HIV = AIDS is a myth
I would like to thank Rochus Boerner (Letters to the editor, April 6) for bringing attention to the inconsistencies of the HIV/AIDS connection. How many of you would believe this statement: AIDS IS A MYTH. It will surprise many to know that some of the world's best scientific and medical minds are making this statement. Take 1993 Nobel Prize winner, biochemist Dr. Kary Mullis, for example. His statement, printed in the Nov. 28, 1993, Sunday Times (London), reads: "If there is evidence that HIV causes AIDS, there should be scientific documents which either singly or collectively demonstrate that fact, at least with a high probability. There is no such document." Or, how about Dr. Serge Lang of Yale University. He is quoted in the fall 1994 Yale Scientific as follows: "I do not regard the causal relationship between HIV and any disease as settled. I have seen considerable evidence that highly improper statistics concerning HIV and AIDS have been passed off as science."
ASU's new organization, the Alternative Medicine Advocates, is centered on promoting an open academic discussion of the unproven HIV/AIDS link, and other issues concerning the scientifically documented evidence for alternative theories of diseases and treatments. We invite you to learn more at: www.alternativemedicineadvocates.com.
- Matt Sluder
American Indian Studies Alumnus
AIDS not misdiagnosed
I used to think Math Ph.D.s were smart. However, reading Rochus Boerner's letter made me reconsider that assumption. I have worked in HIV/AIDS related issues in Southern Africa for the last 14 years, and I know that Boerner is wrong on all counts. Mr. Boerner, Africa is a BIG continent with many countries - many of them with hospitals, well-trained doctors and laboratories. It is simply wrong to say that there is one way of diagnosing AIDS in Africa, which relies on ambiguous external symptoms only. The standard tests for HIV in my home country of South Africa and many other parts of the continent are the enzyme immune assay (EIA), the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the Western blot. In addition, all the other tests currently available in the United States have been used in Africa. With anti-retroviral treatments becoming more available, more government resources are being allocated to HIV testing for women (pregnant or not), men, children and babies.
As a mathematician, maybe Mr. Boerner can explain to me, if as he says "AIDS is simply a new name for poverty," why it is that when I visited my home country in December 2003 I would see several funerals EVERYDAY, whereas I cannot recall seeing many funerals at all 10 years ago before the visible advent of AIDS? However, 10 years ago South Africa was economically and socially pretty close to devastated - today it shows strong economic growth, and poverty is much less pervasive.
People from Africa are exactly like people anywhere else in the world - they get HIV and AIDS the way Americans would; they respond to anti-retroviral treatment like any American would. What makes many people in Africa different from the average American is that they live in poverty and are malnourished; this makes them more susceptible to contracting HIV and other infections owing to lowered resistance that accompanies malnutrition. It also means that they often do not have access or cannot afford treatment and die early and unnecessary deaths. What is needed in order to address AIDS in Africa is informed compassion and action, not denialist cynicism.
- Gerda de Klerk
Educational leadership and policy studies graduate student
