South Africa AIDS entering "death phase".

JOHANNESBURG -- After years of reluctance, South African President Thabo Mbeki's Cabinet decided to develop a plan to offer antiretroviral drugs to people with inv. The program will initially focus on providing the drugs to people with advanced cases of AIDS.

The Mbeki government resisted urgings from international and local AIDS activists to provide antiretrovirals, doubting their effectiveness, safety and citing cost. President Mbeki, publicly stated his belief that there was no connection between HIV and AIDS. Government policy stressed the importance of poverty reduction and better nutrition in combating HIV/AIDS.

South Africa has about 5 million people with HIV, more than any other country. Over 11 percent of South Africa's population of 43.8 million is infected with my, and 20 percent of people between the ages of 15 and 49 have the virus. The cost of the new program is expected to run into the billions of dollars.

As mortality rates outstrip new infections, South Africa is entering the "death" phase of its AIDS epidemic, a part of the cycle that threatens both the health care system and the economy, scientists said at the country's first national AIDS conference. "Mortality is really just starting and won't peak for another three to four years," said Rod Hoff, a senior epidemiologist in the AIDS division of the u.s. National Institutes of Health. "The social and economic impact will be considerable. Industry is really going to take a hit as people get sick," he added.

In a country where 4.7 million people are infected with the disease--the world's highest single caseload--HIV/AIDS prevalence is starting to plateau at around 33 percent, while sickness and death are rising. Activists say 600 South Africans die of AIDS every day.