April 6, 2001
Contact: Celia Farber (Press Secretary)
(212) 803-5185
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.
·
The full AIDS Advisory Panel Report can be found at: www.aidspanelreport.com--—
---Visit our website at: HYPERLINK “http://www.RethinkingAIDS.com---“
www.RethinkingAIDS.com---
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