SOUTH AFRICA TO PROVIDE AIDS DRUGS
At long last, South Africa will provide anti-HIV drugs to people with AIDS.
The government and the health ministry have withheld the drugs for 15 years, arguing alternatively that they are too expensive, that they are too toxic, and that HIV may not be the cause of AIDS.
One in five South African adults is HIV-positive and 600 die of AIDS each day. The drugs should become available in October.
The anti-treatment stance came under heavy fire from the media and international delegates during South Africa’s first national AIDS conference held in early August in Durban.
SOUTH AFRICA EXTENDS PENSIONS
South Africa extended its government employee pensions to same-sex couples and polygamists Aug. 13.
When an employee dies, his or her same-sex or opposite-sex partner or partners, as well as his or her children, can now make claim to the employee’s pension.