South Africa Will Not Provide Nevirapine to All HIV-Positive Mothers -- HIV/AIDS INFO AND UPDATES

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 22:02:20 02/28/02 Thu
Author: Anonymous
Subject: South Africa Will Not Provide Nevirapine to All HIV-Positive Mothers

South Africa Will Not Provide Nevirapine to All HIV-Positive Mothers

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (Reuters) Feb 21 - South Africa will expand research into the use of nevirapine to limit vertical HIV transmission, but it will not make the drug universally available, the government said.

"Universal access will be decided upon when important questions have been answered by the research," the government said in an advertisement prepared for publication on Friday.

The advert was drafted amid an escalating ruling party row over the use of the drug, which has been offered to South Africa free for the next 5 years by makers Boehringer-Ingelheim.

President Thabo Mbeki and Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang have so far insisted that nevirapine be provided at only 18 pilot sites. They have cited safety, cost and capacity issues as obstacles to universal access.

The advert reaffirmed that the government would go ahead with its appeal against a court order granted to AIDS activists demanding universal access to nevirapine at all state hospitals. It said the appeal was not against the AIDS programme but to determine finally "whether the courts or the elected government decides on the detail of providing health services."

Premiers of the two provinces not controlled by Mbeki's African National Congress (ANC), the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, have announced plans to extend the nevirapine programme to all hospitals under their jurisdiction.

On Monday Mbhazima Shilowa, the ANC premier of Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg and Pretoria, broke ranks with the government and said he would make the drug available to all HIV-infected women during delivery.

His position was supported by the ANC-aligned Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and by health activists, but Shilowa was repudiated by the health minister and the ANC, whose spokesman accused him of political point-scoring.

In an apparent signal of a government change of heart, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel on Wednesday increased funding for AIDS prevention, including the nevirapine programme, three-fold in his budget for the fiscal year 2002/2003.

Reuters Health Information 2002. � 2002 Reuters Ltd
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]