Clinicians support SA AIDS doctor

CAPE TOWN – Health workers and activists have rallied to support a doctor who could face disciplinary action in a dispute over the treatment he gave HIV-positive pregnant women to prevent them from passing the AIDS virus on to their unborn children.

Colin Pfaff, who works in a rural hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, where nearly 40 per cent of women in ante-natal clinics have the AIDS virus, used a combination of two drugs to prevent mother-to-child transmission because the single drug therapy used by his local Health Department is regarded as out-of-date and ineffective. The treatment Pfaff used is recommended by the UN’s World Health Organisation.The KwaZulu-Natal Health Department was angered that Pfaff ignored protocol and obtained donations of the two dual therapy drugs without first asking permission or informing his superiors.Supporters have come to his defence.”Dr.Pfaff should be saluted as a hero – he demonstrates the level of commitment, creativity and care for his patients that we should be demanding from all health care practitioners,” the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society said in a petition that gained nearly 500 signatures by Monday.”To discipline him for doing his ethical duty is disgraceful.We demand the immediate dropping of all charges against him.”The Treatment Action Campaign, a network of activists, also supported him and said, instead, local health bosses should be called to account.The uproar highlights the ongoing tension between doctors and top health officials who are accused of slowing progress in the fight against AIDS.About 5,4 million South Africans are infected – the highest rate in the world.The disease kills nearly 1 000 people each day in the country.- Nampa-APThe treatment Pfaff used is recommended by the UN’s World Health Organisation.The KwaZulu-Natal Health Department was angered that Pfaff ignored protocol and obtained donations of the two dual therapy drugs without first asking permission or informing his superiors.Supporters have come to his defence.”Dr.Pfaff should be saluted as a hero – he demonstrates the level of commitment, creativity and care for his patients that we should be demanding from all health care practitioners,” the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society said in a petition that gained nearly 500 signatures by Monday.”To discipline him for doing his ethical duty is disgraceful.We demand the immediate dropping of all charges against him.”The Treatment Action Campaign, a network of activists, also supported him and said, instead, local health bosses should be called to account.The uproar highlights the ongoing tension between doctors and top health officials who are accused of slowing progress in the fight against AIDS.About 5,4 million South Africans are infected – the highest rate in the world.The disease kills nearly 1 000 people each day in the country.- Nampa-AP