Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - December 8, 2008
Sashni Pather
The TAC is demanding access to a report on the death of a prisoner at Durban's Westville Prison in 2006. The organisation maintains that the man's death might have been caused by the state's resistance to the use of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) in the fight against HIV.
The TAC has acted on behalf of inmates at the prison before: it secured their access to ARVs in 2006.
Court papers filed by the TAC said that "MM" (whose name is being withheld to protect his family) began his ARV treatment in July 2006.
But his medical records indicated that he should have begun treatment in November 2003, when his illness had developed to the stage at which he was eligible for ARV treatment.
But MM died in August 2006 - less than four weeks after he started ARV treatment.
The TAC maintains that there is strong prima facie evidence that MM's death was caused by the delay in giving him the treatment.
Last month, the TAC was vocal in its criticism of the government of former president Thabo Mbeki for its failure to use ARVs widely between 2000 and 2005.
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