Ecumenical Bodies Welcome New Direction for South Africa AIDS Response
Four ecumenical bodies have welcomed the appointment of South Africa Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka to head a revived South African National AIDS Council (SANAC).
The ecumenical bodies expressed their support in a joint letter sent earlier in the week on the eve of a national meeting to address South Africa’s AIDS crisis. The letter was signed by the secretary general of the World YWCA, Dr Musimbi Kanyoro; the secretary general of the World Alliance of YMCAs, Dr. Bartholomew Shaha; the general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches, the Rev Mvume Dandala; and the coordinator of the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, Ms Linda Hartke.
In their letter, the ecumenical leaders stressed the importance of communication and cooperation between civil society and government. "No response to AIDS has been effective without the united efforts of all aspects of society,” they stated.
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The letter also emphasized the need to work together and for the government to keep the promises it had made on AIDS, including the Millennium Development Goals and the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS passed unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly on June 2, 2006.
The South African government has come under fire for its response to HIV and AIDS which includes the promotion of traditional remedies instead of anti-retroviral therapy. The government has also been accused of denying the scale of the pandemic in the country.
On Tuesday, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka conceded the government had fallen short in fighting the epidemic and promised much better results using life-saving drugs.
"We are very optimistic that this new SANAC... will ensure we are able to come up with results that are much better," said the new HIV/AIDS coordinator, according to Reuters. As the head of SANAC, Mlambo-Ngcuka is South Africa President Thabo Mbeki's top official on HIV/AIDS.
In their letter, the four ecumenical bodies called the new government direction "a positive step forward to bring government, the private sector, and civil society together to improve the country's response to the pandemic."
The letter urged all parties to keep in mind the urgent need for effective action on HIV and AIDS. "In the end, the winners-or losers-are those living with the virus, for whom political will and enabled health care systems are a matter of life and death," it stated.
Christian Post reporter Eric Young in San Francisco contributed to this report.
