New Minister Brings New Era of Aids Treatment to South Africa

South Africa's new health minister pledged yesterday to "get things right" over Aids, after years of denialism by former president Thabo Mbeki and blunders by her predecessor, who at one stage suggested beetroot as a remedy.

Signalling a major policy shift the new minister, the veteran anti-apartheid activist Barbara Hogan, marked her differences with her predecessor Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.

"You don't have to be a health expert to understand the challenge this country is facing when it comes to the Aids pandemic," she told a press conference in Pretoria.

South Africa has the world's highest number of carriers of HIV. Some 5.5 million out of a population of 47 million are estimated to be HIV positive.

"It is critically important that those who need treatment are able to get it," said Hogan, who served time in prison during the struggle against apartheid. "I am passionate about getting things right. We will as a matter of urgency examine all the gaps in delivery."

Hundreds of thousands of South Africans have died from Aids over the past 14 years of ANC government, while Mbeki, who succeeded Nelson Mandela as president in 1999, has been lambasted for claiming that HIV does not lead to Aids.

Even after antiretrovirals became affordable in 2002, the South African government dragged its feet. Tshabalala-Msimang, who was replaced last week in the wake of Mbeki's resignation on September 21, became a laughing stock after touting remedies such as garlic, olive oil and beetroot.

Hogan said she would avoid "cheap solutions" and "political games". Since her appointment last week, Aids activists have praised her integrity as one of the few ANC MPs who since 1994 had dared to criticize Mbeki's stance.

Asked about her lack of experience in healthcare, Hogan said: "Perhaps I will be more respectful of professional opinion." Her deputy is Molefi Seflaro, a doctor with qualifications in health management and tropical medicine.

South Africa's new president, Kgalema Motlanthe, has meanwhile backed calls for Mbeke to continue as a mediator in the Zimbabwe crisis. Since power-sharing talks stalled on Tuesday, the opposition MDC has been calling for Mbeki to return urgently to Harare to help - an invitation he is understood to be keen to take up.

Motlanthe said: "Mr Mbeki's facilitation efforts in Zimbabwe have proven his dispassionate vision for a lasting political solution to the challenges facing Zimbabwe."