Is AIDS Denialism a Cult?

The Cult of HIV Denialism

By Jeanne Bergman, Ph.D.

Published at the Body.com Spring 2010

More is known about HIV than about any other virus. Less than three decades ago, doctors were perplexed by the appearance of Kaposi's sarcoma and Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in young gay men. Since then, scientists and doctors, spurred by the activism of people with AIDS, discovered the virus now called HIV and proved that it causes AIDS by crippling the immune system until the body can no longer resist life-threatening infections.

Scientists around the world have isolated HIV, photographed it with electron microscopes, and sequenced the genomes of its different subtypes. There are now highly accurate tests for HIV antibodies and the virus itself, and increasingly effective and tolerable antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) for its treatment. Science is a gradual process, and there is still much that is not fully understood about HIV, but the evidence that HIV exists, is transmissible by blood, semen, and vaginal fluids -- and that it causes AIDS -- is vast and thorough.

The Denialists and Their Cult

The Commonalities of Global Warming Denialism and AIDS Denialism

Monckton's response to John Abraham is magnificently bonkers

Monckton fails to provide a convincing refutation of Abraham's criticisms but does throw a great deal of dust into the air.

From George Monbiot's Blog

Say what you like about Viscount Monckton, he never fails to entertain.His response to the devastating critique of his claims about climate change by the physicist John Abraham is magnificently bonkers.

To give you a flavour of Monckton's reasoning, here are some examples of what he cites as evidence of Abraham acting out of malice:

• Abraham pointed out that Monckton "has not written a single peer-reviewed science paper on any topic";

• Abraham stated that Lord Monckton "presented a lot of data with no citations or no explanation";

• He pointed out that "if you don't tell us where it's from we can't assess the data";

• He explained that a graph displayed by Lord Monckton was "almost off by 100%".

These are all straight statements of fact. It is impossible to see how they could be construed as malicious, unless you regard all criticism of your views and credentials as illegitimate.

Henry Bauer Returns Home to Vienna: For the International AIDS Conference?

I decided to sit out of the International AIDS Conference this year. I have only gone to a few of these, mostly because they have become less important for researchers. The last good one was Vancouver 1996 when combination therapies were generating excitement for a possible cure. Personally, I find the International AIDS Conference to be a bit of a circus. So guess what? The circus has some new clowns. Check out the AIDS Denialism side show in Vienna. Have a Schnitzel with Peter, Claus, and Henry (they speak the native tongue). Watch for the AIDS Deniers protesting AIDS science. Have fun. But please, do not feed the AIDS Deniers...they are dangerous and they are attracted to food.
UPDATE: More Russian coverage of Denialism as science. Amazingly, they have never heard of Peter Duesberg before.


AIDS - Knowledge and Dogma
Conditions for the Emergence and Decline of Scientific Theories
Congress, July 16/17 2010, Vienna, Austria


Final Program
Simultaneous translation into English and German is provided for all
presentations.

Lunch and coffee breaks are provided for all participants.

Download the actual Congress Program as PDF
Friday, July 16th
09:00   Registration
09:30 - 10:15   Uta Santos-König
"Immaculate conception or maculate perception - A view of science
through Ludwik Fleck’s spectacles"