Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. Photograph:
Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images
South Africa's minister of health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang - also known as "Dr Beetroot" for her suggestion that a diet of garlic, beetroot and lemon juice is more effective against HIV/Aids than anti-retroviral drugs - has now been in hospital for four weeks, writes David Beresford.
Her illness, and more worryingly, her advice continues despite the draft national strategic Aids plan being launched today in what is being described as evidence that President Thabo Mbeki's administration is "finally facing up to HIV/Aids".
For years, Mr Mbeki refused to accept that HIV causes Aids. This was despite the fact that Parks Mankahlana, the presidential press spokesman in both the Mandela and Mbeki administrations, died in 2000 at the age of 36 after being diagnosed HIV-positive; and Peter Mokaba, who was well-known as a charismatic leader of the ANC Youth League, died of HIV/Aids in 2002, aged 41.
The latest HIV/Aids statistics show that, with 5.4m people infected, only a minority of patients - 24% of those who are at an advanced stage - are getting the treatment they need. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the fact Dr Tshabalala-Msimang continues to recommend her "natural" remedies is enough to persuade many that her way is the best way. She is, after all, a doctor.
One, of course, wishes the minister a speedy recovery from the unspecified ailment that has struck her down. But perhaps South Africa can be forgiven for hoping that her recuperation will be a lengthy one - it can only benefit the country's health.
