South African AIDS plan criticised
Sidley, P.
Bmj 317(7165): 1032
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0959-8138 PMID: 9841037 DOI: 10.1136/bmj.317.7165.1032bDocument Number: 279489
In a television broadcast, Deputy President Mbeki of South Africa announced a campaign against HIV/AIDS that would involve coordination between various government departments and nongovernmental organizations. Mbeki, who is associated with Virodene (a drug treatment for AIDS that is considered a scam), replaced President Mandela at the last minute in the broadcast. Two days after the broadcast, the government refused to support treatment of pregnant women infected with HIV with zidovudine to prevent transmission of the virus to the baby. The treatment is considered cost-effective by AIDS workers and public health officials. According to Mark Heywood of the AIDS law project at Witwatersrand University, 16% of pregnant women attending antenatal clinics were HIV-positive in 1997; this means that about 3 million South Africans (8% of the population) were living with HIV. Heywood said that the government believes there are 1500 new cases daily. By the end of 1998, 3.5 million South Africans will be living with HIV. Although the government is asking other sectors to join in the campaign, what the government is doing is unclear. Mother-to-child transmission of HIV is second only to transmission of the virus through heterosexual sex in South Africa.