A staggering and infuriating report for this, the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day: “The South African government would have prevented the premature deaths of 365,000 people earlier this decade if it had provided antiretroviral drugs to AIDS patients and widely administered drugs to help prevent pregnant women from infecting their babies,” the New York Times reported, based on a study released last week by Harvard University. The policies grew out of the denial by former President Thabo Mbeki (in photo), who was ousted in September, of “the well-established scientific consensus about the viral cause of AIDS and the essential role of antiretroviral drugs in treating it.”
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15 Comments
They don’t care about their people…Africans die everyday from preventable diseases, starvation, and tribal wars, the last thing on their list is providing drugs to extend the lives of people who they believe will die anyway.
Sounds like the general black church population in the US. Denial and scorn led to thousands of unnecessary deaths.
Hell, they STILL refuse to come to grips with the truth.
And it costs their people every day. But… gotta keep those collection plates filled!
“denial …, of “the well-established scientific consensus”
Where else have I seen that phrase?
The more people in Africa with AIDS, the more money the UN will send to African leaders. Very little of that money makes it to the AIDS patients.
Cut them off!
ANTI – while I agree with you ‘in part’ there are prograns that do some good there with this issue. They are generally NGOs – for example Drs without Borders. These are people who will actally smuggle in vaccines and medicines to places like Zimbabwe, Gaza and others because the rulers don’t want the people to get them.
They are generally NGOs – for example Drs without Borders. These are people who will actally smuggle in vaccines and medicines to places like Zimbabwe, Gaza and others because the rulers don’t want the people to get them.
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Agreed.
To bad UN money didn’t serve it’s intended purpose.
A bit off topic – I am one who has questioned the use or mercury-based preservatives in medicines because of possible toxicity. This is the exception to the rule – it is hard to maintain good refrigeration etc when smuggling meds.
ANTI – it actually does a lot more than you realize. The UN has been turning to NGOs a lot. Think of it as a sort of international versin of ‘faith-based’
ANTI
Posted December 1, 2008 at 10:34 am | Permalink
Agreed.
To bad UN money didn’t serve it’s intended purpose.
—————————————————
Does it ever?
The UN is about as useful as you know what on a bicycle.
The UN is just a profiteer center, otherwise it would enforce the usage of it’s funds.
With all the power the UN has it does very little to ‘help’ people. Which is why I find the UN generally useless in promoting actual aid to the needy.
South Africa actually had sane, intelligent leadership under Nelson Mandela (who dared to challenge this stupidity in 2002). Thabo Mbeki, unfortunately, happened to be quite insane, and the African National Congress must be held accountable for not reining him in before now.
The African continent certainly has its share of horrific issues, but this has nothing to do with Africa per se.
P.S. Hell, it would be like letting some hateful, ignorant cowboy put fanatical ideology over science for 8 years.
Oh, wait. . .
Before we declare Mbeki insane, maybe we ought to look at some of our own attitudes toward the disease. When “Gay Cancer” first started appearing, a lot of people in this country thoght it was a gift from Heaven. I saw people (and not just Freddy Phelps gang) carrying signs saying “AIDS CURES HOMOSEXUALITY” and “AIDS- GOD’s GIFT TO FAGS!” Even President Reagan questioned the need for funding research into HIV and AIDS.
So when we start criticizing African denial, we ought to remember our own!
Uh who deleted my post!!!!
Boy, oh Boy, Thank God he is black. Why do you think the media let him get away with this nonsense for so long. You dont dare say something about the new Black leader. They pampered him the same as they did the extortionists here like Jackson and Sharpton.
In fact, why do you think they are allowing him to drive So. Africa into the ground as we speak. Same as they did to Zimbabwe.
People told them what was going on in Zimbabwe, but the media wouldnt dare have harsh words…after all Mugabe was the great BLACK guy and he was throwing out the evil whites.
At least we can see how well that turned out…heh.
So I say knock youself out.
And keep an eye out here also. The media wont dare open their mouths lest they get beat down by the Black Caucus or their own Leftist bosses at the NYT etc. appeasing their usual liberal white guilt.