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President an HIV/AIDS "denialist" - IFP

    JOHANNESBURG

    South African opposition group, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), has criticised President Thabo Mbeki's approach to HIV/AIDS during his recent state of the nation address.

    IFP health spokeswoman Ruth Rabinowitz said the President's references to HIV and AIDS in his speech epitomised his "denialist attitude" toward the pandemic.

    Mbeki rated the country's anti-AIDS treatment plan among the best in the world, despite the government being far from achieving its target of having 53,000 people on medication by March this year.

    The South African Press Association quoted Rabinowitz as saying: "It is as if he lives in a different [South Africa] from the millions of people suffering and dying from HIV/AIDS."

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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