REPORT FROM UGANDA (JUNE '00)

Compassionate Trust Services (COTS) is a one-year-old organization started to provide objective information and counseling to people "affected by HIV/AIDS" in Uganda. See this report by Peter Kasule from HEAL Kampala.

GEORGE ORWELL, AIDS EXPERT (JUNE '00)

"Orwell would feel quite at home in the age of AIDS." An essay by Martin Kaufman.

HIV TESTS UNRELIABLE (JUNE '00)

"HIV tests can give false positive results for many different infections." See this article by Penn Xarwalyczha from SA's Natal Witness

FLIGHT FROM AIDS POLICE (JUNE '00)

Sophie Brassard is hiding again from the AIDS police. Xavier and Ismael are now off the drugs and doing better. Read in this article from Marnie Ko. (see below for more, or go here)

NEW ARTICLE BY FIALA (JUNE '00)

Dr. Christian Fiala, a Physician from Austria, is a member of the AIDS panel set up by the South African government. He wrote a new article. "People in Africa need our help and support. It is neither helpful nor effective if wrong data and absurd definitions are employed to mislead us and to divert attention from a country‘s real problems. And most often these lie in well-known and treatable infectious diseases and are essentially caused by low standards of living."

PRESIDENT MBEKI'S AIDS PANEL (MAY '00) 

The South African government has set up an international panel to reappraise AIDS. (see below) See the list with scientists invited. President Mbeki opened the first meeting. See this New York Times report, this article from AFP, and this release from Reuters.

The Perth Group was not present at the meeting, read why. See the list of participants. The dissident minority released a statement.

"Duesberg will work with the Atlanta-based Centre for Disease Control and South Africa's Medical Research Council to prepare experiments to determine whether the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes the deadly AIDS." See this Reuters report, this report from AFP, and this release from SAPA.

There will also be a closed internet discussion among all the participants over the next 6 weeks, and there will be a follow-up meeting near the end of June.

See also this article from Washington Times, and this article from Nature.

More SA officials defend the rights of AIDS dissidents to be heard, see this SAPA release, and this Reuters article.

"Former president Nelson Mandela expressed support for President Thabo Mbeki's views on the HIV/AIDS debate, SABC television news reported. Speaking to students in New York, Mandela said Mbeki had done his homework before going public..." (SAPA 16 May)

President Mbeki has been visiting the United States. See this New York Times issue, this article from Chicago Tribune, this Newsday article, this AP issue, and this Reuters report.

Mbeki answered a question about AIDS during a meeting in San Fransico. See also this article from the San Francisco Chronicle.

See also this article by Peter Chowka, this article by Michael Wright, this report by Celia Farber, this report by Joan Shenton, and this interview with Prof. Duesberg and Dr. Dave Rasnick.

You can sign an online petition to support President Mbeki.

AIDS REALISM VERSUS HIV HYPOTHESIS (MAY '00)

John Lauritsen wrote an article for Gay Today. "It's time to wake up, to put an end to the sacrificial ritual of AIDS, the sacrifice of gay men. We didn't deserve this, and we should no longer go along with it."

INDIAN PROF QUESTIONS AIDS (MAY '00)

Dr. Manu Kothari is a Professor of Anatomy from Mumbai, India. He is a participant of the South African AIDS panel, and questions AIDS. Read a bit more about him.

Update: See also this interview by Jethu Mundul.

AFRICA'S AIDS FIGURES ARE DUBIOUS (MAY '00)

"Proper North American-style diagnoses, in combination with clean water, protein nutrition, immunization and other such preliminary steps, could cut the inflated HIV/AIDS figure overnight." See this article by Alexander Rose from Canada's National Post.

ACT UP SF AGAIN (MAY '00)

AIDS industry execs got the boot from ACT UP. Members of ACT UP San Francisco announced the end of AIDS by staging a series of demonstrations inside the offices of the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC), POZ Magazine, AIDS researcher Dr. David Ho and outside the Fifth Avenue residence of author and playwright Larry Kramer. See this press release.

AIDS DISSIDENTS SHOULD BE JAILED (MAY '00)

"Those who contend that HIV does not cause AIDS are criminally irresponsible and should be jailed for the menace they pose to public health... If we could succeed and lock a couple of these guys up, I guarantee you the HIV-denier movement would die pretty darn quickly" said Dr. Mark Wainberg, president of the International AIDS Society, a lobby group for the industry. Read the article from The Globe and Mail. See also this article.

Wainberg received grant support from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Glaxo Wellcome, and Boehringer Ingelheim, and is a shareholder in Biochem Pharma Inc. He is a member of the scientific advisory board of Suprematek Pharma Inc. (*), and is an AIDS patent holder.

AIDS DRUGS CAN KILL (MAY '00)

"The European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA) has issued a warning on the use of the anti-aids drug Nevirapine because the substance has potentially lethal side-effects."

U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY (APRIL '00)

After the U.N. put AIDS on the agenda of the Security Council, the U.S. government makes AIDS a matter of national security. See this Washington Post article. See also this comment by Fintan Dunne.

EYE ON SOUTH AFRICA (APRIL '00) 

The South African government started questioning AIDS. (see below). See this story from The Australian Financial Review. An article from The Sunday Times, a report from AFP, an item from The Independent, another article from the San Francisco Chronicle, an article from The Mail and Guardian, a report from BMJ, an article from Newsweek, a Reuters release, and an article from the Chicago Tribune. And the statement IFAS made before the Commission on Human Rights at the United Nations in Geneva.

"President Thabo Mbeki has given an interview to an AIDS dissident journalist," see this item from the Star. The Meditel programme (see transcript) has been broadcasted on Carte Blanche, M-Net, to 40 African countries. See this article from Reuters, and this SAPA release.

President Mbeki wrote a letter to world leaders. See this Washington Post front page article, and this issue from Reuters. "Deputy President Jacob Zuma has joined the fray in a raging debate on the government's controversial AIDS policy", says the Daily Mail and Guardian. An article from Newsday, and another article from CNN and Time. A news item from Nature, and Nature's open letter to Mbeki. An article from the Globe and Mail, and another one published in The New York Times, an AFP release, and an article from New Scientist.

Listen to the Talk of the Nation radio program, and the Democracy Now program, both covering the President's actions.

There have been rallies to support Mbeki in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto and London. You now can sign an online petition to support the President.

GREED BEHIND PROJECT DEFORM (APRIL '00)

"Soon before the protease inhibitor implosion hit the pages magazines and newspaper across America, Project Inform quietly began circulating its new ethical guidelines. But has the damage already been done?" An article by David Pasquarelli from Magnus.

DRUG EXPERIMENTS HALTED (APRIL '00)

"Five South African women have died during an ongoing clinical trial of anti-retroviral AIDS drug Nevirapine." Read the news item from AFP. "Triangle Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares fell 34 percent", says this Blooomberg item. "PAC chief whip Patricia de Lille said that she has uncovered a 'nest of abuse and exploitation'." Read the article from Natal Witness. See also this news item from the BMJ. Another patient died, see this SAPA article.

NEW SCIENTIFIC HERESY (APRIL '00)

"Is disagreeing with prevailing HIV paradigm a criminal offense?" A new column by Nicholas Regush for abcnews.com. "As science appears to be the new "religion" in our culture, those deemed to be in disagreement with its "articles of truth" should expect they might be portrayed as heretics."

MANDATORY HIV TESTING (APRIL '00)

"Unwarranted mandatory HIV testing of pregnant women is closer to becoming a reality." Read the press release from The International Coalition for Medical Justice.

POSITIVE OR NOT? (MARCH '00)

Carte Blanche is an award-winning actuality programme broadcast by M-Net in South Africa. Vivienne Vermaak made an item about the HIV tests.

MEET THE PRESS (MARCH '00)

"Her renegade coverage had the AIDS world screaming bloody murder. Now, writer Richard Berkowitz gets Celia Farber to answer a decade of charges -- and level a few of her own." Read the interview from Poz.

GOVERNMENT QUESTIONS AIDS (MARCH '00) 

The South African government is going to setup an international panel to reappraise the scientific evidence that HIV causes AIDS. "Never before has any government opened the debate for assessment by an independent expert group." Read more in this SAPA press release, this item from The Star, another one, and this article and this editorial from the Citizen. Some articles published in Focus. Part of the invitation, Dr. David Rasnick's letter to Mbeki, the statement made by the Minister of Health, and another report by SAPA. A reply to Rasnick's letter by the Perth Group, with replies. "The ANC, scientific organisations and institutions ...indicated their support for the government's initiative...", says this SAPA article. An article printed in the Daily Mail, an article from South Africa's Financial Mail, another article from The Village Voice, an item from Nature, and an article from the Sunday Independent. "At least one so-called dissident has accepted an invitation to sit on the panel," says this report from SAPA. An item by AP, and the release from Mbeki's office. Another article from The Star, an article from Newsday, and an editorial from The Mail & Guardian.

Some new articles about AIDS in Africa were written by dissidents. See this article by Colman Jones for Toronto's Now. Prof. Charles Geshekter got an article published in the Globe and Mail. And Tom Bethell wrote an article for The American Spectator.

NEW COLUMN REGUSH (MARCH '99)

"Grown-ups who call themselves scientists often write to me in hysterics when their views are challenged. You would be amazed to see some of the hateful material I read in my e-mail in the early hours of the morning." Read the latest column by Nicholas Regush for abcnews.com.

ABUSE OF FEDERAL AIDS FUNDS (MARCH '00)

"Federal taxpayer dollars intended to provide emergency relief to persons suffering from HIV/AIDS have instead been used to fund dog walking services, trips to Disney World, luxury cars and personal maids for AIDS administrators, even a Governor's election campaign, according to preliminary reports of an AIDS audit conducted by the General Accounting Office, which is due to be released next month." Read more in this Act Up press release.

AIDS HERETICS (MARCH '00)

"Celia Farber, Nicholas Regush and Charles Ortleb question virtually everything you think you know about AIDS–what it is, what causes it, how to treat it. For their pains they’ve been vilified by many AIDS activists as liars, fools and the homophobe equivalent of Holocaust revisionists." Read this cover article from the New York Press.

ROCK GROUP QUESTIONS AIDS (FEB. '00)

The Foo Fighters, a "multimillion-album- selling alternative rock outfit has thrown its weight behind Alive and Well, an 'alternative AIDS information group' that denies any link between HIV and AIDS." Read more in this article from Mother Jones.

DISSIDENT CONFERENCE INDIA (FEB. '00)

A brief report upon the AIDS dissident conference held recently in India, by Dr. Roberto Giraldo, the new president of The Group. "The AIDS dissident movement and the people suffering the tragic consequences of the HIV/AIDS hypothesis, have a great hope in India." See also this news item.

MASS SLAUGHTER (FEB. '00)

"It is taking on the appearance of a mass slaughter. A drug induced-nightmare of unprecedented magnitude for many people who have tested HIV-positive." See the new abcnews.com column by Nicholas Regush.

A MOTHER'S JOURNEY (FEB. '00)

"After discovering she was HIV positive, Gill Hickman not only decided to have a baby, but declined to take any anti-viral drugs. It was the start of a long, lonely journey." Read her story from UK's Independent.

UN ALLOWS BREASTFEEDING (FEB. '00)

"In a striking change of position United Nations health agencies now uphold the role of "exclusive breast feeding" by HIV positive mothers. They also advocate the need to "protect, promote and support in all populations irrespective of HIV prevalence". Earlier, these same agencies had been against such breast feeding by HIV positive mothers." Read more in this article from The Times of India

More on breastfeeding

ACT UP SAN FRANCISCO AGAIN (FEB. '00)

ACT UP San Francisco upset a secret Senate hearing on AIDS complacency. "A dozen angry activists were ejected from a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing convened today to discuss AIDS complacency and increased funding for HIV research and prevention." See their press release, and this article from the Examiner.

SCIENCE FICTION (FEB. '00)

"In 1996 a scientist claimed he'd found a way to defeat AIDS. In the wave of euphoria that followed, a batch of new drugs flooded the market. Four years later, those drugs are wreaking unimaginable horror on the patients who dared to hope. What went wrong?" A new article by Celia Farber for Gear.

UNRELIABLE AIDS TESTS (FEB. '00)

"Rapid HIV screening for infants often yields the wrong results, leading to needless doses of powerful drugs." See this article from Newsday. It covers the Tyson case too. "Each time, Felix' tests came back negative. In December, the state's custody case against Kathleen Tyson was closed."

MEDICAL TORTURE CONTINUES (FEB. '00)

"My children have to take 10 doses a day of highly toxic drugs, seven days a week for the rest of their little lives and if they vomit a dose; they have to take another dose right away. This is torture, not health care." Read the public statement a Canadian mother has released for her press conference, and this press release. "How tragic that the medical community and the government have decided that these children need pills more than they need their mother..."

Nicholas Regush wrote a column about it for abcnews.com. "Was the judge smoking some illegal substance when he thought this case through?"

QUEER ADVERTISING (JAN. '00)

"From Poppers to Protease Inhibitors", a talk by John Lauritsen, delivered at the Queer Studies Symposium, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada. "Within only a few years hundreds of thousands of men were persuaded that poppers were an integral part of their "gay identity". The ads conveyed the message that nothing could be butcher or sexier than to inhale noxious chemical fumes. Bulging muscles were linked to a drug that is indisputably hazardous to the health."

LIVER DAMAGE (JAN '00)

"Medication prescribed to HIV-infected patients causes 10% of them to suffer liver damage severe enough to merit ending the treatment, researchers have found. " Read more in this BBC article.

MORE ABOUT CENSORSHIP (JAN. '00)

Gordon Stewart M.D. Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus of Public Health at Glasgow University, a former WHO adviser on AIDS, and one of U.K.'s most important AIDS whistle blowers. He wrote an article about censorship. "The Lancet has published some short letters but has consistently refused to publish fuller reasons for dissent. This is interesting in a journal which, since 1945, has regularly accepted papers from me on other subjects, and often invited me to draft editorials and assist with reviews. Twice I have been invited by the Royal Statistical Society to present my views and then turned down peremptorily. On many occasions, I have been asked by the BBC and other networks to talk about AIDS only to find, at the last minute, that my appearance was canceled."

THE LAST DEBATE (JAN. '00)

"Debate has been taking place amongst the HIV/AIDS dissident groups regarding the wisdom of taking up the issue of HIV isolation as an argument in our fight against mainstream AIDS science." Read more about it in this new article by the Perth Group.