Medical Rersearch Council chief Prof. Anthony Mbewu told outright lies
(wittingly or
unwittingly) to members of South Africa's Parliament's science and
technology committee. In the briefing, he is reported to have said
sustained government efforts in
treating sexually transmitted infections such as syphilis and gonorrhoea
were also contributing to slower HIV infection rates.

Mbewu said sexually transmitted infections, including of syphilis and
gonorrhoea, were critical factors in making people vulnerable to
infection.

"In 1998, the prevalence of syphilis among women attending public health
clinics was of the order of 8%, which is extraordinary.

"Through the expansion of primary health care services in this country,
resulting in increasing detection and proper treatment of sexually
transmitted infections among pregnant women, we've seen the rates decline
to 2% by 2003".
"So if when we're thinking of an intervention that can mitigate the HIV
infection and thereby mitigate the impact of the epidemic on the economy
and productivity, primary health care is one of the most crucial
interventions," he said.

If sexually transmitted infections could be properly detected and treated,
the chances of men and women becoming infected with the HI-virus dropped
significantly, he added.
Mbewu was recycling the view that HIV is easily transmitted in the
presence of STD's. But the figures from Department of Health's HIV and
Syphilis Sero-prevalence Survey exposes Mbewu's misstatements.

In 2003, 2.8 pregnant women tested positive for syphilis, compared to a
staggering 27% for HIV. Kwa-Zulu Natal province had the lowest syphilis
rate at 1.3%, but the highest HIV rate at  33.5%. The Western Cape
province, by contrast, had a higher than national average syphilis rate of
2.9, but the lowest HIV rate of 8.6%. Figures for other provinces and
other years also show syphilis and HIV gowing in opposite directions.

Mbewu and the MRC, being "experts" on AIDS and adivising the govt. in its
annual HIV and Syphilis Sero-prevalence Survey, are aware of the yawning
discrepancy between syphilis and HIV, yet have the temerity to tell us
that reducing syphilis decreases the likelihood of HIV infection. But the
DOH figures tell a different story. Syphilis has been on the decline for
many years (now under 3%), and HIV has been on the increase simultaneously
(now at 27% of pregnant women).

What the DOH report tells us is that you can reduce syphilis to zero, but
HIV will still increase; hence there's no link or correlation between the
two.
What the MRC told Parliament is what passes for "science" in the field of
AIDS. We are paying millions in taxes just for the MRC to produce junk
science, which will then be picked up by the TAC and other activists to
tell the youth to beware "the link between HIV and STD's".

Mbewu's presentation to Parliament is exactly why senior ANC leaders do
not take the MRC seriously