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Doctors foot AIDS drug bill

    JOHANNESBURG

    Some doctors in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal Province are paying for antiretrovirals to treat people living with HIV/AIDS out of their own pockets, the South African Press Association reported.

    Research showed that some 350,000 people in KwaZulu-Natal aged 15 to 49 could die from AIDS-related illnesses by 2006.

    Dr Mark Baylock, one of the doctors, said his decision to pay for anti-AIDS drugs was an "emotional" one: "It's frightening and depressing - basically I pay for my friends," he said.

    Baylock noted that the hospital where he works had 251 inpatients at any given time, of which about 200 were living with HIV/AIDS.

    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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