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The Durban Declaration

© Neal Rolfe Chamberlain

Starting July 9th, 2000, thousands of individuals from around the world are gathering in Durban, South Africa, to attend the XIII International AIDS Conference. AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Disease Syndrome), as most people know, is a deadly disease that destroys the immune system. In the 1980's, thousands of scientists worked countless hours to determine the cause of AIDS. Most scientists have concluded that a virus called the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the cause of AIDS.

Recent data indicate that 34.3 million people are living with HIV or AIDS. Most of those living with HIV or AIDS are in sub-Saharan Africa (24.3 million). In South Africa 1 in 8 people are infected with HIV. This amounts to 3.6 million people in South Africa alone. The devastation is enormous. Thousands of children are orphaned and out on the street due to this horrible disease since it infects and kills most adults during their child rearing years.

However, not all scientists believe that HIV is the cause of AIDS. Some still believe something else is causing this horrible world-wide plague. A recent letter written by the president of South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki, implies he has some doubts concerning what is causing AIDS in his country. Since the XIII International AIDS Conference is convening in Durban, South Africa many scientists from around the world thought it important to write, "The Durban Declaration".

This declaration signed by over 5000 scientists states that HIV is the cause of AIDS for the following reasons:

• Patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome, 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 in blood by detecting antibodies, gene sequences or viral isolation. These tests are 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 or screened blood do not.
• Most children who develop AIDS are born to HIV-infected mothers. The higher the viral load in the mother, the greater the risk of the child becoming infected.
• In the laboratory, HIV infects the exact type of white blood cell (CD4 lymphocytes) that becomes depleted in people with AIDS.
• Drugs that block HIV replication in the test tube also reduce virus load in people and delay progression to AIDS. Where available, treatment has reduced AIDS mortality by more than 80%.
• Monkeys inoculated with cloned SIV DNA become infected and develop AIDS.

I agree wholeheartedly with the Durban Declaration, but to make sure of my position I looked at the other side's arguments. One of the leading opponents to HIV being the cause of AIDS is Peter Duesberg, Ph.D.. He

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