Madam Deputy Speaker, in the President's opening remarks of the state of the nation address he made reference to the recent challenging times our country experienced and how we overcame them with dignity. Sir, there is another challenge which is threatening our country which we need to also overcome. I refer to HIV and Aids.
It is estimated that for every one Aids death, there are two new infections. HIV and Aids count among one of the big five killer diseases in the world and South Africa has the highest rate of infection in the world. With an estimated 5,7 million people infected with HIV in South Africa, many of whom don't know their status, this pandemic presents all of us with a tremendous challenge.
The ANC government has only recently emerged from the coma of denial and finally agreed with the rest of the world that HIV indeed causes Aids. Now while it is a medical fact that recovery from a coma can be relatively slow, given the seriousness of the pandemic and its impact on all our lives, we need to inject a sense of urgency and put in place prevention and treatment programmes which can substantially reduce infections.
In view of this, then, Mr President, I was rather disappointed with the meagre two lines in the state of the nation address on the topic of HIV and Aids. It is quite unfortunate that you chose to merely read out a few lines from the 2007 national strategic plan in respect of the Millennium Development Goals and ARV roll-out. You offered no solution or hope whatsoever to the thousands of people who are HIV-positive or living with full-blown Aids. That, Sir, is irresponsible.
Within six days of exposure to HIV, the virus overcomes the body's initial defences and spreads rapidly through the blood, turning HIV into the biological equivalent of a runaway train. These six days are a window of vulnerability, but they can also be a window of opportunity, if there is strong political leadership. It is my considered opinion that you missed that opportunity in your address, and I want to just give a few examples to qualify my statement.
You missed that opportunity when you did not categorically end the hostility towards antiretrovirals, when you did not stamp out quackery and the promotion of false cures of HIV, when you did not address the fact that R80 million from the Global Fund remains inaccessible because government does not have the proper structures in place to administer it, and when you did not take responsibility or acknowledge the dire consequences of the shortage of formula milk for babies of HIV-positive women, resulting in these women having to breastfeed their babies and increasing the risk of transmission of HIV to innocent children.
The shortage of milk formula stems from a default in payments to Nestl to the tune of R15 million. So, as a result babies are doomed to die because your government can't pay its bills. That is a shocking state of affairs, Mr President, and the buck stops with you. [Applause.]
The consequence of this situation, Sir, is no different from the moratorium on ARV initiation in the Free State in November last year. At least 30 people per day died as a result of this moratorium. And yet you didn't allude to any of this in your state of the nation address.
The DA is in total agreement that the debate on HIV and Aids should be depoliticised. We ask you to consider allowing the SA National Aids Council, Sanac, to take a more direct role in the state's responses to HIV and Aids. However, Sanac continues to be top heavy with ANC politicians, and you would do well to include members of the opposition in Sanac as we have a valuable input to make and to give credibility to your statement of "Working together, we can do more."
There is currently no Aids vaccine on the horizon so an efficient and comprehensive ARV programme is key to treatment. Roll-out and unblocking of funding has to take serious priority if we are serious about tackling the pandemic head-on. We also should start treatment earlier, when the CD4 count is 350, as advocated by the World Health Organisation.
Mr President, all lives have equal value under our Constitution, including HIV-positive persons and people living with Aids. Thousands in South Africa are not getting the chance to live a healthy productive life because of this disease and government's slow reaction.
Now is your opportunity to provide a detailed road map to engage with this potentially nation-destroying virus. I hope you grab it with both hands and give validity to your inauguration speech in which you said, "For as long as there are South Africans who die from preventable disease, we shall not rest and dare not falter." [Applause.]