New SA health minister gets warm welcome from AIDS activists

AIDS activists in South Africa have celebrated the arrival of a new health minister, following years of meagre treatment allowances under Manto Tshablala-Msimang.

Campaigners greeted Barbara Hogan with a champagne reception outside her flat in Cape Town. Activists from the Treatment Action Campaign hope her appointment will mark the end of government-supported AIDS neglect.

Former health minister Tshablala-Msimang was criticised for failing to distribute the anti-retroviral drugs that studies suggest are the best way of treating AIDS. She told patients the drugs were too expensive and instead advocated healthy eating; advising them to eat lots of garlic and beetroot.

There are currently 5.5 million South Africans with HIV; more than anywhere else in the world.