South Africa's health ministry has appointed a task team to draft a national HIV/AIDS drug rollout plan, the South African Press Association (SAPA) reported on Wednesday.
The ministry was recently given a September deadline by the cabinet for the urgent development of an operational antiretroviral treatment programme.
However, local AIDS activists have criticised Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang's selection of the task team.
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) said the team was lacking in areas of expertise and should have at least one of the country's many clinical researchers as well as a rural doctor among its members.
The team announced earlier this week by Tshabalala-Msimang comprises mainly senior officials from her department and some experts from the health sector.
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