[afro-nets] Scientists call South Africa's AIDS policies immoral

[Claudio Schuftan <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

Scientists call South Africa's AIDS policies immoral, demand
firing of health minister
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http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/06/africa/AF_GEN_South_Africa_AIDS_Protest.php

Published: September 6, 2006 JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
More than 80 international scientists and academics condemned South
Africa's AIDS policies as ineffective and immoral and called for
the firing of the country's health minister in a letter to
President Thabo Mbeki released Wednesday.

The scientists called Manto Tshabalala-Msimang an embarrassment
to South Africa and said her activities undermined science.
Signatories included American Nobel Laureate David Baltimore and
Dr. Robert Gallo, a co-discoverer of the HIV virus that causes
AIDS and developer of the first HIV blood test.

They called "for the immediate removal of Dr. Tshabalala-Msimang
as Minister of Health and for an end to the disastrous,
pseudoscientific policies that have characterized the South
African government's response to HIV/AIDS."

With their letter, the scientists joined mounting criticism from
AIDS activists and South African opposition parties of
Tshabalala-Msimang, often called "Dr. Beetroot" because of her
advocacy of the use of beetroot, garlic, lemon and the African
potato in the fight against AIDS. Her boss, Mbeki, also has been
accused of ignorance and poor judgment in addressing an epidemic
that threatens to cripple Africa's economic and diplomatic
powerhouse.

According to media reports, 137 South African delegates to the
AIDS conference have sought refugee status in Canada, claiming
South Africa's AIDS policies put their lives at risk.