"Breaking The Silence" - South Africa's policy on anti-retroviral drugs for Women with AIDS - Brief Article - Transcript

THE XIII WORLD CONFERENCE ON AIDS - DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - 9-13 JULY 2000

LOLApress Europe, Greifswalder Str. 4, 10405 Berlin, GERMANY

Also LOLApress in Latin America and Africa

"As in the past, the XIII Conference programme had both a scientific track and a community track. Until now, the scientific track had included basic sciences, clinical science, epidemiology, prevention and public health strategies, and social sciences. The innovation in Durban was the incorporation of another area devoted to rights, policies, political commitment and action. So, the community found a way to infiltrate the domain of science, giving it a new perspective from the grassroots. This tendency was evident in all aspects of the conference, from its title - 'Breaking the Silence' - to the main topic of debate - equal access to available treatment.

THE DEBATE ON ANTI-RETROVIRAL DRUGS

The South African government's refusal to give anti-retroviral medication to pregnant women was one of the reasons why this was a much debated issue at the Congress.

There are two types of drugs for HIV carriers and AIDS patients: those that attack infections which appear and develop due to the patient's weakened immune system; and anti-retroviral drugs, which work to control the virus itself. Although there are differences of opinion as to the effectiveness of the latter, the scientific community generally agrees that they have a favourable impact on patients as they strengthen the immune system and allow it to react to infections.

Treatment with anti-retroviral drugs is considered essential in the case of pregnant women to prevent mother-to-child transmission. The South African government opposes their use in these cases because of the drugs' secondary effects and their extremely high cost. Regular treatment with anti-retroviral drugs costs about 400 US dollars a month per patient, owing to the need to combine various drugs and the high cost of each one. It also requires certain conditions for it to be effective, including: a proper diet, an infrastructure that allows the patient to be monitored regularly, access to medication for other infections and sufficient resources for long-term treatment. . ."

COPYRIGHT 2001 Women's International Network
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group