AIDS figures in Africa exaggerated: report

[Ayinde]

www.theage.com.au

Millions of Africans believed to have HIV/AIDS are free of the disease, according to new research.

The preliminary report of the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey - funded and backed by a US agency, the Centres for Disease Control - suggested that HIV has infected about 1 million adults in the country.

Previous estimates put the number at up to 3 million.

The findings will dismay those who claim the West is ignoring a pandemic so acute that it could wipe out the populations of whole African states.

Scientists said the report would force a rethink in the way the UN measures AIDS prevalence in Africa.

Earlier surveys in Mali, Zambia and South Africa hinted that AIDS might not be as widespread as believed, but scientists said the new data was conclusive.

It would allow them to extrapolate findings across the continent, reducing infection estimates by at least a quarter.

Reproduced for fair use only from:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/09/1073437471292.html

[out_of_Zion]

What you have to realize is that they did not and will not test all the people and count up numbers.  They test populations and make estimates.  Another fact that remains is that the number shifts constantly since those in advanced stages of AIDS die, meanwhile others contract HIV, and it's a very fluid population...

Whether it is "as bad" as previously thought or not - it's bad.  I've heard that many places in Africa are nearly devoid of entire professions of workers due to the employees having died.  AIDS has the potential to really wreck this world.

[Rootsie]

Inflated AIDS figures in Africa serve a dual purpose: first, they are of great financial benefit to pharmaceutical mega-corporations. Second,  they reinforce ugly stereotypes about Africa and Africans, and create new ones.
Something Tyehimba posted awhile back has really stuck with me. Bill Gates has committed $1 billion to supposedly save 9 million people in Africa by 2010 by giving them pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile he is personally making $200 million a year on his pharmaceutical stocks. Nice profit. Invest $1 billion, make $2 billion. Do Bill Gates and his buddies have any incentive to see an end to AIDS? I don't think so. This is a good example of the wickedness of 'charity.'

[out_of_Zion]

UGH, rootsie, you are so right it's disgusting.  

[IyahminHotep]

Ises!

PLease take a look at this article concerning numbers of "AIDS VICTIMS" and HIV infections,

http://www.rastafarispeaks.com/cgi-bin/forum/config.pl?read=36935

Bless up!

[out_of_Zion]

It's easy to jump to conclusions, but HIV is a slow killer.  We might not truly see its impact (or lack thereof) until 5 to 10 years from now.  What I said about the estimates was mentioned in the article linked...They usually don't list margin of errors in the newspaper when they come out with these statistics either.  Whether it's an inflated problem or not though, it is a problem, and one that is not exclusive to Africa obviously.  

The worst of the issue is that people are often negligent in getting tested and never "think the worst."  And because of that and the casual attitude many have with regards to sex in these times, it's condusive to the spread of all sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, syphillis, etc.  As much as they're putting into the pharmaceuticals, needs to be put into education, so that people have their mates tested - awkward though that may be - have themselves tested, and protect themselves...When you're dealing with a deadly disease, it's worth the extra effort.

[Rootsie]

Well this is a Euro-centric perspective on this problem. In Africa the vast majority of those diagnosed with HIV are never tested because the resources and facilties do not exist for this to happen. And since AIDS can present like malaria and other things, it is not far-fetched to speculate that there is an element of hoax to this African 'epidemic.' It is in the interests of the AIDS industry to pitch the estimates way high.
The World Bank/IMF have instituted policies that have devastated Africa. Now comes the kind hand of the West who has found yet another way to continue bleeding Africa dry.

There are huge interests that benefit directly from the continuation of murderous and unjust policies. Homelessness is an industry. 'International relief' is an industry. The West sets up the circumstances for mass starvation and then the Red Cross and others come to 'relieve' it. And every white citizen in the West benefits from this sick situation too, whether we want to or not.

[IyahminHotep]

I'm sorry but you need to get you're facts straight!

HIV is NOT a killer, it is a passenger virus, it does not kill or destroy cells any more than a flu does. It is when people die of all sorts of common deceases (a list of 29 comprised the standard AIDS definition) wich have to do with immuun/health problems is when they are classified as AIDS patients. see the articles i've posted on the message boards for links and references.

Further AIDS means Aquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. A syndrome of aquired immune deficiency can not be contagious. I can't catch you're Immune deficiency syndromes and neither the other way around.

Who is dying? and if people in Afrika are dying is it because of poverty, malnutrition, tbc,malaria, bad hygiene, no clear water etc but now all of a sudden noone dies of these problems no more. Now everybody dies of AIDS?? Yeh right :-/

Peace!

[IyahminHotep]

My last response was to out of zion,

There is no such thing as an HIV or AIDS test! NONE! There is a HIV anti body test wich indicates very inaccurately if there are antibodies made in you're body for HIV. Anti- bodies are being made ALL OF THE TIME! This is such a ridiculous science but widely accepted. Ones should know the history behind the discovery of this "pandemic called AIDS" and the tests and drugs following.

False positive occur at such a high rate that not even the FDA has EVER approved ONE SINGLE TEST MADE TILL NOW!

Afrikans are known to project even more false positives thats why they dont test as often in Afrika as they do in U-ropian world. In Afrika the definition for Aids is determined in wheightloss, chronic fever, diarea, persistent coughing and other health issues well known in impoverished areas in Afrika long before the " announcement of AIds" in 1984. If you catch Malaria in Afrika and take a test, there is a HUGE chance you will be diagnosed HIV positive in Afrika. And then here come the real killer drugs like AZT , DDT and other chemo cocktails!

THe folllowing are (64) all factors known to help generate these false positives,

Factors Known to Cause
False Positive HIV Antibody Test Results
Anti-carbohydrate antibodies 52,19,13
Naturally-occurring antibodies 5,19
Passive immunization: receipt of gamma globulin or immune globulin (as prophylaxis against infection which contains antibodies) 18, 26, 60, 4, 22, 42, 43, 13
Leprosy 2, 25
Tuberculosis 25
Mycobacterium avium 25
Systemic lupus erythematosus 15, 23
Renal (kidney) failure 48, 23, 13
Hemodialysis/renal failure 56, 16, 41, 10, 49
Alpha interferon therapy in hemodialysis patients 54
Flu 36
Flu vaccination 30, 11, 3, 20, 13, 43
Herpes simplex I 27
Herpes simplex II 11
Upper respiratory tract infection (cold or flu) 11
Recent viral infection or exposure to viral vaccines 11
Pregnancy in multiparous women 58, 53, 13, 43, 36
Malaria 6, 12
High levels of circulating immune complexes 6, 33
Hypergammaglobulinemia (high levels of antibodies) 40, 33
False positives on other tests, including RPR (rapid plasma reagent) test for syphilis 17, 48, 33, 10, 49
Rheumatoid arthritis 36
Hepatitis B vaccination 28, 21, 40, 43
Tetanus vaccination 40
Organ transplantation 1, 36
Renal transplantation 35, 9, 48, 13, 56
Anti-lymphocyte antibodies 56, 31
Anti-collagen antibodies (found in gay men, haemophiliacs, Africans of both sexes and people with leprosy) 31
Serum-positive for rheumatoid factor, antinuclear antibody (both found in rheumatoid arthritis and other autoantibodies) 14, 62, 53
Autoimmune diseases 44, 29, 1O, 40, 49, 43
Systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, connective tissue disease, dermatomyositis Acute viral infections, DNA viral infections 59, 48, 43, 53, 40, 13
Malignant neoplasms (cancers) 40
Alcoholic hepatitis/alcoholic liver disease 32, 48, 40, 10, 13, 49, 43, 53
Primary sclerosing cholangitis 48, 53
Hepatitis 54
"Sticky" blood (in Africans) 38, 34, 40
Antibodies with a high affinity for polystyrene (used in the test kits) 62, 40, 3
Blood transfusions, multiple blood transfusions 63, 36, 13, 49, 43, 41
Multiple myeloma 10, 43, 53
HLA antibodies (to Class I and II leukocyte antigens) 7, 46, 63, 48, 10, 13, 49, 43, 53
Anti-smooth muscle antibody 48
Anti-parietal cell antibody 48
Anti-hepatitis A IgM (antibody) 48
Anti-Hbc IgM 48
Administration of human immunoglobulin preparations pooled before 1985 10
Haemophilia 10, 49
Haematologic malignant disorders/lymphoma 43, 53, 9, 48, 13
Primary biliary cirrhosis 43, 53, 13, 48
Stevens-Johnson syndrome 9, 48, 13
Q-fever with associated hepatitis 61
Heat-treated specimens 51, 57, 24, 49, 48
Lipemic serum (blood with high levels of fat or lipids) 49
Haemolyzed serum (blood where haemoglobin is separated from the red cells) 49
Hyperbilirubinemia 10, 13
Globulins produced during polyclonal gammopathies (which are seen in AIDS risk groups) 10, 13, 48
Healthy individuals as a result of poorly-understood cross-reactions 10
Normal human ribonucleoproteins 48, 13
Other retroviruses 8, 55, 14, 48, 13
Anti-mitochondrial antibodies 48, 13
Anti-nuclear antibodies 48, 13, 53
Anti-microsomal antibodies 34
T-cell leukocyte antigen antibodies 48, 13
Proteins on the filter paper 13
Epstein-Barr virus 37
Visceral leishmaniasis 45
Receptive anal sex 39, 64

[out_of_Zion]

Most of what you say is true, but in the HIV form, it can be transferred, just like any other IMMUNO VIRUS.  Viruses are a thread of RNA and they force their way into healthy T-cells, causing them to die.  The "slow killing" that I speak of is the gradual depletion of T-cells...then what you mentioned can occur, another illness does do the killing BECAUSE of the fact that the leukocytes and granuoles are too low as the primary defense system and there are not any enough T-cells to phagocytize the infection.

I didn't know there was no sure-fire way to determine if one is HIV positive.  The "education" they projected is that there is...but I never really knew much about it.

And what you say about the deaths in Afrika is obviously true; I don't dispute that.  

[out_of_Zion]

Wow...

So if what you say is really true, then virtually any infection can cause the "test" to show HIV indication.  They've gotta come up with a better way of finding identifying factors...