Mbeki vs. the AIDS Establishment... (4)
---------------------------------------
...a scientist's humble opinion
Dear Everybody on this net,
I have read with great attention two opinions on this net. One made
tribute to the President of South Africa on the occasion of the In-
ternational AIDS Conference in Durban. The other one tried to organ-
ize a poll, regarding the licences and prices of different drugs. My
humble opinion is that this net should maintain its scientific char-
acter and must not go into politics and business. Everybody knows
that Mr. Mbeki - from scientific point - is on the wrong side, i.e.,
according to his opinion, there is no connection between HIV and
AIDS. I think that this statement needs no further comments.
"Trying to prove that HIV originated in Africa. We (who is or are
'we'?) had to ask - did it make a positive difference?" asks Dr. Pil-
laye. Taking into consideration that this i.e., the origin of HIV, is
a scientific question, to investigate it is a must from the side of
the science. One must not derail the question toward politics, or any
other direction(s). An Open Letter is a very nice thing, - in a news-
paper or in a radio-programme. But not here, - I am afraid.
Other question is the pharmaceutical industry. This side of the in-
dustry is not a charity. According to Bert Spilker and Pedro Cuatre-
casas, - both great figures in the drug industry, - wrote in their
famous book ("Inside the Drug Industry", Prous Science Publishers,
Barcelona, 1990): "Making medicine is a big business. Many people be-
lieve that it should not be. They find morally objectionable that
anyone should make money on the pain and suffering of others...(but)
...it is the profit that provides the incentives for innovation, and
which pays for it in a situation where there are no other sources of
funding for new drug discovery and development." And so on, really
interested persons may read the book. Moreover, I want to emphasize
that I have no relations whatsoever to the pharmaceutical industry.
With best wishes,
Prof.G.A.Balint, M.D.,D.Sc.
Univ.of Szeged, Medical School
Hungary
mailto:BALINT@nepsy.szote.u-szeged.hu
--
Send mail for the `AFRO-NETS' conference to `afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org'.
Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to: `owner-afro-nets@usa.healthnet.org'.