It has become a common reaction
to switch off when one hears HIV/AIDS. We have heard it all! We know what to do
to protect ourselves from it. Whether we actually protect ourselves is another
story. We have seen the campaigns, from television, newspapers, billboards ,
churches and schools.
The message is clear - if you do
not use a condom you might get the HI-Virus which is incurable and leads to a
syndrome called AIDS. If you do get HIV then to reduce your chances of dying
early from AIDS associated illnesses, you MUST take Antiretroviral treatment -
which is - for life.
We know this, its been drummed
into our heads everywhere we go. We have seen infected people and have seen the
statistics on how many people are on ARV treatment which is reported to be
working for them.
BUT.....
What if I told you that HIV is
not a killer virus? That a virus cannot cause a syndrome?
Well, I am 28 years old, HIV
positive for the past 13 years, I was diagnosed after being raped twice in my
teens. This is my take on the dogma that HIV=AIDS=DEATH. Before I begin to
share what I have found out over the past years let me start with telling you
that, for me, the research about AIDS wasn’t a story nor a matter of curiousity.
It was MY life and death. It is MY truth. Being diagnosed with HIV is a
traumatic experience emotionally, physically and mentally. Some never recover
from the shock and some die from it.
THE DISCOVERERS OF HIV
Human Immunodeficiency Virus was
discovered in 1981 in America. This virus is reported to cause Acquired
Immunodeficiency Sydrome which is a condition in humans in which a progressive
failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections
and cancers to thrive.
We always hear about the year in
which the virus was discovered in the media but seldom about the people who
discovered it and how they did it.
Dr Gallo discovered the virus. At
the time that of his discovery, gay men were dying of a mysterious cancer-like
disease which the Center for Disease Control (CDC) could not identify. In 1980
there were no reported cases of HIV, yet in 1995 there were thousands of people
infected.
Take note that there are
currently 30 different diseases that result in AIDS death. We need to ask
ourselves that after 30 years and billions of funds into research, why has the research failed?
In a press conference held in
April 1984, Margaret Heckler - the then Secretary of Health and Human Services
in America, with Dr Gallo, announced that the probable cause for AIDS is
HIV. Heckler then said a vaccine would
be available for testing by 1986.
Dr Gallo in his discovery that
HIV causes AIDS bypassed all checkpoints to his discovery as dictated by the
scientific world. The research was not peer reviewed and it was published after
the press conference which is something that goes against scientific protocol.
The Institute Pasteur in Paris
proceeded to then claim that Gallo's AIDS virus was actually their discovery.
This claim was diplomatically resolved by President Reagan and the agreement
was for the US and France to split the profits on the antibody blood test kit.
When Gallo's research was
published, it was also discovered that only 44 of the 93 AIDS patients he
tested actually had the virus (1). The argument that HIV does not cause AIDS
has been dismissed by many, suppressed by the media and
disputed by the political-economic powers of AIDS industry, yet a growing group
of scientist are disputing the current hypothesis.
These scientists, comprising of 12
Nobel prize recipients (2) and lead by Charles Thomas - a medical research
biologist and Havard Professor - believe that the reason AIDS research has
failed is because it never found the cause of it. It is too late to turn back
as millions of people have been told that they are dying, have been given a
misdiagnosis and toxic drugs (ARVs).
Neville Hodgkinson of London
Sunday Times said in April 26, 1992 on the question of If HIV does not cause
AIDS: '...then we will have witnessed the biggest medical and scientific
blunder of this century.'
The group for scientific
reappraisal of HIV/AIDS hypothesis, lead by Charles Thomas wrote a letter to
many medical journals which stated:
"It is widely believed by the general pubic that a retrovirus called HIV
causes a group of diseases called AIDS.
Many bio-medical scientists now question this hypothesis. We propose a
thorough re-appraisal of the existing evidence for and against this hypothesis
be conducted by a suitable independent group. We further propose that a
critical epidemiological study be devised and undertaken."
The letter was rejected by all
medical journals. The scientists then
extended the number of signatories in the letter to 600, still
unpublished. Meanwhile at the San
Franscisco AIDS conference in 1990, Luc Montagnier (French co-discoverer of
HIV) said: "HIV might be benign (harmless).”
The matter did not receive any
spotlight. If HIV does not cause AIDS,
then what does? Why are people dying
from AIDS related symptoms after testing positive for HIV antibody test?
THE HIV ANTIBODY TEST
There are currently numerous
studies listing 70 non-HIV conditions that can make the test produce false
positive results.(3) Christine Johnson
from the HEAL organisation in Los Angeles listed these condition in a September/October
1996 Continuum with over 60 references to the false positive study from
scientists. One of the facts Christine points out is that the proteins used in
the HIV test have never been proven to be unique or specific to for HIV.
That means the scientific
evidence cannot prove that a positive HIV test means that you have HIV or any
other health problem and it says so right on EVERY TEST PACKAGE. Most doctors and patients never see this
disclaimer. It is reported that when Dr Gallo and Margaret Heckler were making the
announcement of HIV causing AIDS at the press conference in 1984, the blood
test/method used to detect HIV was being patented [By whom? Gallo?]. This patent would subsequently earn large sums
of money in royalties
to Gallo (4).
HIV follows the pattern of
passenger viruses that do not cause a disease. Passenger viruses typically infect and are neutralized
long before a disease can occur. HIV follows the same pattern. Because only
antibodies against HIV are detected in the test, therefore AIDS is defined by
these since it was discovered. Virologist Peter Deusberg has said.
REASONS WHY HIV DOESN’T CAUSE AIDS
* HIV, like any retrovirus, is
harmless after antibody immunity.
* HIV does not kill the T-cells
it infects. Retroviruses do not kill the host cells.
* HIV does not infect enough T-cells
to cause AIDS. T-cells reproduce at a rate of 5% a day. HIV infects 1 out of every 1000 T-cells. AIDS patients lack T-cells and depletion
should kill more than half of these cells.
* There is no such thing as a
slow virus yet the HI-Virus takes years to cause AIDS. HIV is inactive for over 10 years then causes
30 different diseases that are previously known to men. In 1984 the life
expectancy with HIV was one year, in 1996 it was 10-12 years.
* HIV is not a new virus so it
could not cause a new epidemic yet AIDS cases have increased from 0 in 1980 to
half a million in 1995 (5).
* HIV fails the Koch's postulates
(Robert Koch discovered that TB is caused by bacteria) which states that with
the discoveries of viruses, they should all follow the same 4 patterns using
these guidelines - Associate, Isolate, RE-isolate and Inoculate. Koch specifies that
1.1 The same micro-organism must
be present in every case of the disease (there are currently HIV negative AIDS
patients)
1.2 The virus must be cloned and
grown in pure culture
1.3 The virus must cause the
disease when inoculated into a healthy host
1.4 The virus must be isolated in
pure culture from an experimentally infected host
Other diseases that failed Koch's
postulates and failed to be infectious are: Scurvy, Beri Beri, Pelegra, SMON
and VIrus Cancer (6)
* According to science, the virus
incubation period is 8-24 hours. HIV infections show signs within 5-10 years
yet HIV replicates in 24 hours? (7)
* AIDS has remained in the
original risk groups. If a disease does not spread across the population, it
must be caused by something non-infectious. In 1992 the number of infections
between different risk groups were: Gay 62%, IV Drug users 32% Hemophiliacs 1%,
Blood transfusion patients 2% (8).
* The international profile of
AIDS patients is inconsistent. While in
the US aids resides in 97% of the risk groups, in Africa it is a random
occurrence.
As an HIV positive person, I have
gone through different HIV/AIDS institutions from public to private health care
centres. Most testing centres do not
have sufficient knowledge, they simply repeat what they have been told. I have
posed questions to them about the testing process and the different testing
kits and have been met with blank stares in some and those who have the answers
repeat the same thing.
It is not their fault as they are
doing a job they have been taught, but it is irresponsible to put millions of
people's mental, emotional and physical well being on individuals that do not
know the difference between an ELISA and Western Blot test or what the test
package insert says. These are people's lives.
People that have been given the
authority to tell others that they have a killer virus should at least have
advanced knowledge on the subject. Being told you are HIV positive is a
traumatic experience.
The truth is that these diseases
had to be put under one umbrella as AIDS for research funding while people were
in fact dying of age old diseases. What is new about TB and diarrhoea in
Africa? There are also other diseases that resemble AIDS i.e. drug use and
anorexia. HI-Virus has no specific new
disease but somehow causes the previously known diseases under the AIDS
umbrella. The real causes of AIDS will
continue to take lives while funds go to a failed hypothesis.
(In Part 2 I explore the causes
of AIDS in Africa)
References:
1. Science Volume 224 May 4 1984
2. The Group of Scientific
Reappraisal of the HIV/AIDS Hypothesis
3. www.helpforhiv.com
4. The emperor's new disease
5. CDC report June 1995
6&7. 'A World Without Aids'
by Phillip Day and Steven Ransom (Credence Publishers 2000)
8. CDC report 1992
Photography by: Flo Mokale (Thanks to Fesiza)
