E-drug: South Africa rolls out Aids programme
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South Africa rolls out Aids programme
The government approves a plan to distribute free AIDS drugs to
more than five million sufferers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/business/3284731.stm
The South African Cabinet has approved a plan to distribute free Aids
drugs to more than five million sufferers.
But the health minister warned there was "still a long way to go" in the
fight against Aids.
"I don't want to raise false hopes, but a decision has been made.
There is hope," Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said.
The country has been accused of not doing enough to fight the
disease, despite having the largest number of HIV/Aids cases in the
world.
Under the plan approved on Wednesday, the government will
establish a network of centres to distribute anti-retroviral drugs to fight
the disease.
Mrs Tshabalala-Msimang said each of the country's roughly 50 health
districts would have a distribution centre within a year.
Implementing the programme will require major upgrade of the health
care system, recruiting and training large numbers of health care
workers, she said.
Campaigners welcomed the decision, with one, Ntombozuko Khwaza,
telling the Reuters news agency the plans "will save the lives of our
people, our friends and our family - and mine".
Prevention
The government will also boost its prevention campaign and increase
support for families affected by HIV/Aids, the minister said.
The government approved the universal anti-retroviral treatment
programme in August, and ordered health officials to finalise an
operational plan.
It was drafted with the assistance of the William Jefferson Clinton
Foundation and presented to the Cabinet last week.
The BBC's Richard Hamilton in Johannesburg says a fall in the cost
of anti-retroviral drugs has been a major factor in the government's
change of strategy.
With an estimated 5.3 million South Africans - more than 12% of the
population - infected with HIV/Aids, the health authorities face a
significant challenge.
They also have to catch up on perceived lost time.
Health activists have long accused the government of dragging its
feet, saying both President Thabo Mbeki and Health Minister
Tshabalala-Msimang had failed to grasp the seriousness of the crisis.
An estimated 600 South Africans die every day of Aids-related
causes.
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