Faizel Patel, 2016-03-07
Former President Thabo Mbeki has clarified the “HIV denialism” which overshadowed his term in office.
In his latest newsletter, Mbeki quotes from a document he helped to write in 2002 called Castro Hlongwane: HIV/Aids and the struggle for the humanisation of the African.
“I never said ‘HIV does not cause Aids’. This false accusation was made by people who benefitted from trumpeting the slogan ‘HIV causes Aids’ as though this was a religious edict.”
Mbeki was criticised for policies denying thousands of HIV-positive people access to anti-retroviral’s (ARVs), alongside former health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang who said lemons, beetroot, African potatoes and garlic were better treatments for people living with Aids.
“Aids is an acronym for ‘Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome’ – therefore Aids is a syndrome, i.e. a collection of well-known diseases, with well-known causes. They are not, together, caused and cannot be caused by one virus! I said that HIV might be a contributory cause of immune deficiency – the ID in Aids!”
Mbeki says the Castro Hlongwane: HIV/Aids report also shows that in the US, Aids appeared confined to homosexual people, while in Africa heterosexual people spread the disease.
He also appears to claim there was a global industry that wanted to get people onto Anti-Retroviral (ARV) drugs so that they could profit.
“In money terms, first there is the pharmaceutical industry. If Aids in Africa is now a national security threat, as President Clinton has declared, American money will be appropriated for the very expensive drugs to spend in Africa – billions of dollars of potential profits.
Mbeki says during his tenure the critical importance of nutrition and the need to use antiretroviral drugs with great care and caution was emphasise and should be used with great care, mindful of the importance of a healthy immune system.
Life expectancy of people living with HIV/AIDS after under Mbeki was 51 while under President Jacob Zuma’s government after the introduction of ARV’s into state hospitals in 2009 increased by 10 years to 61.
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