Earlier this month someone in South Africa leaked an unpublished government report on the anti-AIDS drugs. Although the South African government has refused to buy or distribute anti-AIDS drugs due to a host of objections, the leaked report estimated that making anti-AIDS drugs available could save the lives of as many as 1.7 million South Africans over the next seven years.
Although the report was completed in March, the South African government claimed that it was simply a first draft and that it is doing all it can to treat AIDS patients.
In the past, South African government officials have trotted out every excuse from the expense of the drugs to claims that they need to be tested more thoroughly before they could be used in South Africa.
Meanwhile, in a visit to Africa U.S. president George W. Bush promised $15 billion to fight AIDS in Africa which put pressure on European nations to contribute billions as well.
Speaking before the International Aids Society conference, Nelson Mandela said that Bush had “moved the debate from hundreds of millions of dollars to tens of billions of dollars.”
Sources:
SA Aids deaths report leaked. The BBC, July 14, 2003.
Can Africa handle AIDS drugs? Patrick Jackson, The BBC, July 15, 2003.
Recipe for Disaster. The Star (South Africa), July 17, 2003.
Mandela assails global injustice of AIDS crisis. Sarah Boseley and Rory Carroll, Sydney Morning Herald, July 15, 2003.