AIDS Advocates Disappointed By Team Members Appointed To Help South Africa Develop National Antiretroviral Drug Plan

AIDS advocates are disappointed by the people named last week by South African government officials' to help the government and public health leaders develop the country's national antiretroviral drug plan, NPR's "All Things Considered" reports (Wilson, "All Things Considered," NPR, 8/27). The South African government on Aug. 8 called for the Ministry of Health to develop a national program to provide antiretroviral medications to residents with HIV/AIDS (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 8/21). According to NPR, the team includes "no known AIDS activists and only one AIDS expert who's been involved in the push for treatment" ("All Things Considered," NPR, 8/27). The team will be led by Dr. Anthony Mbewu, executive director for research at South Africa's Medical Research Council, and will include some experts from the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation. Nono Simelela, chief director of the South African Department of Health's HIV/AIDS program, will serve as deputy head of the team (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 8/19).

The NPR segment also includes comments from members of the treatment advocacy group Treatment Action Campaign ("All Things Considered," NPR, 8/27). The full segment is available online in RealPlayer.