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COSATU irked by Govt AIDS inaction

[Lebanon] A little girl at a makeshift children's recreational centre dances her fears and sadness away. [Date picture taken: 09/22/2006] Serene Assir/IRIN
A little girl at a makeshift children's recreational centre dances her fears and sadness away.
    JOHANNESBURG

    The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is to call for intensification of the government's national plan against HIV/AIDS at its upcoming national meeting.

    "Cosatu has over and over again expressed concern at the lack of clear leadership from the [government], and we shall be demanding that they play the leading role that the crisis demands of them," the South African Press Association quoted COSATU spokesperson Patrick Craven as saying.

    While the unions appreciated the government's adoption of the ambitious 'Operational Plan for Comprehensive HIV and AIDS Care, Management and Treatment' in 2003, they said a huge gap remained between the plan on paper and its implementation on the ground.

    A study by the University of Cape Town's Centre for Social Science Research


    Photo: Naresh Newar/IRIN
    The
    families are sheltered in huts, which are unsuitable during all seasons
    and are often in a vulnerable state due to heavy rainfall, scorching
    heat and chilly winters.
    showed that at the end of 2005 an estimated 194,000 people were accessing anti-AIDS drugs in South Africa, of which only 57.8 percent were obtaining them from the public sector.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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