South Africa: Military About-Turn on HIV/AIDS Tests

South Africa's Deputy Defense Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge has moved to defuse tension among defense department members, assuring there will be no compulsory HIV/AIDS testing in the National Defense Force (SANDF). Her move follows the recent announcement by Defense Minister Mosiuoa Lekota that the 70,000-strong SANDF would be "blind" tested so that the real incidence of HIV in the department could be ascertained. This followed suggestions that HIV/AIDS in SANDF was much higher than the national average, with one publication estimating a 60 percent infection rate.

"[SANDF members] think that now perhaps they are going to be forced to take the test, and we need to dispel that notion," Madlala-Routledge said. However, she asked, "How many soldiers are going to be ill and won't be able to perform their duties, and how much is it going to cost in terms of our budget? How much are we going to need to put aside for health care? This is a problem throughout the country and all state departments," she said. "No survey, as far as I know, has been done to work out how much it is going to cost the state. We want to encourage a caring environment and to ensure that the rights of the members are not harmed by our need to know. We have to find a balance."

Stressing it was not a scientific sample, Madlala-Routledge cited a series of department tests in 2000 of about 10,000 SANDF members in which 17 percent were HIV-positive. Using the national growth rate in HIV/AIDS, the force estimated SANDF's incidence of infection was 22 percent. "The task is to show people that we care and provide support for those already infected, but at the same time to find a way to create an HIV-free defense force," Madlala-Routledge said.

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