South Africa: Health minister U-turn on Aids drug plan

In an astonishing about-turn, embattled Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has denied outright she gave any commitment to the start of a national anti-retroviral roll-out. The shock announcement is sure to send Aids activists, the health profession and those affected by the virus into a tailspin. The minister and Nono Simelela, head of the government's HIV and Aids programme, laid out the planned roll-out in substantial detail last November. But now she says it will start when "everything is ready".