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President defends HIV/AIDS treatment delay

    JOHANNESBURG

    South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki has defended his government's delay in implementing a national HIV/AIDS treatment plan, US newspaper The New York Times reported on Thursday.

    This follows a fresh decision by the ministry of health to delay HIV/AIDS drug distribution until the end of 2003.

    The ministry was recently given a September deadline by the cabinet for the urgent development of an operational antiretroviral treatment programme for all people living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

    However, Mbeki said: "It's incorrect merely to say - distribute antiretroviral drugs - problem solved. You've got to come at it in a more comprehensive way."

    Mbeki said he was waiting for the report of a scientific panel - appointed three years ago - before forming an opinion about why HIV/AIDS spreads so rapidly, and how best to combat it.

    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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