The AIDS Law Project (ALP) and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) focus much of their work on ensuring that full and meaningful effect is given to the Bill of Rights recognition that “[e]veryone has the right to have access to … health care services” and that the “state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realization” of this right.
The ALP made a submission to the KZN Health Department regarding draft of the Kwazulu-Natal Health Care Bill, 2007. In our view, the KZN Bill has the potential to complement the broad legislative framework provided by the National Health Act, 2003. In particular, it has the potential to provide much of the needed detail in respect of which the Act expressly authorises the provinces to legislate, thereby enabling provincial and local government authorities to render health care services in accordance with the needs of the people of KZN.
The ALP made a follow-up submission to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development regarding the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Bill. The submission was made on 15 August 2006 based on a new draft version of the bill.
In our submission to the Department of Science and Technology (DST) on the draft Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research Framework, we noted that “[w]hile we continue to advocate for the development of an intellectual property framework in South Africa that generally facilitates access to essential products, our primary concern is that the legislation and regulations . . . that will result from this process make particular provision for ensuring access to the products of research that were developed using public resources.”
A week after Cabinet adopted the Operational Plan for Comprehensive HIV and AIDS Care, Management and Treatment for South Africa (“the Operational Plan”) in November 2003, MM – an inmate at Westville Correctional Centre and the seventh applicant in the case of EN v Government of Republic of South Africa (No 1) – was diagnosed withoesophageal candidiasis, an AIDS-defining illness.
The ALP welcomes the opportunity to make a submission on the Draft Regulations Relating to the Obtainance (sic) of information and Processes of Determination and Publication of Reference Lists (“draft regulations”).
The ALP accepts that there is a need to address inequity in access to private health care services as well as the need to contain and regulate costs in the private sector. For this reason regular and accurate information about health financing, service prices and business practice in the private sector is essential in determining both health policy as well as a fair and reasonable price for services and products. However, if the draft regulations are to give effect to the objective of obtaining such information then we believe that it should be significantly strengthened.
The ALP welcomes the opportunity to make a submission on the draft Medical Schemes Amendment Bill (“the draft Bill”) in so far as it deals with risk equalisation. We do so against the following background:
The call for public submissions makes it plain that Parliament’s review of the Act will focus on the impact of the statute on women and persons with disabilities. Oursubmission deals squarely with two issues: the proposed express inclusion of HIV/AIDS status as a prohibited ground of unfair discrimination; and access to legal services necessary for the proper implementation of the Act.
The AIDS Law Project (“the ALP”) and the Treatment Action Campaign (“the TAC”) welcome the release of the Strategic Framework for the Human Resources for Health Plan (“the Strategic Framework”) for public comment and discussion. We further welcome the express acknowledgement therein by the Department of Health (“the DoH”e need for appropriate human resources for health (HRH) planning and recognise the substantial work that has gone into the development of the Strategic Framework.
The AIDS Law Project (ALP) welcomes this opportunity to make written submissionson the Health Professions Amendment Bill [B 10 – 2006] (“the Bill”). As an organisation that has consistently sought to ensure that the Health Professions Council (“the Council”) holds health professionals to account, we welcome the Bill and the many positive contributions we believe it will make in advancing and safeguarding the public interest.
Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Bill
The National Working Group on the Sexual Offences Bill made a submission on 30 October 2005. This submission begins by explaining why violence against women is an obstacle to the socio-economic development of South Africa. It then provides statistics on the extent of the problem before setting out the policies and laws which have been developed to address violence against women, or gender-based violence.
The AIDS Law Project (“ALP”) welcomes the objectives underpinning Sections 27, 70 and 71 (“the Sections”) of the proposed Draft Revenue Laws Amendment Bill, 2005 (“the Bill”) to increase access to private health services. In this way, the Bill seeks to achieve its objective through the provision of tax subsidies for medical contributions and expenses to self employed and formally employed persons, including their dependants (beneficiaries). It also aims to remove the distinction between on site and off site medical services, an area of the proposals that we are particularly supportive of.