Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang again stressed the importance of nutrition in regard to HIV/Aids at a Pietermaritzburg gathering on Friday of organisations dealing with the pandemic.
”Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition,” the minister emphasised, saying there is scientific proof that lemon, olive oil and garlic can work wonders for people with Aids symptoms.
The occasion marked the launch of handbooks that serve as ethical guidelines for HIV/Aids and general medical research in South Africa.
After the audience was addressed by university researchers and the Medical Research Council, as well as the minister, they were shown a video called Power to the People.
This is a documentary by two women who used an olive oil and lemon mix to detoxify people with Aids symptoms in KwaZulu-Natal. They say the mix gave these people an appetite. The people were also given garlic, which the video described as a natural antibiotic.
The filmmakers showed people in various stages of illness, from being bed-ridden on the first day of treatment to being fully mobile in two to three months.
Tshabalala-Msimang was expected to visit two other hospitals in the Pietermaritzburg area later on Friday.
In the past, Tshabalala-Msimang has come under fire for what has been seen as an overemphasis on natural remedies as opposed to recognised, conventional HIV/Aids medication.
The names of the books are Ethics in Health Research: Principal Structures and Processes, Guidelines on Ethics for Medical Research and HIV Preventive Vaccine Research. — Sapa