South Africa’s Treatment Action Group (TAC) threatened yesterday to take the government to court over its AIDS policy failures and to call nationwide protests over last week’s firing of Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, a move that TAC fears is already reversing strides in the delivery of HIV treatment around the country.

The dismissal was condemned this week on the editorial pages of several foreign publications as well as by former UN AIDS Envoy to Africa Stephen Lewis, who called on the international community to intervene.