PHA-Exchange> Opinion piece by Stephen Lewis

[Claudio Schuftan]

>
>
>
> > From: DavidZakus at cs.com <DavidZakus at cs.com>
> > Published in the Independent Newspapers, South Africa, Wednesday, August
> > 15, 2007
> >
> > The dismissal of the Deputy Minister of Health was a wretched day for
> > South
> > Africa. The country lost one of its strongest unifying forces in the
> > struggle against the AIDS pandemic.
> >
> > But as great a loss as her firing may be, it says far more about the
> > President of South Africa and his Minister of Health than it does about
> > Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge.
> >
> > What outsiders perceive, yet again, is a betrayal of trust. It never
> > seems
> > to end. Every time there is evidence of progress, the President and the
> > Minister of Health combine to crush the glimmers of hope. In this
> > instance,
> > the Strategic Plan, crafted by every sector of South African society,
> > has
> > been put in jeopardy.
> >
> > After years of denial, the Government finally abandoned the demented
> > absurdity of beetroots and opted, instead, to roll out treatment in a
> > fashion around which the entire country had rallied. The world looked
> > upon
> > it as a nearly miraculous reversal of fortune. But we were too quick to
> > make
> > assumptions. We underestimated the sheer willful malice of the Minister
> > of
> > Health. When she emerged from hospital, a vengeful personal vendetta was
> > unleashed and the Deputy Minister paid the price.
> >
> > However, it's the President who appoints and fires members of cabinet.
> > And
> > as much as we may feel collective dismay at the behaviour of Manto
> > Tshabalala Msimang, it's President Mbeki who lowered the axe.
> >
> > I'll never understand his disastrous response to the AIDS virus. I don't
> >
> > think I've ever met anyone, inside or outside of South Africa, who fully
> > understands. After all, this is a man of immense intelligence, who
> > fought
> > against apartheid with every intellectual and organizational weapon at
> > his
> > command. But his place in the annals of South Africa is forever sullied
> > by
> > the inexplicable unwillingness to confront HIV/AIDS. No matter the
> > astuteness of his economic policy, social interventions, financial
> > acumen,
> > or peace-keeping initiatives across the continent, he will always be
> > known
> > as the President who presided over the AIDS apocalypse.
> >
> > It's a terrible legacy with which to haunt the pages of history.
> >
> > In the face of the record, the silence of the international community is
> > truly bewildering. The leadership of the United Nations has no problem
> > ---
> > rightly --- eviscerating the President of Sudan over Darfur, or
> > lacerating
> > the Junta in Myanmar for the erosion of human rights, or condemning Iran
> > for
> > the export of weapons to Iraq and the possible development of nuclear
> > arms .
> > indeed, Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary-General, during an election
> > campaign in the United States, courageously declared the war in Iraq to
> > be
> > illegal. How then to explain the silence on South Africa? Why the double
> > standard? Are lives lost to AIDS somehow less worthy than lives lost to
> > conflict?
> >
> > Two years ago, the countries that comprise the United Nations embraced,
> > by
> > consensus, a new principle called the 'Responsibility to Protect'. It
> > was
> > rooted in the theory that if a country cannot or will not protect its
> > own
> > people from heinous violations of human rights, then sovereignty is
> > forfeit,
> > and the international community has the 'Responsibility to Protect'.
> > That
> > responsibility can be exercised in a variety of ways from economic
> > sanctions
> > to military intervention. But whatever the response, the motive is
> > clear: no
> > longer can the citizens of a country be sacrificed on the altar of
> > destructive and deadly state behaviour.
> >
> > Admittedly, 'Responsibility to Protect' was forged in the shadow of
> > conflict. It was the Darfurs of this planet that prompted the
> > governments of
> > the world to take so unusual a step. Never before had the unlimited
> > power of
> > sovereignty been so frontally challenged.
> >
> >  But I'd like to argue that it shouldn't stop with conflict. I'd like to
> >
> > argue that 'Responsibility to Protect' must have a broader application;
> > it
> > should apply equally to AIDS. If a government, like that of South
> > Africa,
> > refuses to roll out anti-retroviral treatment to save the lives of
> > millions
> > of its people, then the international community has a responsibility to
> > intercede. What is desperately needed at this moment in time is to make
> > certain that the Strategic Plan is not derailed. There can be no
> > retreat;
> > there can be no bad faith.
> >
> > I'm not suggesting an extreme response. But I am suggesting that if the
> > firing of the Deputy Minister of Health imperils the indispensable plan
> > of
> > treatment, prevention and care, then the world should take action. South
> >
> > Africa should no longer be invited to the World Health Assembly in
> > Geneva,
> > or to meetings of the SADC Health Ministers, or to the Board meetings of
> > the
> > Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Such censure makes
> > particular sense because the Minister of Health no longer authentically
> > represents the people of South Africa in matters of health. And if those
> > penalties don't change government policy, then South Africa should
> > experience the suspension of its membership in the World Bank, the IMF
> > and
> > the WTO.
> >
> > President Mbeki will scoff. But he's running against the universal tide
> > of
> > public dismay. That dismay should be turned into an international civil
> > society campaign, pressing governments on the one hand, and the various
> > South African embassies on the other to carry a message to the President
> > of
> > South Africa: the Strategic Plan must prevail. The world will not stand
> > idle
> > in the face of wanton, monumental death.
> >
> > We call it the Responsibility to Protect.
> >
> > It is said that 900 men, women and children die every day in South
> > Africa of
> > AIDS-related illnesses. It's Armageddon every 24 hours. Other than South
> >
> > Africa, every government in the high-prevalence countries is moving
> > heaven
> > and earth to keep its people alive.
> >
> > There are no excuses left for President Mbeki and his Minister of
> > Health.
> > The day of reckoning is surely coming.
> >
> > - end -
> >
> > Stephen Lewis, the former UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, is
> > co-director of AIDS-Free World, a new international advocacy
> > organization
> > ( www.aids-freeworld.org)
> >
> > This article was published by the following Independent Newspapers:  The
> > Star, Cape Argus, Pretoria News, and Daily News (Durban)
> > http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php
> >
>
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