Taking
action - community perspectives at the SA AIDS
Conference 2003
HIVAN's "eyes and ears" were active
at the SA AIDS Conference held in Durban during
August this year, particularly in networking with
grassroots organisations who staked their claim
at the gathering through presentations, display
stands, informal discussion and general sharing
of materials and ideas.
Nhlanhla Ndlovu from IDASA's Budget Information
Service works in the area of HIV/AIDS and public
finance. He presented recent research findings
on provincial government's HIV/AIDS spending,
showing that there has been improvement in the
delivery of funds to community level over the
last two years, although underspending is still
an issue. He described the challenges faced by
local government structures in this regard, and
outlined the policies being developed to overcome
these in the future.
To gather this information, IDASA researchers
interviewed finance division officials from the
Departments of Health, Social Development and
Education. It became clear that, although more
money had been made available by national government
and had found its way to community structures
during 2002 and 2003, the key problems obstructing
roll-out were:
1) the rigid procedures of the "Conditional
Grant" system of funding, and
2) lack of management skills within treasury sections.
Heads of provincial departments are now strategising
to deliver the available funds more efficiently
to those in need.
 Other
studies featured at the Conference examined the
problems experienced by public sector healthcare
workers in the face of the epidemic, the legal
rights of people living with HIV and AIDS, the
progress of research on vaccine trials, community
participation in HIV/AIDS research, and access
to anti-retroviral treatment.
In their presentations, the scientific community
and civil society representatives described their
achievements, setbacks and ongoing search for
solutions in stemming the tide of the epidemic.
There was a strong focus on cost issues relating
to the provision of housing and food, to poverty
alleviation and to Voluntary Counselling and Testing
(VCT). The fact that the researchers and government
officials attending the Conference were grappling
with practical measures to deal with these issues,
rather than merely talking about their importance,
showed that there is growing and genuine commitment
to achieving results across all sectors.
Of particular interest was a report given on
the Yabonga Children's Project, an encouraging
example of a multi-layered approach to empowerment
for HIV-positive women. The need to provide skills-training
and access to support groups for infected mothers
was identified in order to save babies from being
abandoned or orphaned, and to uplift communities
in general.
During 2002 and 2003, 70 HIV-positive mothers
were trained as patient treatment advocates, who,
once graduated, would be able to serve as advisors
and monitors of anti-retroviral treatment programmes.
These women will assist primary healthcare teams
in the care of large groups of patients in their
communities. The project is run by volunteers,
so the programme costs are low, and the spread
of information and skills to a wider range of
stakeholders is assured. Income generation is
enabled through ongoing skills-training, and some
graduates have joined other agencies as paid workers.
For more information about the Yabonga Children's
Project, contact:
Dr Ursel Berlin (Co-director)
Private Bag X1, Mowbray, Cape Town 7705
No 2 Main Road, Wynberg, Cape Town 7800
Tel: (021) 761 2940
Fax: (021) 761 3407
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