Lauren Auton, 12/4/09, 5:08 PM
South Africa's president, Jacob Zuma, stated that the drug therapy for HIV-positive pregnant woman and babies is going to start earlier than previously announced and is going to be broadened to include more people. The announcement and the treatment has come from new treatment guidelines that have been issued by the World Health Organization. The goal of the treatment guidelines is to help ensure that more babies are born healthy. The hopes are that by treating these infected babies earlier, South Africa will be able to improve the survival odds for its children. Zuma has said that by April, the government will start treatment earlier for the HIV-positive people who have tuberculosis.
I found the announcement in this article to be a step forward for not only women and children, but everyone in South Africa. The more people are educated and treated for HIV and AIDS in South Africa, the more they will be able to help in its prevention. South Africa has come a long way under Jacob Zuma since their former president, Thabo Mbeki, had even questioned whether HIV was the cause of AIDS and thought that the antiretroviral drugs used for treatment may even be harmful. Since 1990, South Africa is one of only four countries that has seen their child mortality rate worsen and I am glad that something is now being done about that.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/world/africa/02safrica.html
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