Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
South African Press Association - September 7, 2006
It was not even certain whether he had seen the letter yet, according to presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga. "I can't speak definitively about it," he said.
Ratshitanga said he would only be able to speak to the president about the matter on Friday, on Mbeki's return from Tanzania where he was witnessing the signing of a ceasefire agreement between the government of Burundi and the Paliphehutu-FNL.
In their letter dated September 4, the scientists called Tshabalala-Msimang's health policies "ineffective and immoral".
"We therefore call for the immediate removal of Dr Tshabalala-Msimang as Minister of Health, and for an end to the disastrous, pseudo-scientific policies that have characterised the South African Government's response to HIV/Aids."
It was an embarrassment to the South African government to have a minister of health who "now has no international respect", they wrote, adding that antiretrovirals (ARVs) were presently the only medication available to alleviate the consequences of HIV infection.
Signatories to the letter included Nobel Peace Prize winner David Baltimore and Robert Gallo -- the developer of the first HIV blood test and co-discoverer of the human immune deficiency virus (HIV) as the cause of Aids.
Tshabalala-Msimang came under fire at the International Aids Conference in Toronto last month for her controversial promotion of the use of garlic and beetroot in fighting HIV/Aids.
South Africa has more than five million people infected with the HI virus and over 500 000 people needing ARV treatment who did not have access to the medicines.
Tshabalala-Msimang has stood her ground despite a barrage of calls from politicians and activists that she resign. Mbeki has also said he will not fire his minister of health.
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