October 2011 Archives

England: At least three people in London with HIV have died after they stopped taking life saving drugs on the advice of their Evangelical Christian pastors.

The women died after attending churches in London where they were encouraged to stop taking the antiretroviral drugs in the belief that God would heal them, their friends and a leading HIV doctor said.

The church is headed by Pastor T B Joshua, Nigeria's third richest clergyman, according to a recent Forbes richlist.

Mary Buhari, 44 , from central London, told the BBC she had had a phone conversation with a representative of the church, in which she was told she could be cured of HIV.

I was told they can cure any illness on Earth through prayer, including HIV, she said.

Also, Prof. Jane Anderson was quoted as saying: We see patients quite often who will come having expressed the belief that if they pray frequently enough, their HIV will somehow be cured.

Church HIV prayer cure claims 'cause three deaths' —BBC London news, 18th October 2011.