E-drug: Origins of AIDS (cont'd)
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[I asked David Gisselquist, the main author of the articles in the
International Journal of STD & AIDS, whether he would want to
react on the WHO/UNAIDS press release on HIV transmission
(circulated yesterday). Below is his contribution to E-drug. I wonder
what's really going on here... HH]
On 14 March, WHO/AIDS and UNAIDS organized a one-day
meeting to discuss "Unsafe injection practices and HIV infection." I
took part in the meeting. The press release -- issued before the end
of the meeting -- misrepresents the agreements reached at the
meeting, and it also misrepresents key facts.
Specifically, the main conclusion that we discussed at length
towards the end of the meeting was whether or not to devote
attention and effort to prevent HIV transmission through health
care. There was general agreement to promote safe health care as a
human rights issue and also to prevent HIV transmission. We
agreed to disagree about the proportions of HIV from health care
and sexual transmission. And we agreed that sexual transmission
was a risk, and that it was appropriate to continue efforts to help
people understand and prevent HIV from sexual exposures.
The press release is factually inaccurate in many respects, stating
that the evidence shows the overwhelming proportion of HIV from
sexual exposures and estimating HIV from injections at 2.5%.
WHO/AIDS staff rejected masses of important evidence as based on
lies, mistakes, and old tests. Only after wholesale rejection of
evidence is it possible to make such statements.
The estimate of 2.5% of African HIV from unsafe injections can be
compared to an earlier estimate of 1.6% from 1988. The 1988
estimate was wildly inconsistent with facts available at the time.
The same goes for the 2003 estimate.
The Constitution of WHO avers that "Informed opinion and active
cooperation on the part of the public are of utmost importance in
the improvement of the health of the people." Since the purpose of
the meeting was to discuss unsafe injections, it would be
appropriate for the sponsors to report to the world in a clear and
balanced fashion the discussions at the meeting about risks in
health care.
Some comparisons may be in order.
(a) In 1988, doctors in Russia found one HIV+ child with an HIV-
mother. They set in motion an investigation that uncovered 250
similar cases and the hospitals and clinics involved, and within
months improvements in health care procedures stopped further
nosocomial transmission.
(b) In 1989, doctors in Bucharest found one HIV+ child with an
HIV-mother, and similarly set in motion an investigation that
uncovered over 1,000 infected children, mostly from health care.
As in Russia, investigation led to improved sterile practices that
stopped onward transmission.
(c) In 1998, doctors in Libya discovered an outbreak of iatrogenic
HIV among children, set in motion an investigation that identified
393 HIV infected children, and took steps that stopped further
iatrogenic transmission.
In contrast, on Friday 14 March, officials at WHO discussed, inter
alia, evidence for hundreds of thousands of unexplained HIV
infections in African children, and then issued a press release
focusing on sexual behavior of African adults. This was not what
happened in Russia, Romania, or Libya -- where one infection was
sufficient to stimulate concern, investigation, and effective
preventive interventions. Would we have seen the same
sex-obsessed press release if the hundreds of thousands of children
with unexplained HIV infections were Norwegian or American
children? There are times and places to talk about sex, but not
every time and every place.
Best regards,
David
David Gisselquist
29 West Governor Road
Hershey
Pennsylvania 17033
USA
e-mail: david_gisselquist@yahoo.com
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