South Africa sees new HIV drugs
While more widely available in the Western world (although the US is seeing problems for those needing these drugs without health insurance as the Bush administration cuts funding for such treatment and the California governor balances his budget at the expense of ADAP etc), South Africa is finally seeing the benefits of antiretroviral drugs according to this New York Times story (registration required):
Although South Africa is said to have more than five million H.I.V.-positive residents, more than any other nation, government handouts of antiretrovirals have been waylaid for years, first by high-level objections, then by bureaucratic difficulties. President Thabo Mbeki and his health minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, persistently questioned whether the virus causes AIDS and whether antiretroviral drugs help.
Under enormous political and diplomatic pressure, Mr. Mbeki's government promised in November to provide the drugs free to as many as 53,000 South Africans by April, and to 1.4 million within five years. But the national rollout has been delayed while the government organizes the purchase of drugs, trains doctors and readies clinics.