Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
BBC News - August 12, 2008
Pharmascript, which supplied state hospitals and clinics with the medication, has promised to replace drugs found to be sub-standard.
The probe comes within days of some anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs being recalled after a packaging mix up.
HIV and Aids patients have been urged to urgently seek medical advice.
Initial tests showed that the withdrawn TB drugs lost their potency over a period of time.
"If we're getting drugs that are not of quality... we're not going to get the results that we require," Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said.
"Further tests are being conducted on the stability of these products," she said.
People may carry the TB infection for many years but only develop the disease when they develop HIV, which suppresses the immune system.
Certain types of Nevirapine, used by HIV-positive pregnant women, and Adco-Zidovudine (AZT) were recalled by Adcock Ingram over the weekend.
According to South African HIV campaign group Treatment Action Campaign, Adcock Ingram supplies ARVs to the private sector and has recently been awarded a tender to supply medications to state hospitals.
"We are concerned that the recall will undermine public faith in the quality and safety of medicines and are worried about the potential impact that the recall will have on the availability of life-saving ARV medications."
South Africa has one of the world's highest incidences of HIV.
One in five adults are reported to be infected and an estimated 500,000 people are infected each year.
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