The Red Ribbon Drug

Production by Tarryn Ross, Kelley Wake & Christopher Tucker – 24min

South Africa has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the world: with women being the most vulnerable sector. We share the lives of HIV positive women whose prognoses have been dramatically changed since the roll-out of anti-retrovirals – the Red Ribbon Drugs. While ARV’s prove to be the miracle drugs that allow infected persons to live a full life, the stigma remains and the rate of infection is still climbing. We meet people living positively with the virus, re-examine the failed history of the state’s disease intervention and find out how ARVs are being misused by people in the Eastern Cape.