The Hindu : International : Minister questions need for AIDS meet

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 09, 2005

International

International

Minister questions need for AIDS meet

DURBAN: South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang caused an uproar at the country's second AIDS summit on Tuesday when she questioned the necessity for the conference. ``It's critical we take the totality of ailments in this country, so nobody is excluded, even if you've got a toothache,'' she said at a media briefing before the conference opened in Durban. Mark Heywood of the Treatment Action Campaign, a non-profit group that has lobbied the Government to speed up the provision of life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs to people with HIV, reacted angrily to her comments. He quoted a Government report saying that 499,000 people had died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2002, saying: ``Therefore, to question why there should be a conference on HIV and not other ailments is perplexing. The reality is that HIV is collapsing our health system.'' An estimated 5.3 million South Africans are HIV positive, the highest number of infections in the world. The Government has faced repeated allegations of foot-dragging over its cautious response to the crisis. released figures suggest that about 42,000 South Africans are now receiving ARV drugs, but Dr Tshabalala-Msimang refused to confirm this, saying her goal was ``not quantity but quality of treatment''. The Minister repeated statements she made last month advocating nutrition as an alternative to ARV drugs. Mr Heywood accused the Dr Tshabalala-Msimang of having blood on her own hands, saying she was condemning people to death by exaggerating the side-effects of ARVs. —

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