British man arrested in Uganda after promoting ‘MMS’ bleach as a cure for HIV and malaria

Sam Little/YouTube

British man Sam Little has been arrested in Uganda after allegedly promoting Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS) — actually a type of toxic bleach — as a cure for malaria and HIV.
Business Insider earlier this week published an investigation into MMS advocates, who had found a safe haven for promoting their bogus theories on YouTube.
Separate reports have identified MMS advocates administering the substance on a large scale in African countries, where it is easier to gain access to the healthcare system.
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British man Sam Little has been arrested in Uganda after being accused of spreading a type of toxic bleach as a bogus cure for illnesses including malaria and HIV, Ugandan police told Business Insider.

Little, from Arlesey in Bedfordshire, England, was in Uganda to promote so-called Miracle Mineral Solution, which proponents claim can cure almost any medical condition.

According to the US Food and Drugs Authority, MMS is really the toxic bleach chlorine dioxide, which causes nausea, seizures and severe dehydration if ingested in large doses.

YouTube/Sam Little

This week, Business Insider published an extensive investigation into MMS advocates, which focused on how they had found a platform for promoting the substance on YouTube.

In March, Little uploaded footage to his YouTube channel where he can be seen giving the substance to patients with malaria in a health centre in Nyankwanzi, western Uganda.

In the course of investigating MMS, Business Insider flagged Little’s video to health officials in Uganda earlier this month.

His arrest Thursday was confirmed to Business Insider by Lydia Tumushabe, a spokeswoman for police in the western region of Rwenzori. She said no details were available on whether any specific charges had been filed against Little. Helen Ndagije of the Ugandan National Drugs Authority confirmed the arrest.

In a phone interview with Business Insider in April, Little denied that MMS causes illness and said he was acting out of the "kindness of my heart" in distributing MMS in Uganda.

"I’m doing this out of the kindness of my heart, I didn’t have to come here to Africa. I could be spending my money on holidays. I’m quite wealthy, I’ve spent a lot of money helping people in my life. In different ways, not just with MMS. To tell me I’m doing what I’m doing is bad, that upsets me," he said at the time.

Separately, Uganda authorities said Wednesday that they were seeking to arrest US pastor Robert Baldwin, who allegedly remotely ran a network importing MMS to Uganda.

A report by the Guardian said Baldwin had given MMS to 50,000 people in Uganda.

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