HIV does not cause AIDS and why we should care about AIDS Denialism - PDF document

12/14/2009 “HIV does not cause AIDS” and why we should care about AIDS Denialism Denial means many things 1

12/14/2009 Denial… refusal to recognize or acknowledge a problem Denial… assertion that something said, believed, alleged, etc., is false: 2

12/14/2009 Denial… defense mechanism to reduce anxiety by blocking intolerable thoughts and feelings Mass Denial – social response to widespread trauma…war, genocide, disaster, plague 3

12/14/2009 Denialism Refusal to accept an empirically verifiable reality… propagates denial based on false pretenses and misinformation “Our view is really simple… HIV does not cause AIDS and HIV/AIDS may not exist at all. The burden of proof should rest on the mainstream which is why the most important thing dissidents should be doing is merely asking questions. It doesn't take long to realize that the mainstream can't answer our questions which proves their theories are full of holes.” Source Maggiore, AIDS Myth Exposed, October 19, 2009 4

12/14/2009 What are the AIDS Denialists saying? ….in their own words Denialists undermine HIV Treatment 5

12/14/2009 Denialists sell “non-toxic” AIDS cures Gary Null, Vitamin Entrepreneur and AIDS denialist “Zinc is necessary for preventing and fighting diseases ranging from the common cold to AIDS.” Denialists propagate pseudoscience Dr. Matthias Rath Vitamin Entrepreneur and AIDS denialist 6

12/14/2009 Denialists try to influence public opinion Earth Day Exhibit, Orlando, 2009 Denialists campaign against AIDS Charities 7

12/14/2009 Are AIDS denialists really harming anyone? AIDS Denialist Clark Baker with Karri Stokely, 2008 Kelly Landis Died December 2007 “a SAME-SEX=SIN=SICKNESS mindset (has) lead to the unquestioned acceptance of the HIV=AIDS=DEATH paradigm” 8

12/14/2009 Jerry Collinard Died July 2009 Board member of San Diego HEAL. In 2001 he referred to himself as an ‘AIDS dissident’ Michael Bellefountaine Died May 2007 David Pasquarelli Died March 2004 9

12/14/2009 Lambros Papantoniou Died May 2009 “Lambros attracted the attention of Andrew Maniotis, a scientist and AIDS denialist. Instead of his prescribed medicine, he was convinced to consume Maniotis- promoted vitamins.” Christine Maggiore Died December 2008 Eliza Jane Scovill Died May 2005 10

12/14/2009 Denying the Death of Christine Maggiore “It's horrible! Maggiore should never have watched it. Seeing this made the stress factor a much more stronger contributor to Maggiore's death. I used to think that a psychological stress factor wasn't really necessary to explain her recent death but now it appears inevitable to me that it played a significant role.” Sadun Kal http://forums.aidsmythexposed.com Official AIDS Denialism Report on the Death of Christine Maggiore Performed by Mohammed Ali Al-Bayati, PhD, DABT, DABVT “Christine suffered fatal renal failure caused by antibiotics, antiviral, and calcium received during the 9 days prior to her death.” “Christine did not suffer from any AIDS indicator illness during the 2 years prior to her death and at the time of her death.” Posted December 9, 2009, www.rethinkingaids.com 11

12/14/2009 350,000 South Africans died and 35,000 infants infected as a result of failure to roll out HIV treatments between 2000 and 2005 Chigwedere et al., 2008, JAIDS Former South African President Thabo Mbeki and Christine Maggiore, 2000 12

12/14/2009 Reliability of AIDS Denialism’s Impact in South Africa Nattrass, 2009, AIDS and Behavior Why would anyone NOT listen to Why would anyone listen to AIDS denialists? AIDS denialists? 13

12/14/2009 “Rex always said Christine was his heroine; she called him in the hospital urging him to stay the dissident course and not take the drugs…Now reality was staring us in the face and he was willing to look at it... I didn’t want to look; I wanted to pretend Christine was right, and HIV doesn’t cause AIDS. I wanted to pretend Rex would live. "Speaking in Tongues": An Essay on AIDS Denial by John Boucher Model of AIDS Denialism Vulnerability HIV ‐ Related Trauma Effective Coping Adequate Coping (unacceptable risk (engagement in care Resources HIV+ test result Informed decision making) treatment failure network deaths) Psychological vulnerability Malignant Denial Initial Coping (encapsulated delusion Response prolonged escape Exposure to (Denial) disengagement misinformed decisions ) Denialism Social Context AIDS Stigma, Internet, Medical Mistrust Science Illiteracy 14

12/14/2009 Studies of AIDS Denialism Vulnerability Wald et al., 2009 149 African ‐ American primary care HIV clinic patients 17% endorse the belief, “HIV does not cause AIDS.” Belief that HIV has not been proven to cause AIDS was associated with refusing ARV treatment, t = 2.57, p < .01 15

12/14/2009 Kalichman et al., 2009 255 Men & 77 Women living with HIV in Atlanta 92% African-Amerian Does holding AIDS denialist beliefs relate to demographic and health status? Do not believe there Believe there is a is a debate among debate among scientists regarding scientists regarding HIV causing AIDS HIV causing AIDS (n=220, 64%) (n=123, 36%) 16

12/14/2009 Health status and believing there is a Debate on HIV causing AIDS Does not believe Does believe there there is a debate is a debate (n=220) (n=123) Mean Mean HIV symptoms 3.7 4.5 * T ‐ Cells 473 455 Medication adherence 91% 84% * Currently taking HIV 69% 56% * medications Undetectable viral load 65 % 54% * Note: * p < .05 Reasons why participants are not taking HIV treatments Does not Does believe believe there is there is a a debate debate (n = 81) (n = 59) Doctor suggested waiting 49 48 Taking break from treatment 25 27 Medication side effects 10 15 Cannot afford medications 18 15 Refuses to take medications 23 33 * Does not trust medication 16 28 * Note: among 150 participants not on treatment; * p < .05 17

12/14/2009 Is Internet use related to AIDS Denial beliefs? Demographic and health characteristics of less and more frequent Internet users < Weekly Weekly + internet internet use use (n=206) (n=137) Age 45 43 Years of education 12 13 * AIDS knowledge test score (% correct) 67 80 * Years living with HIV diagnosis 13 13 T ‐ cell count 421 528 * Undetectable viral load 65% 64% Gay/bisexual men 49% 71% * Note: * p < .05 18

12/14/2009 AIDS Denialist Beliefs among less and more frequent Internet users < Weekly Weekly + internet internet use use There is a debate among scientists about whether HIV causes AIDS 32% 42% * There is no proof that HIV causes AIDS 20% 26% * HIV treatments do more harm than good 22% 25% Herbal and natural remedies can cure 30% 34% * AIDS in some people Note: * p < .05 Participants read 3 Internet passages; 1 Control + 2 AIDS Does interest in Denialist. AIDS Denialist websites relate to Indicated whether they AIDS denialist planned to search for more beliefs? information from the source. Rated the passages for believability and trustworthiness (0-to-10 scale) 19

12/14/2009 Tufts School of Medicine “ Choose Snacks that work for you” Rath International: “ Micronutrients Help Control AIDS” Jonathan Campbell; “A Cure for AIDS?” Jonathan Campbell, Health Consultant Natural Therapies for Chronic Illness & “immune enhancing Health Maintenance nutrients, vitamin C Does not Does plan to plan to search search Believes information 7.4 9.1 * Trusts information 7.1 9.0 * Denialism beliefs score 2.0 2.1 20

12/14/2009 Does not Does plan to plan to search search Believes information 6.1 7.9 * Trusts information 5.9 7.9 * Denialism beliefs score 1.9 2.2 * Jonathan Campbell, Health Consultant Natural Therapies for Chronic Illness & Health Maintenance Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food. Hippocrates, Father of Medicine, 400 B.C. Does not Does plan to plan to search search Believes information 5.8 7.8 * Trusts information 5.3 7.3 * Denialism beliefs score 1.9 2.2 * 21

12/14/2009 Model of AIDS Denialism Vulnerability HIV ‐ Related Trauma Effective Coping Adequate Coping (unacceptable risk (engagement in care Resources HIV+ test result Informed decision making) treatment failure network deaths) Psychological vulnerability Malignant Denial Initial Coping (encapsulated delusion Response prolonged escape Exposure to (Denial) disengagement misinformed decisions ) Denialism Social Context AIDS Stigma, Internet, Medical Mistrust Science Illiteracy Points of Intervention Highly HIV ‐ Related Resourced Support & Trauma Coping Follow ‐ up Effectiveness Training Psychological vulnerability Initial Coping Effective Coping Response Exposure to Denialism Critical Public Health Thinking Education Skills Academic Social Context Builiding Accountability AIDS Stigma, Internet, Medical Mistrust Science Illiteracy 22

12/14/2009 Conclusions AIDS denialist beliefs are prevalent among people living with HIV/AIDS The Internet plays a critical role in disseminating AIDS denialism Interventions are needed to address denialist beliefs and maladaptive coping Denying AIDS All royalties buy HIV treatments in Africa Denying AIDS Conspiracy Theories, For more on AIDS Denial Pseudoscience, and Human Tragedy http://denyingaids.blogspot.com www.AIDSTruth.org 23