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5% in 2008" (Smith, 2009). And yet, millions of children ("The lost generation") have been left orphaned by AIDS (AIDS Weekly).
Speaking of South Africa, the AIDS Weekly story (reporting on the Jim Lehrer NewsHour story written by Ray Suarez) points out that former South Africa President Thabo Mbeki, along with his health minister, spent years spreading "misinformation about the HIV virus), which clearly was part of the problem in South Africa. A situation in which people cannot trust their elected leaders to give them the truth about a terrible disease like HIV / AIDS is unconscionable and unacceptable. But now the new South African Minister of Health, Barbara Hogan, is "trying to contain a disease which has infected one of every 6 people in the country" (Suarez, 2009).
In the David Smith article (www.guardian.co.uk) the fact that 5.2 million South Africans were living with HIV in 2008 is "widely regarded as a disastrous legacy of former president Thabo Mbeki," who has been referenced previously in this paper. Mbeki publicly questioned "the link between HIV and the disease"; and according to Smith's article, the health minister under Mbeki (Manto Tshabalala-Msimang) "mistrusted conventional anti-AIDS drugs" and instead of giving out good scientifically based information he told South Africans not to use anti-AIDS drugs and instead use a combination of "beetroot and lemon" (which has virtually no verifiable value in combating HIV or AIDS (Smith, 2009).
The good news for South Africa is that while the prevalence of HIV in children has gone down and the use of condoms among females has...
One reason the honest accurate word is getting out can be traced to a candid government that has departed from the recent past. The minister of health in South Africa has pledged to stop the bureaucratic in fighting and get busy fighting the disease.
If the HIV / AIDS crisis in Africa is to be brought to a manageable level, it will take more than public information about condoms -- and the actual distribution of condoms -- and it will take more than money flowing into the countries most affected. It will require honest information from the leaders of those African countries hardest hit by the disease. The leaders of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and other countries in Africa need to become effective spokespeople and tell the truth to their people.
Works Cited
AIDS Weekly. (2009). The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer Reports From South Africa on Renewed Efforts to Combat HIV / AIDS and Tuberculosis.
Gale Document #A196682782.
AVERT. (2009). HIV and AIDS in Africa. Retrieved June 21, 2009, from http://www.avert.org/aafrica.htm.
Ng, Eileen. (2009). South Africa sees hope on AIDS. The America's Intelligence Wire.
Gale Document #A201538762
Smith, David. (2009). "Light at the end of the tunnel" in South Africa's fight against AIDS.
The Guardian. Gale Document #CJ201554864.
The New York Times. (2009). AIDS Relief: U.S. Initiative is found to Reduce…
Works Cited
AIDS Weekly. (2009). The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer Reports From South Africa on Renewed Efforts to Combat HIV / AIDS and Tuberculosis.
Gale Document #A196682782.
AVERT. (2009). HIV and AIDS in Africa. Retrieved June 21, 2009, from http://www.avert.org/aafrica.htm.
Ng, Eileen. (2009). South Africa sees hope on AIDS. The America's Intelligence Wire.
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