KwaZulu-Natal Health Executive Council (MEC) Nomagugu Simelane has called for legal steps to be taken against anyone who is spreading misinformation that people should stop taking anti-retroviral (ARV) medicine to suppress human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and to rather rely on their faith.<\/p>\n
She was speaking at a church outreach event, over the Easter weekend.<\/p>\n
Simelane reacted to reports about practices at the Ekhaya Labafundi bakaJehova congregation at KwaMaphumulo north of Durban.<\/p>\n
Congregants are required to leave all worldly things behind, including their jobs and cellphones for a life in service of God.<\/p>\n
The leader, Vusumuzi Sibiya, has described schooling and medical treatment as worldly things. One of the congregants told SABC News she has stopped taking ARVs.
\nMEC Simelane says encouraging people to stop taking ARV\u2019s is condemning them to a slow death.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are talking about people who takes medication for chronic diseases such as diabetes and Tuberculosis. Some of them stop taking their medication on public holidays. That\u2019s not a good idea. There should not be a public holiday for taking medication. We should not stop taking medicine because these medicines prolong people\u2019s lives. When you reduce the number of days of taking medicine, that means you are also reducing your days of living,\u201d says Simelane.<\/p>\n
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