Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report - Tue, 22 Jan 2002
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* Mining Executive Chosen Over Drug Industry Candidates for Global
AIDS Fund Board to 'Skirt Controversy,' Wall Street Journal Reports
* South African Officials Drop Charges Against Six Men Accused of
Raping Nine-Month-Old Girl, Cite Lack of DNA Evidence
* KwaZulu-Natal Officials 'Override' National Government, Make AIDS
Drug Available at Public Hospitals for HIV-Positive Pregnant Women
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Mining Executive Chosen Over Drug Industry Candidates for Global AIDS
Fund Board to 'Skirt Controversy,' Wall Street Journal Reports
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has selected
a mining company executive to occupy the corporate seat of its board
in an effort to "skirt controversy" and potential "conflict-of-
interest" issues surrounding candidates from the pharmaceutical in-
dustry, the Wall Street Journal reports. Goran Lindahl, deputy chair
of Anglo American PLC, one of the largest private employers in South
Africa, was selected to sit on the fund's board. According to inter-
nal fund documents and those involved in the selection process, con-
troversy likely would have "erupted" had a pharmaceutical executive
been named as a voting member of the board. Some business groups and
non-governmental organizations said they were "worried about the sym-
bolism" of appointing a drug industry representative, and some activ-
ists "fretted" that the fund could be "exploited" by drug companies
attempting to sell medications to developing countries if a pharma-
ceutical executive was selected. However, Crispus Kiyonga, head of
the fund's transition team, said last summer that drug companies
"must be centrally involved" with the fund. The fund's board will
also include representatives from "donor and recipient nations,"
health advocacy groups and philanthropies, the Journal reports. The
"short list" of candidates for the corporate seat included Merck and
Co. CEO Ray Gilmartin, McKinsey & Co. Managing Director Rajat Gupta,
Baxter International CEO Harry Kraemer, GlaxoSmithKline Chair Richard
Sykes and Medtronic Inc. Chair William George.
Next Steps
The fund so far has raised $1.7 billion in pledges and is expected to
announce later this month that it is accepting applications from de-
veloping nations. About $700 million is expected to be available for
distribution this year. However, "divisive issue[s]" facing the board
remain to be settled, including whether the fund will purchase
HIV/AIDS drugs and if so, whether generic drugs will be bought. The
transitional group managing the fund has recommended that the fund
buy AIDS drugs, as well as drugs to treat TB and malaria. While the
fund has said it will adhere to all treaties and pacts regarding pat-
ents, the Journal reports that the U.S. government's "threat" to
break patents to purchase the antibiotic Cipro to treat those exposed
to anthrax through the mail "has made the issue of buying generics
more thorny" (Zimmerman, Wall Street Journal, 1/21).
--
South African Officials Drop Charges Against Six Men Accused of Rap-
ing Nine-Month-Old Girl, Cite Lack of DNA Evidence
South African officials on Thursday dropped charges against six men
accused of raping a nine-month-old girl because of insufficient DNA
evidence, Reuters/Boston Globe reports. "We have decided not to
prosecute the accused because there is no evidence against them. The
DNA tests which were conducted exclude the participation of all the
accused," Lungi Mahlati, director of public prosecutions in the
Northern Cape province, said (Ntingi, Reuters/Boston Globe, 1/18).
Authorities had said earlier that they believed only one of the six
men attacked the infant (Swarns, New York Times, 1/18). The baby,
called Tshepang ("Have Hope") to protect her identity, was raped in
October at her home after her 16-year-old mother left her with a
friend. The infant has had to undergo a series of reconstructive sur-
geries.
'Shocked' by the Decision
Anti-rape advocates and the opposition Democratic Alliance party "ex-
pressed shock" at the announcement, but asked South Africans to "re-
spect the rule of law and accept the men back" since the charges
against them were dropped. However, the Democratic Alliance ques-
tioned the validity of the forensic evidence. "If these six men did-
n't rape [the baby], who did? The question should also be asked
whether the forensic investigation was correctly completed," the D.A.
said in a statement. The Cape Town-based Rape Crisis also urged an
appeal, asking why "witnesses who were around" were not called to
testify. "It doesn't bode very well for the justice system in South
Africa," Leslie Liddell, the group's director, said. South African
police received 21,000 reports of child rape last year, most perpe-
trated by relatives. Some anti-rape workers believe that the rapes
are "fueled" by the myth that sex with a virgin can protect against
or cure a man of AIDS. One in nine South Africans is infected with
HIV (Reuters/Boston Globe, 1/18).
--
KwaZulu-Natal Officials 'Override' National Government, Make AIDS
Drug Available at Public Hospitals for HIV-Positive Pregnant Women
Leaders of "South Africa's most AIDS-stricken province," KwaZulu-
Natal, announced Monday that the AIDS drug nevirapine, which reduces
the risk of vertical HIV transmission, would be made available at
public hospitals, "overrid[ing]" South African national government
restrictions on the drug, the AP/New York Times reports. KwaZulu-
Natal premier Lionel Mtshali, leader of the Zulu nationalist Inkatha
Freedom Party-controlled province, said he made the decision to allow
the drug's distribution "on principle," adding that an HIV-positive
woman "should not have to contend with a hopeless situation of her
unborn child facing the same affliction if it can be prevented."
KwaZulu-Natal is the second South African province to make nevirapine
available; health officials in the Western Cape, which was controlled
solely by the Democratic Alliance, began distributing the drug in
2000. Although nevirapine is WHO-approved and may be able to reduce
mother-to-child transmission of HIV by up to 50%, the African Na-
tional Congress, which controls "outright" the other seven South Af-
rican provinces and the national government, has restricted use of
the drug to "a few pilot sites," saying that the drug's "safety re-
mains unproven" and that "inadequate structures are in place to ad-
minister it." South Africa's national government, led by President
Thabo Mbeki, who has "questioned the link between HIV and AIDS," has
"come under fire for its haphazard approach" toward fighting HIV/AIDS
(AP/New York Times, 1/21).
TAC, Government Battle Continues
The national government's failure to approve nevirapine for use in
public hospitals led to a court battle last year, resulting in a
court order that the drug be made available in state hospitals to all
HIV-positive pregnant women. The government has appealed the order
and a final decision could be "up to a year" away (South African
Press Association, 1/22). However, the Treatment Action Campaign,
which originally filed the suit against the South African government,
on Sunday announced that it has filed papers opposing the govern-
ment's appeal of the High Court ruling, the Associated Press reports.
High Court Judge Chris Botha is expected in the next few weeks to
rule on whether he will hear the appeal. Even if the appeal is ac-
cepted, it will not be heard until May at the earliest. Mark Heywood,
a spokesman for TAC, said the group will file a motion "in the in-
terim" asking the court to force the government to comply immediately
with part of the court order by making nevirapine available in all
hospitals that have "adequate testing and counseling facilities." TAC
is also expected to take legal action to enable Cipla, an Indian ge-
neric drug maker, to sell its copies of drugs patented by GlaxoSmith-
Kline and Boehringer Ingelheim in South Africa. "We still believe the
drugs are too expensive -- essential medicines are still unavailable
to the people who need them," Heywood said (Cohen, Associated Press,
1/20).
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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. � 2002 by National Journal Group Inc. and Kaiser
Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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