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| Victory for Treatment Access in S.A. Prison | | Print | |
| Monday, 31 July 2006 | |
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The South African Treatment Action Campaign, or TAC for short, has learnt that over 100 Westville prisoners require antiretroviral treatment now. Following last week's Durban High Court judgment, which granted the state leave to appeal, but also ordered government to comply in the interim with the Court's earlier judgment, we will be monitoring the Correctional Services and Health Departments to ensure compliance.
AIDS Law Project Statement: Victory in Westville Prison Case [The TAC has learnt that over 100 Westville prisoners require antiretroviral treatment now. Following last week's Durban High Court judgment, which granted the state leave to appeal, but also ordered government to comply in the interim with the Court's earlier judgment, we will be monitoring the Correctional Services and Health Departments to ensure compliance. Here is the statement the AIDS Law Project released last week.] 25 July 2006 Today, the Judge Thumba Pillay ordered the government to comply with his earlier judgment regarding access to ARV treatment at Westville Correctional Centre (WCC). On 22 June 2006, he had ruled that the government is required to remove any obstacles to accessing ARV treatment at WCC, to take positive steps to ensure that ALL prisoners who need ARVs are immediately assessed for treatment, and to state exactly what steps they plan to take in an affidavit that should be filed with the Court. The applicants (13 prisoners and the Treatment Action Campaign) would then get a chance to comment on that report and the matter may be set down for hearing again if necessary. But because the government applied for leave to appeal against that judgment, the execution of Judge Pillay’s order was suspended until the final determination of the appeal. On 20 July, the lawyers for the TAC and the prisoners argued that it would be outrageous to allow the order to remain suspended until the appeal is finalised. This could take a year or even more. In this time the health of the 13 prisoners (and others at WCC who are in a similar position) would decline even further, and some may die. There is no doubt that the urgency here is one of life and death. Today, this was pointedly acknowledged by Judge Pillay. He said: "One cannot, on the one hand, hail the values of our Constitution which holds the right to life as sacrosanct and on the other, allow people to die in a situation when something can and should be done, certainly more diligently, to counter a pandemic which has been described as an ‘incomprehensible calamity’ and the ‘most important challenge facing South Africa since the birth of our new democracy’.” The Judge also noted that on the government’s own version nine prisoners per month have died since 2005 of AIDS-related illnesses. This figure in itself demonstrates the urgency of the matter. If the government were complying with their constitutional obligations, as they say they are, why would there be this alarming AIDS-related death rate? As a result, the Judge ordered that the 22 June 2006 judgment be implemented forthwith, and that the government’s report (on the steps that they are taking to ensure access to ARV treatment at WCC) must be filed with the Court by 14 August 2006. He also granted the government leave to appeal to the full bench of the Natal Provincial Division. Despite the fact that his order will be executed in the interim, he recommended that an expedited date should be allowed for the appeal hearing. |
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