Doctors demand AIDS drugs for women who have been raped

The number of women raped in South Africa is among the highest in the world, with an estimated 25% of women likely to be raped at some point over the course of their lives. These crimes occur in a country in which about 25% of the population is infected with HIV, and 1800 people are newly infected with the virus each day. Women who have been raped believe that they have a good chance of having been infected with HIV by the rape perpetrator. South Africa's ministry of health is resistant to allocating resources for the provision of a course of zidovudine, a GlaxoWellcome antiretroviral drug, to women who have been raped. The drug is expensive and there is no scientific proof that such a prophylactic course can effectively reduce the chance of a raped woman becoming infected with HIV. The South African Medical Association recommends zidovudine treatment at the government's expense for women who have been raped. Additional attention was focused upon the issue following the publication of an article by Charlene Smith, a Johannesburg journalist, describing her difficulties obtaining zidovudine from a local private hospital after being raped, even though she was insured and willing to pay.