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By CLARE NULLIS, Associated Press Writer Sat Sep 1, 5:28 PM ETCAPE TOWN, South Africa - South Africa's president called critics of his embattled health minister "wild animals" in a remarkable display of support for a woman decried by AIDS activists for advocating beets and garlic as remedies for the disease.
His defense of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang came as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel laureate often regarded as the moral conscience of the nation, said in a speech Friday that the Health Ministry "has presided over the vast deterioration in health standards of our land."
Tshabalala-Msimang has been condemned at home and abroad for her unorthodox views on the AIDS virus, which has infected an estimated 5.4 million South Africans — the highest number for any country in the world.
At news conferences, she has made plain her mistrust of antiretroviral medicines, repeatedly espousing a diet heavy on garlic, beetroot, lemon and olive oil as more effective in treating HIV/AIDS. The comments have earned her ridicule and the nicknames "Dr. Beetroot" and "Dr. Garlic."
South Africa's stand at the international AIDS conference in Canada last year included garlic and other foodstuffs, prompting international scientists to write an unprecedented joint letter of protest to President Thabo Mbeki.
For years, Mbeki has been accused of downplaying the extent of the AIDS crisis and has steadfastly stood by his health minister.
But his weekly ANC Today online newsletter, published Friday, took his support to new heights. Mbeki said history would honor the minister as "one of the pioneer architects of a South African public health system constructed to ensure that we achieve the objective of health for all our people, and especially the poor."