Christian leaders are hailing the decision of 39 pharmaceutical companies to drop a lawsuit against South Africa, thus permitting the Pretoria government to buy anti-aids medicine at generic-drug prices.
The drug companies had previously opposed a South African law that allowed the importation and manufacture of generic aids drugs. Ninety percent of the people with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa.
"This is about the primacy of protecting and preserving life, and nothing should be more important," says Setri Nyomi of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.
But while the settlement means that South Africa and other developing nations can purchase cheaper medicines, the South African government has said that the anti-retroviral drugs will not become available immediately.
And when they do, problems will still remain, says CAFOD, a Catholic aid agency. "Many of the drugs are only effective when the patients keep up a demanding schedule of medication and nutrition—conditions which do not apply to many poor," CAFOD spokesman George Gelber says.
Still, Christian Aid representative Andrew Pendleton said the decision was a crucial first step in helping those with the virus in other developing countries. "The fact that the drug companies have backed down in South Africa means that an agenda has been set," he says. "We can hope that the same will apply elsewhere."
For African newspapers' perspectives on the AIDS crisis, see AllAfrica.com's extensive site.
Yahoo's full coverage areas on the Africa AIDS Epidemic and South Africa the have links to many news articles and resources about AIDS drugs and other medicines in the country, including:
South Africa and drug industry settle suit | The pharmaceutical firms dropped their case. That won't likely mean an influx of AIDS drugs into Africa. — The Philadelphia Inquirer (Apr 20, 2001)
Books & Culture Corner: An Open Letter to the U. S. Black Religious, Intellectual, and Political Leadership Regarding AIDS and the Sexual Holocaust in Africa (Jan. 24, 2000)