South African activists launch "Black Easter" campaign

AIDS activists in South Africa announced Wednesday that they will launch a "Black Easter" campaign on Sunday, April 20, aimed at encouraging the government to provide free HIV antiretroviral medications to the nation's estimated 5 million HIV-positive people, USA Today reports. The campaign, spearheaded by the South African National Association of People Living With AIDS, will include a vigil, a demonstration outside the offices of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Association, and a possible nationwide consumer boycott of PMA products. NAPWA said that it feels that celebrating the Easter holiday "as if everything is normal in our country and in Africa at large" would be immoral. NAPWA is calling on churches, nongovernmental organizations, and the general public to participate in the campaign.