Damning study estimates Mbeki AIDS 'death toll'
A study by Harvard University researchers claims the policies of former South African president, Thabo Mbeki, contributed to the deaths of 365,000 HIV-positive people.
The study, published in the New York Times, said the South African government could have saved those lives by providing antiretroviral drugs. Mr Mbeki insisted antiretroviral drugs were toxic and said they were being promoted to further the interests of western drugs companies. He also claimed Aids was caused by malnutrition rather than a virus. According to UN figures, South Africa today has 5.7 million people - almost one in five adults - who are HIV positive. The current South African health minister Barbara Hogan says the days of Aids denialism is over.
Read the New York Times article here
