AIDS treatments - The governments doth protest to much...

South African president, Thabo Mbeki, was quoted shortly after his inauguration saying that HIV does not cause AIDS. AIDS activists in South Africa have also clashed several times with the RSA government in court on the provision of medicine to AIDS-sufferers, because the government refused to provide sufferers with anti-retroviral medication.

When comparing the South African government's behaviour with AIDS-statistics, one can not help but to shiver. Such behaviour is either proof of that government's total incompetence or of its total corruption, none being less-worse than the other. This does not bode well for the future of Africa and South Africa in particular.

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Here follows an excerpt on AIDS-statistics relating to South Africa, as taken from the UNAIDS website:

By the end of 2003, an estimated 5.3 million South Africans were infected with HIV, the largest number of individuals living with the virus in a single country.

Country HIV and AIDS estimates, end 2003

Adult (15-49) HIV prevalence rate	21.5% (range: 18.5%-24.9%)
Adults (15-49) living with HIV	5 100 000 (range: 4 300 000-5 900 000)
Adults and children (0-49) living with HIV	5 300 000 (range: 4 500 000-6 200 000)
Women (15-49) living with HIV	2 900 000 (range: 2 500 000-3 300 000)
AIDS deaths (adults and children) in 2003	370 000 (range: 270 000-520 000)

Source: 2004 Report on the global AIDS epidemic