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    Matthias "cure AIDS with vitamins" Rath drops libel case against Ben Goldacre.

    #2
    Buy the Guardian today

    Yeah, fabulous. Nice to see a chorus of congratulation from the often mean-spirited readers' comments section too . . .

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      #3
      Buy the Guardian today

      Goldacre had to drop the Rath chapter from his recent book because of this, so he's now going to write a whole book on Rath. Ah ha ha ha ha.

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        #4
        Buy the Guardian today

        Oh excellent. That cunt (Rath, not Goldacre) is making a mint in South African townships with the collusion of the health minister who has recommended beetroot, garlic and olive oil (extra virgin cold pressed, presumably) as ways of preventing AIDS.

        What is so worrying about Rath's quackery is that it feeds into cultural mindset by which the notion of a "cure" is understood quite differently from the way Westerners would.

        HIV/AIDS is such a depressing field, because every possibly solution is impossible to implement for reasons of culture, economics and politics.

        Even the administration of ARVs, which in itself is a good thing, often is ineffective because of the chaotic living conditions of most of the people who receive these medications.

        Distributing condoms and encouraging their use is a great idea. But in traditional African culture it's a non-starter because sexual intercourse requires the transmission of bodily fluids. And proclaiming abstinence, while in theory a good idea, is even more anti-cultural. Sexual inactivity especially among men (married or not) represents a strike against their masculinity, which also is their most precious social "possession". So fidelity within marriage, especially if the husband is a migrant worker, is not a given. And women have no autonomy over their sexuality. In addition to physiological reasons, that is why women are more likely to be infected than men.

        Widespread HIV-testing is a great idea. But few want to be tested because their status, if it becomes known, will almost certainly lead to social ostracism.

        And then AIDS is seen by many in Africa as a bit of a lie, as a Western propaganda or as a "white" conspiracy to commit genocide, a notion so utterly horrible that many deny that AIDS even exists.

        So the only solutions to the HIV/AIDS pandemic is the eradication of poverty and a revolution of social norms. And neither are going to happen.

        And in that climate, charlatans like Rath find it easy to thrive.

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