Good news in South Africa, after the previous denial of the problem by Mbeki, where HIV treatment is rolling out and making a big difference to people’s lives:
a short distance away from the chaotic triage centre, is a quiet, tastefully decorated haven that dispenses antiretroviral drugs to a small but growing number of AIDS patients. The clinic, which opened last December thanks to a grant from the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the South African Medical Association, is currently treating about more than 90 phase IV patients and accepts new admissions by the week.“This really was the hospital where people used to come to die; it was like a hospice”, senior registar Kevin Rebe told The Lancet. “But now 85% will leave alive. We now see patients coming in who are severely unwell and they get better.”