Search
  1. Home
  2. Southern Africa
  3. South Africa
  • News

Doctors threaten resignation over HIV/AIDS

    JOHANNESBURG

    Refusal by South Africa's government to treat people living with HIV/AIDS (PWAs) has affected medical doctors, the local Cape Times newspaper reported on Monday.

    As a result, six doctors in the Western Cape province sent a letter to Deputy President Jacob Zuma, saying it had become impossible to maintain the integrity of their profession.

    "It is impossible to honour our Hippocratic oath to prevent suffering and death. We have to witness how those who can afford medicine survive, while the poor suffer and die," the doctors said in the letter. "We request that the Aids crisis be recognised as a national crisis and is addressed urgently."

    The letter was also sent to Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, and Minister of Trade and Industry Alec Erwin.

    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

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join