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Patience has run out - AIDS activists

    JOHANNESBURG

    South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) on Tuesday said its patience with the government had run out.

    Over 300 AIDS activists shouted down Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang when she tried to address a public health conference in Cape Town.

    TAC said the attack is part of a national civil disobedience strategy launched against the government last Thursday to demand an HIV/AIDS treatment plan.

    "We would prefer not to act in this way, but our government has left us no choice," TAC national manager, Nathan Geffen, told the UN news service PlusNews.

    Geffen said TAC members blew whistles, waved red "wanted posters" and shouted "murderer" and "Manto go to jail", as Tshabalala-Msimang tried to make herself heard.

    "Our patience with the government is exhausted after four years of lobbying, but we will continue this assault until the government commits itself to a treatment plan for all," Geffen added.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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