Sunday, December 23, 2012

Sunday Globe Special: South African Zombies

I thought that was a Haitian thing.  

‘‘The ARVs are called the ‘Lazarus drug’ because people rise up and walk’’

"South Africa improves in fighting HIV-AIDS" by Carley Petesch  |  Associated Press, December 02, 2012

JOHANNESBURG — Stories of hope and progress are readily available on World AIDS Day 2012 in sub-Saharan Africa, where deaths from AIDS-related causes have declined by 32 percent from 1.8 million in 2005 to 1.2 million in 2011, according to the latest UNAIDS report....

An ongoing Holocaust. 

Themba Lethu clinic, with government funding [from] the United States Agency for International Development and the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, is now among some 2,500 antiretroviral therapy facilities in the country that treat about 1.9 million people....

‘‘You have no idea what a beautiful time we’re living in right now,’’ said one of the doctors at the clinic, Dr. Kay Mahomed. ‘‘Now, you can’t not get better. It’s just one of these win-win situations. You test, you treat, and you get better, end of story,’’ Mahomed said.

President Jacob Zuma’s government decided to give the best care, including TB screening and care at the clinic, and not to look at the cost, she said....

Say what? A government that actually gives a shit?

But it hasn’t always been that way.

In the 1990s South Africa’s problem was compounded by years of misinformation by President Thabo Mbeki, who questioned the link between HIV and AIDS, and his health minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who promoted a ‘‘treatment’’ of beets and garlic.

Nelson Mandela, the antiapartheid icon, galvanized the AIDS community in 2005 when he publicly acknowledged that his son died of AIDS....

RelatedSouth Africa at crossroads as Mandela hospitalized

Mandela’s condition is improving, leader says

I'm not trying to be cruel, but he looks like a dead man walking. 

UPDATESNelson Mandela’s hospital stay extended

I guess it doesn't matter what color a leader is. They all lie.

Also see: South Africa Still the Same

In so many ways.

As people around the world celebrate a reduction in the rate of HIV infections, the growth of the clinic, which was one of only a few to open 20 years ago, reflects how changes in treatment and attitude toward HIV and AIDS have moved South Africa forward. The nation, which has the most people living with HIV in the world at 5.6 million, still faces stigma and high rates of infection....

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If they are truly saving African lives I'm all for it; however, I simply no longer trust anything as it is presented in my paper. Sorry. 

Also see
Death of Solly the hippopotamus a blow for S. Africa residents