'Aids' death certificate

Row over 'Aids' death certificate
A South African doctor should face a charge of unprofessional conduct for naming Aids on a death certificate against family wishes, officials say.

A complaint was filed with the national health watchdog against Dr Leon Wagner after the woman died in April 2005.

Dr Wagner has not yet entered a plea, saying it is unclear what rule he has broken. The hearing has been adjourned.

A BBC correspondent says the stigma attached to Aids means doctors do not commonly list it as the cause of death.

Deaths are attributed on death certificates to related diseases, such as tuberculosis or pneumonia, rather than Aids, the BBC's Peter Biles in Johannesburg says.

The charge of unprofessional conduct has sparked debate in South Africa about the extent to which Aids-related deaths are covered up, he says.

South Africa, where 5.5 million people are living with HIV, is one of several countries where the HIV epidemic is continuing to worsen, according to a UNAids report released this week.

'Watershed' case

Proceedings against Dr Wagner were triggered by a complaint by the family of a 30-year-old woman to the national health watchdog.

After a disciplinary hearing in Bloemfontein, the South African Heath Professions Council said Dr Wagner should face a charge of "unprofessional conduct".