AFRO-NETS> Expert group stresses that unsafe sex is primary mode...(2)

[Richard <Laing.richardl@bu.edu>]

Expert group stresses that unsafe sex is primary mode...(2)
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-----Original Message-----
From: David Gisselquist [mailto:david_gisselquist@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2003 1:35 PM
To: e-drug@healthnet.org
Subject: [e-drug] Origins of AIDS (cont'd)


E-drug: Origins of AIDS (cont'd)

[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 yes-
terday). 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 dis-
cuss "Unsafe injection practices and HIV infection." I took part in 
the meeting. The press release -- issued before the end of the meet-
ing -- 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 ef-
fort to prevent HIV transmission through health care. There was gen-
eral 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 appropri-
ate 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 sex-
ual exposures and estimating HIV from injections at 2.5%. WHO/AIDS 
staff rejected masses of important evidence as based on lies, mis-
takes, 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 coop-
eration on the part of the public are of utmost importance in the im-
provement 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 in-
vestigation that uncovered 250 similar cases and the hospitals and 
clinics involved, and within months improvements in health care pro-
cedures 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 in-
fected 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 infec-
tions 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 interven-
tions. 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 Gisselquist
29 West Governor Road
Hershey
Pennsylvania 17033, USA
mailto:david_gisselquist@yahoo.com

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