The rights of people with HIV have been violated by "several budgeting decisions" made in the past year, an Aids forum said on Wednesday.
The Budget and Expenditure Monitoring Forum (BEMF), which includes the Treatment Action Campaign and the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society, said at least 30 lives were being lost a day in the Free State due to the budgeting decisions.
"In the last financial year, several budgeting decisions were made which the member organisations of the BEMF believe violated the rights of individuals under the constitution," the group said.
"The most visible of the budgeting decisions was the moratorium on the initiation of patients onto the highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) in the Free State from November 2008 through March 2009." it said.
"The Southern African HIV Clinicians Society estimated that at least 30 lives a day were lost as a result this decision."
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has confirmed that nationally there is a billion rand shortfall in HIV programme budgets for the current financial year.
Representatives of the Free State department of health, meanwhile, have said that a new moratorium on antiretroviral initiation is on the horizon unless additional funds are made available by the Treasury.
The BEMF said it had received reports that other provinces faced similar financial constraints, which could lead to a cut-off or slow-down in putting patients on HAART.
This, it said, would lead to more avoidable deaths.
The group has called on the department of health and the Treasury to intervene in every province struggling to meet its HAART and prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) targets.
"Budgets for HAART and PMTCT must be developed based on the best available evidence of the need in every district in the country.
"The national department of health and Treasury must provide stringent oversight of conditional grant expenditures to ensure funds are only spent on appropriate programmes and not shifted to relieve over-expenditures in other programmes." - Sapa