In South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki’s government is facing increased criticism over its policy on AIDS. A group of more than eighty international scientists and academics have sent Mbeki a letter calling his government’s stance “immoral” and “ineffective” and calling for the firing of his Health Minister. The signatories include Robert Gallo, who helped discover the HIV virus and develop the first HIV blood test. An estimated five and a half million South Africans are HIV-positive, with an average of more than 900 people dying from AIDS each day.