The objective of this treatise is to establish whether a right to social security exists in South Africa, which would entitle HIV positive persons in South Africa citizens to medical care. A study was made of various articles in journals and on the Internet to determine the South African government's policy on a right to social security and to providing medical treatment. It was found that South Africa lacks an integrated, holistic approach to social security and does not guarantee the right to social security, merely the right to have access to social security. The same was found with the right to medical care. Although there seems to be a general right to medical care which extends to and includes HIV-positive patients, the state merely guarantees the right to apply for medical treatment but does not guarantee the granting thereof. It is submitted that the Department of Health's refusal to implement a vertical transmission prevention programme and the failure to offer treatment as an alternative, for whatever reason, is "penny wise and pound foolish". In the long run more money is spent dealing with pediatric AIDS. It was further found that although the government attempted to lay a groundwork with the formulation and acceptance of the national AIDS plan, the successful implementation thereof is seriously hindered due to the lack of inter- and intra-departmental collaboration, essential health services and funding.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:11042 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Hoffmann, Toinette |
| Publisher | University of Port Elizabeth, Faculty of Law |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, LLM |
| Format | 58 p, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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