HIV/AIDS in S. Africa

[Poplife]

I copied this from another forum and I wanted to see what everyone here thought about it. I know we have talked about this topic before but this is a fairly new development.


"South Africa's government has rejected a U.S. company's offer of one million free AIDS test kits to help combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic that has devastated the country, a local newspaper reported Sunday.
The Sunday Times newspaper said the million-kit donation offer from U.S. drug firm Guardian Scientific Africa Incorporated was worth $6.3 million, adding that the kits are able to diagnose the human immunodeficiency virus within five minutes from a single drop of blood.

The Health Department instead awarded contracts to two multinational companies to provide South Africa with 200,000 kits a year, the paper said, citing government officials.

``It's hard to understand why they would buy them from one company and not accept them from us for free,'' the newspaper quoted Guardian Scientific Africa director Madeline Wasserman as saying. She told the paper that her company's offer had already been accepted by 11 other African countries including Botswana, which has the highest HIV infection rate in the world.

South Africa's government has drawn a storm of criticism for its response to the epidemic, which has infected an estimated 20 percent of the country's adult population. President Thabo Mbeki has caused international outrage by publicly questioning the link between the HIV virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

``The only possible reason for declining the offer (of free kits) is that the government is still in denial about the fact that HIV causes AIDS,'' opposition leader Tony Leon said in a statement. Ayanda Ntsaluba, director-general of the Department of Health, was quoted by the newspaper as saying that accepting a donation while another company was supplying similar kits ''could be very problematic as it would be seen as infringing their contract.''

He also said the U.S. kit had not been tested locally. South Africa Tuesday resisted calls to declare AIDS a national emergency, a move that would have allowed it to import generic medicines regardless of objections from drug firms claiming abuse of patent rights. The decision commits Pretoria to fighting a court case brought by 39 powerful drug firms aiming to strike down legislation allowing South Africa to import cheaper copycat drugs."