SOUTH AFRICA WORLD LEADER IN ARV TREATMENT

South Africa has the world's largest antiretroviral (ARV) treatment program for HIV/AIDS, according to government spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe.

By the end of March 2006, said Netshitenzhe, 134,473 South African patients were receiving ARVs at state facilities, while an estimated additional 80,000 were receiving the medications through private medical treatment and the non-governmental sector.

"No other country has the kind of number [of HIV/AIDS patients] that we are talking about," said Netshitenzhe. He stressed, however, that "much more needs to be done" to curb the spread of the pandemic.