Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report - Fri, 01 Feb 2002
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* Treatment Action Campaign Asks High Court to Force South Africa to
Follow Nevirapine Ruling Despite Government Appeal
* Malawi Runs Out of AIDS Drugs Due to Funding Glitch
* HIV/AIDS is an 'Unprecedented Danger' Neglected in Bush's State of
the Union Address, Op-Ed Says
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Treatment Action Campaign Asks High Court to Force South Africa to
Follow Nevirapine Ruling Despite Government Appeal
The Treatment Action Campaign, a South African HIV/AIDS advocacy
group, on Tuesday filed papers with the Pretoria High Court request-
ing that the court force the government to comply with its earlier
ruling to institute a "comprehensive program" to reduce vertical HIV
transmission, even while the government appeals that ruling, the As-
sociated Press reports (Associated Press, 1/31). In December, the
high court ruled that the government must supply the antiretroviral
drug nevirapine to HIV-positive pregnant women utilizing the national
health system to reduce the risk of HIV transmission from mother to
child. When administered to the woman at the onset of labor and again
to the infant 72 hours after delivery, nevirapine can reduce the risk
of transmitting HIV by 50% (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 12/14/01).
The government has appealed the decision, citing concerns over judi-
cial involvement in matters of national policy. Health Minister Manto
Tshabalala-Msimang said that the appeal is not meant to halt the
creation of a program to prevent vertical transmission, but "is aimed
at clarifying a constitutional and jurisdictional matter which -- if
left vague -- could throw the executive policy making into disarray
and create confusion about the principle of the separation of powers,
which is a cornerstone of our democracy" (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Re-
port, 12/19/01). The South African government has "consistently re-
fused" to provide antiretroviral drugs through the public health sys-
tem because of "concerns over the cost and safety" of the drugs. How-
ever, mounting pressure over the distribution of nevirapine has
forced the government to reexamine the "controversial ban." Tsha-
balala-Msimang and the provincial health ministers met yesterday and
will continue discussions today in Johannesburg over the policy. Dr.
Zweil Mkhize, health minister of the KwaZulu-Natal province, was ex-
pected yesterday to present his province's plan for providing nevi-
rapine to HIV-positive pregnant women at 20 major provincial hospi-
tals by July (South African Press Association, 1/30).
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Malawi Runs Out of AIDS Drugs Due to Funding Glitch
Hospitals in Malawi have run out of antiretroviral drugs for AIDS pa-
tients because the state treasury delayed depositing the necessary
money into the state-sponsored fund designated to purchase the medi-
cations, Agence France-Presse reports. Wesley Sangala, chief techni-
cal adviser to the health ministry, did not give a reason for the
glitch but said that the government is treating the "serious matter
with urgency so as not to put the AIDS patients at higher risk," add-
ing that it is "extremely crucial" to get the patients back on medi-
cation "as soon as possible." About 400 people receive the drugs
through Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, the nation's largest hospi-
tal. The fund was established last year to secure the drugs and pro-
vide them at a reduced price of $38 per patient per month. An esti-
mated one in 10 Malawians has HIV (Agence France-Presse, 1/31).
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HIV/AIDS is an 'Unprecedented Danger' Neglected in Bush's State of
the Union Address, Op-Ed Says
"[I]n pointing out the 'unprecedented dangers' fac[ing] the nation in
his State of the Union address, [President Bush] somehow fail[ed] to
mention HIV/AIDS," Thomas Coates, Stephen Morris and Jeff Sheehy of
the AIDS Research Institute at the University of California-San Fran-
cisco write in a commentary for ABCNews.com, adding that it is a
"tragedy of these times that the president's superb leadership in the
fight against terrorism is not mirrored in his response to HIV/AIDS."
In fact, the administration seems to disappoint "[a]lmost daily" with
respect to HIV/AIDS issues. For example, Monday's announcement that
the U.S. government will contribute $200 million to the Global Fund
to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which is estimated to need
$10 billion a year, is "not only an embarrassment, but paltry" and
"almost certainly dooms the fund to failure," they state. They also
note that budget cutbacks, which will "only worsen" after Bush's call
to "restrain the federal budget," forced 17 states to restrict access
to their AIDS Drug Assistance Programs last year.
Policy 'Gaffes'
The administration's "[f]inancial neglect is compounded by policy
gaffes," they continue, saying that the reinstatement of the "Mexico
City" policy "obstructs attempts to tackle HIV/AIDS in the developing
world" by barring family planning groups that perform or promote
abortion with their own funds from receiving U.S. foreign aid. They
also say that the recent appointment of former Rep. Tom Coburn (R-
Okla.), an advocate of "ineffective" abstinence-only HIV prevention
programs, as co-chair of the President's Advisory Council on HIV and
AIDS is reason for worry. "In these strange times, the ultimate irony
may be that while Bush is winning the war against terrorism spawned
by religious fundamentalism, he is losing the war against HIV/AIDS by
turning the conduct of it over to religious fundamentalists," they
conclude, adding that HIV prevention efforts "should not be held hos-
tage to moral concerns" (Coates et al., ABCNews.com, 1/30)
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The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaisernetwork.org,
a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, by National
Journal Group Inc. (c) 2002 by National Journal Group Inc. and Kaiser
Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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