Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
South African Press Association - August 23, 2007
"The findings of the study actually reaffirm the policy position of the department," the department said in a statement. "The outcomes ... do not necessarily provide any new information that was unknown to the Department of Health."
The research, conducted by the Academy of Sciences of South Africa, found there was no scientific evidence specific to South African conditions backing the use of nutrition as the primary treatment for HIV/Aids and tuberculosis (TB).
The department said the study confirmed that in addition to TB and HIV, South Africa is also facing a challenge of macronutrient deficiencies (overt hunger) and/or micronutrient deficiencies (hidden hunger).
"To deal with the latter, the Department of Health promotes good nutrition through consumption of balanced diet," the department said. "People living with HIV, in particular, are encouraged to adopt healthy lifestyles including good nutrition."
The research panel said it believes nutrition is not a substitute for antiretroviral agents in the treatment of HIV/Aids. "Does that mean nutritional treatment has no role? Of course not. But we must understand the difference between primary and supportive treatment," panellist Barry Mendelow told reporters.
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has been criticised in the past for publicly focusing on the benefits of beetroot, garlic and lemons in the management of the disease, and underplaying the role of antiretrovirals.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Wednesday officially wrote to President Thabo Mbeki asking him to fire Tshabalala-Msimang. In his letter to the president, DA spokesperson on health Mike Waters cited Tshabalala-Msimang's obsession with good nutrition as a substitute for proper HIV/Aids treatment as one of the reasons she should be fired.
"A [recent] study on the question of nutrition versus medication in combating diseases such as Aids, which concluded that healthy eating was no substitute for correctly used medication, is yet another piece of evidence to contradict the minister's highly public and extremely damaging opinion that good nutrition is of equivalent value to antiretrovirals in treating Aids," he said.
This, compounded by the minister's inability to ensure that provincial health departments' expenditure was monitored, rendered her unfit to continue serving in her current portfolio, he said.
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