Good luck to Mbeki panel
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Recent editorials in US newspapers have summarised the most common
reactions stirred up by President Mbeki's re-visiting: a) the rela-
tionship between HIV and AIDS, and b) the theoretical basis of scien-
tific methodology and evidence. I cannot help wondering how this ap-
parent consensus view sits with the members of Mbeki's international
expert panel - particularly as they read such peppery views (see the
Washington Post while Mbeki was in the States).
According to the comments by the South African government in the me-
dia here, following six weeks of internet-based discussion (appar-
ently ending in the last week of June) the expert panel will report
their conclusions in three areas:
- re-evaluation of experiments that have already been conducted in
order to establish the link between HIV and AIDS;
- appropriate treatments for AIDS;
- the best mechanisms for fighting HIV, especially taking into ac-
count that the disease spread quickly in conditions of poverty and
malnutrition.
Good luck.
But this task (and schedule) is not only a tall order for the members
of the panel (who will presumably need to draw on around 15 years pa-
pers in scientific and clinical HIV/AIDS research in six weeks) - it
is also an interesting trial for the use of the internet itself to
support dialogue among a group with such noteworthy opinion, techni-
cal and cultural differences. This also ties in with reports that
President Mbeki was first alerted to diverse scientific views about
HIV while browsing the internet. Hopefully the panel, or the Presi-
dent's office, will therefore also include some comments on the proc-
ess and suitability of the internet to support this kind of task and
dialogue around AIDS as part of their conclusions (or directly with
interested groups).
A lot of people have also mentioned that they have not seen the list
of panel members, so I have also attached that below for info.
To the panel members, I wish you energy in your efforts, and look
forward to reading your report. If you are seeking specific papers or
references in a hurry, the members of existing HIV/AIDS discussion
forums might be good resource groups to approach. If you are not
sworn to secrecy, an occasional note on how your engagement & delib-
erations are going would be interesting - do you have a spokesperson?
Tim France, PhD
Health & Development Networks
Phone (South Africa): +27-83-668-2446
Fax: +35-3-869-192324
mailto:tfran@hdnet.org