PRESS ALERT: 19 AUGUST 2001

TAC TO ANNOUNCE DETAILS OF COURT ACTION TO SAVE LIVES

TAC and its supporting organisations have campaigned for a national
programme to prevent mother to child transmission for four years. Our
atempts to persuade government to act urgently on this matter, have
been rebuffed.

In July, attorneys for the Treatment Action Campaign wrote to the Minister
and MEC's for Health, requesting reasons why Nevirapine is not being made
widely available to prevent mother-to-child-transmission of HIV, as well as a
clear national policy on mother-to-child transmission prevention (mtctp). The
Minister's response was unsatisfactory.

TAC is committed to saving lives and preventing HIV infection. We are also
committed to asserting legal and constitutional rights, when government
fails to act on behalf of poor and vulnerable people. We invite you to the
following press conferences, where full details of the TAC legal action will
be provided:

Date: Tuesday, 21 August 2001
Time: 12:00
Venues:
Johannesburg: AIDS Consortium Offices, 12:00 (Auckland House, 185 Smit Street)
Cape Town: Front of Parliament (statue of Louis Botha)
Durban: 717 Colonial Mutual Building, 330 West Street (entrance on Mark's Lane)

Contacts:
Sipho Mthathi (021 6851440)
Mandla Majola (021 364 5489)
Anneke Meerkotter (072 2478 990)
Zamo Zwane (031 304 3673, 082 929 1210)
Cati Vawda (031 307 6075)
Sharon Ekambaram (011 403 0265)
Pholokgolo Ramathola (011 403 7021)