Cape Town

South Africa's president Thabo Mbeki last week said the country would not take the “irresponsible” step of supplying AZT (zidovudine) to HIV and AIDS sufferers until the drug's safety was established.

The statement is being seen as an attempt to justify the government's tardiness in making AZT available in state hospitals, even to rape victims and pregnant women.

Mbeki claimed that legal cases were pending in South Africa, the United States and Britain against the use of AZT on the grounds that it was harmful.

But this has been strongly denied by Peter Moore, medical director for sub-Saharan Africa for Glaxo Wellcome, the drug's suppliers, who have requested a meeting with Mbeki to clarify the issue. The company has been negotiating with the government for the past three years over the price of supplying the drug to state hospitals.

Mbeki's statement was made in his first address to the National Council of Provinces since he became president in June. He argued that a large body of scientific literature claimed that AZT is so toxic as to be a health hazard. He had asked national health minister Manto Tshabala-Msimang to investigate this, but said that, until her investigation was complete, it would be irresponsible for the government to ignore researchers' warnings.