Posted on 04/14/2005 6:18:38 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants
Ninety-nine percent of AIDS and HIV cases in Africa come from sexual transmission, virtually all heterosexual. So says the World Health Organization, with other agencies toeing the line. Massive condom airdrops accompanied by a persuasive propaganda campaign would practically make the epidemic vanish overnight. Or would it?
A determined renegade group of three scientists has fought for years – with little success – to get out the message that no more than a third of HIV transmission in Africa is from sexual intercourse and most of that is anal. By ignoring the real vectors, they say, we’re sacrificing literally millions of people.
These men are no crackpots. John Potterat is author of 140 scholarly publications. He began working for the El Paso County, Colorado health department in 1972 and initiated the first U.S. partner-tracing program for AIDS/HIV.
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
Massive condom airdrops accompanied by a persuasive propaganda campaign would practically make the epidemic vanish overnight. Or would it?
..no, it would provide balloons for the next party.
Doogle
This is a fascinating article. I expect there's some truth to it. On the other hand, why is HIV in Africa about as common among women and among men?
“First World researchers doing second rate science in Third World countries.”
Or in other words ... It's all about the money. No myth ... no dough.
You may wish to re-read the article. ;)
The number of men who have contracted AIDS via vaginal sex is in the US is so low as to be statistically non-existent. Yet people say hello to their neighbor in Africa and they get the disease. Obviously the official numbers of heterosexual transmissions in Africa are a joke.
"...why is HIV in Africa about as common among women and among men?"
if the anal sex bunch is bisexual, they practice it with the women as well.
Also, no-one will EVER convince me that you can get aids from a needle but not biting insects.
Another factor is that AIDS is vaguely defined in Africa. The presence of numerous different diseases is taken as evidence of AIDS, but there may or may not be a test for HIV infection.
As to how women get the disease, it's possible that it is transmitted to them not only through punctures, as noted, but also through anal intercourse.
A serious problem is that this is such a political disease that you can't really trust anyone's research. They find what they are expected to find by the people who pay them, and they don't venture to look for anything else. There's an enormous industry here sucking up the AIDS money pouring out of government coffers.
Interesting. I will bookmark.
How f--king insulting is it to have condoms air-dropped on your land by libertine euro-freak do-gooders.
I'd shoot the plane down and start a war if it were my country, no matter how poor and "backward" our lifestyle.
I would guess that otehr STD's that weaken the immune system and cause vaginal and/or penile bleeding and/or discharge was the culprit.
But I was told AIDS in Africa is all the Pope's fault, or if not, Bush's fault. /sarc
Good article. So, the reason may be due more to poor medical practices...
I've also read that the AIDS number may be overblown in Africa because - paraphrasing here - AIDS treatment is better-funded and, if a person is sick, and they want treatment, they can get it by claiming "AIDS"...
Also, there's a book and documentary on how the development of the polio vaccine using chimps might've led to the disease in humans in the first place, beginning in Africa, where they were testing the new vaccine on people. (The investigator's work was refuted by scientists, but the evidence was pretty compelling).
Because of the belief that AIDS can be cured (if you're a man, of course) by having sex with a young virgin.
I too worry about those big giant mosquitoes we have down here. A couple of generations back most of my forbearers were killed by yellow fever spread by mosquitoes. My Dad got malaria down here. I am suspicious of them and wish DDT would come back. That ban has been a disgrace.
well, if some of those doctors are using that needle on a patient with AIDS, anyone who follows on that same needle would probably get it, too.
Yup. Higher AIDS numbers means more UN money
The ban on DDT has indirectly killed more people than AIDS has, especially in developing countries (although that is changing rapidly, as evidenced by stories such as this).
Didn't the article state bisexuality.
That is astounding!
I sit here, in the comfort of relative wealth and knowledge, taking health care, as expensive as it may well be, for granted.
Meanwhile those billions of dollars given the continent of Africa, [ see ... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1383427/posts ] and other third world nations, seeming to dissapear into the black hole of human greed and corruption. And all the while there is the continual braying for more. We [the wealthy] are not giving our fair share.
Sound familiar?
Did you read the article? Two big sources of African AIDS: 1) contaminated medical needles (for innoculations, dental surgery etc.); and 2) heterosexual anal intercourse.
It should also be noted, that blood screening in Africa is not on par with what is being done in the Western world, so there is also a strong possibility of contaminated blood reaching patients.
Or the Nile virus, or malaria, or ... ;)
What am I missing here? Two-thirds is transmitted by something other than sexual intercourse?
not neccessarily other than sexual intercourse. the author is merely stating that the mythical 99% hetero transmission rate is a load of hookum, or so his own independant research states. the author wants the "authorities" at the WHO to adjust their own statistics to reflect reality and not perpetuate a myth. That said, he would have a stronger case for change if his research showed that 50% or more of the transmissions were through homosexual contact. As it stands, the WHO can still say "well its still at 66% and its still to high. we still need to hand out condoms." instead of informing the public that risky behavior such as needle reuse and homosexual/bisexual behavior and then subsequent promiscuity on the part of the infected person, whether hetero or homosexual trying to rid himself/herself of the disease, is the true problem.
By the way, I put Marburg in quotes because it seems less and less likely that the current infection is actually Marburg, and more likely another hemorrhagic fever, such as an Ebola variant. Marburg generally has an 80% survival rate, and that is far different than the current 80% mortality rate we are seeing during this outbreak.
This may sound offensive, but it is the type of sex preferred by men in Africa. They prefer "dry" sex to the point women will do whatever they can to by dry during intercourse. That causes the same tissue tearing in women that gay men get from their form of intercourse which facilitates viral tranmission extremely well in both directions.
Ninety-nine percent of AIDS and HIV cases in Africa come from sexual transmiss
I read that one African nation has 25% of it's population
Infected with Aids!!!
This is Horrendous! They predict that Africa will Loose
50 million people to Aids in the next 20 years.
Because of Ignorance, Men believe that having sex with a Virgin will cure them of Aids they have resorted to raping
young girls and even kidnapping Baby girls from their Beds.
When faced with such backward Superstitions...This will run through Africa like a grassfire.
Poor medical practices and illicit drug use.
Poor medical practices and illicit drug use. Condoms don't stop dirty needles. We could stop AIDS much more effectively by teaching abstinence and giving the hospitals and clinics autoclaves and new needles.
december12 wrote:
This is a fascinating article. I expect there's some truth to it. On the other hand, why is HIV in Africa about as common among women and among men?
I think Africa is lost.
I truly do.
FWIW ... I agree with you 100%.
Were one to look at the health associated problems of any inner city [ Detroit, New york, Chicago, LA ... ] we see the same similarities. Lack of education, morays, drug use, squalor and filth. Middle America appears quite healthy. Seems to be equateable to the Red / Blue election map.
Thanks for the Marburg info, and I get your point.
Speaking of superstitions, there's the story of how the sex educators were teaching the Africans to put a condom on their "spear" before having sex in order to prevent Aids. The trouble was that when the educators came back to see how things were going, they noticed that the huts all had a spear with a condom on it propped up against the entrance to the hut.
Ping
Possibly because it is being spread by medical procedures, as stated in the article?
A needle, yes, but there are no documented cases of AIDS transmission from insect bites. I believe the experts say AIDS is highly unlikely to be transferred from insects bites, but to say it's impossible to transfer AIDS via insects would seem wrong.
This article makes a case against HIV transmission via mosquitos: Why Mosquitos Cannot Transmit AIDS. Here's another helpful article: Can I get AIDS from a mosquito bite?
I'm sorry but I just don't believe that two-thirds of the aids cases in Africa come from dirty needles and poor medical practices.
Explain the *extraordinarily* high level of STDs. Dirty needles? right
It's from sex, anal sex, dry sex, and lots of sex. Any group that uses sand to enhance the 'sexual experience' is going to get into trouble.
The answer lies in the medical transmission of HIV/AIDS.African sexual health programmes "misguided"
The authors conclude that although unsafe medical practices probably caused most of the spread of HIV in Africa (see the March issue of International Journal of STD and AIDS), anal intercourse accounts for perhaps the majority of the remainder. Brody warns: "No one is warned about the dangers of anal intercourse, and people are dying as a result."Anal Sex Largest Cause of HIV in Africa (The title is wrong at the source)
A study by researchers at the University of Tuebingen in Germany has found that anal sex, both homosexual and heterosexual, is the second largest cause of HIV transmission in Africa. Transmission in medical settings, such as through dirty needles, is listed as the primary cause...
Because the men swing both ways.
Some links in post 43 may help...
I am soooooo glad that my ancestors got stuck on the boat and brought over here, cuz... I'm pretty my surburban Black a$$ wouldn't make it in the Motherland.... whew. I need air condition, free trade, good health care, religious freedom, democracy and satellite TV (amongst other things....)
It doesn't make sense, no matter what the links say, that dirty medical needles are causing the aids epidemic. Think about it. They're third world countries. Access to medical care of any kind is limited in some places - yet the rates are just as high in those places.
Look also along the Congo River at areas where there are prostitutes. Sky high rates.
If the STD rate is so high - and it is! - why is it that STDs are being transmitted but not HIV?
Anal seems logical to me as far as spreading African AIDS. The authors have a good theory.
But the article doesn't say that. The articles says that 1/3 of aids cases comes from sexual intercourse and most of that is anal. Thus 2/3 comes from something other than regular sex or anal sex.
Hey, I'm about to undergo surgery to my sensitive parts rather than have to live with those stupid rubber sheaths for the rest of my life. Titania67 insisted, and after four kids I consider it well worth it!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.