Cape Town

South Africa's Medicines Control Council (MCC) has halted a clinical trial of the antiretroviral drug Coviracil (emtricitabine) following an announcement by the country's health minister that five South African women have died during the trial.

The decision has attracted particular attention because the study involved giving Coviracil to HIV-positive individuals in combination with d4T and nevirapine.

One in eleven: South Africa's government is reluctant to approve antiretroviral drugs. Credit: AP

The government is already under pressure to allow HIV-positive pregnant women to be given nevirapine to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, since President Thabo Mbeki has refused to sanction the use of AZT in state hospitals for this purpose (see Nature 402, 332; 1999).

Health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has been accused of using the deaths to justify the government's refusal to provide pregnant women with antiretroviral drugs. “It is unfortunate that she has used the tragic event of deaths during the trials to make a political point that justifies her doing nothing to stop mother-to-child transmission,” said opposition Member of Parliament Patricia de Lille of the Pan-African Congress.

But Tshabalala-Msimang told parliament last week that it would be “immoral and unethical” for the government to decide on the use of nevirapine until the full results of clinical trials on the drug are available.

MCC head Helen Rees denied that the government had put pressure on the council in making its decision. She described the timing of events as “serendipitous”.