Court: S. African govt must give AIDS drug

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, July 5 (UPI) -- South Africa's Constitutional court Friday ordered the government to provide nevirapine -- a key anti-AIDS drug, which helps prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV -- to pregnant women infected with the AIDS-causing virus.

The South African Ministry of Health has said that more than 24 percent of pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in the country are infected with HIV. Approximately 4.7 million South Africans are living with HIV/AIDS.

Nevirapine can reduce the incidence of transmission of HIV between mother and child by up to 50 percent which is why a lower court ruled last year that the government should provide the drug to all pregnant women infected with the virus. The government, which was only providing the drug at 18 test sites, appealed the ruling in May.

The court, the highest authority in South Africa on constitutional matters, also ruled government is also required to develop an overall strategy to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child.

AIDS activists applauded the court's ruling on the suit, which was brought by activist organizations including Save Our Babies Campaign and the Treatment Action Group.

"This is a historic marker and will lead to treatment for all people with HIV/AIDS in developing countries," Paul Davis of ACT-UP Philadelphia, told United Press International.

Davis noted that "the actions of the South African government carry a great deal of weight in sub-Saharan Africa." This region of Africa has been the hardest hit by the AIDS pandemic, with more than 28 million Africans infected with the virus.

"It's a good decision. We're pleased that the South African court decided along these lines," a spokesperson for the Global AIDS Alliance told UPI.

But the spokesperson noted, "African countries will need external support from the U.S. and other countries to be able to provide these medications."

Davis said the South African government "certainly has the money to provide drugs that prevent mother-to-child transmission," but they will need financial assistance from the U.S. to provide AIDS medications "to whole families and communities."

(Reported by UPI Medical Correspondent Steve Mitchell in Washington)