S. Africa rolls out Aids programme

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/3284731.stm

The South African Cabinet has approved a plan to
distribute free Aids drugs to more than five million
sufferers. But the health minister warned there was
"still a long way to go" in the fight against Aids.

"I don’t want to raise false hopes, but a decision has
been made. There is hope," Manto Tshabalala-Msimang
said.

The country has been accused of not doing enough to
fight the disease, despite having the largest number of
HIV/Aids cases in the world.

Under the plan approved on Wednesday, the government
will establish a network of centres to distribute anti-
retroviral drugs to fight the disease.

Mrs Tshabalala-Msimang said each of the country’s
roughly 50 health districts would have a distribution
centre within a year. Implementing the programme will
require major upgrade of the health care system,
recruiting and training large numbers of health care
workers, she said.

Campaigners welcomed the decision, with one, Ntombozuko
Khwaza, telling the Reuters news agency the plans "will
save the lives of our people, our friends and our family
– and mine".

Prevention

The government will also boost its prevention campaign
and increase support for families affected by HIV/Aids,
the minister said.

The government approved the universal anti-retroviral
treatment programme in August, and ordered health
officials to finalise an operational plan.

It was drafted with the assistance of the William
Jefferson Clinton Foundation and presented to the
Cabinet last week. The BBC’s Richard Hamilton in
Johannesburg says a fall in the cost of anti-retroviral
drugs has been a major factor in the government’s change
of strategy.

With an estimated 5.3 million South Africans - more than
12% of the population - infected with HIV/Aids, the
health authorities face a significant challenge.

They also have to catch up on perceived lost time.

Health activists have long accused the government of
dragging its feet, saying both President Thabo Mbeki and
Health Minister Tshabalala-Msimang had failed to grasp
the seriousness of the crisis.

An estimated 600 South Africans die every day of Aids-
related causes.

(c) BBC MMIII