THE government has dismissed former president Thabo Mbeki’s latest defence of how he managed the HIV-Aids policy during his presidency.
One of the most controversial decisions taken by Mbeki’s administration, some of which he is currently addressing in his weekly letters, was withholding the roll-out of life-saving antiretroviral (ARV) treatment to HIV-positive people.
Writing this week, Mbeki said he stood by his view that a virus could not cause a syndrome.
Yesterday, the SA National Aids Council (Sanac), chaired by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, called Mbeki’s views irrelevant.
“The leadership of Sanac advises the nation against a debate that will take us back to a fractious past and can only serve as a distraction,” Sanac chief executive Dr Fareed Abdullah said.
“Our advice is to focus on the challenges that we have, and we do not want to be distracted by irrelevant debate.”
Due to his refusal to roll out ARVs, around 330 000 people are believed to have died prematurely between 2000 and 2005 while Mbeki was president.
Abdullah said South Africa now had the largest ARV programmes in the world.
“We also have one of the most effective programmes to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth and the breast-feeding period,” he said.
“This is due to the roll-out of the antiretroviral treatment programme.”
Mbeki questioned the outrage about Aids deaths, saying it was only the ninth most common cause of death in South Africa in 2006, while the leading cause, tuberculosis, was given much less attention.
“Did this have to do with the fact that South Africa could be a lucrative market for the sale of ARVs‚ as it now is?” Mbeki asked.
Section 27’s Mark Heywood called Mbeki’s letter tragic and embarrassing.
Mbeki denied ever saying HIV did not cause Aids, but said a virus could not cause a syndrome – a cluster of diseases caused by a weakened immune system.
Ramaphosa will launch the National Sex Worker HIV Plan in Johannesburg on Friday.
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