AIDS activists starving for social grants

The South African National Association of People Living With AIDS (NAPWA) began a hunger strike on Tuesday to support HIV-positive people who need social grants to feed themselves.

"These people apply for the grant in line with the government's criteria of having a CD4 count [measurement of the body's immunity] of below 200. They are then also given access to antiretroviral (ARV) treatment to bring them back to good health, but once their CD4 reaches 200 or higher, the grant is stopped," said NAPWA spokesperson Nkululeko Nxesi.

Vast numbers of HIV-positive grant recipients were deregistered once they were deemed medically fit to hold a job.

Nxesi told IRIN/PlusNews that most of these people had been unemployed before receiving their grants, and they might never find a job to put them in a position to support their or their family's nutritional needs.

Nxesi and 29 members of the group, unhappy with the current policy, had decided to embark on their risky protest action in an attempt to get the Department of Social Development to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

The aim of the strike is to raise awareness in the government about the importance of providing nutrition as part of its broader intervention against the pandemic.

"We realise that our course of action poses a huge health risk to almost half of the striking members, who are also using ARVs and need proper nutrition in order to benefit from the drugs, but it's a small price to pay when considering that all the deregistered grant recipients now have to take their ARVs without food," he said.

As it stands, the grant is a temporary provision to help HIV-positive people who are unable to meet their basic needs, but Nxesi said this makes no sense.

Grant recipients are required to undergo regular medical examinations to verify their health status and determine when their monthly US$109 should be discontinued.

Unemployment is estimated at around 35 percent in South Africa, and Nxesi believed a large number of the country's more than five million HIV-positive people were dependent on the grant.

"NAPWA is therefore calling on the government to make these grants available to all unemployed people living with AIDS and taking ARVs.

In the event that an individual finds employment and is able to meet their daily needs, then deregistration can be considered."

The Department of Social Development has requested that NAPWA submit a list of all people deregistered after regaining their health.

"The department would then investigate to ascertain the reasons. We have offered to assist these people through the Social Relief of Distress grant, which is a temporary provision of assistance intended for persons in such dire material need that they are unable to meet their most basic needs," said the department's Lakela Kaunda.

The deadline for the list to be handed over to government officials is 29 September, and Nxesi and his group are determined to continue the hunger campaign until that time.

//This story is part of a series of features produced by IRIN/PlusNews focussing on HIV/AIDS and communities of humanitarian concern.

To view other recent reports visit the web site at: www.plusnews.org/difidproject.asp