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participating institutions:
Johns Hopkins University AIDS Service, New York State DOH AIDS Institute, The CORE Center, Cook County Hospital



NEWS AND NEW DEVELOPMENTS



The Durban Declaration [Science 2000; 406: 15]: This declaration is the response to the controversery in South Africa over the relationship between HIV and AIDS. The Durban Declaration includes an organizing committee with 266 members from 50 countries and has been signed by over 5,000 people. The most recent list of signatures can be found at http://www.durbandeclaration.org. The bottom line is that "the evidence that AIDS is caused by HIV-1 or HIV-2 is clear-cut, exhaustive, and unambiguous, meeting the highest standards of science." Supporting data are from the following observations:

  • Patients with AIDS, regardless of geographic location, are infected with HIV.
  • In the absence of therapy, HIV infection leads to AIDS within 5 - 10 years.
  • HIV can be found in blood by detecting antibodies, gene sequences or by viral isolation. These tests are reliable.
  • Patients who receive HIV-containing blood or blood products develop AIDS.
  • Most children with AIDS are born to HIV-infected mothers, and the risk of transmission is directly related to the viral load in the mother.
  • Laboratory tests show that HIV infects CD4 lymphocytes, and this is the cell line that becomes depleted in patients with AIDS.
  • Drugs that block HIV replication in the test tube reduce the viral load in patients and delay progression to AIDS and reduce mortality due to AIDS.
  • Primates given SIV DNA become infected and develop AIDS.

Comment: The Durban Declaration was issued on July 8, 2000, the eve of the 13th International AIDS Conference. The panel responsible for the declaration originally had 36 members, but this was increased to 50 by the addition of mainstream AIDS researchers from South African and Uganda [Nature 2000; 406: 3]. The Nature review also notes that the dissident and non-dissident camps on the panel were believed to have worked independently, the dissident faction continued its claim that AIDS is not a contagious disease, and the dissidents did not sign the Declaration. Malegapuru Makgoba, President of the South African Medical Research Council, made the following comment regarding the dissidents: "… The crunch has come for them, as experimental evidence in support of their view is being demanded of them - something they have never been able to supply" [Nature 2000; 406: 3]. Among those who did not sign the Declaration was South African President Thabo Mbeki [Science 2000; 289: 222]. posted 8/3/2000







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