U.S. pastor accused of making Ugandans drink bleach as ‘miracle cure’ for HIV, cancer

A U.S. pastor is being accused of operating a network that distributes to Ugandans a “miracle cure” made from industrial bleach, claiming that the solution heals all manner of diseases, including HIV/AIDS, cancer, and malaria.

Robert Baldwin, based in New Jersey, runs the network with 25-year-old Sam Little, a British former clairvoyant who has so far run a trial of the “miracle cure” known as MMS, or “miracle mineral solution” in a remote village in western Uganda, a report by The Guardian said.

Baldwin is importing bulk shipments of the components of MMS, sodium chlorite and citric acid, into Uganda from China. The two chemicals are mixed to produce chlorine dioxide, a powerful bleach used in the textile industry, The Guardian report added.

The 52-year-old pastor has, so far, “trained” about 1,200 clerics in Uganda on how the “miracle cure” should be administered. These clerics subsequently use the solution in treating their congregants, especially after Sunday service. Baldwin allegedly lures these clerics with smartphones and other goodies.

Tens of thousands of Ugandans, including children and babies, have, so far, been given the “miracle mineral solution”, despite health concerns. In several countries like Canada and Ireland, MMS is banned while in the UK and the U.S., it is strictly controlled.

This follows reports that several people have taken ill after drinking the solution. Consumers suffered from nausea, severe vomiting, and life-threatening low blood pressure caused by dehydration, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

In developing countries like Uganda, however, the MMS network is making headway, a move that Baldwin would later attribute to poverty and “weak governance.”

“America and Europe have much stricter laws so you are not as free to treat people because it is so controlled by the FDA. That’s why I work in developing countries,” he told Fiona O’Leary, a campaigner against fake medicine who spoke to him on the phone while posing as a freelance journalist.

The pastor currently operates under a ministry he founded called Global Healing. Members pride themselves as “disciples of Jesus Christ”, who are “called to make a positive impact, by serving the sick, suffering and those less fortunate with all of our pursuits.”

To “stay under the radar” Baldwin is apparently using the church to distribute the “miracle cure” bleach.

“We don’t want to draw any attention,” he said in the phone interview with O’Leary that was heard by The Guardian.

“When you draw attention to MMS you run the risk of getting in trouble with the government or drug companies. You have to do it low key. That’s why I set it up through the church.”

He said his outfit raises money through donations received online, while protecting himself in the process by using euphemisms, particularly, on Facebook.

“I don’t call it MMS, I call it ‘healing water’, to protect myself. They are very sophisticated. Facebook has algorithms that can recognize ‘MMS’.”

Babies and children who are treated with MMS receive half the dose, said Baldwin, who has trained as a student nurse.

“Little tiny infants can take a small amount, they will spit it out. It causes no harm – they just get diarrhoea.”

Little, who provides funds for Baldwin’s network, travelled to a village hospital in Kyenjojo district, in western Uganda, this March, to conduct a trial that he said would prove malaria could be cured with chlorine dioxide within two hours.

In a video, the Briton, who has no medical training, is seen directing health workers to administer doses of the bleach to locals, including children and infants. Blood samples from about nine local people who had been tested showed that they had been cured, according to Little.

The Briton, who is currently based in Fort Portal, in the west of Uganda, said he was first introduced to the “miracle cure” in England by a friend.

“Somebody in my family was cured of cancer with MMS,” he told The Guardian. “I started researching online and saw more and more videos of people being cured. That’s when I decided to test it myself on malaria and travelled to Africa.”

Meanwhile, the Ugandan ministry of health said it has launched investigations into the activities of Baldwin and his network.