GVT, TAC TO SQUARE UP IN COURT AGAIN OVER NEVIRAPINE.

The government and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) will meet in court yet again on Thursday and Friday to get the final word on whether nevirapine should be provided at state hospitals to prevent mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV. The Constitutional Court will hear the appeal of Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and seven health MECs against a Pretoria High Court judgment ordering them to make the drug available to all HIV-positive pregnant women where medically indicated and where the women concerned had been tested and counselled. In December Judge Chris Botha granted an application in this regard by the TAC, the Children's Rights Centre and paediatrician Dr Haroon Saloojee of the Save Our Babies campaign. The judge ordered the government to extend its existing nevirapine programme of two pilot sites per province. He also instructed government to draw up a comprehensive national programme to prevent or reduce MTCT of HIV, including the provision of voluntary counselling and testing, and where appropriate, nevirapine or other medicine, and formula milk for feeding. The government had to report back on its progress with the plan by March 31 this year. After the judgment was delivered, government applied for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court. Botha granted the leave. At the same time he granted an application by the TAC and the two other applicants for an execution order. That meant that pending the Constitutional Court appeal the government had to provide nevirapine for HIV-positive women in state hospitals where it was medically indicated and where testing and counselling could be done. The government also asked the Constitutional Court to overturn the execution order, but was refused. The court said it would give reasons for its ruling after this week's hearing, where the appeal against the original order is to be heard. The government contends that the original order infringes the principle of the separation of powers. It also maintains that its MTCT programme is consistent with its constitutional obligations. The pilot projects are intended to help understand the operational demands of running a successful programme and to research the safety and efficacy of the drug and whether it promotes the development of drug-resistant strains of HIV. As its ...