Government loses years in AIDS fight

SOUTH AFRICA: Government loses years in AIDS fight

JOHANNESBURG, 5 Oct 2004 (PLUSNEWS) - South Africa has lost years in the HIV/AIDS battle by ignoring plans drawn up by its apartheid-era predecessor, said former president FW de Klerk.

According to De Klerk, his health minister, Rina Venter, drew up a detailed action plan on the challenges of the pandemic before the first democratic election.

"That action plan, as [with] so many other good action plans and policy documents, was left on the shelf to gather dust, because ... anything which came from the apartheid era was somehow or other contaminated," The South African Press association quoted the former president as saying.

De Klerk said AIDS was the most serious problem facing South Africa, and that it had reduced average life expectancy from 63 years during his tenure as head of state to 47 years at present.

[ENDS]

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