South African AIDS Activists Give Government Deadline for Treatment

South African AIDS activists Sunday renewed threats of staging a civil disobedience campaign if the government does not agree to a national treatment program. The Treatment Action Campaign is "prepared to get arrested to get treatment," said the influential group's Chair Zackie Achmat. TAC is giving the government until the end of the month to provide antiretroviral therapy for some 5 million infected people in South Africa. The government has stalled on a deal made last year to provide antiretroviral therapy, saying it is still studying the financial implications of a national drug plan. TAC had originally given a March 21 deadline for the government to sign an agreement. Achmat did not say exactly what actions TAC -- which counts former anti-apartheid activists among its ranks -- would take, but he said, "We will make sure it's not business as usual for the government."

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