Date: 26/07/2004
Source: Northern Cape Provincial Government
Title: E Peters: Launch of comprehensive treatment & management of HIV/AIDS programme
STATEMENT BY THE NORTHERN CAPE PREMIER MS ED PETERS DURING THE PROVINCIAL LAUNCH OF THE COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF THE HIV AND AIDS PROGRAMME, 26 July 2004
Honourable MEC for Health
Members of the Media
Distinguished Guest
Ladies and Gentlemen
Allow me to take this opportunity to welcome you all to this important press conference.
Today we have convened you here to come and officially launch the comprehensive treatment and management program of HIV and AIDS.
This program is part of our country's response to the challenges of HIV and AIDS as guided by our Strategic Plan for 2000-2005.
Our strategic plan comprises of four pillars, which are:
* Prevention
* Treatment, Care and Support
* Research and surveillance
* As well as Legal and Human rights
Therefore contrary to many ill informed believes, treatment of HIV and AIDS has always been central to our strategic response to this epidemic. We have always committed ourselves to treatment in but a responsible way.
Our commitment was further strengthened last year November when cabinet adopted this Comprehensive Plan for Management, Care and Treatment of HIV and AIDS we are launching today.
Since then, we have made significant progress in its implementation and we are confident that collectively as a people we can make this comprehensive plan to work.
This comprehensive plan emphasises prevention as a mainstay of our response to HIV and AIDS in the absence of cure.
As part of our social contract we will go all out to source the unconditional support and buy-in of all sectors of the society, be it affected families, Women; Men; Youth; Churches; Traditional healers; Business; Sports clubs; CBOs and the Media to work jointly with us in ensuring that this plan yield good results.
Together we will continue to encourage our people to know their status by presenting at all our VCT sites throughout the province and the country.
Our communication activities are focused at providing detailed information on how HIV is transmitted and can be prevented; knowing your HIV status; and the holistic management of HIV and AIDS including details about when and how treatment can be taken.
Through this plan we will also strengthen our system for it to able to sustain a series of interventions aimed at mitigating the impact of AIDS.
We will also continue to work hard to retain and recruit more qualified health care professionals to our province and further train and regularly workshop our community health care workers about "continuum of care, support and treatment".
Ladies and gentlemen in line with progressive realisation of our strategic objectives we initiated a process of evaluating our health facilities to ensure that they have the necessary capacity to provide quality services as envisaged in the comprehensive plan.
As I indicated in the state of the province address in line with national norms our target was to establish a service point at each of our 5 districts within this financial year ending in March 2005 and a service point at every local municipality within five years and I am proud to inform you that we are progressing very well and on the right track.
We have never given a date for commencement of treatment and my announcement for mid-July was the first announcement - contrary to the reports by some other newspapers and insinuations.
NB: I need to inform you that there were drugs which were not available such as 3TC and others which hampered our initiatives to start with treatment. The suppliers of these drugs are currently struggling to meet the demand.
We could not be irresponsible to start treatment that would be stopped due to unavailability of drugs. This would compromise the lives of our people who are affected and infected. The dangers associated with stoppage could result in our patients developing resistance to these drugs.
We will also continue to give special and undivided attention to those facilities that does not meet the requirements and improve their capacity.
The following provincial health facilities have been accredited as the treatment sites:
* Frances Baard District - Kimberley Hospital Complex, which will serve as the Provincial referral Tertiary hospital for all treatment implications. The reason is that most clinical specialist are based at this hospital.
There will be 8 assessment sites in the form of primary health care clinic in this district referring for treatment.
* Siyanda District - Gordonia Hospital, with 13 assessment sites.
* Karoo District - De Aar Community health care centre; with 12 assessment sites.
* Namaqua District - Springbok hospital, with 12 assessment sites.
We have also proposed Calvinia Hospital as the second site in the district so as not to deprive the Hantam region community convenient access to the programme.
The Kgalagadi site is not ready due to the accrediting process, which is still underway. We will announce their readiness as soon as possible.
We believe that all these facilities will enable all our people to have access to a comprehensive package of quality services irrespective of their geographical location within our vast province, which had a history of inequitable distribution of resources before 1994.
All these facilities will be fully installed with required state of the art medical equipment to the value of R580 000.00.
We have also procured more than enough drugs as per National prescribed treatment regimens. These drugs are already at our treatment sites.
All other logistics like laboratory services to conduct CD4 count tests, which are necessary to determine the progression of the disease and what intervention can be made available and Transport for referral purposes have been sorted out.
Ladies and Gentleman as you aware that HIV and AIDS treatment severely affect the poor and put extra demand for micronutrients on their body.
We are therefore providing nutritional support for people living with HIV and AIDS and other debilitating conditions.
We will continue without fail to supply all strategic places with condoms both female and male throughout the province and at the same time we will proactively market them as free high quality "choice" condoms.
Through these condoms we say to our people as part of our comprehensive plan: "no choice, no play". Coupled with these processes we have appointed a Principal Specialist for the infectious disease unit at Kimberley Hospital Complex, Dr Eula Mothibi.
She brings wealth of experience in the field of HIV and AIDS treatment having practiced in the Western Cape as head of the HIV and AIDS treatment program.
She like all our staff members personifies everything our people contract to create a healthy nation requires: commitment, dedication and zeal for serving them.
In conclusion, let me thank all of you for joining us this morning. I would like to invite you to join me as optimist of a healthy future in reversing the frontier of HIV and AIDS.
The challenges are enormous, but the success of our program lies in the powerful and continuous action to prevent new infections and to provide care and support for those who are infected and affected.
"Khomanani" caring together to build a healthy nation is a key message we send to the people of our province.
I thank you.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Northern Cape Provincial Government
26 July 2004
Source: Northern Cape Provincial Government
Title: E Peters: Launch of comprehensive treatment & management of HIV/AIDS programme
STATEMENT BY THE NORTHERN CAPE PREMIER MS ED PETERS DURING THE PROVINCIAL LAUNCH OF THE COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF THE HIV AND AIDS PROGRAMME, 26 July 2004
Honourable MEC for Health
Members of the Media
Distinguished Guest
Ladies and Gentlemen
Allow me to take this opportunity to welcome you all to this important press conference.
Today we have convened you here to come and officially launch the comprehensive treatment and management program of HIV and AIDS.
This program is part of our country's response to the challenges of HIV and AIDS as guided by our Strategic Plan for 2000-2005.
Our strategic plan comprises of four pillars, which are:
* Prevention
* Treatment, Care and Support
* Research and surveillance
* As well as Legal and Human rights
Therefore contrary to many ill informed believes, treatment of HIV and AIDS has always been central to our strategic response to this epidemic. We have always committed ourselves to treatment in but a responsible way.
Our commitment was further strengthened last year November when cabinet adopted this Comprehensive Plan for Management, Care and Treatment of HIV and AIDS we are launching today.
Since then, we have made significant progress in its implementation and we are confident that collectively as a people we can make this comprehensive plan to work.
This comprehensive plan emphasises prevention as a mainstay of our response to HIV and AIDS in the absence of cure.
As part of our social contract we will go all out to source the unconditional support and buy-in of all sectors of the society, be it affected families, Women; Men; Youth; Churches; Traditional healers; Business; Sports clubs; CBOs and the Media to work jointly with us in ensuring that this plan yield good results.
Together we will continue to encourage our people to know their status by presenting at all our VCT sites throughout the province and the country.
Our communication activities are focused at providing detailed information on how HIV is transmitted and can be prevented; knowing your HIV status; and the holistic management of HIV and AIDS including details about when and how treatment can be taken.
Through this plan we will also strengthen our system for it to able to sustain a series of interventions aimed at mitigating the impact of AIDS.
We will also continue to work hard to retain and recruit more qualified health care professionals to our province and further train and regularly workshop our community health care workers about "continuum of care, support and treatment".
Ladies and gentlemen in line with progressive realisation of our strategic objectives we initiated a process of evaluating our health facilities to ensure that they have the necessary capacity to provide quality services as envisaged in the comprehensive plan.
As I indicated in the state of the province address in line with national norms our target was to establish a service point at each of our 5 districts within this financial year ending in March 2005 and a service point at every local municipality within five years and I am proud to inform you that we are progressing very well and on the right track.
We have never given a date for commencement of treatment and my announcement for mid-July was the first announcement - contrary to the reports by some other newspapers and insinuations.
NB: I need to inform you that there were drugs which were not available such as 3TC and others which hampered our initiatives to start with treatment. The suppliers of these drugs are currently struggling to meet the demand.
We could not be irresponsible to start treatment that would be stopped due to unavailability of drugs. This would compromise the lives of our people who are affected and infected. The dangers associated with stoppage could result in our patients developing resistance to these drugs.
We will also continue to give special and undivided attention to those facilities that does not meet the requirements and improve their capacity.
The following provincial health facilities have been accredited as the treatment sites:
* Frances Baard District - Kimberley Hospital Complex, which will serve as the Provincial referral Tertiary hospital for all treatment implications. The reason is that most clinical specialist are based at this hospital.
There will be 8 assessment sites in the form of primary health care clinic in this district referring for treatment.
* Siyanda District - Gordonia Hospital, with 13 assessment sites.
* Karoo District - De Aar Community health care centre; with 12 assessment sites.
* Namaqua District - Springbok hospital, with 12 assessment sites.
We have also proposed Calvinia Hospital as the second site in the district so as not to deprive the Hantam region community convenient access to the programme.
The Kgalagadi site is not ready due to the accrediting process, which is still underway. We will announce their readiness as soon as possible.
We believe that all these facilities will enable all our people to have access to a comprehensive package of quality services irrespective of their geographical location within our vast province, which had a history of inequitable distribution of resources before 1994.
All these facilities will be fully installed with required state of the art medical equipment to the value of R580 000.00.
We have also procured more than enough drugs as per National prescribed treatment regimens. These drugs are already at our treatment sites.
All other logistics like laboratory services to conduct CD4 count tests, which are necessary to determine the progression of the disease and what intervention can be made available and Transport for referral purposes have been sorted out.
Ladies and Gentleman as you aware that HIV and AIDS treatment severely affect the poor and put extra demand for micronutrients on their body.
We are therefore providing nutritional support for people living with HIV and AIDS and other debilitating conditions.
We will continue without fail to supply all strategic places with condoms both female and male throughout the province and at the same time we will proactively market them as free high quality "choice" condoms.
Through these condoms we say to our people as part of our comprehensive plan: "no choice, no play". Coupled with these processes we have appointed a Principal Specialist for the infectious disease unit at Kimberley Hospital Complex, Dr Eula Mothibi.
She brings wealth of experience in the field of HIV and AIDS treatment having practiced in the Western Cape as head of the HIV and AIDS treatment program.
She like all our staff members personifies everything our people contract to create a healthy nation requires: commitment, dedication and zeal for serving them.
In conclusion, let me thank all of you for joining us this morning. I would like to invite you to join me as optimist of a healthy future in reversing the frontier of HIV and AIDS.
The challenges are enormous, but the success of our program lies in the powerful and continuous action to prevent new infections and to provide care and support for those who are infected and affected.
"Khomanani" caring together to build a healthy nation is a key message we send to the people of our province.
I thank you.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Northern Cape Provincial Government
26 July 2004
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