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Date : 16/05/2004
Source: Ministry of Health
Title: N Madlala-Routledge: International Candlelight Memorial Day


DEPUTY MINISTER NOZIZWE MADLALA-ROUTLEDGE'S KEY NOTES FOR THE CANDLELIGHT MEMORIAL, Standerton, 16 May 2004

Today, South Africa and in particular the people of Standerton, join the international community to honour and remember loved ones lost to AIDS, and to demonstrate support for those who are living with HIV and AIDS.

For me Candlelight Memorial is a reminder that we should not only focus on the disease and statistics, we should focus on the people that it affects, the woman that lost her partner, the orphan in the street that lost a parent, the grandmother that cares for her daughter's children.

HIV and AIDS is not a disease of numbers and statistics, but one that has affected millions of families, communities and nations worldwide. Every face, every individual should count. There is still no cure for AIDS, and no vaccine to prevent it.

The face of HIV and AIDS in South Africa has become even more complex. We are no longer only dealing with information and referrals, or pre-and post test counselling, but with people that are faced with challenges of living with the disease. This affects partners, the individual's functioning, job losses and issues such as discrimination. There are perhaps as many as five million South Africans who have HIV or AIDS. The vast majority of them are undiagnosed. They do not know that they have the virus in their bodies. Some of them are already falling ill, but do not know that it is AIDS. And even if they do know or suspect what it is, they and their families feel a reluctance to give the disease its name.

This year's theme is "Turning Remembrance Into Action." A two-year theme has been selected that focuses on remembering those who have been touched by HIV and AIDS and keeping these memories alive through collective action. The goal of this year's theme is to encourage communities to incorporate advocacy activities that extend beyond the official candlelight event.

It is an opportunity to discuss the impact of HIV and AIDS within the community as well as how your community will address issues such as education, prevention, care and treatment of the disease. This two-year commitment serves to strengthen ties within the community and empower individuals to take action toward changing the face of HIV and AIDS.

We must work together and share resources and expertise. A critical message that we need to send out is that the response to HIV and AIDS in South Africa is not and cannot be a health sector responsibility only.

We need volunteers from the community to assist us with the provision of home-based care and we need assistance with training of families that need to care and support those that are ill as a result of AIDS, we need assistance with ensuring compliance for those that receive treatment both for HIV and TB.

We all need to work collaboratively. Within government, the commitment is to provide access to basic services. This is already one way of decreasing the vulnerability of individuals to ill health.

As I said earlier, the challenges seem enormous and the truth is they are. What is exciting about all this is the fact that we have the ability to respond successfully. We have come a long way in our struggle and we cannot allow HIV to destroy what we have built.

The challenge is to be honest, open and critical of ourselves.

We, as government have gone far in putting key programmes in place to respond to HIV, AIDS, STIs and TB. Government, together with communities, NGOs and CBOs developed the 5-year HIV and AIDS and STI Strategic Plan for South Africa. The Plan is a broad framework document designed to guide our country's response to the challenges of HIV and AIDS.

Experience has taught us that HIV infection can be prevented through investing in information and life skills development for young people.

Promoting abstinence, safer sex and the use of condoms, and ensuring early treatment of sexually transmitted infections and TB are some of the steps about which there can be no dispute.

Ensuring that people, especially the young, have access to voluntary and confidential HIV counselling and testing services and introducing measures to reduce mother-to-child transmission have been proven to be essential in the fight against AIDS.

We have recognised the importance of addressing the stigmatisation and discrimination, and of providing safe and supportive environments for people affected by HIV and AIDS. Today, in South Africa, we are still faced with a situation where too many people with HIV and AIDS are denied access to housing subsidies and other benefits such as medical schemes, pension and life assurance, they are rejected by family, friends and colleagues.

We have to create a climate in which people with HIV and AIDS feel safe to declare their status and be assured of receiving support and care and be treated with dignity and understanding.

We, as the government of South Africa, would continue to ensure that we provide supportive environment to ensure that people are able to have access to health care, testing and counselling facilities and healthy living. At all times we will speak out against the stigma, blame, shame and denial that has thus far been associated with this epidemic.

In November 2003, the South African Government adopted a Comprehensive HIV and AIDS Care, Management and Treatment Plan for South Africa, in recognition of the social, economic and healthcare implications of HIV and AIDS in the country. The Treatment Plan has two goals: to provide comprehensive care and treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS, including the focus on important issues such as nutrition, and to help strengthen the country's national health system and its infrastructure.

Building the nutritional status of people is very important, especially in the context of HIV and AIDS. Boosting the immune system has a drastic impact on quality of life, and ensures that drugs taken to address specific infections has optimal efficacy.

Addressing poverty and nutrition can happen at a multitude of levels - and one of those is through the provision of nutritional supplements and food parcels.

We all have a responsibility to ensure that those who have lost their lives to AIDS are not forgotten and that the needs of those who are living with HIV and AIDS are not ignored. Although every story is different, the needs are often the same: access to care, social justice, and prevention. And with the power of one united voice, we as a country can truly make a difference. The many people living with HIV and AIDS and the lives of those who have died are valued, priceless and irreplaceable.

As we lit these candles, we light it as a symbol against darkness, against fear and against anger. If you take your candle with you, you take it as a symbol of hope restored and a symbol of faith renewed. Our lives should be living memorials to those who we have loved and who are now no longer with us.

We have listened to words, both ancient and new. We have lit candles against the darkness, the pain, the suffering, the fear and the anger.

May our lives be a living memorial of the many brave people who we have loved and who are now gone from us.

Without the many people living openly with the virus, those who are breaking the silence on HIV and AIDS, our traditional prevention strategies, will not be effective. In the context of people's lives and their unwillingness to be open about their HIV status, many of our key AIDS messages and services may be irrelevant. May we commit ourselves to support the many brave people who we loved and are living positively with HIV and AIDS. Let us all "Turn Remembrance Into Action".

Issued by: Meropa Communications on behalf of Ministry of Health
16 April 2004
Source: SAPA

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