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Government using AIDS for votes - DA

    JOHANNESBURG

    South African opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), has accused the government of using the HIV/AIDS pandemic to gain votes in the upcoming general election, the BBC reported.

    Just two week before the poll in April, after months of delay, the government announced a plan to distribute anti-AIDS drugs.

    "We are entitled to ask: what took you so long? Why do it 14 days before an election? How many lives could have been saved if you'd listened to the voice of reason?" DA leader Tony Leon said.

    The government had resisted sustained pressure to provide free antiretroviral drugs, arguing that it would be too expensive and questioning the effectiveness of the drugs.

    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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