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South Africa to Treat all HIV-Positive Babies

On Tuesday, South Africa announced new plans for earlier and extended treatment for HIV-Positive babies and pregnant woman. This change could save hundreds of thousands of lives in the hardest hit nation with the virus. The new plan calls for pregnant women to be given drugs earlier and while breast-feeding. By treating all HIV-Positive babies, the survival rates of the youngest citizens will raise also. South Africa has an estimated 5.7 million people, out of 50 million, infected with HIV, which is more than any other country.

Sources: The New York Times- [|http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/07/health/AP-AF-South-Africa-AIDS.html] Yahoo News/Associated Press- [|http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091202/ap_on_he_me/af_south_africa_aids]

Coverage: The two news articles were exactly the same, but the Yahoo/Associated Press showed a picture of a man walking by a fence outside an office building on World AIDS day.

Opinion: For the coverage I didn't really like the articles because, in about the middle, it seemed like they weren't talking about the treatments and plans, but more about president Zuma, and what he has been doing. In the beginning and close to the end it was still very informational though. And for the event, I like how South Africa is going to raise the survival rates of the children with this treatment, but apparently the U.S. is going to be giving Africa $120 million over the next two years for AIDS treatment drugs, in addition to $560 million we have already pledged to South Africa for fighting AIDS in 2010. Those are tax dollars that they are using, and I know a lot of people that wouldn't agree with sending their hard earned money overseas, especially with the economy //here// not doing so well.