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Note: This document is from the archive of the Africa Policy E-Journal, published
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Africa Action / TransAfrica: Letter to President Mbeki
Africa Action / TransAfrica: Letter to President Mbeki
Date distributed (ymd): 020409
Africa Action Document
Africa Policy Electronic Distribution List: an information
service provided by AFRICA ACTION (incorporating the Africa
Policy Information Center, The Africa Fund, and the American
Committee on Africa). Find more information for action for
Africa at http://www.africaaction.org
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Continent-Wide
Issue Areas: +health+ +economy/development+
SUMMARY CONTENTS:
April 9, 2002
As an organization with strong historical ties of solidarity with
the struggle in South Africa, we are joining with actor/activist
Danny Glover and TransAfrica President Bill Fletcher to issue an
open letter to South African President Thabo Mbeki, asking that he
assume the responsibility of strong leadership on the HIV/AIDS
crisis in South Africa and globally.
Africa Action, along with other U.S. groups, will also be
participating in a rally and lobby day on April 10 calling for new
action by the U.S. Congress on HIV/AIDS. The demands are "Donate
the Dollars, Treat the People, and Drop the Debt." For more
details, see
http://www.africafocus.org/docs02/acc0204.php>
The press release and the full text of the letter to President
Mbeki are below.
Additional information on Africa Action's Africa's Right to Health
Campaign can be found at
http://www.africaaction.org/action/campaign.htm
TransAfrica's web site is
http://www.transafricaforum.org
- - Africa Action
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
AFRICA ACTION
PRESS RELEASE
April 9, 2002
Contact: Salih Booker 202-546-7961
Leading Africa Activists in U.S. seek new AIDS policy from South
African Government
Tuesday, April 9, 2002 (Washington, DC) - In a letter released
today to South African President Thabo Mbeki, Africa Action,
TransAfrica and actor- activist Danny Glover criticize the South
African government's HIV/AIDS policies for "blocking needed medical
efforts to address [the AIDS] crisis." The letter charges that the
shortcomings of Mbeki's approach are responsible for the loss of
countless lives and for undermining the larger global fight against
the AIDS pandemic and the structural inequities that sustain it.
The letter to President Mbeki emphasizes the urgent need for strong
policies that cover treatment as well as prevention. It also
highlights the important role that the South African government
must play in the larger struggle to defeat the pandemic in Africa
and globally.
The letter reads in part: "As President of South Africa, ground
zero of the global AIDS pandemic, your government is in a unique
position, and with that comes a unique responsibility... The
position of your government in addressing South Africa's AIDS
crisis has implications far beyond your own country." It continues:
"Your government's failure to provide strong leadership on this
issue is allowing the U.S. and other rich countries to evade their
responsibility to address this human catastrophe."
The letter recognizes the close link between poverty and disease
which Mbeki himself has sought to highlight. However, the
signatories urge President Mbeki to clarify his controversial
stance on HIV/AIDS by representing himself with a clear-cut
acknowledgment of the catastrophic nature of the crisis, and with
a proactive policy to confront it that includes the provision of
anti-retroviral medicines.
The letter's signatories share a long history of solidarity work
with the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African
struggle against apartheid, including support for the government of
South Africa in its efforts to tackle the legacy of poverty and
inequality. Indeed, the significance of this letter lies in this
very relationship.
April 8, 2002
His Excellency Thabo Mbeki
President of the Republic of South Africa
Private Bag X1000
Pretoria 0001
SOUTH AFRICA
Dear President Mbeki,
We write to you today because we are alarmed about the unnecessary
loss of life resulting from the South African government's stance
on combating the HIV/AIDS crisis. We are concerned that your
government's approach lacks the effectiveness of the HIV/AIDS
policies of other developing countries such as Brazil, Uganda and
Senegal.
As you know, we share a long history of solidarity work with the
South African struggle against apartheid, including support for the
ANC and the new government of South Africa. We salute your
government's efforts to address the cruel legacies of apartheid,
especially the fight against poverty and inequality. We support
these efforts as well as much of what your government has done to
address the public health crisis that South Africans face, and that
is also a part of apartheid's legacy.
We agree that the AIDS crisis is closely related to poverty. Indeed
the pandemic, and the larger health emergency that it represents,
is the most visible manifestation of a system of global apartheid
and vulgar corporate greed.
Where we disagree with your government's AIDS policies, however, is
so important that we believe it must be publicly contested. We are
convinced that the shortcomings in the position of the South
African government are responsible for the loss of thousands -
perhaps millions - of lives and tragically undermine the larger
worldwide fight against the AIDS pandemic and the structural
inequities that sustain it.
As you are aware, Mr. President, South Africa is the country with
the highest number of HIV-positive people in the world. An
estimated five million of your citizens are currently living with
HIV/AIDS. While the spread of the disease is fueled and exacerbated
by poverty and other systemic factors, it can be greatly reduced by
strong government policies on prevention and treatment. We are
aware of, and applaud, the initiatives undertaken by your
government to prevent the transmission of the virus and to educate
the public against unsafe practices.
However, a nearly exclusive emphasis on prevention is fatal for the
millions in South Africa and elsewhere already living with the
virus. The provision of anti-retroviral (ARV) treatments has been
proven to save lives and to safely and effectively inhibit
transmission.
Your government's hesitation regarding the expansion of ARV
programs, especially those designed to reduce mother-to-child
transmission, is contributing to the unnecessary and unacceptable
loss of life, and hindering the advancement of national
development.
An accelerated roll-out of the South African government's existing
program to expand access to Nevirapine could prevent as many as
35,000 babies from contracting the virus every year. Your
government's victory over the international pharmaceutical industry
last year proved to be a pyrrhic triumph when the opportunity was
not seized to advance a strategy, including parallel imports and
compulsory licensing, to ensure the provision of essential
medicines for all your people. The global justice movement suffered
a serious setback when the South African government failed to
provide leadership for the global regulation of socially
irresponsible corporations.
We and millions of other activists share your concern about the
sustainability of treatment programs. But in the face of a health
crisis of this magnitude, it is imperative that each government do
all it can to save lives now. Moreover, treatment helps cut overall
costs by reducing hospital stays, decreasing the numbers of HIV
cases, and enabling thousands to stay in the workforce. The
inability to provide treatment to all who require it is not an
excuse to discriminate against those who can be reached, especially
when such discrimination leads to death. Treatment programs
strengthen prevention efforts, expand local health infrastructure,
and improve overall delivery of care and support. The availability
of treatment is an incentive for HIV testing, and it helps remove
the stigma and discrimination against individuals living with HIV.
Failure to provide treatment now to all those you can, and to
urgently press for access for all, is tantamount to imposing a
death sentence. And there is no greater stigma than this.
Mr. President, the position of your government in addressing South
Africa's AIDS crisis has implications far beyond your own country.
The AIDS pandemic is now recognized as the worst plague in human
history. And while AIDS does not discriminate by race, gender or
geography, at present it is mainly killing Africans and people of
African descent across the globe. This is the cruel truth about why
the Western world has failed to respond with the urgency required.
Your government's failure to provide strong leadership on this
issue is allowing the U.S. and other rich countries to evade their
responsibility to address this human catastrophe. It is critical
that African governments be at the forefront of the war on AIDS.
As President of South Africa, ground zero of the global AIDS
pandemic, your government is in a unique position, and with that
comes a unique responsibility. The country worst affected must rise
to define the response to the global threat of HIV/AIDS. The terms
in which you choose to frame the debate matter tremendously. At the
moment, the impression among many of your supporters
internationally, as well as among medical leaders within South
Africa, is that you and your government do not believe that HIV
causes AIDS and that you are blocking needed medical efforts to
address this crisis. If you feel that you or your government have
been misrepresented, represent yourself with a clear-cut and
consistent acknowledgment of the catastrophic nature of this
crisis, and with a proactive policy to confront it. The great moral
standing of your government and your people affords your government
the authority to challenge the injustices and the obstacles that
fuel the pandemic and hinder an effective response. Indeed the
historic and structural causes of poverty in Africa must be primary
targets in the war on AIDS.
We are well aware that we cannot afford to win the war on AIDS and
lose the war on poverty. Victory in both requires the following:
(1) unconditional cancellation of Africa's illegitimate foreign
debt, (2) full funding for the United Nations' global fund to fight
AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, in order to ensure access to
essential medicines and effective localized treatment for all, (3)
a renewed global emphasis on public investment in social services,
(4) an end to international discrimination on the basis of race,
gender and HIV status, and (5) the promotion of a public discourse
on reparations to emphasize the need for the West to invest in
Africa's healthcare as an obligation not charity.
Though the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) shares
much of this vision, we strongly believe that it is impossible to
promote sustainable social and economic development in Africa
without defeating HIV/AIDS as an essential first step.
Mr. President, please act now so that no one can doubt any longer
your unswerving commitment to addressing this most devastating
crisis. We must save who we can with what we have now. Our
communities and organizations do support you, and will continue to
support you, in the larger struggle for human security for all.
Truly, our destiny is tied to what happens in South Africa.
Yours in struggle,
Rev. Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker, President, Africa Action
Salih Booker, Executive Director, Africa Action
Danny Glover, Actor and Activist
Bill Fletcher, President, TransAfrica
This material is distributed by Africa Action (incorporating the
Africa Policy Information Center, The Africa Fund, and the
American Committee on Africa). Africa Action's information
services provide accessible information and analysis in order to
promote U.S. and international policies toward Africa that advance
economic, political and social justice and the full spectrum of
human rights.
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