HIV/AIDS denialism in South Africa

rdf:langString HIV/AIDS denialism in South Africa

rdf:langString In South Africa, HIV/AIDS denialism had a significant impact on public health policy from 1999 to 2008, during the presidency of Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki criticized the scientific consensus that HIV is the cause of AIDS beginning shortly after his election to the presidency. In 2000, he organized a Presidential Advisory Panel regarding HIV/AIDS including several scientists who denied that HIV caused AIDS. In the following eight years of his presidency, Mbeki continued to express sympathy for HIV/AIDS denialism, and instituted policies denying antiretroviral drugs to AIDS patients. The Mbeki government even withdrew support from clinics that started using AZT to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. He also restricted the use of a pharmaceutical company's donated supply of nevirapine, a drug that helps keep newborns from contracting HIV. Instead of providing these drugs, which he described as "poisons", shortly after he was elected to the presidency, he appointed Manto Tshabalala-Msimang as the country's health minister, who promoted the use of unproven herbal remedies such as ubhejane, garlic, beetroot, and lemon juice to treat AIDS, which led to her acquiring the nickname "Dr. Beetroot." These policies have been blamed for the preventable deaths of between 343,000 and 365,000 people from AIDS. Since 2008, Mbeki has been silent about his views and policies on AIDS; according to The New York Times, his spokesman, Mukoni Ratshitanga, said Mr. Mbeki would not discuss his thinking on HIV and AIDS, explaining that policy decisions were made collectively by the cabinet and so questions should be addressed to the government. Upon becoming president in 2008, Mbeki's successor, Kgalema Motlanthe, appointed Barbara Hogan as health minister to replace Tshabalala-Msimang on the first day of his presidency. Hogan told The New York Times, "The era of denialism is over completely in South Africa."