Aids court defeat for South African govt

The South African government’s muddled Aids policy suffered its most serious blow to date today when a court ordered it make a key drug available to HIV-positive pregnant women Aids activists cheered and embraced after the landmark decision to force the government to distribute the drug nevirapine was read by Pretoria High Court Judge Chris Botha.

‘‘We’ve made history today,’’ said a beaming Mark Heywood, secretary of the Treatment Action Campaign, the Aids activists group which filed the lawsuit together with a group of doctors.