Because those attending the 13th International AIDS Conference, July 9-14 in Durban, South Africa, wished to not be unnecessarily distracted by disruptive denialists, they published a thesis outlining the relationship of HIV to AIDS. Appearing in the prestigious journal Nature, the Durban Declaration represents a definitive affirmation by more than 5,000 of the world’s leading scientists and doctors, including 11 Nobel Prize laureates. An excerpt follows, slightly edited for space:
“The evidence that AIDS is caused by HIV … is clear-cut, exhaustive and unambiguous, meeting the highest standards of science. The data fulfill exactly the same criteria as for other viral diseases, such as polio, measles and smallpox:
• Patients with AIDS, regardless of where they live, are infected with HIV;
• If not treated, most people with HIV infection show signs of AIDS within 5-10 years. HIV infection is identified [by] tests … as reliable as any used for detecting other virus infections;
• People who receive HIV-contaminated blood or blood products develop AIDS, whereas those who receive untainted … blood do not;
• (Babies) who develop AIDS are born to HIV-infected mothers …;
• HIV infects the exact type of white blood cell … that becomes depleted in people with AIDS;
• Drugs that block HIV replication (and) reduce viral load … delay progression to AIDS. Treatment has reduced AIDS mortality by more than 80%;
• HIV causes AIDS.”
“It is unfortunate that a few vocal people continue to deny the evidence. This position will cost countless lives … Research, not myths, will lead to [better treatments] and, it is hoped, a vaccine.”
To read the entire document, which footnotes numerous scientific sources, please see the July 6 issue of the journal Nature; or go to http://www.durbandeclaration.org/.
A note clarifying last week’s column exploring a typical denialist’s faulty claims: His statements were sent to me directly by the individual via e-mail; they were not supplied by the Chronicle.
This article appears in July 14 • 2000.