VIRUSMYTH HOMEPAGE
PRESS RELEASE FROM THE GROUP
Immediate Release
6 April 2001
The Group For the Scientific Reappraisal of AIDS Welcomes and
Endorses Panel Report from South Africa
"The spirit of liberty is the spirit that is never too certain that it is
right."
-- Former Supreme Court Justice Learned Hand
This week's release of the long awaited Presidential AIDS Advisory Panel
Report from South Africa represents an historic turning point that The Group
For the Scientific Reappraisal of AIDS has been fighting for since its
inception a decade ago.
The group was formed in 1991 by former Harvard biologist Dr. Charles Thomas
who, along with many other eminent scientists, felt the need to formally
oppose the totalitarian nature of the AIDS discourse, and its tragic
consequences on the lives of millions of people around the world.
Since the 1984 press conference at which HIV was declared by the United
States Government to be the "probable" cause of AIDS, the mass media has
cemented the impression that the scientific consensus to this hypothesis was
total. In fact there has been considerable and formidable disagreement from
many corners of the scientific community, most famously from UC/Berkeley
virologist Dr. Peter Duesberg, whose name has become equated with dissenting
points of view.
Scientists who initially shared Duesberg's critical viewpoint soon found
themselves subject to extreme forms of censorship and professional punishment
resulting from their departure from the orthodox view. The (then titled)
Group For The Scientific Reappraisal of The HIV-AIDS Hypothesis came into
existence as a group of signatories of an open letter to the scientific
community.
The letter, (dated June 6, 1991) was submitted to every major scientific
journal, including Nature, Science, The Lancet, and The New England Journal
Of Medicine. All refused to publish it. In 1996, The Group was finally able
to get a letter published in Science. The original letter read as follows:
To the editor:
It is widely believed by the general public that a retrovirus called HIV
causes the group of diseases called AIDS. Many biochemical scientists now
question this hypothesis. We propose that a thorough reappraisal of the
existing evidence for and against this hypothesis be conducted by a suitable
independent group. We further propose that critical epidemiological studies
be devised and undertaken.
Although the popular media persists in depicting the challenge to the main
paradigm as insignificant, and claims that the evidence for HIV as the cause
of AIDS is "overwhelming," the new report from South Africa provides
far-ranging data that substantiate many concepts and ideas advanced by The
Group.
Over 2000 signatories have lent their names to this dissent, including two
Nobel Laureates Dr. Walter Gilbert and Dr. Kary Mullis. The overwhelming
majority hold Ph.D. degrees in various scientific disciplines, from virology
and epidemiology to biochemistry and medicine.
We take delight in noting the irony that The Group's lofty goal of open
scientific discourse was finally realized in South Africa, a country long
known as the home of "apartheid" but recognized today as a beacon of hope and
promise as the "rainbow nation."
President Thabo Mbeki has prevailed in his quest for a fuller, deeper
understanding of the complex cause or causes of AIDS, despite the
near-hysterical protests from mainstream AIDS activists, the research
establishment, and the media. This week, an interim report was released,
documenting the arguments made by both the conventional viewpoint and the
dissidents who comprised the 60 member panel. This panel met twice in South
Africa, and engaged in an internet debate that was distilled into the 132
page report which was released on April 4th.
While the report does not reach a definitive conclusion over whether or not
HIV causes AIDS, it is nonetheless a victory for those who have insisted upon
scientific discourse as the only path to real solutions to the AIDS crisis.
The report lends credence to the very questions the dissidents have insisted
be brought to light since 1987.
These questions stem from the core question: Does HIV Cause AIDS? Using
dispassionate, scientific language, the report concedes that this question
remains unanswered, and that the orthodox contention that the evidence is
"overwhelming" is unfounded. The report fulfills the original goals expressed
in the Group's 1991 letter which stated that "the only way of generating the
answers is to carry out proper scientific investigations."
All ten experiments proposed by AIDS dissidents on the panel were endorsed
for funding by the South African Cabinet. Upon completion, these experiments
will at long last answer fundamental questions about:
* HIV's alleged pathogenic effect (its role in AIDS)
* The accuracy of the widely used HIV tests which cross react with a range of
other non-HIV microbes endemic to Africa, including those for malaria and TB,
as well immunological factors detectable among pregnant women.
* The extraordinary lack of reliable figures on HIV or AIDS on the continent
of Africa, where the Global Burden of Disease Study (1996) estimated that
only 1.1% of death statistics were accurate.
* The unexplained yet vitally important impact of heightened levels of
poverty, malnutrition, unclean drinking water, improper sanitation, and other
non-viral challenges that cause significant increases in sickness and death
in Africa, where many deaths are now routinely attributed to AIDS or are
called AIDS-related.
* The toxic effects of AIDS drugs which by themselves can be lethal.
The Group expects that the media will predictably treat the prudent and
balanced South Africa report with its usual mix of moral condemnation and
disdain for the facts. They will do so under the guise of protecting the
public from information deemed "dangerous." We consider information to fall
into two categories: true or false. It follows from that principle that the
only dangerous information is that which is false. In that spirit, we applaud
the courage of President Mbeki and his ministers who have reminded us all of
the true meaning of freedom and democracy.
We hope that members of the media will scrutinize the South African AIDS
Report, re-examine their core beliefs about HIV and AIDS, and fulfill the
core mandate of the journalistic ethic which is to check all sides of the
story, and to report the facts as they find them.
We are ready to assist in this process any way we can.
In conclusion, The Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of AIDS reaffirms and
reiterates its mission statement:
1) To develop, articulate, and promote rational scientific discourse on the
subject of HIV and AIDS.
2) To advocate the absolute right for students, professors, physicians,
scientists, government officials, and everyone else to think freely and speak
openly on the subject of HIV and AIDS without fear of professional, social,
political, economic, or criminal penalties.
3) To assemble scientists, physicians, and other informed people who support
these views, and make them available for commentary and consultation to
interested social groups, media outlets, government agencies, professional
organizations, and individuals.
Contact: Celia Farber (Press Secretary) (212) 803-5185, CIFarber@aol.com
The full AIDS Advisory Panel Report can be found at: www.aidspanelreport.com
Visit our website at: www.RethinkingAIDS.com
VIRUSMYTH HOMEPAGE