Africa News Summary : News Headlines : Discussion Forums

BARCELONA, Spain, July 7 (AFP) - South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said here Sunday that her government would uphold a court ruling requiring it to make anti-HIV drugs available to all pregnant women to prevent the AIDS virus from infecting their babies.

"We have a judicial system in South Africa that places the Constitutional Court in a particular position and once the Constitutional Court has articulated its sentence, we have to obey it because we are people who live by the rule of law," she said in response to a question from Nampa-AFP on the sidelines of the International AIDS Conference here.

"We dare not disappoint all South Africans who want to be obedient citizens of our country."

Asked what measures the government would now take, she said, "Concretely, we must read the statement from the Constitutional Court to the best of our ability (and) whilst we do other things, implement it."

The Constitutional Court, the highest judicial authority in South Africa, on Friday denied the government leave to appeal against a High Court ruling forcing it to give anti-AIDS drugs to all HIV-positive pregnant women.

Announcing the judgment, Constitutional Court Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson said there was a pressing need to prevent the loss of life.

In a case brought by AIDS lobby group Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), Pretoria's high court in December 2001 ordered the state to give the anti-retroviral drug Nevirapine to HIV-positive pregnant women to limit the risk of their passing the virus on to their babies.

The South African government has been reluctant to extend distribution of the drug beyond 18 trial sites, citing lack of infrastructure and safety concerns.

The trials reach some 100,000 women.

Chaskalson said the order required the government to revise its AIDS policy, and that a comprehensive and co-ordinated programme was necessary to help pregnant women combat HIV.

Counselling and testing facilities should be provided at state hospitals and clinics, he said, ruling that doctors should be permitted to prescribe Nevirapine in consultation with a hospital superintendent.

Some 4.7 million people in South Africa are infected with HIV/AIDS and some 70,000 babies are born with the virus every year, according to official figures.

AIDS activists claim the government could save at least 20,000 lives a year by providing Nevirapine -- which can cut the risk of transmission from mother-to-child by up to half -- in public health institutions wherever possible.

President Thabo Mbeki has in the past two years been strongly criticised for questioning whether HIV causes AIDS and for saying anti-retrovirals are "as dangerous" as AIDS.

In April, however, the government made a remarkable policy about-face on AIDS drugs, finally admitting that they could be useful and agreeing to provide anti-retrovirals to the country's many rape victims in state hospitals.

It also announced the formation of a presidential task team on AIDS, headed by Deputy President Jacob Zuma.

Tshabalala-Msimang made the comments as she opened a South African exhibition booth in the AIDS conference centre in Barcelona.

The six-day conference was to be officially opened later Sunday. Former South African President Nelson Mandela is scheduled to attend the closing ceremonies on Friday. - Nampa-AFP

•  Big Brother Africa 3: The audacity of Hazel!
•  Big Brother Africa 3: Who's your winner?