New Lawsuits Planned to Secure Treatment for South African AIDS Sufferers

AIDS activists are planning a series of new lawsuits aimed at widening access to treatment for HIV and AIDS patients in South Africa. The activist group Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) said on Sunday that it has filed papers opposing the government's appeal of a High Court ruling that forces the government to make the AIDS drug nevirapine available to HIV-positive mothers to reduce their chances of passing the virus on to their children at birth. The government appealed the decision to the Constitutional Court, saying the administration alone has the right to determine policy and allocate budgets.

TAC also plans to support a bid by Indian drug company Cipla to secure a license enabling it to sell generic copies of patented drugs made by international pharmaceutical companies Boehringer Ingelheim and GlaxoSmithKline. "We still believe the drugs are too expensive -- essential medicines are still unavailable to the people who need them," Mark Heywood, a spokesperson for TAC, told a news conference. An estimated 4.7 million South Africans -- one in nine -- are HIV-positive, more than in any other country. But the government refuses to make AIDS drugs available through the public health system saying they are unsafe and unaffordable. President Thabo Mbeki has questioned the link between HIV and AIDS, saying poverty and malnutrition are also responsible for the epidemic's spread.

High Court Judge Chris Botha is expected to decide on whether to permit the appeal within the next few weeks. If the case goes to the Constitutional Court, it is not expected to be heard before the beginning of May. Heywood said a separate application will be filed in the interim, asking the court to compel the government to immediately comply with part of the High Court order and make nevirapine available in hospitals that have adequate testing and counseling facilities.

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