South Africa

The AIDS policies of former president Thabo Mbeki's government were directly responsible for the avoidable deaths of a third of a million people in South Africa, according to research from Harvard University. South Africa has one of the most severe HIV/AIDS epidemics in the world. About 5.5 million people, or 18.8% of the adult population, have HIV, according to the UN. In 2005 there were 900 deaths a day.But from the late 90s Mbeki turned his back on the scientific consensus that AIDS was caused by a viral infection which could be combated, though not cured, by sophisticated and expensive drugs. (The Guardian)