Manto denies endorsing Rath
2005-05-05 12:15
Special Report
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Cape Town - Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Thursday that she did not remember endorsing Aids dissident Matthias Rath's Foundation - but said that the foundation's focus on good nutrition in fighting the disease was complementary to the government's Aids-fight programme.
Addressing a media briefing in Pretoria - but beamed to parliament in Cape Town - the minister was asked why she endorsed Rath and whether this did not fly in the face of plans to roll out State-sponsored anti-retroviral treatment to HIV patients, the minister repeated a number of times that: "I don't remember saying I endorse the Matthias Rath Foundation ... but if he is providing nutrients (to fight Aids) it is not in contradiction to the comprehensive plan (the government plan to fight Aids)."
She then went on to say that she would not stop alerting members of the public to the "side effects" of antiretroviral drug therapy.
Asked if she was pleased about the rollout to 42 000 Aids patients countrywide - she said: "I am not happy."
She said she did not know where the figure had come from as she believed it was 28 000 but even then there was no detail about how many people fell into each of the 52 medical districts and
how many had suffered side effects "or how many have voluntarily dropped out (of the antiretroviral programme) or died".
Tshabalala-Msimang said if one was talking about side effects, she did not know how this could be linked up with the Rath Foundation. "I don't know if there is a link between the two (issues)."
Tshabalala-Msimang said she would continue to talk out about the side-effects of all medicines and emphasise good nutrition including olive oil and the importance of raw garlic as well as the "skin of the lemon". She added that the latter helped to make one's face and body "beautiful".
When asked if there had been empirical studies of the goodness of these foods in fighting disease, she referred journalists to the African National Congress (ANC) official website - where she said she had written a column on the wonders of good food.
Earlier this week former Education Minister Kader Asmal was quoted in a Cape Town newspaper as slamming Rath's "tendentious and scurrilous" attack on the Treatment Action Campaign. Rath - described as a vitamin dealer - is involved in a legal tussle with the campaign.
The campaign - led by Zackie Achmat - says Rath has "for several months" being running advertisements in community newspapers, handing out flyers and putting up posters that accused the campaign of receiving funding from drug companies - to promote the use of antiretrovirals.
Rath's foundation claims that vitamins can stop the progression of Aids.
- I-Net Bridge (News24)