Laws and policies have minimal impact on PWAs

South Africa has numerous policy and legal instruments that protect the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS (PWAs), but many of these policies and laws have not had significant impact on the ground, according to a recently released AIDS country profile. The AIDS Profile Project, undertaken by the University of California San Francisco's AIDS Policy Research Centre, found that laws concerning education, the workplace, and the testing and counselling of PWAs had been inadequately implemented. "Under the Employment Equity Act of 1998, 'no person may unfairly discriminate, directly or indirectly, against an employee, in any employment policy or practice, on one or more grounds, including...HIV status...' The act also prohibited testing of an employee to determine his/her HIV status unless the Labour Court justifies such testing," the country brief said. But poverty, stigma, and poor access to legal resources have prevented many South Africans from addressing human rights issues. "The AIDS Law Project notes that 'the majority of people with HIV or AIDS are poor and afraid - they do not know how to stand up for their rights or are afraid to be open about their HIV status'," the profile added. The South African courts have, however, played a major role in HIV policy, it noted. For example, earlier this year, the Constitutional Court ordered the government to provide all HIV-positive pregnant women and their newborns with Nevirapine and ensure that the drug be made available at all public hospitals. According to the court ruling, the government's previous policy of restricting the drug to 18 pilot sites did not meet its constitutional obligation to offer the best treatment available to patients. The country profile also outlined the government's response to the epidemic since the unbanning of the ruling African National Congress (ANC). "The ANC worked with the apartheid government to create a detailed AIDS plan, which was notable for formalising a response to HIV/AIDS based on human rights principles. "Upon assuming office in 1994, the ANC adopted this plan and declared AIDS a 'Presidential Lead Project'. The plan, however, greatly overestimated the implementation capacity of the new government, not least because of the numerous challenges the ANC faced upon assuming office and the enormity of post apartheid reconstruction," the profile said. The AIDS Profile Project also provides an analysis of the country's political economy and socio-behavioral context to highlight the range of interventions that may affect or be affected by HIV/AIDS. For more information on South Africa's AIDS Profile The AIDS Profile Project has also developed updated profiles of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.