Date: 22/01/2003
Source: Department of Health
Title: Tshabalala-Msimang: Opening remanrks at SADC Ministerial Meeting on Nutrition and HIV/Aids
WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS BY MANTO TSHABALALA -MSIMANG AT THE SADC MINISTERIAL CONSULTATIVE MEETING ON NUTRITION AND HIV/AIDS
Birchwood Hotel, Johannesburg, 20th January 2002
Honourable Ministers,
Senior officials,
Representatives of UN organisations,
Presenters at this meeting,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen
Good morning, Bonjour, Bom dia, Sanibonani, Dumelang, Jambo.
It is an honour and pleasure for me to welcome you to this first meeting of SADC Health Ministers in 2003.
I extend to you my warmest welcome to our city, Johannesburg. I trust you will enjoy your stay here.
I especially welcome my colleagues from the SADC Member States and would like to thank you very much for your very impressive turnout. With the many competing demands that are made on our time as Ministers, your commitment has to be recognised and commended.
The holding of SADC Ministerial meetings in January is now becoming a trend, and maybe this is our way of starting each year on a solid footing. We met at this time last year to prepare for the landmark World Summit on Sustainable Development. At that meeting we adopted the Johannesburg Declaration on Health and Sustainable Development. This Declaration formed the basis for the ultimate text that we piloted through the World Health Assembly and was finally adopted by the WSSD in August last year. We have all the reason to be proud of that achievement.
May I take the liberty to remind us of one aspect that we noted and resolved on in our Declaration in January last year.
We emphasised that poverty is at the root of much of the untenable burden of disease worldwide. We also noted that the poverty that increases vulnerability to ill-health is multidimensional. We further noted that economic underdevelopment, unemployment and low incomes, environmental degradation, shortfalls in agricultural production, inequitable land reform, lack of education, poor infrastructure and the oppression of women are but some of the drivers of poverty - emphasising the need for broad intersectoral interventions.
More specifically we noted that, in spite of a world surplus of food, hundreds of millions of people go hungry each day. To address this, we called for a viable plan and commitments to address this challenge and achieve basic food security for all the people of the world.
This meeting today, the SADC Ministerial Consultative Meeting on Nutrition and HIV/AIDS, is thus the continuation of a discussion we have been having for some time on the importance of, and the role of nutrition in the health of populations, and more specifically, the health of People Living With HIV and AIDS.
Ladies and gentlemen. SADC Health Ministers have been looking forward to this meeting for some time. During our Extraordinary Meeting in August 2002, the Ministers discussed the role of nutrition, nutritional supplements and traditional therapies in the management of HIV and AIDS.
Mention was made of various immune boosters, garlic, micronutrients, anti-oxidants, African Potato and other products that get used by the public to improve health. This should by no means sound strange, as traditional medicines, be they African, Homeopathic or Chinese, have always been part of the response to ill-health in our countries and beyond.
It thus became clear at that meeting that countries have anecdotal evidence that HIV positive people are deriving benefits from the use of these products. But there was no adequate information on how and why these interventions work, and how our health systems can make use of them. Ministers thus directed that a meeting be convened to explore the use of these products and the evidence for their use.
This meeting should therefore be a platform for educating ourselves in how nutrition, nutritional supplements and traditional therapies can be of benefit in improving health, and in management of debilitating conditions including HIV and AIDS.
These types of consultative meetings are not new to SADC Health Ministers. Over the past few years SADC Health Ministers have held several consultations that have helped in sharing information and clarifying several issues around HIV and AIDS.
The very first such meeting was held in December 1999 where we discussed primarily mother to child transmission of HIV. This was followed in the year 2000 by a consultation on the trade related aspects of intellectual property that affect access to affordable medicines. Various other consultations were held on access to pharmaceuticals, culminating in a meeting with the pharmaceutical companies in 2001.
The aim of this two-day meeting is to review the role of nutrition, nutritional supplements and traditional therapies in improving the quality of life of people with debilitating diseases by boosting their immune system. This includes sharing of information on the use of these products in the region, exploring the scientific evidence for using the products, the regulatory environment that governs such products, and critically analysing how these products can be integrated into our health systems.
Our objectives are:
* To share experiences and review the extent of use of nutritional/food supplements, traditional and indigenous herbs as immune boosters in the care of those living with HIV/AIDS in SADC Member States.
* To share and review the scientific evidence available on the effectiveness and cost of these nutritional supplements, traditional and indigenous herbs as immune boosters.
* To share and review the legislative and regulatory framework governing the use of nutritional supplements, traditional and indigenous herbs as immune boosters in the health systems of SADC Member States.
Much work has already been done by our officials in preparation for this meeting. The Health Sector Coordinating Unit engaged the services of a consultant who has elicited information from Member States on the extent of use and the variety of products used in each country.
In November last year our officials met on this same subject and they made certain recommendations that are to be presented to us during this meeting. However, we will also have the benefit of listening for ourselves to most of the presentations that were made during the November meeting.
We expect the outcome of this meeting to include recommendations on which products have sufficient evidence to support the promotion of their use, identification of areas for further research, mechanisms to support research, development and marketing of traditional therapies without the exploitation of indigenous knowledge, and finally and more important, how all these interventions can be incorporated into our health systems.
This meeting should mark the beginning of a process of putting nutrition at its rightful position as one of the most critical elements our health programmes and interventions. Nutrition can no longer be neglected and left to become a Cinderella of our health systems.
As far back as 1978 with the adoption of the Alma Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care, promotion of food supply and proper nutrition was amongst critical components of what constitute Primary Health Care.
Good nutrition is one of those elements of PHC that, when implemented adequately, can prevent a whole host of diseases. It is therefore a shame and a tragedy that we have over the last decades failed to prevent ill health by not adequately promoting food security and proper nutrition. Instead we have tended to focus and rely too much on cures for all our ills.
When we established the SADC Health Sector in 1998, information available to us was showing that availability of food and nutrition in the Region was declining, with droughts, food shortages, high rates of maternal and child malnutrition, Vitamin A deficiency, nutrition anaemia, and iodine deficiency disorders. A review of the food and nutrition situation in the Region contained in a Commonwealth Eastern and Central and Southern African report for 2001 indicated that:-
* Stunting rates were affecting about 40% of young children in East, Central and Southern Africa. The same number of children was also undernourished.
* Over 50% of women in their reproductive ages suffered from iron and vitamin A deficiency and other forms of malnutrition, leading to high mortality and low birth weight for children born to these mothers.
* The decline in production and consumption of indigenous foods was leading to household food insecurity.
In the 1980s, malnutrition was seen as underlying factor in more than one third of infant mortality in rural and urban districts of many African countries, and 20 to 80 percent of maternal mortality.
With the advent of the HIV and AIDS this situation has only got worse. As you know, our region is the worst affected by HIV and AIDS and the most affected are the economically active sections of our population that should be tilling the land and supporting children and the elderly.
We are in the grip of one of many famines that have afflicted our region over the past decades. This famine comes at a time when our populations are already undernourished, immunocompromised, and poor.
What we are therefore seeing in our countries is a complex humanitarian challenge that requires a multi-pronged response. This response should seek to break the vicious cycle of poverty affecting our region.
In our efforts to break this cycle, we have to appreciate that we have limited resources. But as SADC Health Ministers, we are committed to play our role in finding sustainable solutions to the challenges facing us. These solutions should be affordable and based on locally available products and technologies. Their ultimate end result should be the empowerment of our communities, enabling them to make a contribution to their own development.
It is therefore for this reason that some of the topics we will cover in this meeting are firmly rooted in what PLWHA and communities are doing to cope with HIV and AIDS.
We have not only brought in people who work, in particular, with PLWA in this field, but we also have PLWA who, themselves, can attest to the usefulness of these therapies. We also have companies that will exhibit some of their products.
The major challenge for us during this meeting will not be whether the products that are used by PLWHA work or not. The challenge is going to be whether we are able to integrate them into our work. To try and address this challenge, we have invited experts on regulatory matters and on programming.
Ministers have extensive experience in their countries on this subject and I look forward to the sharing of ideas and best practices on this subject. We welcome the cross-pollination across our countries as the result will be a better response to the challenges facing us.
Once again, let us not forget that the success of our meeting will be measured in terms of the difference we can make in people's lives, and especially those living with HIV and AIDS. May we not fail them.
I wish all of us fruitful deliberations.
I thank you.
Source: Department of Health
Title: Tshabalala-Msimang: Opening remanrks at SADC Ministerial Meeting on Nutrition and HIV/Aids
WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS BY MANTO TSHABALALA -MSIMANG AT THE SADC MINISTERIAL CONSULTATIVE MEETING ON NUTRITION AND HIV/AIDS
Birchwood Hotel, Johannesburg, 20th January 2002
Honourable Ministers,
Senior officials,
Representatives of UN organisations,
Presenters at this meeting,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen
Good morning, Bonjour, Bom dia, Sanibonani, Dumelang, Jambo.
It is an honour and pleasure for me to welcome you to this first meeting of SADC Health Ministers in 2003.
I extend to you my warmest welcome to our city, Johannesburg. I trust you will enjoy your stay here.
I especially welcome my colleagues from the SADC Member States and would like to thank you very much for your very impressive turnout. With the many competing demands that are made on our time as Ministers, your commitment has to be recognised and commended.
The holding of SADC Ministerial meetings in January is now becoming a trend, and maybe this is our way of starting each year on a solid footing. We met at this time last year to prepare for the landmark World Summit on Sustainable Development. At that meeting we adopted the Johannesburg Declaration on Health and Sustainable Development. This Declaration formed the basis for the ultimate text that we piloted through the World Health Assembly and was finally adopted by the WSSD in August last year. We have all the reason to be proud of that achievement.
May I take the liberty to remind us of one aspect that we noted and resolved on in our Declaration in January last year.
We emphasised that poverty is at the root of much of the untenable burden of disease worldwide. We also noted that the poverty that increases vulnerability to ill-health is multidimensional. We further noted that economic underdevelopment, unemployment and low incomes, environmental degradation, shortfalls in agricultural production, inequitable land reform, lack of education, poor infrastructure and the oppression of women are but some of the drivers of poverty - emphasising the need for broad intersectoral interventions.
More specifically we noted that, in spite of a world surplus of food, hundreds of millions of people go hungry each day. To address this, we called for a viable plan and commitments to address this challenge and achieve basic food security for all the people of the world.
This meeting today, the SADC Ministerial Consultative Meeting on Nutrition and HIV/AIDS, is thus the continuation of a discussion we have been having for some time on the importance of, and the role of nutrition in the health of populations, and more specifically, the health of People Living With HIV and AIDS.
Ladies and gentlemen. SADC Health Ministers have been looking forward to this meeting for some time. During our Extraordinary Meeting in August 2002, the Ministers discussed the role of nutrition, nutritional supplements and traditional therapies in the management of HIV and AIDS.
Mention was made of various immune boosters, garlic, micronutrients, anti-oxidants, African Potato and other products that get used by the public to improve health. This should by no means sound strange, as traditional medicines, be they African, Homeopathic or Chinese, have always been part of the response to ill-health in our countries and beyond.
It thus became clear at that meeting that countries have anecdotal evidence that HIV positive people are deriving benefits from the use of these products. But there was no adequate information on how and why these interventions work, and how our health systems can make use of them. Ministers thus directed that a meeting be convened to explore the use of these products and the evidence for their use.
This meeting should therefore be a platform for educating ourselves in how nutrition, nutritional supplements and traditional therapies can be of benefit in improving health, and in management of debilitating conditions including HIV and AIDS.
These types of consultative meetings are not new to SADC Health Ministers. Over the past few years SADC Health Ministers have held several consultations that have helped in sharing information and clarifying several issues around HIV and AIDS.
The very first such meeting was held in December 1999 where we discussed primarily mother to child transmission of HIV. This was followed in the year 2000 by a consultation on the trade related aspects of intellectual property that affect access to affordable medicines. Various other consultations were held on access to pharmaceuticals, culminating in a meeting with the pharmaceutical companies in 2001.
The aim of this two-day meeting is to review the role of nutrition, nutritional supplements and traditional therapies in improving the quality of life of people with debilitating diseases by boosting their immune system. This includes sharing of information on the use of these products in the region, exploring the scientific evidence for using the products, the regulatory environment that governs such products, and critically analysing how these products can be integrated into our health systems.
Our objectives are:
* To share experiences and review the extent of use of nutritional/food supplements, traditional and indigenous herbs as immune boosters in the care of those living with HIV/AIDS in SADC Member States.
* To share and review the scientific evidence available on the effectiveness and cost of these nutritional supplements, traditional and indigenous herbs as immune boosters.
* To share and review the legislative and regulatory framework governing the use of nutritional supplements, traditional and indigenous herbs as immune boosters in the health systems of SADC Member States.
Much work has already been done by our officials in preparation for this meeting. The Health Sector Coordinating Unit engaged the services of a consultant who has elicited information from Member States on the extent of use and the variety of products used in each country.
In November last year our officials met on this same subject and they made certain recommendations that are to be presented to us during this meeting. However, we will also have the benefit of listening for ourselves to most of the presentations that were made during the November meeting.
We expect the outcome of this meeting to include recommendations on which products have sufficient evidence to support the promotion of their use, identification of areas for further research, mechanisms to support research, development and marketing of traditional therapies without the exploitation of indigenous knowledge, and finally and more important, how all these interventions can be incorporated into our health systems.
This meeting should mark the beginning of a process of putting nutrition at its rightful position as one of the most critical elements our health programmes and interventions. Nutrition can no longer be neglected and left to become a Cinderella of our health systems.
As far back as 1978 with the adoption of the Alma Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care, promotion of food supply and proper nutrition was amongst critical components of what constitute Primary Health Care.
Good nutrition is one of those elements of PHC that, when implemented adequately, can prevent a whole host of diseases. It is therefore a shame and a tragedy that we have over the last decades failed to prevent ill health by not adequately promoting food security and proper nutrition. Instead we have tended to focus and rely too much on cures for all our ills.
When we established the SADC Health Sector in 1998, information available to us was showing that availability of food and nutrition in the Region was declining, with droughts, food shortages, high rates of maternal and child malnutrition, Vitamin A deficiency, nutrition anaemia, and iodine deficiency disorders. A review of the food and nutrition situation in the Region contained in a Commonwealth Eastern and Central and Southern African report for 2001 indicated that:-
* Stunting rates were affecting about 40% of young children in East, Central and Southern Africa. The same number of children was also undernourished.
* Over 50% of women in their reproductive ages suffered from iron and vitamin A deficiency and other forms of malnutrition, leading to high mortality and low birth weight for children born to these mothers.
* The decline in production and consumption of indigenous foods was leading to household food insecurity.
In the 1980s, malnutrition was seen as underlying factor in more than one third of infant mortality in rural and urban districts of many African countries, and 20 to 80 percent of maternal mortality.
With the advent of the HIV and AIDS this situation has only got worse. As you know, our region is the worst affected by HIV and AIDS and the most affected are the economically active sections of our population that should be tilling the land and supporting children and the elderly.
We are in the grip of one of many famines that have afflicted our region over the past decades. This famine comes at a time when our populations are already undernourished, immunocompromised, and poor.
What we are therefore seeing in our countries is a complex humanitarian challenge that requires a multi-pronged response. This response should seek to break the vicious cycle of poverty affecting our region.
In our efforts to break this cycle, we have to appreciate that we have limited resources. But as SADC Health Ministers, we are committed to play our role in finding sustainable solutions to the challenges facing us. These solutions should be affordable and based on locally available products and technologies. Their ultimate end result should be the empowerment of our communities, enabling them to make a contribution to their own development.
It is therefore for this reason that some of the topics we will cover in this meeting are firmly rooted in what PLWHA and communities are doing to cope with HIV and AIDS.
We have not only brought in people who work, in particular, with PLWA in this field, but we also have PLWA who, themselves, can attest to the usefulness of these therapies. We also have companies that will exhibit some of their products.
The major challenge for us during this meeting will not be whether the products that are used by PLWHA work or not. The challenge is going to be whether we are able to integrate them into our work. To try and address this challenge, we have invited experts on regulatory matters and on programming.
Ministers have extensive experience in their countries on this subject and I look forward to the sharing of ideas and best practices on this subject. We welcome the cross-pollination across our countries as the result will be a better response to the challenges facing us.
Once again, let us not forget that the success of our meeting will be measured in terms of the difference we can make in people's lives, and especially those living with HIV and AIDS. May we not fail them.
I wish all of us fruitful deliberations.
I thank you.
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