Patient
Abuse: South Africa's Struggle for AIDS Treatment
With one in five
South Africans infected with the AIDS virus and one in four pregnant
South African women HIV+, the AIDS epidemic is having a devastating
impact on the new South Africa. Archbishop Desmond Tutu has labeled
the crisis, “the new apartheid”. This new activist documentary introduces
audiences to the Treatment Action Campaign, South Africa’s inspiring
grassroots AIDS organization, leading the fight against the greed of
international pharmaceutical companies and the inaction of the South
African government.
The end of apartheid
and the historic inauguration of President Nelson Mandela in 1994 brought
on euphoria, but in the background, AIDS was developing into a national
emergency. The film presents the early missteps by government health
officials, which included bankrolling the extravagant musical theater
production Sarafina 2 from limited AIDS education funds and giving credence
to the claim that the industrial solvent Virodene was a “cure” for AIDS.
Now 160 infants are born with HIV each day which could be avoided by
making AZT available through public health clinics to all HIV+ pregnant
mothers. The government refuses, claiming that the medication is ineffective
and toxic. The documentary follows the controversial statements made
by current President Thabo Mbeki which advance doubts that HIV is the
cause of AIDS.
Even though the
infection rate is growing, AIDS still carries a social stigma. So much
so that activist Gugu Dlamini was stoned to death in 1998 for revealing
her HIV+ status. A part of the ability to build a movement on behalf
of people with HIV is acknowledging and honoring them; the documentary
covers memorials for activists such as Simon Tseko Nkoli and Christopher
Moraka and presentations by Supreme Court Justice Edwin Cameron.
Just as significant
as confronting the South African government on its AIDS policies is
the Treatment Action Campaign’s work challenging pharmaceutical companies
for charging high prices for AIDS drugs which make them unaffordable
for the world’s poorer people and governments. In fact, the title Patient
Abuse is a play on words referring to how pharmaceutical companies
guard “patents” to prevent governments from producing cheaper generic
drugs. The Treatment Action Campaign was successful in getting the companies
to drop their suit against the South African government for wanting
to explore producing affordable drugs – a rare victory for the world’s
poor over multinational corporations.
The documentary
highlights the efforts of Zackie Achmat, the dynamic chairperson of
the Treatment Action Campaign. Achmat is a former anti-apartheid activist
and gay rights campaigner who is HIV+ but has vowed to refuse anti-retroviral
medications until they are available to all through public health clinics.
The Treatment Action Campaign embodies the spirit of the anti-apartheid
movement by uniting community activists, trade unionists and church
groups.
Treatment
Action Campaign

Prime
Time South Africa
Everyone's Child
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Producer/Director:
Jack Lewis South Africa, 2001
58 minutes
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