Saturday, April 08, 2006
AIDS in South Africa
I ran across an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal on the AIDS problem in South Africa. Due to cultural practices primarily, AIDS is epidemic in this country and others in Africa. The western world has put forth a generous effort to get effective drugs to the patients in this continent. Now, it seems that this effort has another complication. A woman in South Africa with AIDS and children won't take her medicine cocktail because it will make her better. It turns out that if her doctor states that she is getting healthier she is no longer eligible for the $130/month stipend the government gives to each person with a "disability" such as AIDS. So, she doesn't take her medicine so she can get the money to feed her children.