Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - April 4, 2002
"This morning the Constitutional Court issued an interim order concerning the provision of nevirapine in government health services in the period until there is an outcome in the main Constitutional Court case on this issue (to be heard on May 2 and 3).
"Government respects and accepts this judgment," the statement said.
On Thursday morning, the court refused the government leave to appeal against a Pretoria High Court execution order demanding that it provide nevirapine in State hospitals with the capacity to do so between now and the outcome of a further court hearing in May. The high court ruling was made in favour of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), an Aids lobbyist group.
The latter will deal with an appeal against a court order for a nationwide programme.
Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson said the judges would give reasons in their ruling in the May hearing.
"This obliges the government to immediately comply (with the Pretoria High Court order) until this court gives its judgment," he said.
Chaskalson added that the ruling did not mean that the government had to supply the drug "wholesale", but only where the State institution had the capacity and the drug was prescribed with the consent of a doctor and medical superintendent.
Tshabalala's statement said: "The order of the court specifically points out that government is not required to undertake 'the whole extension' of the nevirapine programme.
"What we are expected to do is to enable the drug to be prescribed to HIV-positive pregnant women and their babies."
The statement described the institutions where the drug would be administered as follows:
"Health facilities where necessary preconditions already exist for this intervention to be effective. These would at least include voluntary counselling and testing services.
"In cases where the attending doctor and medical superintendent consider it medically advisable."
The statement said the task team that was currently dealing with the development of a mother-to-child-transmission programme, would take on the additional role of monitoring the actions demanded by the court on Thursday.
"In consultation with provinces, we are developing a circular that will be sent to all public health facilities.
"Our intention is to ensure that facility managers and health professionals in ante-natal clinics are in a position to respond appropriately to this latest development."
TAC spokesman Mark Heywood welcomed the ruling.
"This means that from today or tomorrow children's lives can be saved at institutions where there is capacity and the doctors want to use the medicine," Heywood said.
"We never wanted this fight with the government. It is unseemly to fight over people's rights, especially with this government."
Meanwhile, opposition parties urged the government to abandon its litigation. Democratic Alliance spokeswoman Sandy Kalyan told Sapa the ruling championed the rights of HIV-infected people.
New National Party spokesman Dr Kobus Gous said his party had always been in favour of expanding the use of nevirapine. The drug was cheap and its effectiveness was beyond question.
The Pan Africanist Congress' Patricia de Lille said she wanted to "plead with the government to stop wasting taxpayers' money, and just implement the court's ruling".
Speaking before the ruling, former president Nelson Mandela repeated an earlier call for free access to anti-retrovirals in the public health system, for those who chose to.
United Democratic Movement (UDM) secretary-general Malizole Diko said Thursday's ruling was the final wake-up call for the ANC government.
"All South Africa's courts have now, in no uncertain terms, told our mulish government what it and its ministers should be doing," he said.
The SA National NGO Coalition said it was overjoyed by the ruling.
"For the past 4 months, the poor have been pleading with our government to put a stop to the death of innocent children born HIV positive," a statement said.
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