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AIDS in South Africa Update
Several months ago, NOW broadcast a harrowing story of children, rape and AIDS in South Africa. As part of that show Bill Moyers interviewed Archbishop Desmond Tutu about South African President Thabo Mbeki's controversial stance on HIV/AIDS and dispensing of AIDS drugs. At that time, South African hospitals could not freely dispense life-saving drugs to infants and rape victims.
Several weeks ago the South African government released a policy statement on a new strategic plan for dealing with AIDS. The new plan includes a comprehensive care package for survivors of sexual assault, including anti-retrovirals and continued research on nevirapine (a drug thought to slow the reproduction of HIV when used in combination with other anti-retroviral drugs) and roll-out of the drug to pregnant women by the end of the year.
See NOW's coverage of the crisis:
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