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US Senator criticises AIDS response

    NAIROBI

    United States Senator Barack Obama has criticised South Africa's leaders for their HIV/AIDS policy, saying health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang was "making a terrible mistake" by promoting traditional medicines to fight AIDS while undermining the role of antiretroviral (ARV) therapy.

    "On the treatment side, the information being provided by the minister of health is not accurate," he told reporters on Monday outside an AIDS clinic in Cape Town's Khayelitsha township, according to Reuters.

    He added that western medicine should not be pitted against traditional medicine in the battle against HIV.

    Tshabalala-Msimang has come under widespread criticism for her views on HIV treatment. The minister has questioned the value of ARVs and says her approach - which involves using garlic, beetroot, lemon and African potatoes to combat the virus - is aimed at promoting basic nutrition as a safeguard against illness.

    Obama, the US's only black senator, is on a two-week tour of Africa and will take an HIV test during the Kenyan portion of his trip.

    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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