/ 22 April 1999

AZT DOES NOT STOP HIV TRANSMISSION

THE Health Department said on Thursday that there is no proof that the drug AZT could prevent the transmission of HIV to rape victims. The department said in a statement it has done an extensive survey of all published scientific data on the relationship between rape, HIV, and AZT. “We have not come across a single controlled clinical study in humans which indicates that AZT is effective in preventing transmission of HIV following rape. A one-day campaign was held on Thursday to call on the government to supply rape victims with anti-Aids drugs.

EXPATS TO PROTEST AT TRAFALGAR

SOUTH Africans living in London to mount a placard protest outside the South African High Commission in London on Saturday in support of a growing campaign to allow expiate to both register and vote abroad. The New National Party has rejected a scheme introduced by the Independent Electoral Commission last month in terms of which registered voters who will be abroad on the day of the election, will be able to vote at South African foreign missions. The NNP on Thursday took the IEC and the government to the Pretoria High Court to force them to allow South Africans living abroad to register and vote.