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Christopher B. Hajib-Niles cniles at wanadoo.fr
Tue Jan 23 06:51:30 PST 2001



> Africans: poverty, mal-nutrition, dehydration, occasional prescription of "experimental AIDS drugs",
> > iatrogenesis, isolation of those "infected" with HIV, stress, comlications from all the above.
>
> We've been through this before, but let me re-iterate: the record of the
> emergence of AIDS in Uganda
>
> 1) does not match patters of malnutrition. If AIDS was actually
> the same old malnutrition, you'd expect to see it more in poorer areas -this is not the case.

First, the official defenition of malnutrition is scientifically vague. Cancer could easily be defined as a form of malnutrition (which I think it often times is). Second, whether you assume a broad or narrow defenition of malnutrition, I don't know what you mean by saying "it" matches patterns of malnutrition. Malnutrition manifest itself in many, many ways. Third, you have to define what you mean by "it" since "it" clearly takes on any number of forms not only in Africa but different parts of the world. Fourth, "it" is quite prevelant in poor areas but "it" is not exclusively a function of poverty as "its" prevelance among middle class gay men and heavy recreation drug users makes clear.

2) happened before the use of experimental anti-AIDS drugs

Use of experimental drugs on Africans is fairly recent. I only tossed it in because it is a growing phenomenah. But no, it certainly is not one of the major causes of death. Drugs, poverty, general misery, and potent combinations of the above are much more to blame.


> 3) did not involve isolation of people with HIV.
>
I was speaking of what happens in many parts of Africa. But that aside, do you have any evidence that the majority of Ugandans who have been declared HIV-positive have been tested?

Chris



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