NEWS

Scientists, activists sue South Africa’s AIDS ‘denialists’

Doctors and AIDS activists in South Africa have to the TAC. filed a joint lawsuit against the country’s health Separately, health minister minister and controversial vitamin supplier Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has Matthias Rath as concerns mount over the long provoked outrage with her government’s lack of leadership amidst the public support of garlic, lemon country’s worsening AIDS crisis. and beetroot as defenses against The South African Medical Association AIDS, as well as her ongoing (SAMA) and the prominent activist group affiliations with denialists like Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), which Rath. “We want the court to together filed the lawsuit, say they aim to end put an end to government- the climate of what the TAC calls “politically- supported charlatanism,” says supported denialism” afflicting the country’s Geffen.

fight against AIDS. SAMA spokesman Mark Rodger Bosch/AFP/Getty Images A key element of the lawsuit is the allegation Sonderup says the legal process Drug wars: South African groups are clashing over whether that in at least two townships, Rath is running is an attempt to get various AIDS medicines are harmful. illegal medical trials for his multivitamins, which agencies under the health he markets to AIDS sufferers as an alternative to minister’s control, such as South Africa hosts an estimated 5.3 million ‘poisonous’ antiretroviral drugs. the Medicines Control Council, to properly HIV-infected individuals, the most for any Rath has promoted these trials through investigate Rath’s activities. “As the representative country. A UNAIDS report released on 21

http://www.nature.com/naturemedicine several newspaper advertisements, claiming body of doctors in South Africa we have a November says the country’s epidemic has that a combination of micronutrients alone can principled duty to respond to what is going on,” evolved at an astonishing speed, from a prevalence reverse the course of AIDS, even in its advanced Sonderup says. of less than 1% in 1990 to 25% by 2000. stage. But the TAC says five or more patients A spokesman for Rath declined to speak to The country’s budget for AIDS has more have died during these trials. Nature Medicine about the case, saying he is than tripled since 2001 to R1.5 billion (about “There are reports of up to 12 deaths, but it’s convinced the journal is “funded to the hilt with $235 million). In March the government spent hard to say,” says TAC spokesman Nathan Geffen. drug money.” R3.4 billion (about $533 million) to acquire a “We hold [Rath] partially accountable for two Although the lawsuit is not expected to reach three-year stock of antiretroviral drugs. Experts to three of them. In the other cases, we feel they the court for some months, the TAC and SAMA estimate these drugs are provided to about created false hopes,” he says. have already gained public backing from several 140,000 people, a significant increase from a year Two patients from the trial, still alive and held prominent groups, including the country’s earlier—but still far behind the government’s Nature Publishing Group Group Nature Publishing

6 up by Rath as models of success, were found to largest trade union, a major church council and own rollout targets. actually be taking antiretroviral drugs, according various non-governmental organizations. James Watson, London 200 © Low morale at US agency revives dormant scientist group Driven by an increasingly demoralized bylaws, elected a 12-member advisory council because of the rules. “In the end the biggest environment at the US National Institutes of and begun soliciting donations. factor was that I just did not have the energy Health, a group of researchers at the agency Among the group’s goals is to retain the at my age to fly coach from Washington to have banded together to champion their uniformed commissioned corps of the US Hong Kong,” he says. cause. The group’s leaders say their goal is to Service, who routinely work An NIH spokesperson said, “These are boost spirits and preserve the agency’s ability at NIH. These scientists are deemed first real concerns of our scientists and are being to recruit and retain top scientists. responders and must move quickly to hurri- addressed,” but declined to comment on The Assembly of Scientists, a reincarnation cane and other disaster areas. The scientists specific complaints. of several organizations launched in the late used to be able to retire after 20 years and Discontent has been brewing at the NIH for 1950s, lay dormant for nearly 30 years. But in become NIH employees, but for reasons that a few years but came to a head after a series of November 2004, amid rumors of an impend- are unclear, this has since become difficult. press reports uncovered conflict-of-interest ing clampdown on financial consulting, “We are losing more and more of these indi- violations at the agency. In response, the NIH Ezekiel Emanuel, chair of NIH’s clinical viduals and they constitute the bulk of clinical initially proposed restrictive rules on the finan- bioethics department, fired off a fuming letter investigators,” says Alan Schechter, chief of cial arrangements, revising them in August to a to NIH director Elias Zerhouni and revived molecular biology at the National Institute of more relaxed set (Nat. Med. 11, 914–915). the group with the help of 200 colleagues . & Digestive & Kidney Diseases. Still, a number of problems affect the mood In theory, more than 2,000 NIH scientists Another hot-button topic is the restrictions at the NIH, says Emanuel. “Each one of these are automatically considered members of on travel to meetings. Unlike employees of is a worrisome situation,” he says. “I don’t the group, and at the first meeting in January many other agencies, NIH scientists must fly think that changing parts of the conflict- of- 2005, at least 700 scientists were in attendance, coach unless the trip is longer than 14 hours interest rule is going to be sufficient to boost either in person or via video conference. on a single leg. Schechter, a 40-year veteran at morale.” Since then, the organization has adopted new the NIH, recently canceled a trip to Vietnam George S. Mack, Columbia, South Carolina

6 VOLUME 12 | NUMBER 1 | JANUARY 2006 NATURE MEDICINE