The Aids Vaccine

If you were an African country where 5 million people had Aids, a pretty simple solution to your Aids problem would be to tell people ‘garlic and beetroot.’ Now, this is a pretty darn good remedy, if you lived Ancient Rome and were also a voodoo priest. But if you’re the Health Minister in South Africa, it’s a little bit of a different story:

More than 60 international experts on HIV/Aids have called for the resignation of the South African health minister because of her stance on Aids.

Manto Tshabalala-Msimang tells those with HIV to eat garlic and beetroot.

In a letter sent to President Thabo Mbeki, the academics called the government’s health policy “disastrous and pseudo-scientific”.

“Many people [in South Africa] are dying unnecessarily” because they cannot get Aids drugs, the letter says.

South Africa is one of the countries worst affected by Aids, with some 5m people with HIV.