PHA-Exchange> Expert group stresses that unsafe sex is primary mode...(2)

[claudio]

From: David Gisselquist david_gisselquist at yahoo.com
> Sent: Monday, March 17, 2003 1:35 PM

> On 14 March, WHO/AIDS and UNAIDS organized a one-day meeting to dis-
> cuss "Unsafe injection practices and HIV infection." I took part in 
> the meeting. The press release -- issued before the end of the meet-
> ing -- misrepresents the agreements reached at the meeting, and it 
> also misrepresents key facts.
> 
> Specifically, the main conclusion that we discussed at length towards 
> the end of the meeting was whether or not to devote attention and ef-
> fort to prevent HIV transmission through health care. There was gen-
> eral agreement to promote safe health care as a human rights issue 
> and also to prevent HIV transmission. We agreed to disagree about the 
> proportions of HIV from health care and sexual transmission. And we 
> agreed that sexual transmission was a risk, and that it was appropri-
> ate to continue efforts to help people understand and prevent HIV 
> from sexual exposures.
> 
> The press release is factually inaccurate in many respects, stating 
> that the evidence shows the overwhelming proportion of HIV from sex-
> ual exposures and estimating HIV from injections at 2.5%. WHO/AIDS 
> staff rejected masses of important evidence as based on lies, mis-
> takes, and old tests. Only after wholesale rejection of evidence is 
> it possible to make such statements.
> 
> The estimate of 2.5% of African HIV from unsafe injections can be 
> compared to an earlier estimate of 1.6% from 1988. The 1988 estimate 
> was wildly inconsistent with facts available at the time. The same 
> goes for the 2003 estimate.
> 
> The Constitution of WHO avers that "Informed opinion and active coop-
> eration on the part of the public are of utmost importance in the im-
> provement of the health of the people." Since the purpose of the 
> meeting was to discuss unsafe injections, it would be appropriate for 
> the sponsors to report to the world in a clear and balanced fashion 
> the discussions at the meeting about risks in health care.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> David Gisselquist
> 29 West Governor Road
> Hershey
> Pennsylvania 17033, USA