The Associated Press - Sunday, November 7, 1999
Andrew Selsky, Associated Press Writer

Dr. Costa Gazi said in an interview with The Associated Press that he has filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission in an effort to pressure Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang into changing the policy.

Gazi's initiative is certain to create a stir in a nation with one of the world's worst AIDS problems. Eight percent of the population - 3.6 million people - is estimated to be HIV positive.

Last April, Gazi, a member of the opposition Pan Africanist Congress, publicly criticized the health minister's decision to withhold the anti-viral drug AZT from HIV-positive pregnant women, prompting the government to charge him with shaming the republic and the constitution. Hearings into the misconduct charges are expected to begin in December.

This latest controversy comes as South Africa is waging a losing war against an AIDS epidemic and bolsters critics who say the African National Congress-led government is eager to silence voices of dissent.

Just last week, the ANC suspended one of its officials in the black township of Soweto for two years after he publicly criticized the party's plan to privatize industries in Johannesburg.

"It's a sad day for our newfound democracy," suspended ANC councilman Trevor Ngwane said in a phone interview. "We're just enjoying our first taste of freedom of speech, which a lot of people died for. It's a bad sign for our future."

But while Ngwane's dispute centers on privatization in Johannesburg and possible job losses, Gazi's dispute is literally a matter of life and death.

Studies show that if AZT is given to pregnant women with AIDS or its precursor HIV, the chances the lethal virus will pass on to their babies are cut at least by half.

With an estimated 10 percent of children born each year in South Africa with the virus, at least half of them - 35,000 - would be saved by administration of AZT or other drugs, said Gazi, a doctor at a state hospital near the city of East London.

The cost per baby for screening their mothers for HIV, for administering AZT and for counseling sessions would be about $390, Gazi said. If a cheaper antiviral drug like nevirapine were used, the cost would be halved, he said.

Calls to the ANC spokesman for comment were not answered on Sunday. The government has previously said it can't afford to provide AZT. On Oct. 28, President Thabo Mbeki baffled physicians and anti-AIDS advocates by telling parliament that AZT is dangerous. The drug has been approved by regulators in South Africa and around the world and is commonly used to control the virus.
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