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Govt pulls back on barring civil society from UN session on HIV/AIDS

    JOHANNESBURG

    South Africa's health ministry has reversed its decision to block the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), an AIDS lobby group, from attending the upcoming UN General Assembly Special Session on AIDS.

    On Wednesday the health department released a list of groups invited to take part in the UN meeting, which included a representative from the TAC.

    Minister of Health Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said in a statement, "The civil society representatives have been selected with the aim of representing a broad spectrum of sectors involved in the response to HIV and AIDS in South Africa."

    The authorities had barred the TAC and its affiliate, the AIDS Law Project, and several other NGOs from attending the session in New York from 31 May to 2 June, on the grounds that they could use the platform to vilify the government.

    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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