Largest HIV/Aids clinic in Africa to be opened this year
--------------------------------------------------------
June 14, 2001, 10:58 PM
SABC News
Senior executives of Pfizer, a company producing anti-fungal drugs
like Diflucan, today announced the opening of a large-scale HIV/Aids
clinic in Africa later this year or early 2002, in Uganda.
Chuck Hardwick, Pfizer's senior vice-president of public affairs,
says the project is an extension of the Diflucan Partnership Pro-
gramme for HIV/Aids patients suffering from opportunistic infections
associated with the pandemic. Hardwick was speaking during their
visit and other health officials at the Pretoria Academic hospital.
Statistics show that oesophageal candidiasis which is a debilitating
fungal infection of the oesophagus caused by Candida albicans is re-
ported in 20% to 40% of all patients with HIV/Aids. Common symptoms
include painful swallowing and chest pain.
In an agreement signed between South Africa and Pfizer, more than
ZAR 400 million worth of the drug will be provided to public hos-
pitals for free for the first two years, by Pfizer.
To date, the drug has been made available to over 600 patients in the
country, but Pfizer's partnership with the country will hopefully be
extended to other regions of the South African Development Community.
"We think South Africa model will be useful for us as we go to other
countries to make our product available and no charge," said Hard-
wick.
The partnership has also been applauded by the Health ministry. "We
believe that as a region we stand far better chance. We will be far
stronger in dealing with our problems region than we would perhaps in
isolated units," Patricia Lambert, the health department legal advi-
sor said.
Free doses of treatment will not only be dispensed to hospitals but
also pharmacies, rural clinics, correctional service and military
services health depots.
Source:
http://www.sabcnews.com/SABCnews/south_africa/health/0,1009,16328,00.html
RELATED [SABC News] STORIES
Minister satisfied with progress on Diflucan deal
http://www.sabcnews.com/SABCnews/south_africa/health/0,1009,14984,00.html
Free diflucan for HIV/Aids sufferers in Mpumalanga
http://www.sabcnews.com/SABCnews/south_africa/health/0,1009,14635,00.html
Hope at last for free HIV/Aids treatment in SA
http://www.sabcnews.com/SABCnews/south_africa/health/0,1009,12065,00.html
France to donate R1 billion in fight against HIV/Aids (31/05/2001 17:15)
http://www.sabcnews.com/SABCnews/south_africa/general/0,1009,15615,00.html
Lionel Jospin, the French Prime Minister has reaffirmed France's com-
mitment to help resolve conflicts in Africa and fight the HIV/Aids
epidemic. Jospin has told Parliament that France will contribute over
R1 billion over a period of three years to the multilateral fund that
will be set up to combat HIV/Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis. He says
the fight against the disease is having a devastating impact on the
continent's development and must be treated as an international offi-
cial aid priority. [Note: ZAR 1 billion = ca. 145 million EURO,
http://www.xe.net/ucc/full.shtml ]
Gauteng learners go online (June 14, 2001, 11:34 PM)
http://www.sabcnews.com/SABCnews/south_africa/education/0,1009,16333,00.html
The Gauteng Department of Education, today set aside R500 million to
provide free access to both e-mail and Internet to student attending
public schools. The project called 'Gauteng Online' was launched at
the Ikaneng Primary School in Soweto.
South African Broadcasting Corporation. Copyright (c) 2001 SABC
[reproduced under 'fair use' by C. Labadie
mailto:CLabadie@t-online.de ]
--
Send mail for the `AFRO-NETS' conference to `<afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org>'.
Mail administrative requests to `<majordomo@usa.healthnet.org>'.
For additional assistance, send mail to: `<owner-afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org>'.