SA Gov defends Lewis attack with 340m condoms

On Friday, 18 August 2006, On Friday, Lewis told the International Aids conference in Toronto, Canada, that SA could "never achieve redemption" for its HIV/Aids policies as 600 to 800 people a day died of Aids in SA. Lewis said what the government was doing was "wrong, immoral and indefensible". As part of the defense the Health Dept said: "more 340 million male condoms and close to 3 million female condoms are distributed each year free of charge" (Sunday Times, 19 August 2006)

SA Health Dept hits back at UN envoy

UN special envoy to Africa Stephen Lewis "is not Africa's Messiah" and does not understand the country's HIV/Aids programmes, said the health department.

"We reject with contempt the statement made by Stephen Lewis with regard to response of South African government to the challenge of HIV and Aids," said department spokesman Sibani Mngadi in a statement.

Mngadi said Lewis' comments should not be seen as the views of the UN and its agencies which continued to work on HIV/Aids with SA.

On Friday, Lewis told the International Aids conference in Toronto, Canada, that SA could "never achieve redemption" for its HIV/Aids policies as 600 to 800 people a day died of Aids in SA.

Lewis said what the government was doing was "wrong, immoral and indefensible".

He accused the government of expounding HIV/Aids theories "more worthy of a lunatic fringe than a concerned and compassionate state".

"SA government has tripled the budget allocation for the HIV and Aids over the last four years from just over R1 billion in 2002 to R3.5bn in 2005. This allocation constitutes 90 percent of resources currently being used to implement HIV and Aids (programme) in South Africa," said Mngadi.

He said Lewis should say whether any other country had distributed, as SA did, more 340 million male condoms and close to 3 million female condoms each year free of charge, or had put more people on anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment that SA had with 175,000 people getting ARVs.

(Sunday Times, 19 August 2006)

see: http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/zones/sundaytimesNEW/topstories/topstories1155999655.aspx