Treatment Action Campaign
Founding
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) was launched on 10 December 1998,
Quickly outgrowing its start among a small group of
The Treatment Action Campaign produces Equal Treatment, a magazine dedicated to HIV and health issues.
Suing the government
The TAC first confronted the South African government for not ensuring that mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) prevention was available to pregnant mothers.
Indeed, far from embracing their common victory against the patent rights of multinational companies who were not making affordable drugs available, President
Campaign for access to antiretrovirals
According to TAC's founder, two million South Africans died prematurely of AIDS during the term of former President Mbeki,[9] and many of these deaths could have been prevented by timely implementation of access to anti-HIV drugs.
Following their legal victories, and facing continuing refusal by the government to make
In the summer of 2003, TAC obtained and leaked an internally circulated government report showing that treatment would be cost-effective by reducing costly hospitalisations within the public-sector health system; however, the government did not endorse the report and condemned the leak. In August 2003, at its next annual congress, TAC voted to resume civil disobedience. TAC members also voted to recommend that Achmat take his medications, which he agreed he would do. At the same time, TAC began a Treatment Project to distribute medications to its activists and to other community members.
Shortly after the Congress, and before the civil disobedience campaign resumed, the Cabinet voted to begin roll-out of antiretroviral access through public-sector health clinics. In the South African system, the Cabinet can overrule the President, and it appeared to have done so in this case.
Although the Cabinet voted to reaffirm that South African AIDS policy is based on the evidence that HIV causes AIDS, former President
Although antiretroviral access is now official policy, its implementation has been spotty. TAC continues to protest and sue the government (working with the AIDS Law Project) in order to continue to influence the speed of and approach to the rollout.[11][12]
2006 IAS Conference and the Global Day of Action
At the
TAC members and supporters also took over the South African government's booth in the exhibitor's area.[14] The booth contained bowls of lemons and garlic, which the Health Minister has claimed contribute to fighting HIV. TAC members passed around these items mockingly, and toyi-toyied inside the booth, attracting attention to the South African government's expenditure on the elaborate booth and lack of corresponding commitment to the national treatment plan.
During the conference's closing ceremonies, United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis pointed out the failure of South Africa's response to HIV/AIDS, calling their actions more "[more] worthy of a lunatic fringe than of a concerned and compassionate state."[14] He also announced that earlier in the morning, Zackie Achmat and 44 others had been arrested for occupying provincial offices in Cape Town in protest of government's failure to treat prisoners with anti-retrovirals, and in particular the recent death of one plaintiff in the legal case against the government on this matter.
After the conclusion of the conference, TAC declared a Global Day of Action for Thursday, 24 August 2006.[15] Protests and marches were held in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and China by TAC supporters and sympathisers. In South Africa, police used pepper spray on protesters at the Department of Correctional Services building in central Cape Town, though no one was seriously hurt.[16] Similar protests in Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Limpopo, and KwaZulu-Natal were not met with violence. Over 2000 people took part in the demonstrations. The TAC's objective was to deliver its five demands, which include the convening of a national meeting and plan for the HIV/AIDS crisis, the dismissal of the Health Minister, the immediate treatment of prisoners, respect for the rule of law and the Constitution, and the building of a people's health service.[citation needed]
Support
The TAC has received support from many sectors of South African society, including Supreme Court Justice
TAC is supported by
Solidarity
TAC has worked with and shown solidarity with a number of organisations and movements. This includes the
See also
Sister organisations
References
- ^ a b c McGreal, Chris (12 September 2008). "Zackie Achmat: Profile". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
- ^ Makuni, Mavis (27 September 2008). "Mbeki selfsabotage led to downfall". The Financial Gazette. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2008.
- ^ a b Power, Samantha (19 May 2003). "The AIDS Rebel". The New Yorker. p. 54. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
- The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
- ^ Cronin, Jeremy (17 November 2010). "COSATU and the Liberals". Politics Web. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
- ^ ISBN 9781869142032. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-624-04359-1. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
- ^ Mbali, Mandisa (2 June 2005). "TAC in the History of Patient Driven AIDS Activism". Passages. University of Michigan Library. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
- ^ "Jimmy Carter pleased to see Mbeki booted out". Dispatch Online. 27 September 2008. Archived from the original on 28 September 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2008.
- APNews. Archived from the originalon 1 October 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2008.
- S2CID 235273225.
- ISSN 1556-5068.
- ^ (video) Archived 28 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Duff-Brown, Beth (18 August 2006). "South Africa HIV Policy Bashed at Summit". The Washington Post. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
- ^ TAC calls for Global Day of Action Archived 6 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "HIV/AIDS Advocates Protest South Africa's HIV/AIDS Treatment Program, Call for Resignation of Health Minister". KFF Health News. 11 June 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ "KILLING HIM SOFTLY", Matt Steinglass, The Boston Globe, 8 December 2002.
- ^ Maclennon, Ben (1 December 2000). "TAC vows to get HIV treatment for all". Independent Online. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
- ^ Sulston, John (18 February 2003). "The rich world's patents abandon the poor to die; Non-branded Aids drugs would save a generation in developing countries". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
- ^ Thom, Anso (29 January 2002). "TAC, Cosatu bring in cheap Aids drugs". Independent Online. Archived from the original on 25 May 2005. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ Zeleny, Jeff; Goering, Laurie (21 August 2006). "South Africa must awake from AIDS denial, Obama says". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2008 – via High Beam Research.
- ^ Ashoka website Archived 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Attacks on Abahlali base Mjondolo Movement". Treatment Action Campaign (Press release). 2 October 2009. Archived from the original on 25 December 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
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