The AIDS Foundation is concerned that the Waikato Times has given credence to a wild discredited conspiracy theory that HIV does not exist, and that AIDS is not a sexually transmitted disease. It's a theory that has been around for some time, but one which has not seeped much into the public consciousness in New Zealand. Waikato Times writer Clare Baker wrote about it earlier this month in her Healthy Alternatives column, which was titled Radical Take On AIDS. However, despite the column's title, and Baker's assertion that the topic was "definitely a curly one", the overall tone of the column – as well as the absence of any mainstream scientific opinion within it on HIV/AIDS – gave the impression the theory was closer to fact. Among the claims made in Baker's column were that "a growing number of scientists worldwide" have denounced the theory that HIV and AIDS are related, that HIV medications themselves may actually be causing AIDS, and that it may be possible to recover from AIDS by stopping medication and switching to a "healthier lifestyle". Most radical of all, the column proposed that AIDS was not a sexually transmitted disease, but in fact could be caused by other factors like malnutrition or drug use. In a letter to the Waikato Times, AIDS Foundation spokesman Steve Attwood said such views were "diametrically opposite to the evidence-based position of such authorities as the World Health Organisation and UNAIDS. They stem from a group that seems committed to denying the basic biology of the virus and the evidence of some 40 million people worldwide who became HIV positive via sexual transmission." The Foundation says that newspapers have a duty of care when extreme views concerning public health are published to ensure that authoritative balance is sought. "The NZAF respects the right to voice alternative views, but we are concerned about the potential for considerable public harm if these views result in people abandoning condoms because they believe HIV is not sexually transmitted and AIDS caused by malnutrition or drug use," says Attwood. "There are millions of people, including New Zealanders, who are neither malnourished nor drug users yet are infected with HIV. That HIV is sexually transmitted is scientific fact and condoms remain our most effective defence against its transmission."
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 28th September 2005 - 12:00pm