Issued by the Office of the Presidency
Megawatt Park 29 February 2000
The Chairman of Eskom, Mr R. Khoza
The President of the SA MRC, Dr Makgoba
The Deputy CEO of Eskom, Mr B. Khumalo
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Eskom Electricity Council Members
Members of the South African National AIDS Council present
Eskom Employees
Distinguished Guests
Thank you for inviting me to the launch of this initiative which is a collaboration from Eskom, the Medical Research Council and government departments. South Africa, like many other countries in the world, finds itself in a precarious situation caused by the pandemic of HIV infection and resulting AIDS. One of the hardest hit areas is Sub-Saharan Africa, where only 10% of the world's population resides, but in which live two-thirds of all people infected.
According to the statisticians about 4 million South Africans are at present infected with HIV and between 1700 to 2000 people are being infected daily.
Sadly these will be almost confined to the 15 to 35 year age group, mainly hitting children between 15 and 19 years and infants, who shall never grow up to lead normal lives. I say sadly because they are our hope for our future. They are our hope for the continuation of the good work of rebuilding our country that we started 5 years ago.
Again the figures tell us that in the next ten years, we shall lose about 10 million people prematurely. The loss of these at a time when they should be entering their most productive years is set to place an almost unbearable burden on our economy, our health sector, our social fabric and our future.
It is obvious therefore that this threat needs an all-out effort by all of us. The whole nation has to be and is being mobilised to use all methods available to us on a wide front to fight the epidemic. Current efforts to control its spread have, unfortunately, not proven successful enough.
This is due to a large variety of reasons but some of the limitations are poor acceptance by some sectors of our population, expense, ignorance or a general refusal by people to change their lifestyle. Despite numerous, heroic efforts only 10% of people in the "high risk" group have been found to use condoms. Many members of our society have dedicated so much of their time to spread the word about the dangers of AIDS that we have come to the point where we say it is no longer sufficient just to be know about the disease.
What is needed now is for the people of our country to face up to the reality of this scourge. We all need now to take a good look at the way we conduct ourselves and think long and hard about where we want to be in 5, 10 years from now. We need to decide whether we want to be mere casualties in the war against AIDS or be a part of the victors when the battle is won.
We must realise therefore that we cannot continue to do things the same way we are doing now, the same way that our parents and their parents before them did. Our circumstances are different and carry the most terrible consequences for irresponsible sexual behaviour. We need therefore to change our behaviour, to know that only we can save our country and ourselves from death and destruction.
Ladies and gentlemen, I know it is a grim picture indeed that I am painting for you, but we each need to spread the message. The time for soft messages is now over. While government and various other sectors of our society are mobilising and pooling resources in the fight against HIV/AIDS the message that we send out to our fellow citizens must be strong that they need to save themselves and their country from catastrophe.
No amount of intervention by the government will rid us of AIDS until our people come, of their own accord, to the conclusion that they are the ones to halt the spread of this deadly disease by changing their behaviour.
Government will, of course, continue to explore ways of ensuring that the future of our children and our country is not compromised by this disease. There is, however, some light at the end of this dark tunnel, in the area of vaccine research and development.
The war on HIV/AIDS has been fought on many fronts over the years. Today we are gathered here to launch an initiative that, we hope, will possibly provide a more lasting solution in the long term.
The list of successes of vaccination is long and impressive, the most notable being the almost total eradication of smallpox, the control of polio, measles, and other deadly diseases and to some extent, influenza and rabies.
Vaccination of a population against a viral disease is, without doubt, by far the most effective, most practical and most economical of interventions. It literally gives a vaccinated person a suit of armour that provides life-long protection against invasion.
What a fantastic achievement it would be to be able to do this with HIV/AIDS, to be able to ensure that our children live their lives without the threat of AIDS hanging over their heads.
Although the HIV virus is said to be the most difficult virus that ever ravaged humanity, major strides have been made in this field, giving our scientists courage and optimism to tackle the problem head on. We have developed new formidable space-age weapons for combating it. There is hope yet.
I am told that during the last 15 years, more effort and money has been spent to unravel the secrets of the structure, life-cycle and possible weak points for attack in the HIV virus than ever before. As a result, we now know more about this virus than any other, giving us opportunities to identify all its targets. Currently, more than 80 candidate vaccines have been made; most of which are undergoing a testing process for safety and efficacy. South Africa, as one of the leading countries on our continent and especially the Southern region, is in a unique situation in this regard.
From the global point of view, ours is the country best situated for the evaluation and testing of these vaccines. Not only do we have enough cases of infection so that statistically significant and reliable results can be obtained in a short time and with compact, manageable trials, we also have the necessary infrastructure and a sophisticated health system, allied to scientific skills comparable to those found in the developed countries.
We are in a fortunate position in that the majority of our HIV infections (about 98%) are due to a specific type of virus. The significance of this for our country is firstly that we are more likely to succeed if we concentrate on this one type of virus. However it means also that the rest of the world, especially the USA and Europe who have other virus types, are unlikely to produce appropriate vaccines for us.
The solution therefore is for us to find, in collaboration with those in a position to assist us, our own vaccine for the Southern African countries. It is therefore commendable that this programme that we are launching today has been set up. The South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI), a multicentre, interdisciplinary programme, conceptualised by Eskom and managed by the Medical Research Council, is one of the programs that we South Africans must pin our hopes on for the survival of our society.
They and others involved in similar initiatives are the only lasting hope that our country has for survival. If they succeed in producing an effective, affordable preventive vaccine for universal use by the year 2005, our country will be further entrenched as a player in the world of nations will. The major victory however would belong to its people who would at last be freed from the shackles of HIV/AIDS.
I have been informed that at least one candidate vaccine, made of a South African C strain in collaboration with scientists in the USA, will be ready for Phase I testing early next year. I congratulate SAAVI and our scientists for already moving forward so rapidly.
I would also like to congratulate Eskom for its role in bringing together all the parties involved and for its role in the structuring of the project, its management process and its financing. I would like to congratulate them also for recognising that the potentially disastrous effects of this disease on our society, economy and in particular on the organisation itself makes it imperative for them to go beyond awareness campaigns and join forces with us in fighting the war against HIV/AIDS.
For you the decision to sponsor research into a preventative vaccine was based on a financial imperative of the organisation. I challenge other organisations, particularly in the private sector to follow the example of Eskom, as substantially more funds will be required to fight this scourge. Eskom therefore has taken the first step in encouraging other large businesses to contribute to the fund.
I congratulate also the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology and the Department of Health for their financial and other contributions. They are an excellent example of how we can go forward together to fight this scourge that is devastating our country.
I believe that this multi-disciplinary collaboration across government departments, academia, industry and science councils will ensure an efficient and focused team effort, resulting in an effective and low cost vaccine in a shorter time frame.
I express my faith in the excellence, skills and enthusiasm of our scientific teams that have been pulled together by the MRC and wish them well in their efforts.
May we, in a few years' time, be able to look back at this period in our history with a sense of pride in our achievement, having successfully countered HIV-AIDS, which so seriously threatened the well-being and economy of our people.
I thank you.