WSJ: AIDS Scientists Call for Resignation Of South Africa's Health Minister (letter attached)

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From: internationaltreatmentpreparedness [mailto:internationaltreatmentpreparedness ] On Behalf Of Zackie Achmat

Dear AllThis is superb. We need all our clinicians and scientists in Africa,Asia and Latin America to speak now.WarmestZackie -----Original Message-----From: Geffen [mailto:nathan@....za] Sent: 06 September 2006 04:09 PMinternattac (DOT) org.zaSubject: WSJ: AIDS Scientists Call for Resignation Of South Africa'sHealth Minister (letter attached)From today's Wall Street JournalAIDS Scientists Call for Resignation Of South Africa's Health MinisterBy MARILYN CHASESeptember 5, 2006 9:52 p.m.International AIDS scientists, including an American Nobel laureate,sent a letter Tuesday to South African President Thabo Mbeki, protestingthe government's unconventional stand on origins of AIDS, and callingfor the removal of his health minister who supports a dietary regimenagainst the viral epidemic.One of the most severely-stricken countries on earth, South Africa has5.5 million people living with HIV, or 18.8% of its adult population,according to the United Nations Joint Program on HIV/AIDS.Challenging the longstanding scientific consensus that AIDS is caused byinfection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Mr. Mbeki'sgovernment has expressed skepticism, and his Health Minister MantoTshabalala-Msimang recommends a diet of potato, lemon and garlic.Years of public protest and private diplomacy aimed at reversing thispolicy have softened but not ended its stand. The controversy wasreignited at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto last month,where South Africa's exhibit defiantly displayed the nutritionalregimen.Tuesday's letter was signed by 65 scientists from a dozen countriesincluding Harvard University AIDS researcher Kuritzkes and NobelPrize-winner Baltimore of the California Institute of Technology.While praising South African scientists and doctors for working toalleviate the suffering caused by AIDS, the letter charged that theminister's "pseudo-scientific" views had undermined those efforts. Theletter added a commendable government plan to treat 380,000 people withdrugs had so far reached fewer than half the target group.One of the co-organizers of the letter, AIDS researcher P. ofCornell University's Weill College of Medicine in New York City, saidthere is "simply no scientific rationale" for touting food in lieu ofdrugs."To promote alternative medicines as AIDS cures in South Africa is tokill people," he added, "and it's time for AIDS scientists to stand upagainst this kind of quackery."Reached by phone Tuesday evening in Cape Town, the presidential presssecretary Mukoni Ratshitanga said that Mr. Mbeki was hosting a visit byRussian Federation President Vladimir Putin, and had no response to theletter, which he had not yet seen.Late Tuesday evening, Charity Bhengu, a spokeswoman for the healthminister, added she hadn't yet seen the letter either.-- Echikson contributed to this article.Write to Marilyn Chase at marilyn.chasewsj3-------------------------------------------------------