AIDSTruth.org

Apparently the latest issue of Discover Magazine contains a spread featuring Peter Duesberg. For more on why Duesberg should not be taken seriously, see our page on who the denialists are.

Early reactions from scientific bloggers reveal disgust: see Denailism blog and ERV.

A study published today in The Lancet shows evidence of reversal in population-level effect of HIV on adult mortality.

Jahn et al. 2008. Population-level effect of HIV on adult mortality and early evidence of reversal after introduction of antiretroviral therapy in Malawi. The Lancet 371, 1603-1611. DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60693-5

From the abstract:

Our findings of a reduction in mortality in adults aged between 15 and 59 years, with no change in those older than 60 years, suggests that deaths from AIDS were averted by the rapid scale-up of free antiretroviral therapy in rural Malawi, which led to a decline in adult mortality that was detectable at the population level.

Of the 80 names listed as recent additions in the May 2008 version of the Denial-list published by the "Rethinking AIDS" denialist group, almost ten are students, a scant few are biological scientists, and about 12 claim to have some type of medical degree. For one of these doctors a website link is given, allowing a rare glimpse into what sort of doctor might be found on the Rethinking AIDS list. The doctor’s name is Lawrence Broxmeyer, and his website is: drbroxmeyer.netfirms.com

According to Dr. Broxmeyer himself, he is “already heralded as today's single most perceptive and innovative medical investigator by colleagues in the United States and abroad, having already appeared as lead author in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.” Read more »

Distributing free anti-HIV drugs in a district of Aids-ravaged Malawi helped cut the death toll by 10 percent within eight months, according to a new study to be published in The Lancet. Independent On-Line covers the story here.

by William Gumede

This is a chapter from William Gumede's book Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC.

Part I

For too long we have closed our eyes as a nation, hoping the truth was not so real. For many years, we have allowed the HI virus to spread, and at a rate in our country which is one of the fastest in the world. – Thabo Mbeki, 9 October 1998

Now ... the poor on our continent will again carry a disproportionate burden of this scourge – would if anyone cared to ask their opinions, wish that the dispute about the primacy of politics or science be put on the backburner and that we proceed to address the needs and concerns of those suffering and dying. – Nelson Mandela, 13 July 2000

It is important that we recognise that we are facing a major crisis and that we want to invest as many resources as we did when we fought against apartheid. This is not a state of emergency but it is a national emergency. – Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 30 November 2001

As his international AIDS Advisory Council met for the first time, Thabo Mbeki mulled over the words of Irish poet Patrick Henry Pearse: ‘Is it folly or grace?’ Read more »

The Montreal Gazette has run an important story on AIDS denialism. It shows how the untruths spread by denialists (such as that HIV doesn't exist, is harmless or is not sexually transmitted) can confuse and ultimately kill if people do not seek treatment or expose others to the virus.

But perhaps it does not adequately distinguish between personal denial about one's HIV status and the ideological denial that HIV causes AIDS. Although most people with HIV go through some degree of personal denial, very few actually deny that HIV causes AIDS or that ARVs are effective. The former is a psychological state, quite normal when faced with a highly stigmatized life-threatening disease; the latter is a dangerous ideological scourge with deadly consequences.

A new study published in the journal AIDS shows that transmission rates have been reduced through appropriate interventions in the UK and Ireland.

Townsend at al. AIDS. 22(8):973-981, May 11, 2008. Low rates of mother-to-child transmission of HIV following effective pregnancy interventions in the United Kingdom and Ireland, 2000-2006.

A good report on the study at aidsmap. Read more »

This website presents the scientific evidence that HIV is the cause of AIDS and that benefits of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) outweigh the risks. The website was created by research scientists and community advocates engaged in the worldwide struggle against HIV/AIDS. Read more about AIDSTruth.

As you can see, we have updated the design and layout of AIDSTruth.org. Please let us know if any of the links on the site do not work.

Now it's official: Gary Null, HIV Denialist and Crank — Mark Hoofnagle's Denialism blog outs "alternative medicine" guru Gary Null (whose infomercials are broadcast on PBS) as an AIDS denialist.

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa has upheld a complaint laid by the Treatment Action Campaign against Zeblon Gwala for advertising his fake AIDS cure 'Ubhejane'.

Update: The National Press Foundation's NPF Helpdesk resource for journalists has picked up the story.

The video below exposes Gwala's quackery:

The AIDS Conspiracy Handbook (Jeremiah Wright's paranoia in context) - Slate.com.

Repeatedly HIV-negative patients with very advanced HIV disease: only 16 cases ever reported - Aidsmap.

Welcome to the new AIDSTruth.org site. Most of the material from the old site is still available here. If you want to view the news updates from external sources published on the old site (up to 27 April 2008), click this link.