Mbeki admits Aids-policy defects
2002-05-13 09:27
Molde, Norway - President Thabo Mbeki said on Sunday the government was doing its utmost to fight Aids, but conceded he might have failed to communicate his commitment fully to his critics.
At a meeting with the five Nordic prime ministers in Norway, Mbeki also won backing for a fledgling African development plan, emphasising continent-wide efforts to eradicate poverty by promoting democracy and economic growth and attacking diseases like Aids.
"A lot is being done in South Africa (to combat Aids) and we will continue to respond properly and adequately to this challenge," he told a news conference after talks in the western port of Molde.
Mbeki, who defied medical experts by questioning the link between HIV and Aids and blocked wide access to crucial drugs, admitted he may have done too little to convince critics of his determination to eradicate a disease afflicting one in nine South Africans.
'State changed its policy'
"It might well be that the South African government didn't communicate adequately ... but South Africa's (Aids) programme is the biggest in Africa and one of the biggest in the world," he said.
Doctors and activists fighting Aids have slammed Mbeki for his controversial views on Aids, particularly since South Africa has more people with HIV and Aids than any other country in the world.
Last month, however, the government changed its policy by saying it would act on the premise that the human inmmunodeficiency virus caused Aids.
Nordic ministers promised full backing for the goals of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad), a continent-wide initiative launched last year to attack poverty and bolster economic growth.
The leaders of Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland said in a joint statement: "The participants ... agreed that peace and stable democracy were preconditions for development."
South Africa, Egypt, Senegal, Nigeria and Algeria are among the main promoters of Nepad.