Open Letter To LAC

ON July 28, 2005 you (Mr Norman Tjombe, Director of LAC) wrote me a letter on disability grants for people living with HIV-AIDS.

On July 29, 2005 I responded to your letter and invited you to come and discuss it with me in person. You elected not to take up this invitation.You placed your letter in the newspaper instead and it appeared in The Namibian of the August 9, 2005.Since you have elected to communicate through the media, I have no choice but to use the same media.My open response to your letter is as follows: Social and disability grants for people living with HIV-AIDS I acknowledge receipt of your letter which was written after I sent out a circular to health workers and after my subsequent press release following an article appeared in The Namibian of the 25th July 2005.The article alleged that the Namibian Government “scrapped AIDS disability grant”.The fundamental problem with your understanding of the circular can be compared to someone reading another person’s letter without appreciating the context in which it is written.I shall elaborate on the matter below: 1.As stated above, I reacted to an article that appeared in The Namibian and I have stated as such in my press release.I did not respond to your complaint as you alleged because I have not received any complaint from you.2.My office was approached to give clarity on both the social and disability grants to people living with HIV-AIDS.You seemed to have ignored the social grant and merely concentrated on the disability grant.I take it that you agree with me on the issue of social grants.3.You have recently quoted my circular.In that circular, I specifically referred to “people living with HIV-AIDS”.I did not refer to people living HIV and AIDS as you claimed in your letter.There is a fundamental difference between the two.Nationally and internationally, individuals who are HIV positive are referred at as “AIDS patients” or “people with AIDS-related complications”.I have not referred to the letter category in my circular.It is clear to health workers that disability, whether occasioned by car accident or stroke or AIDS, is a disability that may qualify an individual to register for a disability grant.This is where you have misunderstood my circular because it was not addressed to you.4.Your position with regards to the termination of disability grants to those who do not qualify surprised me, to say the least.These grants were obtained in a fraudulent manner.You are basically saying that an individual who is not eligible for disability grant and managed to get the grants fraudulently must be allowed to continue to receive it.I do not know the Legal Assistance Centre to be the champion of corrupt practices.5.The Ministry of Health and Social Services does not have the mandate for social relief to mitigate the effect of poverty.That mandate lies with other Government institutions.This is also a case where to non-governmental organisations can play a role.6.Before I rest my case, I wish to give you my assurance that the commitment of the Ministry of Health and Social Services to the welfare of those who are infected and affected by the epidemic remains firm.The efforts of the Ministry are there for everyone to see.After my press release, I was approached by representatives of organisations dealing with HIV-AIDS who thanked me for having cleared the misconception created by the article in the newspaper on your wrong interpretation of my circular.I invite you to come and discuss this matter further with me personally during the course of the week of the 1st August 2005.Dr K Shangula Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health and Social ServicesYou elected not to take up this invitation.You placed your letter in the newspaper instead and it appeared in The Namibian of the August 9, 2005.Since you have elected to communicate through the media, I have no choice but to use the same media.My open response to your letter is as follows: Social and disability grants for people living with HIV-AIDS I acknowledge receipt of your letter which was written after I sent out a circular to health workers and after my subsequent press release following an article appeared in The Namibian of the 25th July 2005.The article alleged that the Namibian Government “scrapped AIDS disability grant”.The fundamental problem with your understanding of the circular can be compared to someone reading another person’s letter without appreciating the context in which it is written.I shall elaborate on the matter below: 1.As stated above, I reacted to an article that appeared in The Namibian and I have stated as such in my press release.I did not respond to your complaint as you alleged because I have not received any complaint from you.2.My office was approached to give clarity on both the social and disability grants to people living with HIV-AIDS.You seemed to have ignored the social grant and merely concentrated on the disability grant.I take it that you agree with me on the issue of social grants.3.You have recently quoted my circular.In that circular, I specifically referred to “people living with HIV-AIDS”.I did not refer to people living HIV and AIDS as you claimed in your letter.There is a fundamental difference between the two.Nationally and internationally, individuals who are HIV positive are referred at as “AIDS patients” or “people with AIDS-related complications”.I have not referred to the letter category in my circular.It is clear to health workers that disability, whether occasioned by car accident or stroke or AIDS, is a disability that may qualify an individual to register for a disability grant.This is where you have misunderstood my circular because it was not addressed to you.4.Your position with regards to the termination of disability grants to those who do not qualify surprised me, to say the least.These grants were obtained in a fraudulent manner.You are basically saying that an individual who is not eligible for disability grant and managed to get the grants fraudulently must be allowed to continue to receive it.I do not know the Legal Assistance Centre to be the champion of corrupt practices.5.The Ministry of Health and Social Services does not have the mandate for social relief to mitigate the effect of poverty.That mandate lies with other Government institutions.This is also a case where to non-governmental organisations can play a role.6.Before I rest my case, I wish to give you my assurance that the commitment of the Ministry of Health and Social Services to the welfare of those who are infected and affected by the epidemic remains firm.The efforts of the Ministry are there for everyone to see.After my press release, I was approached by representatives of organisations dealing with HIV-AIDS who thanked me for having cleared the misconception created by the article in the newspaper on your wrong interpretation of my circular.I invite you to come and discuss this matter further with me personally during the course of the week of the 1st August 2005.Dr K Shangula Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health and Social Services