The South African Department of Health issued public statements in May 2002, upgrading its HIV/Aids policy, and acknowledging the link between HIV and Aids. But the Department of Health has yet again taken a step back by inviting an Aids dissident to address departmental officials. Minister Tshabalala-Msimang is not, however, alone in playing down the magnitude of the HIV/Aids problem. It seems that the Afrikaans and the conservative English media also follow her lead in the limited coverage HIV/Aids receives.