Editing Thabo Mbeki (section)

==== Policy and treatment ====
According to political scientist [[Jeffrey Herbst]], Mbeki's HIV/AIDS policies were "bizarre at best, severely negligent at worst."<ref name="Herbst-2005" /> In 2000, amid a burgeoning [[HIV/AIDS]] epidemic in South Africa, Mbeki's government launched the ''HIV/AIDS/[[Sexually transmitted infection|STD]] Strategic Plan for South Africa, 2000–2005'', a "multi-sectoral" plan which was criticised by HIV/AIDS activists for lacking concrete timeframes and failing to commit to [[Management of HIV/AIDS|antiretroviral treatment]] programmes.<ref name="Butler-2005">{{Cite journal|last=Butler|first=Anthony|date=2005-09-08|title=South Africa's HIV/AIDS policy, 1994–2004: How can it be explained?|url=https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/104/417/591/32035|journal=African Affairs|volume=104|issue=417|pages=591–614|doi=10.1093/afraf/adi036|doi-access=free}}</ref> Indeed, according to economist [[Nicoli Nattrass]], resistance to the roll-out of antiretroviral drugs for prevention and treatment became central to the HIV/AIDS policy of Mbeki's government in subsequent years.<ref name="Nattrass-2008">{{cite journal|last1=Nattrass|first1=Nicoli|date=2008-02-07|title=AIDS and the Scientific Governance of Medicine in Post-Apartheid South Africa|journal=African Affairs|volume=107|issue=427|pages=157–176|doi=10.1093/afraf/adm087|doi-access=free}}</ref> A national [[Vertically transmitted infection|mother-to-child transmission]] prevention programme was not introduced until 2002, when it was mandated by the [[Constitutional Court of South Africa|Constitutional Court]] in response to a successful legal challenge by the [[Treatment Action Campaign]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Honermann|first=Brian|date=2012-07-05|title=A judgment that saved a million lives|url=https://www.iol.co.za/the-star/a-judgment-that-saved-a-million-lives-1334636|access-date=2022-02-03|website=The Star|language=en}}</ref> Similarly, chronic highly active antiretroviral therapy for AIDS-sick people was not introduced in the public [[Healthcare in South Africa|healthcare system]] until late 2003, reportedly at the insistence of some members of [[First Cabinet of Thabo Mbeki|Mbeki's cabinet]].<ref name="Nattrass-2008"/> According to Nattrass, better access to antiretroviral drugs in South Africa could have prevented about 171,000 HIV infections and 343,000 deaths between 1999 and 2007.<ref name="Nattrass-2008"/> In November 2008, a [[Harvard University]] study estimated that more than 330,000 people died between 2000 and 2005 due to insufficient antiretroviral programmes under Mbeki's government.<ref name="Chigwedere-2008">{{Cite journal|last1=Chigwedere|first1=Pride|last2=Seage|first2=George R.|last3=Gruskin|first3=Sofia|last4=Lee|first4=Tun-Hou|last5=Essex|first5=M.|date=2008-12-01|title=Estimating the lost benefits of antiretroviral drug use in South Africa|journal=Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes|volume=49|issue=4|pages=410–415|doi=10.1097/qai.0b013e31818a6cd5|issn=1525-4135|pmid=19186354|s2cid=11458278 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Even after these programmes were introduced, Mbeki's appointee as Minister of Health, [[Manto Tshabalala-Msimang]], continued to advocate publicly for unproven alternative treatments in place of antiretrovirals, leading to continual calls by civil society for her dismissal.<ref name="Nattrass-2008"/> In late 2006, [[Second Cabinet of Thabo Mbeki|the cabinet]] transferred responsibility for AIDS policy from Tshabalala-Msimang to Deputy President [[Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka]], who subsequently spearheaded a new draft National Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS.<ref name="Nattrass-2008"/><ref>{{cite web|last=McGreal|first=Chris|date=2006-11-30|title=South Africa ends long denial over Aids crisis|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/nov/30/southafrica.aids|access-date=2022-02-03|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref>