ABSTRACT
The apartheid system in South Africa provided a very fertile path for the spread of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), not only through the creation of poverty but also through its labour migratory system. It is estimated that since the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) made its appearance 30 million people have contracted the virus and six million have died of AIDS. Approximately 86 percent of those in third world countries live in sub-Sahara Africa and in South and South East Asia. The Nationalist Government convened The National AIDS Convention of South Africa (NACOSA), with a mandate to develop a national AIDS strategy with technical assistance from World Health Organization. The NACOSA plan had six components: education and prevention; counselling; health care; human rights and law reform; welfare; and research. These components underpinned the management of HIV/AIDS and are used by the African National Congress government to fight the virus albeit in ways that have sometimes earned it criticism.
