The United States and South Africa are to sign an agreement on funding for an anti-AIDS campaign that is symbolic of Pretoria's shift from being a pariah to a global player in fighting the disease. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during a visit to South Africa that Pretoria will begin taking more of the responsibilities for its HIV/AIDS programme, part of a broader effort to overhaul the US global plan for AIDS relief launched under former President George W. Bush.
"South Africa is taking the lead, and I want publicly to commend your minister of health and his associates who are widely being given great admiration around the world for the success of their efforts," Clinton told a news conference. The United States limited access to HIV/AIDS funding to the government of former President Thabo Mbeki, whose administration was ridiculed for denying there was a link between HIV and AIDS while prescribing meaningless treatments such as beet root instead of internationally proven medicines.