the Minister of Health to rectify this urgently. We call on Government, in particular the Department of Health, to develop and implement a national HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention plan. Such a plan needs to have a clear timetable and its framework must include better public education and condom and femidom distribution, more widely available voluntary counseling and testing, a countrywide rollout of mother-to-child transmission prevention and post-exposure prophylaxis, better treatment of opportunistic infections, better management of sexually transmitted diseases, dignified palliative care and the phasing in of a highly active antiretroviral treatment programme. The TAC and its allies offer our full support to Government to assist with the development of this plan. We are ready, in the words of Cabinet, to join hands to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Yours in the struggle for an end to poverty, dignity and health. Zackie Achmat Njongonkulu Ndungane Dr Molefe Tsele TAC Chairperson Archbishop of Cape Town General Secretary, SACC Willly Madisha Dr Haroon Saloojee President, COSATU Save Our Babies Cati Vawda Mapule Khanye Mark Heywood Children’s Rights Centre Director AIDS Consortium Head: AIDS Law Project