Health minister slammed for tweaking Aids stats

Tshabalala-Msimang has come under fire from the TAC about Aids statistics

Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) leader Zackie Achmat has accused health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang of manipulating figures of an Aids survey. The figures suggest a decrease in the HIV infection rate of pregnant women and people under the age of 20.

Tshabalala-Msimang earlier told a media briefing in Langa that government had made inroads in the fight against the pandemic. Achmat says she deliberately left out figures about the prevalence of HIV/Aids among adults over 20. He says it is a myth that the disease has stabilised, since more than 1 500 people are infected daily.

Hundreds of people have gathered at the Langa Civic Centre near Cape Town for the ninth anniversary of the National Partnership against Aids. The partnership was established in 1998 by President Thabo Mbeki to stop the spread of HIV/Aids in the country.

Earlier Tshabalala-Msimang said HIV prevalence among people under 20 dropped from about 16% to just fewer than 14%. She added that the prevalence among pregnant women during the same period dropped from just over 30% to 29%.