South Africa's Western Cape province is ready to go ahead with the rollout of HIV/AIDS treatment, the local Cape Argus newspaper reported on Thursday.
This would take place as soon as approval was given by the country's cabinet on a treatment report handed over by a special task team to the Ministry of Health earlier this week for the national roll-out of anti-AIDS drugs.
A task team of local and international experts, including members the Clinton Foundation's AIDS Initiative, was recently appointed to work on the rollout and make initial assessments.
Head of the Western Cape's HIV/AIDS programme, Dr Fareed Abdullah, said the provincial plan submitted to the task team would provide for 15 sites to treat 2,500 in the province people by mid-2004.
It is estimated that between 4,000 and 5,000 people in the Western Cape are in urgent need of antiretroviral treatment.
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