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Articles: AIDS activists angered by Zuma’s HIV remarks

Posted by admin on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 12:23 AM

AIDS activists today condemned former deputy president Jacob Zuma for controversial remarks about the disease during four days of testimony in his high-profile rape trial.
Reuters

Zuma, who is accused of forcing a HIV-positive woman to have unprotected sex with him, astounded observers on Tuesday when he told a Johannesburg court that he had not been at much risk during the encounter with his accuser on November 2. Saying it was difficult for a healthy man to get HIV from an infected woman, Zuma, who once led the southern African nation’s anti-AIDS campaign, raised more eyebrows the next day when asked why he had showered immediately after having sex with the woman. "It was one of the things that would minimise the risk of contracting the disease," said Zuma, who denies raping the 31-year-old family friend at his home in Johannesburg. There is growing concern that Zuma’s example could prompt some South Africans to underestimate their risk of infection, leading to a jump in unprotected sex and other risky behaviour. "I hope his testimony does not create myths around HIV. These are indeed myths," said Nathan Geffen, a spokesman for the Treatment Action Campaign. Soul City, a group that works to battle AIDS, alcoholism and other problems, called Zuma’s assessment of his risk of contracting HIV from his accuser as "irresponsible" and chastised him for not using a condom. Activists said it was especially worrying to see political leaders demonstrating a lack of basic knowledge of the disease. President Thabo Mbeki’s government has been frequently criticised by groups who say it has downplayed both the AIDS crisis and the efficacy of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, the only treatment known to slow the course of the disease. Government introduced a public ARV treatment programme in late 2003 but the national rollout has been slow and only slightly more than 40,000 people are enrolled. Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said today the department’s HIV/AIDS budget had grown six-fold between 2001 and 2005 and an additional R3,2bn had been allocated for ARV drug procurement over a three-year period ending in 2007. Zuma claimed credit for steering the AIDS battle during his leadership of the the National AIDS Council, a position he relinquished when he was sacked as deputy president last year. Analysts say his testimony about AIDS has raised questions about his suitability for the presidency even if acquitted in the rape trial and a separate corruption trial in July.

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