SOUTH AFRICA: Indian President Offers Help to Combat AIDS in South Africa

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

SOUTH AFRICA: Indian President Offers Help to Combat AIDS in South Africa

Agence France Presse (09.15.04) - Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Today in Cape Town, Indian President Abdul Kalam said his country would like to work with South Africa on pressing issues like HIV/AIDS and education. "We are concerned about your health problems," Kalam said at a news conference following a one-hour meeting with President Thabo Mbeki. The state visit, the first by an Indian president to South Africa, comes on the 10-year anniversary of the end of apartheid and the centenary of a communal farm established by Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi.

"We have developed a drug in India that can arrest the development of HIV/AIDS and it is being produced," said Kalam, without providing details. Indian drug giant Cipla is a major producer of antiretrovirals that the South African government needs for its program to provide free ARVs to tens of thousands of AIDS patients. According to UNAIDS, South Africa has the world's highest HIV/AIDS caseload with an estimated 5.3 million people infected.

In a joint statement, Mbeki and Kalam said they were examining "new ways of enhancing the strategic partnership between the two countries" and highlighted a "close convergence of viewpoints" on international issues. Kalam was scheduled to address a joint session of India's Parliament later today. On Thursday, Kalam is due to meet with Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg before traveling to Durban, home to most of South Africa's 1.2 million citizens of Indian origin.
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