By Benita van Eyssen
JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has had a rough year. In a country where more than 5.5mn people are infected with the Aids virus, any politician charged with managing the pandemic has their task cut out.
But some analysts believe, that 2006 may have been the controversial politician’s last in her post, given that many South Africans, including those with experience of nursing dying relatives, are tired of the saga surrounding her portfolio.
The latest swipe at the Russian-trained doctor came in a newspaper advertisement paid for by Blue Ribbon, a bread and maize manufacturer, and poking fun at her apparent fondness for potatoes, beetroot, garlic and olive oil as Aids cures.
"Tired of people constantly calling for your resignation?," read the advertisement in the Star newspaper which featured a sandwich stacked with the minister’s favourite vegetables and recommending Tshabalala-Msimang eat Blue Ribbon bread to cope with her demanding job.
In her years as health minister since 1999, HIV infection levels have failed to fall significantly and Tshabalala-Msimang has earned a reputation for being stubborn, unapologetic and incredibly uncooperative.
Internationally, the woman known as "Dr No" and "Dr Death" stands as a laughing stock over her penchant for promoting the benefits of vegetable and traditional remedies for those infected with the deadly disease.
Aids activists regularly condemn her actions, including an initial refusal to provide anti-retroviral drugs that prompted a drawn-out court battle. In the end, the minister forced two years ago to make the treatment available to Aids sufferers through the state health system.
International scientists, Aids activists and local opposition politicians - among others - have written her off as incompetent and irresponsible, with some even accusing her of "human rights violations" and "murder." Several months ago, South African Aids activists attending the International Aids Conference in Canada set out to humiliate her publicly by vandalising her health department’s exhibition stand that carried a display of the infamous vegetable cures.
The incident left the government severely embarassed and tongue- tied, but Tshabalala-Msimang has refused to give up her preoccupation with garlic, beetroot, lemon and olive oil concoctions for Aids patients waiting to tap into the health system’s Aids drug supply.
President Thabo Mbeki drew criticism for refusing to act against his minister and sparked debate about whether this meant the two had similar views or whether she was actually just carrying out orders.
Mbeki, who makes available money to fights Aids, is often criticised for rarely mentioning the disease and for questioning the link between the HIV virus and full-blown Aids in 2000.
Calls for her resignation reached their peak recently when Tshabalala-Msimang took ill unexpectedly. During her spell in hospital, two more pragmatic politicians - Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge - began talks with the Aids lobby and civil society groups.
The two spoke out against the government’s "denialist" approach to the disease and praised the Aids lobby for their unrelenting stance on treatment, marked a turning point.
Tshabalala-Msimang returned from her illness, guns blazing with denials that she had been sidelined, but the media and health professionals continue to focus what a future without the "Dr Beetroot" might mean for the health of the nation. – DPA |
