---------- MAY 200 I 11

DES MARTIN
Editor, Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine
President, Southern African HIV Clinicians Society

The global AIDS epidemic has witnessed its 'characters', and

this issue honours one of the first physicians in South

Africa to recognise, confront and do something about what

was then a novel syndrome. Professor Ruben Sher is

honoured by our Society and it is therefore appropriate
that he be the first person to appear in the newly

established 'Profile' section of the Journal.

drugs and the importance of adherence to these regimens
in order to prevent drug resistance, and they must be
familiar with issues relating to the sequencing of therapies.

It is not just a matter of 'provide drugs, and everything else
will fall into place'. Education is of paramount importance,

and a prime objective of the Society is to provide the
profession with the necessary education in this regard.

Providing therapeutic guidelines is seen as important;
these have appeared in previous issues of the Journal, and
in this issue guidelines addressing mother-ta-child
transmission appear. Continuing medical education also

takes place at monthly meetings in the regions where the
Society is represented. It is hoped that in the near future

these regional initiatives will be strengthened. A further
important initiative is announced in this issue - an

educational programme commencing in partnership with

the Foundation for Professional Development of the South

African Medical Association and the International AIDS
Society (IASj, which will provide courses in HIV medicine for

medical practitioners. These courses are based on the

Share programme of the IAS. This programme is
specifically formulated for developing countries and will be

customised by the Society for southern African
practitioners.

FROM THE
EDITOR

Recent weeks have borne witness to controversies relating
to the pricing of antiretroviral drugs, and it is heartening

that at long last the voice of reason has prevailed and

access to optimal therapies for our patients is on the

horizon. The availability of cheap drugs, although crucial to

treatment access initiatives, is by no means the only
prerequisite that needs to be in place before patients get

treatment. A confident and knowledgeable cadre of

treaters together with an infrastructure of other health

care professionals needs to be developed. These

professionals must be able to counsel their patients

regarding their therapies, the side-effects of a plethora of

THE SOUTHERN AfRICAN JOURNAL OF HIV MEDICINE