AFRO-NETS> Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report - Thu, 27 Sep 2001

[Cecilia Snyder <csnyder@ccmc.org>]

Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report - Thu, 27 Sep 2001
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* Kadafi's Son to Act as Observer at Trial of Bulgarian Medics
  Charged With Infecting Libyan Children With HIV
* amfAR Founder Mathilde Krim to Receive Award for 'Galvanizing' Na-
  tion's HIV/AIDS Research
* South African Health Minister Refutes Claims of Recent Report Chal-
  lenging Government AIDS Policy


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Kadafi's Son to Act as Observer at Trial of Bulgarian Medics Charged 
With Infecting Libyan Children With HIV

Seif al-Islam, the son of Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi and chair of 
the Kadafi International Foundation for Charity Associations, today 
agreed to act as an observer in the trial of six Bulgarian medics and 
a Palestinian doctor charged with deliberately infecting 393 Libyan 
children with HIV, Reuters reports. Reuters says that the move was 
welcomed by Bulgarian officials, who see Kadafi's presence as a 
"boost" for the medics' chances of acquittal. The medics could face 
the death penalty if convicted in what the indictment called a "con-
spiracy by foreign intelligence forces to undermine Libya's security 
and its role in the Arab world." In a written statement to Reuters, 
al-Islam, who last year helped broker the release of Western hostages 
taken in the Philippines, said that he agreed to the position "at the 
request of the Bulgarian side and in conformity with the humanitarian 
role of the Foundation. ... We will do our utmost to guarantee that 
justice is done, and assure the Bulgarian side of the fairness and 
justice of the Libyan judicial system." The trial of the medics, who 
have been detained since early 1999, began June 2. A verdict was ex-
pected last Saturday, but the Libyan People's Court postponed its 
ruling until Dec. 22, saying it needed more time to review the evi-
dence, a "positive sign," according to Bulgarian officials. Also on 
Saturday, diplomats from the European Union and Canada were allowed 
for the first time to observe the court proceedings (Sabeva, Reuters, 
9/27).


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amfAR Founder Mathilde Krim to Receive Award for 'Galvanizing' Na-
tion's HIV/AIDS Research

Dr. Mathilde Krim, chair of amfAR, has been chosen to receive the El-
eanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal for her work in fighting HIV/AIDS. 
Krim has been awarded the medal "in recognition of her leadership 
role in galvanizing the nation's research effort against HIV/AIDS," 
according to an amFAR release. Daniel Strasser, executive director of 
the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Krill, called Krim "a pioneer in 
the front-line fight against HIV/AIDS," adding, "More than ever, the 
world needs positive role models who exemplify Mrs. Roosevelt's hu-
manitarian spirit, such as Dr. Krim and her fellow award recipients." 
Dr. Helene Gayle, senior adviser on HIV/AIDS for the Bill and Melinda 
Gates Foundation and former director of the CDC's National Center for 
HIV, STD and TB Prevention, will present the award to Krim on Sept. 
30 (amfAR release, 9/26).


--
South African Health Minister Refutes Claims of Recent Report Chal-
lenging Government AIDS Policy

South African Health Minister Dr. Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, in a let-
ter to the editor of the London Guardian, responded yesterday to a 
Guardian article published last week that describes a report from the 
South African health department challenging the government's policies 
on HIV/AIDS (Tshabalala-Msimang, Guardian, 9/26). According to the 
Guardian, the report "directly challenges many" of South African 
President Thabo Mbeki's HIV/AIDS policies, including his questioning 
of the causal link between HIV and AIDS and his claims that only a 
"tiny proportion" of annual deaths in South Africa are caused by 
AIDS-related complications. The report, prepared before Mbeki's pro-
posal to cut the country's HIV/AIDS budget, also stated that it is 
government policy "not to provide any meaningful care for large num-
bers of South Africans" with HIV/AIDS. The report concluded that the 
government's AIDS policies are "increasingly unstable from a politi-
cal, moral and legal perspective" as HIV infection rates increase, 
particularly among the poor. The authors of the report included 
health ministry officials, but it was not known whether Tshabalala-
Msimang supported the document (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 9/21). 

Tshabalala-Msimang Responds

In her letter to the Guardian, Tshabalala-Msimang states that the re-
port was only a first draft and had not yet reached her desk or "been 
discussed or edited at any level." Tshabalala-Msimang refutes many of 
the report's statements, including its claim that the government does 
not provide adequate HIV treatment. She writes that the government 
"is not opposed" to antiretrovirals, but that the cost of the drugs 
puts them "beyond our reach." Tshabalala-Msimang states that although 
areas of South African AIDS policy "require further improvement," she 
adds that "to twist this statement into the suggestion that South Af-
rica has a deliberate policy of providing inadequate care or even 
withholding care is a disgraceful distortion" and "an insult to all 
those who struggle daily to fight the challenges posed by poverty and 
underdevelopment, including HIV/AIDS in our country." She added that 
the latest version of the report calls for additional funding to 
fight HIV/AIDS and "contradict[s] Mbeki's 'assertions' on HIV/AIDS by 
conceding that HIV is the cause of AIDS." She concludes, "All our 
HIV/AIDS strategies are based on the premise that HIV causes AIDS" 
(Guardian, 9/26).

--
The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, 
a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, by National 
Journal Group Inc. c 2001 by National Journal Group Inc. and Kaiser 
Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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