1st meeting of the National Consultative Health Forum NDoH 2006

This is a special kind of health stakeholder consultation in terms of the National Health Act. It set the standard for the future and not a high one.  The national Department of Health special. Short notice with little choice of topic Since then the notice is much shorter. Inclusion is still a mystery. In 2006 it was based on which organisations the Minster liked. Mostly anything but HIV.

The attached programme is illustrative of the era. These were tough times. Getting an invitation was like a poison chalice. It showed the rift between the Mbeki administration and the people.  AGISA was incomprehensible and deliver at great length.

Disability access was laughable. The minister injured a foot and arrived late in a wheelchair. The usually constructed stage had no disabled access certainly not for a wheelchair.  So it took great deliberation to find 4 strong people to lift the wheelchair and minister onto the stage. The rest is a bit of a blur until lunch.
I chose a table near the door and went to get lunch. When I came back the minister and health MECs filled the table it was a conventient spot for a wheelchair bound person.  The minster ordered wine, the only person in the room to do so. I had a diet cold drink. The minister stated how poor my choice refreshement was, all the artifical sweetners were terribly bad for me. The MEC ssat sicophantically by and one even pretended to drink wine.
Memories of a survivor