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Ear to the Ground

South Africa Revises AIDS Policy

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Posted on Oct 27, 2006

The South African government has traditionally taken a head-in-the-sand approach to AIDS, even though the nation is suffering one of the worst epidemics in the world.  However, recent shifts in policy indicate a newfound interest in aggressively addressing the crisis.


Washington Post:

JOHANNESBURG—The South African government is seeking to shake off years of international denunciation for its handling of the AIDS epidemic—including a fixation on the supposed protective powers of beets and lemons—while expanding treatment, testing and prevention programs, officials and activists say.

In public comments and private meetings over the past six weeks, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has emphasized that the government now believes unequivocally that HIV causes AIDS, a connection that President Thabo Mbeki once publicly questioned. She has also said that antiretroviral drugs must be the centerpiece of the government’s response while playing down the dietary recommendations long cited by Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang as key to fighting AIDS.

“The beetroot and all that lemon stuff is out the window,” an adviser involved in recasting the government’s policy said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about it. “These guys are now serious about getting it right.”

Driving the recent change is a growing realization of the severity of AIDS in South Africa—an estimated 5.4 million of 47 million citizens have HIV, among the highest totals in the world—and concern that the controversy surrounding the disease was damaging the country’s international reputation.

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By Robert Brunelle, October 27, 2006 at 4:34 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

More than ten percent of the South African population is HIV infected with people dying left and right and officials there are driven more by preserving the country’s international reputation than by embracing internationally recognized medical treatments.Are they just plain nuts over there??

      Go suck on a lemon has the ring of let them eat cake. Revolution anyone?

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By Mite, October 27, 2006 at 7:58 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

All I can say; if you care or have seen the death from this man made synthetic biological agent is check our the following.
United States Senate Library- 91st Congress; Dept. of Defense Appropriations for 1970, H.B. 15090, Subcommittee on Department of Defense George H. Mahon, Texas Chairman.
In 1969 there was a request and got $10 Million to make the AIDS virus in labs. `Behold A Pale Horse’ Milton William Cooper (2001)ISBN 0-929385-22-5

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