AIDS Patients Hurt by South African Strike

A nationwide civil service strike in South Africa is threatening the health of patients with HIV/AIDS, TB and other critical diseases.

The government has brought in military medics and volunteers to help keep hospitals and clinics running while health care union members picket for an 8.6 percent wage increase and a 1,000 rand (US $137) housing allowance. The government is offering a 7 percent increase plus 700 rand (US $96) in housing.

Sizwe Pamla, spokesperson for the union that represents health workers, said it had planned prior to the strike for skeleton crews to provide care for people with HIV/AIDS and others, including those needing emergency treatment. But relations with the government had broken down to the extent that laborers are heading to the picket lines instead. "This country has got millions of people with HIV who need care," he acknowledged.

"The health care service has basically broken down in large parts of the country," said AIDS activist Mark Heywood.

Dr. Ashaf Coovadia, who works at a government hospital in Johannesburg, said his HIV/AIDS clinic typically sees 60-80 patients per day, but that has declined to 20-30 since the strike began a week ago. Patients fear getting caught in the violence that has erupted between police and health workers on the picket lines. "The situation is quite volatile," he said.

Coovadia, among the non-strikers, said his staff is calling patients who are nearly out of AIDS drugs to urge them to come in. HIV and TB patients who miss a few days of medication can develop drug resistance.

"This is affecting hundreds of thousands of patients across the country," Coovadia said.

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