Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota launched Project Phidisa, the SA National Defence Force's anti-HIV/Aids programme on Monday, World Aids Day.

Lekota said the Cabinet wanted to keep "those who are HIV-negative - negative, while reaching those HIV-positive South Africans who are most in need of comprehensive clinical management of their illness."

Project Phidisa was "a clinical research programme of the South African National Defence Force and it aims to discover the best ways to manage infections with the HI Virus within the context of military service and the broader society.

"We will make better the lives of our soldiers and their families and we will also save lives," Lekota said.

The minister said Project Phidisa had brought together "a stellar collection" of collaborators: the SANDF, the United States Department of Defence and the United States Department of Health and Human Services "through the good offices" of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the (American) National Institutes for Health.

The partners have expanded the technical and scientific team at the core of the development of the research and they have included leading university scientists from South Africa and abroad.

Project Phidisa aimed to find answers to the critical problems of the use of antiretroviral agents in the clinical management of Aids.

Lekota said the research would: - Evaluate the effects of the HIV epidemic on the SANDF with an initial focus on treatment including treatment with antiretrovirals; - Provide treatment to qualified HIV-positive SANDF members and their dependants at six selected research locations; - Answer research questions relevant to South Africa on the use of antiretroviral therapy and other interventions to address diseases that impact on members of the military; and - Build capacity within the South African Military Health Service so that it can conduct research on other diseases of critical importance to military force preparedness.

Lekota said the SANDF was "a reflection of South African society and this work will be critical in defining the policy decisions for the country on HIV treatment."

The project will be implemented at 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria, 2 Military Hospital in Cape Town, 3 Military Hospital in Bloemfontein and in three rural six bays (Mtubatuba, Phalaborwa and Umtata).

Soldiers and their families served by these health centres will be eligible to participate.