Nov. 09, 2006 - 18:22 MST

IS THERE HOPE ?

Remarkable how some groups of people, political or a-political try to force their weird ideas on the rest of us. Even as far as from South Africa. However it seems there is an upswing in intelligent activity now. Hope it is permanent. An article in this morning's Rocky Mountain News by Claire Nullis of the Associated Press tells about it. Herewith is her article in full:

S. AFRICA PLANS TO TACKLE AIDS WITH NEW ENERGY

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA -- "The South African government, long reluctant to face up to the country's overwhelming number of AIDS deaths and infections, has finally changed its stance, AIDS activists said Wednesday."

"The deputy president, Phumzile Mlambo-Ncguka, who was named last month to head a revitalized government council meant to address the issue, met with activists and effectively sidelined the health minister who has promoted the benefits of lemons, garlic and beets as EFFECTIVE TREATMENT for the disease."

"The government brought in Mlambo-Ncguka after a chorus of international cirticism of the South African booth at this year's international AIDS conference, which included a prominent display of the vegetables."

"We are now witnessing the emergence of a united front of government, civil society and communities in a common effort," said Sipho Mthathi, general secretary of the AIDS activist group Treatment Action Campaign."

"South Africa has an estimated 5.4 million people living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. It is second only to India." The disease is devastating communities, leaving a generation of orphans and striking down vitally needed professionals like teachers and police officers."

"Zackie Achmat, a leader of the activist group, said the movement was ready to settle legal cases it has filed against the government. The movement also dropped its demands for the dismissal of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msiming, who has not been seen in public since developing a lung infection in early October."

"The government plans to release a five-year prevention and treatment strategy on Dec. 1, World AIDS Day, setting a target of having 600,000 people on antiretroviral drugs by 2011. The existing plan lapsed last year and Tshabalala-Msiming never updated it."

"For the first time in history, the health department is putting down hard targets," said Mthathi, though she noted that the proposal fell far short of the estimated 1 million South Africans who will need treatment by then."

"Nearly 180,000 people -- 10 percent of them children -- were receiving treatment at government facilities at the end of June, and 30,000 were on a waiting list, according to government figures."

"Since the health minister's illness, her highly respected deputy, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, has acknowledged the government's failure to slow the epidemic and provide treatment for its victims."

"Our country is in pain -- we are all in pain," she said at an AIDS conference last month. "We are losing our chidren and youth, our future. We are losing mothers and fathers and seeing an ever growing number of orphans and child-headed families."

"We are losing teachers and health-care workers, and we are losing the lifeblood of our economy, the workers."

"Then, last week Madlala-Routledge shared a platform with Achmat -- previously unthinable for a top health ministry representative -- and spoke of her own agony at losing two cousins to AIDS because they did not get treatment in time."

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This article is just dealing with South Africa alone . . . . . . . . but from what I read AIDS is rampantly killing off people in all of Africa and from what was said in the article, India tops South Africa in AIDS victims. So its bad and getting worse, made so all along by vegetarian health officials and other ignorant folk.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned in any of the articles I have recently read about AIDS is speculation of the danger of the AIDS virus mutating and becoming resistant to drugs in use now or becoming transmittable by airborne means. Mutating into a more virulent, untreatable form and involving our whole world in an epidemic that would be so much more huge than the ancient "plagues" of Europe.

Rather than speculating on disaster, fretting about it, perhaps governments of the world should be devoting people, time, money, drugs, and any necessary materials to combatting AIDS, rather than trying to kill each other off.

This might be the catastrophe that wipes out humanity and I do wonder IS THERE HOPE ?

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