In South Africa, HIV/AIDS denialism had a significant impact on public health policy from 1999 to 2008, during the presidency of Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki criticized the scientific consensus that HIV is the cause of AIDS beginning shortly after his election to the presidency. In 2000, he organized a Presidential Advisory Panel regarding HIV/AIDS including several scientists who denied that HIV caused AIDS.
In the following eight years of his presidency, Mbeki continued to express sympathy for HIV/AIDS denialism, and instituted policies denying antiretroviral drugs to AIDS patients.[1] The Mbeki government even withdrew support from clinics that started using AZT to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. He also restricted the use of a pharmaceutical company's donated supply of nevirapine, a drug that helps keep newborns from contracting HIV.[2]
Instead of providing these drugs, which he described as "poisons",[3] shortly after he was elected to the presidency, he appointed Manto Tshabalala-Msimang as the country's health minister, who promoted the use of unproven herbal remedies such as ubhejane, garlic, beetroot, and lemon juice to treat AIDS,[2][4][5] which led to her acquiring the nickname "Dr. Beetroot."[6] These policies have been blamed for the preventable deaths of between 343,000 and 365,000 people from AIDS.[5][7][8]
Since 2008, Mbeki has been silent about his views and policies on AIDS; according to The New York Times, his spokesman, Mukoni Ratshitanga, said Mr. Mbeki would not discuss his thinking on HIV and AIDS, explaining that policy decisions were made collectively by the cabinet and so questions should be addressed to the government.[5] Upon becoming president in 2008, Mbeki's successor, Kgalema Motlanthe, appointed Barbara Hogan as health minister to replace Tshabalala-Msimang on the first day of his presidency. Hogan told The New York Times, "The era of denialism is over completely in South Africa."[5]
- ^ Park, Alice (20 August 2012). "'Legitimate Rape'? Todd Akin and Other Politicians Who Confused Science". Time. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
- ^ a b Boston, 677 Huntington Avenue; Ma 02115 +1495‑1000 (2009-05-15). "The cost of South Africa's misguided AIDS policies". News. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ McGreal, Chris (11 June 2001). "How Mbeki stoked South Africa's Aids catastrophe". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
- ^ Specter, Michael (12 March 2007). "The Denialists". The New Yorker. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
- ^ a b c d Dugger, Celia W. (25 November 2008). "Study Cites Toll of AIDS Policy in South Africa". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Nulliswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Nattrass, N. (16 February 2008). "AIDS and the Scientific Governance of Medicine in Post-Apartheid South Africa". African Affairs. 107 (427): 157–176. doi:10.1093/afraf/adm087.
- ^ Chigwedere P, Seage GR, Gruskin S, Lee TH, Essex M (October 2008). "Estimating the Lost Benefits of Antiretroviral Drug Use in South Africa". Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. 49 (4): 410–415. doi:10.1097/QAI.0b013e31818a6cd5. PMID 19186354. S2CID 11458278.
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