Pretoria
South Africa has announced a bold new program to treat its mounting AIDS epidemic. Over the next five years, the government will spend several billion dollars building clinics and training thousands of doctors, nurses, and counselors. The goal is to have an AIDS clinic in every city within five years. In the past, South African leaders have been reluctant to adopt vigorous treatment measures. President Thabo Mbeki has openly questioned whether HIV is the cause of AIDS and has called anti-retroviral drugs “poisons.” One in nine South Africans is HIV-positive.
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