Government closer to providing treatment

A long-running campaign by AIDS activists to persuade the South African government to provide AIDS drugs to HIV-positive patients in the public sector could be finally over.

Deputy-president Jacob Zuma met with representatives from the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) for the first time this week, indicating a thaw in relations between the groups.

The meeting was "positive and productive, but it is still the beginning," the TAC said in a statement.

TAC have been involved in repeated court battles with the government, calling for the provision of nevirapine to prevent mother-to-child transmission. Earlier this year, the Department of Health was ordered by the Constitutional Court to provide the drug.

The meeting between TAC and Zuma followed an announcement by cabinet last week that it was engaged in addressing the challenges that would enable it to make use of antiretrovirals in the public health sector.

A statement by cabinet acknowledged that antiretroviral therapy can improve the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS without repeating safety concerns.

"The ultimate objective is to ensure that South Africans living with AIDS can have access to the treatment they need under conditions that benefit them," it said.

Despite signs that government was "finally getting their act together", these recent events were not as "dramatic" as they had been made out to be, Stephen Kramer, head of the Metropolitan Life AIDS Research Unit told PlusNews.

The government had made indications earlier this year, that the issue of treatment was being considered, he added.

Kramer said: "What is important is to see how this practically manifests itself. The discussions with TAC were significant because it was more than talk, they were more practical. We can only wait and see how significant all this will be."

The TAC's call for a national treatment plan including antiretroviral therapy for people living with HIV/AIDS was "extensively" discussed, a joint statement released after the meeting said.

According to the joint statement, TAC had given government until World AIDS Day on 1 December to come up with a national treatment plan, including antiretroviral therapy for people living with HIV/AIDS.

However, Zuma pointed out that this time frame might not be feasible and both parties agreed to consult further in this regard.

The government had finally realised that it was more costly not to treat people living with HIV/AIDS. "There's gradually been a realisation that treatment interventions are cost-effective," Kramer said.

"The key thing will be the announcement of actual programmes, concrete timelines and an outline of how it will work," he added.

Zuma and the TAC group also discussed the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, the restructuring of the SA National AIDS Council and the rollout of the mother-to-child prevention programmes.