All around the world, people are marking AIDS Memorial Day today. Since it was established 28 years ago, the event has grown into one of the world’s largest grassroots campaigns to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. In South Africa, it will be another busy day for Dutch doctor Hugo Tempelman as he battles the disease at his clinic in Elandsdoorn.

By Elles van Gelder, Johannesburg

The picnic tables in the open air waiting room of the Ndlovu Medical Centre are full. Some patients have been waiting since five o'clock in the morning. They watch tv and talk while passing time. Most of them are HIV-positive.

Hugo Tempelman runs through the corridors in a striped shirt and khaki pants. He has been working in South Africa since 1990. First in a state hospital, but in the new democratic South Africa of Nelson Mandela he and his wife Liesje established a general practice in Elandsdoorn, about three hours drive from Johannesburg.

In the years that have passed since then, the practice has grown to include a maternity clinic, an HIV clinic, a laboratory, a radiology department, food and 270 patients come here every day to consult the clinic’s doctors and nurses. Almost 4,000 HIV positive people come here for the ARV drugs they need to stay healthy.

Quality care
‘Our main task is to service an area of 140,000 people with quality healthcare they can rely on,’ says the 50-year old Dutchman. ‘I've always maintained that if I don’t want to treat my kids here, don’t want to let my wife give birth here or don’t want them to take care of my mother, that I am doing something wrong.’

AIDS has taken an enormous toll in South Africa. There are people in wheelchairs at the clinic who are no more than skin and bones.‘People often come late’ explains Dr Tempelman. “The journey to the clinic sometimes takes their last energy. Two or three times per week we need to call the undertaker because somebody dies in the waiting room. It is hard for the staff. The explosion is difficult to combat. In South Africa we have 1900 new HIV cases per day and one thousand people die daily of HIV/AIDS-related illnesses.’

Prevention first
He makes a plea not to let attention for the problem slacken off and to keep on investing in tackling the disease. Tempelman see donor fatigue. 'Donors call for sustainability but they don’t come to stay. That makes it difficult. And if we can take such a quick decision to declare war to Libya and to make the resources available, then we should also declare war against HIV/AIDS. But as long as the political will isn’t there, this problem is here to stay.’

Tempelman aims to combat HIV firt by trying to prevent people from becoming infected. Then if they are positive, it is important to know their status as early as possible so action can be taken before they become ill. Not only does this give the patient a dignified life, but it also saves money for the state that needs to take care of seriously ill patients.

Tempelman also consults with South Africa’s Ministry of Health because he feels his experience can contribute to establishing a better strategy across the whole country. ‘I don’t only want to work at community level but also mean something in terms of policy.’ After the negative attitude of the previous government, South Africa’s current leadership is doing it’s best to tackle the problem of HIV/AIDS.

Read more about the Ndlovu clinic.