AIDS and Antiretroviral Drugs in South Africa: Public Health, Politics, and Individual Suffering: A Review of Brian Tilley's It's My Life

Abstract:     
This Article focuses on the spread of the HIV virus in sub-Saharan Africa, noting that in the entire African continent, only 30,000 infected people currently receive combination antiretroviral therapies. The Author discusses Brian Tilley's documentary film, It's My Life, which tells the story of AIDS activist Zachie Achmat's decision to forego antiretroviral medications to treat his HIV infection in protest against the South African government's refusal to provide these drugs in public hospitals and AIDS clinics. The Author discusses the variety of circumstances that have contributed to the AIDS epidemic in South Africa, a number of practical obstacles that interfere with the provision of AIDS drugs to impoverished South Africans, and reviews possible approaches to address these issues.

Keywords: AIDS, antiretroviral drugs, South Africa, public health, Brian Tilley, It's My Life, health law, human rights law, medical jurisprudence

Accepted Paper Series