Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - April 4, 2005
Lloyd Gedye
"WHO, Unicef and UNAids have condemned the irresponsible linking of their names to claims that vitamins and nutrition therapy alone can prevent Aids deaths.
"Vitamins and nutritional supplements alone can not take the place of comprehensive treatment and care for people living with HIV/Aids," said the UN statement.
"A good diet that provides the full range of essential micronutrients is important to the health of people infected with HIV and can help bolster the immune system, boost energy levels and maintain body weight and well-being."
The agencies said that Rath had used statements and information from UN agencies out of context in his advertising campaigns, in an attempt to mislead the South African public into believing that they endorsed his approach.
"In countries where it is widely available, anti-retroviral therapy has turned Aids from a 'death sentence' into a chronic, but manageable disease.
"As with any other drugs, anti- retroviral treatments do have side effects that have been documented in clinical trials," said the UN statement.
Four weeks ago the Mail & Guardian reported that the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) had banned an advertisement by the Dr Rath Health Foundation, finding that the advert attacked the anti-retroviral drug AZT in a way that was misleading; and made "exaggerated" claims about the effectiveness of the foundation's multivitamins in treating HIV/Aids.
The advertisement was published in the M&G last November. The newspaper has since undertaken not to publish advertisements of this kind in the future.
Following the decision, Rath blitzed Cape Town townships with pamphlets and posters attacking the Treatment Action Campaign as a spreader of "disease and death among our people" and the ASA as "helping to protect drug industry monopolies".
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