HIV/AIDS nutrition plan a no-go

South Africa's National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NAPWA) on Tuesday said it was angered by the government's lack of political will in the struggle against HIV/AIDS. "A promise by Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang to implement a programme of nutritional provision to people living with HIV/AIDS (PWAs) had put an end to the hunger strike. Three months later there is still no programme," NAPWA deputy director, Thanduxolo Doro, told the UN news service Plusnews. The Johannesburg-based NGO embarked on a hunger strike in December 2002 as a way of highlighting the plight of people living with the disease. "The non-implementation of this programme and the absence of communication from the government has left us with no alternative but to serve the health minister with a memorandum that highlights the governments failure on the issue," Doro said. He said 1,000 PWAs are expected to march on parliament on Thursday.