S Africa rolls out Aids programme

Critics say the government has been slow to act on Aids

The South African Cabinet has approved a plan to distribute free Aids drugs to more than five million sufferers.

But the health minister warned there was "still a long way to go" in the fight against Aids.

"I don't want to raise false hopes, but a decision has been made. There is hope," Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said.

The country has been accused of not doing enough to fight the disease, despite having the largest number of HIV/Aids cases in the world.

Under the plan approved on Wednesday, the government will establish a network of centres to distribute anti-retroviral drugs to fight the disease.

It will save the lives of our people, our friends and our family - and mine Ntombozuko Khwaza, Treatment Action Campaign

Mrs Tshabalala-Msimang said each of the country's roughly 50 health districts would have a distribution centre within a year.

Implementing the programme will require major upgrade of the health care system, recruiting and training large numbers of health care workers, she said.

Campaigners welcomed the decision, with one, Ntombozuko Khwaza, telling the Reuters news agency the plans "will save the lives of our people, our friends and our family - and mine".

Prevention

The government will also boost its prevention campaign and increase support for families affected by HIV/Aids, the minister said.

The government approved the universal anti-retroviral treatment programme in August, and ordered health officials to finalise an operational plan.

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It was drafted with the assistance of the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation and presented to the Cabinet last week.

The BBC's Richard Hamilton in Johannesburg says a fall in the cost of anti-retroviral drugs has been a major factor in the government's change of strategy.

With an estimated 5.3 million South Africans - more than 12% of the population - infected with HIV/Aids, the health authorities face a significant challenge.

They also have to catch up on perceived lost time.

Health activists have long accused the government of dragging its feet, saying both President Thabo Mbeki and Health Minister Tshabalala-Msimang had failed to grasp the seriousness of the crisis.

An estimated 600 South Africans die every day of Aids-related causes.