Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report-Tue, 21 Aug 2001
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*Treatment Action Campaign to Announce Lawsuit Against South Africa
Over Provision of Nevirapine
*Public Health Expert Dr. William Foege Says World is 'Turning the
Corner' in the Fight Against AIDS
* Federal Pledges for Global AIDS and Health Fund 'Disappointing,'
New York Times Editorial Says
Drug Access
Treatment Action Campaign to Announce Lawsuit Against South Africa
Over Provision of Nevirapine
The Treatment Action Campaign, a South African AIDS group, will an-
nounce today its plans to go to court to try to "force" the South Af-
rican government to dispense nevirapine to HIV-positive pregnant
women to prevent vertical HIV transmission, the AP/Washington Post
reports. The South African government recently launched two pilot
programs in each of the country's nine provinces to examine the ef-
fects of nevirapine treatment on pregnant women with HIV, but TAC es-
timates that the programs included only 10% of the country's HIV-
positive pregnant women. TAC has urged the government to make nevi-
rapine more widely available, but said that it received an "unsatis-
factory" response from Health Minister Dr. Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.
"Our attempts to persuade government to act urgently on this matter
have been rebuffed," the group said in a statement (Nessman,
AP/Washington Post, 8/20). In addition to TAC, many health care pro-
fessionals have criticized the government's HIV/AIDS policy, stating
that its "lack of leadership" on and "confused response" to the issue
have hampered efforts to fight the epidemic (Mulugeta, Newsday,
8/21). TAC is scheduled to announce details of the lawsuit today and
refused to comment on the litigation before that time. The Health
Ministry also declined to comment on the case (AP/Washington Post,
8/20).
Media & Society
Public Health Expert Dr. William Foege Says World is 'Turning the
Corner' in the Fight Against AIDS
Dr. William Foege, senior global health adviser to the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation and former CDC director, expressed optimism
about the global commitment to fighting AIDS, telling the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution, "I genuinely think we may have reached the tip-
ping point." Although he acknowledged that the crisis is not over
and that the number of HIV cases worldwide will continue to increase
for some time, particularly in Africa, China and the Caribbean, he
said that the world is finally "facing up to the size of the prob-
lem." Foege said he is encouraged by Uganda's success at reducing HIV
rates among nearly all areas of its population and the Gates Founda-
tion's pledges of $450 million to fund research to develop a microbi-
cide for women and an AIDS vaccine. He is also encouraged by an-
nouncements made by a number of organizations to create or expand
anti-AIDS programs. For example, the Coca-Cola company said in June
that it would make its trucks, warehouses, "marketing expertise and
logistical know-how" in Africa available to UNAIDS, and the Peace
Corps and the international relief agency CARE have "focused increas-
ingly on the fight against AIDS as an integral and indispensable part
of promoting economic development." Foege said, "I can see light at
the end of the tunnel. I can see an interest in AIDS that we've never
seen before" (Melvin, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8/19).
Opinion
Federal Pledges for Global AIDS and Health Fund 'Disappointing,' New
York Times Editorial Says
President Bush's pledge of $200 million to the Global AIDS and Health
Fund last May drew criticism from many Democrats who called it
"sting[y]," but the funding recommendation made by Senate Democrats
last month is also "disappointing," a New York Times editorial says.
The lawmakers recommended earmarking $100 million for the fund this
year and $150 million next year, a figure "essentially the same as
the administration's," and an amount that may be cut during negotia-
tions. The total is "particularly disappointing" given that the rele-
vant House authorizing committee, led by conservative Republican Rep.
Henry Hyde (Ill.), proposed $750 million for the fund. While the edi-
torial agrees with the Democrats' explanation that they are confined
by Bush's spending limits, it adds that the "real problem is that
AIDS overseas is a low priority for politicians. Many believe, or
find it convenient to echo, arguments that the money would be wasted.
People are still saying that Africans cannot take AIDS medicine be-
cause they do not own watches." But according to the editorial, new
AIDS drugs are easy to take, "with two pills at sunup and two at sun-
down," and pilot programs show that Africans are "perfectly able" to
adhere to the drug schedule when "a steady suppl[y] is available."
Although the AIDS fund will contribute money for prevention programs
and health infrastructure development, it will "supply very few peo-
ple with medicine in its initial phase." The editorial concludes,
"There is no shortage of rhetoric in Washington about the disastrous
consequences of delay on the AIDS epidemic. Shamefully, there is a
shortage of money" (New York Times, 8/19).
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 2001 by National Journal Group Inc. and Kaiser
Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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