"The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) case, as a model for Africa, marks a positive step in protecting the right to health, particularly pregnant women and their infants. It provides a rich jurisprudence on protection of the right to health in Africa, and particularly in the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The TAC case definitely portrays the strength and role of an independent judiciary in the enforcment of constitutional rights such as socio-economic rights. The competence, legitimacy and power of the courts to pronounce on the constitutional validity of socio-economic rights justifies that it is indeed a model for the enforcemnt of the right to health in Africa. However, the right to health is not justiciable in many African constitutions. It is submitted that failure to address human rights violations, particularly the right to health, fuels the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This calls for government to take measures to protect the rights of persons living with HIV/AIDS, particularly women. The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR), of which most African countries are state parties to, obligates states parties to take necessary measures to give effect to the rights enshrined therein, including socio-economic rights. Socio-economic rights, in most African countries, including particularly Cameroon, are not constitutionally protected as justiciable rights. Thus, the jurisprudence of the TAC case could inspire African countries whose legislation and case law on socio-economic rights are underdeveloped, to make use of the jurisprudence issued by the Court in this field. The TAC case could also be used to persuade national courts to enforce socio-economic rights, given the prevalence of socio-economic rights violations in Africa. Thus, in this regard, it will be argued that governments have a fundamental obligation to ensure that the right to health is respected, protected, promoted and fulfilled as provided in regional and international human rights instruments. ... Chapter 1 of this study highlights the structure of the whole study. Chapter 2 provides an in-depth analysis of the TAC case, the basis of the ratio decidendi of the TAC case. The analysis includes the implications of the TAC case on the SA government. Chapter 3 reviews the application of international and regional human rights instruments protecting the right to health, and how these instruments are interpreted by human rights treaty monitoring bodies and municipal courts to impose on the state the duty to protect the right to health. Section 27 of the Constitution is also lightly considered. The discussion concentrates on the relevance of these norms and jurisprudence to the protection of the right to health in the context of HIV/AIDS in South Africa. The thrust of the theory of separation of powers is extensively discussed on the basis that the right to health encompasses seeking redress whenever it is violated. Thus, the study explores the judicial role in the HIV/AIDS era, to ensure that the right to health is enforced. However, it is noted that judicial independence and the theory of separation of powers, amongst others, may impede the enforcement of the right to health when it is challenged. Chapter 4 evaluates the Cameroon approach to the right to health in the Constitution, and seeks to find answers as to whether the judiciary has capacity and expertise to impose on the government the obligation to respect, protect and fulfill the right to health. Furthermore, the reasons are provided as to why the TAC case serves as a model for Africa. Chapter 5 is a summary of the conclusions drawn from the whole study and makes some recommendations." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2005. / Prepared under the supervision of Dr. A.N. Atangcho at the Association for the Promotion of Human Rights in Central Africa (APDHAC), Catholic University of Central Africa, Catholic Institute, Yaounde, Cameroon / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / Bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: When South African President Thabo Mbeki began doubting that HIV was the cause of AIDS in the late 1990s, failed to provide AIDS medication and stalled its introduction, openly supported HIV pseudoscientists and doubted HIV statistics, one of the most widely reported debates in the country’s history emerged. When two independent 2008 studies found that the death of approximately 330 000 South Africans could have been prevented between 1999 and 2007 if President Mbeki’s HIV policy made provision for AIDS medication, the AIDS debate was re-introduced, and it was these findings that provided the motivation for this study. The purpose of this study was to provide a historical perspective on HIV reporting in the media during Mbeki’s presidency in order to answer how the media reflected and reported on his HIV policy, and also to provide possible reasons for the way the media reported on the matter. Research has shown that the government (particularly President Mbeki and his health ministers) and AIDS social movement organisations (particularly the Treatment Action Campaign [TAC]) were the main actors framing the AIDS epidemic in South Africa. Thus, this study examined the media’s HIV trail in reporting on these actors’ responses and counter-responses by means of content analysis. Qualitative analysis, in the form of questionnaires sent to health journalists who reported on HIV during this period, was completed in order to provide the possible reasons for the media’s reporting style. During the content analysis it was found that the media reporting was mostly positive towards the TAC and mostly critical towards Mbeki and his government, and the results of the questionnaires verified this, but also provided reasons why the media were mostly critical of Mbeki and his government. One principal reason was that the government’s policies on HIV were so blatantly contrary to scientific evidence and medically unethical that it was the media’s duty to fulfil their watchdog and surveillance role. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Toe die Suid-Afrikaanse president, Thabo Mbeki, in die laat jare negentig begin het om die oorsaak van VIGS in twyfel te trek, daarin misluk het om VIGS-medikasie te verskaf en produksie daarvan vertraag het, en openlik MIV-pseudowetenskaplikes ondersteun het en MIV-statistiek bevraagteken het, het ’n debat met moontlik van dié wydste nuusdekking in die geskiedenis van die land posgevat. Die VIGS-debat het weer op die voorgrond beland nadat twee onafhanklike studies in 2008 bevind het sowat 330 000 Suid-Afrikaners se dood kon tussen 1999 en 2007 vermy gewees het indien president Mbeki se MIV-beleid voorsiening gemaak het vir die verskaffing van VIGS-medikasie. Hierdie bevindinge het die motivering vir die studie verskaf. Die doel van hierdie studie was om ’n historiese perspektief van die mediadekking van MIV tydens Mbeki se presidentskap te verskaf om sodoende vas te stel hoe die media die debat oor Mbeki se MIV-beleid weerspieël het, maar ook om die redes te bepaal vir die manier waarop die media oor die kwessie berig het. Navorsing het getoon die regering (spesifiek president Mbeki en sy gesondheidsministers) en aktivistegroepe (spesifiek die Treatment Action Campaign [TAC]) was die hoofkarakters betrokke by die fokussering van die VIGS-epidemie in Suid-Afrika. Dus het hierdie studie probeer om die media se MIV-spore met betrekking tot beriggewing oor hierdie akteurs se stellings en reaksies deur middel van inhoudanalise te bestudeer. Kwalitatiewe analise in die vorm van vraelyste wat aan gesondheidsjoernaliste gestuur is wat in hierdie tydperk beriggewing oor MIV gedoen het, is gebruik om moontlike redes te verskaf vir die manier van beriggewing. Tydens die inhoudanalise is bevind dat mediadekking meestal positief teenoor die TAC was en meestal negatief teenoor Mbeki en sy regering. Die resultate van die vraelyste het dít bevestig, en redes verskaf waarom die media meestal krities was teenoor Mbeki en sy regering. Een van die vernaamste redes was dat die regering se beleidsrigtings met betrekking tot MIV so blatant teen wetenskaplike bewyse gekant was en boonop medies oneties was, dat dit juis die media se plig was om die rol van waghond te speel.

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