Madiba asks Mbeki for Aids talk
2002-07-30 08:04
Special Report
President Jacob Zuma has met with American businessman Bill Gates to discuss issues relating to the country's HIV/Aids pandemic.
Cape Town - Former president Nelson Mandela has formally asked for a meeting with President Thabo Mbeki to discuss the issue of antiretroviral treatment for people living with HIV.
The move follows Mandela's talks at the weekend with Treatment
Action Campaign leader Zackie Achmat, who is refusing to take the
potentially life-saving drugs until the government introduces a
pilot project.
Mandela said afterwards he understood Achmat's position and
thought he had "a case" to take to Mbeki.
Mandela's spokesperson Zelda la Grange said on Monday: "We did
put in a formal request (for a meeting) and we are waiting for the president's office to get back to us."
The TAC's campaign for antiretroviral treatment follows its
Constitutional Court victory over the government on the
prophylactic use of the drugs to prevent mother-to-child HIV
transmission.
Mandela said at the weekend he supported the government's stance that research into antiretroviral drugs in an African context was necessary to ensure that, if there was a roll-out, it would be safe.
"But of course what worries everybody is the number of people
who are dying almost daily," he said.
- SAPA