Malnutrition 'key' to Aids
2003-01-20 19:00
Special Report
President Jacob Zuma has met with American businessman Bill Gates to discuss issues relating to the country's HIV/Aids pandemic.
Johannesburg - "No matter what the role of HIV is, malnutrition is in the centre of Aids," a Southern African Development Community (SADC) ministerial meeting was told on Monday.
Dr Roberto Giraldo, who addressed the SADC meeting, is an American physician whose website (www.robertogiraldo.com) says: "Aids is neither an infectious disease nor is sexually transmitted. It is a toxic-nutritional syndrome caused by the alarming worldwide increment of immunological stressor agents."
Giraldo was more circumspect than that in his address to the
SADC meeting. Throughout his speech he emphasised the similarities between Aids and the symptoms of malnutrition. He also emphasised the similarities between Aids and long-known tropical diseases.
He said adequate vitamins in the diet were very important, saying that HIV-positive gay men with adequate vitamin A intake "never progressed to Aids", while those with a vitamin A deficiency did get Aids.
Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabala-Msimang, the chairwoman of the meeting, handed over the chair to Swazi Health Minister Phetsile Dlamini for the session addressed by Giraldo and Dr MH Gotink of the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).
Orthodox medicine 'is not a religion'
Gotink in his address conceded that different researchers could reach different conclusions from the same data. "That is part of the scientific debate."
He emphasised that Unicef agreed about the importance of vitamin intake, and had done for 20 years. Unicef shared Giraldo's views on the importance of breast feeding.
But Gotink, speaking after his address, also said: "Orthodox medicine does not believe, it isn't a religion, but has concluded that there is a link between the HI virus, and the onset of Aids, and the onset of death.
"That is the difference between orthodox medicine and the dissident view."
- SAPA