AIDS advocates angry over dual drug delay

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, March 11 (UPI) -- AIDS advocates in South Africa say they're angry the government has taken so long to adopt a two-drug strategy to treat HIV-positive women.

The evidence that AZT plus nevirapine works better than just one drug has been accumulating since 2004, The New York Times reported Monday.

While AIDS advocates are pleased the government has now adopted the approach, they contend South Africa should have put it into practice long ago. Rural doctors said babies were needlessly infected with HIV because the government took too long to make a decision, the Times reported.

A spokesman for South Africa's Health Department disagreed, saying the government took the time needed to review the data after the World Health Organization issued its recommendation of the dual treatment in 2006.