Ignorance, Persecution, and HIV

This issue of The Scientist focuses on HIV-AIDS. While we concentrate on the struggle for full scientific understanding of the virus and the disease, the essential backdrop remains the scale of the ongoing epidemic and the misery that it causes: Every six seconds another person becomes infected with HIV; every day 8,500 people die of AIDS. Even with the relative success of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), infection is controlled rather than conquered. Moreover, HAART has side effects ranging from the unpleasant to the dangerous, and its long-term effects have yet to be discovered. The ability of HIV to form deadly dormant reservoirs in the body is the subject of the Feature on p. 20.In addition to the direct devastation wreaked by the virus, there are attendant, indirect costs, the results of ignorance or persecution. Twenty-some years into the epidemic, superstition, paranoia, and denial continue to be regular responses to AIDS. This is true even of certain governments; for example, that of South Africa, which only recently agreed to the free distribution of HIV medicines. In some African countries, there is a belief that having sex with a virgin can cure you. Even in the United States, there are groups who believe that the CIA developed AIDS and that the disease is not caused by HIV. The struggle to educate at all levels of society, and in every society, continues to be as important as the development of vaccines and drugs.As to the most recent example of persecution: While you read this, two doctors and five nurses may be sitting on death row in a Libyan jailhouse awaiting their fate.This sorry saga began more than six years ago. In November 1998, a Libyan magazine caused local panic after reporting that a large outbreak of HIV infection was occurring among children who had been patients at the Children's Hospital in Benghazi, a city on the Mediterranean Sea in Northeast Libya. Panic turned to outrage as rumors spread that the children had been infected deliberately.In February 2000, sixteen hospital workers, including seven foreigners (six Bulgarians and one Palestinian) were charged in the People's Court with premeditated murder and conspiracy against the state. Prosecutors also stacked unrelated charges against the medical workers (now where have we seen that used before?) relating to extramarital sexual activities, the production and consumption of liquor, and foreign currency exchange. All the defendants pleaded not guilty and retracted confessions (made, they claimed, under torture).It took the court a full two years to rule that no proof of conspiracy existed against the state and that the other charges should be set before a criminal court.We are now approaching the conclusion of the second trial, the denouement. In the Spring of 2003, two HIV experts, Vittorio Colizzi and Luc Montagnier, provided reports at the court's request. They concluded that the most likely cause of the epidemic was poor hygiene and the multiple use of single-use medical supplies. They also noted that the first infection occurred before the accused began working at the hospital and that there were new infections after the arrests. However, in a dramatic twist, a commission of court-appointed Libyan doctors has rejected the expert testimony and affirmed that the HIV infections resulted from deliberate actions.The court was due to reconvene on January 26, with a verdict expected soon thereafter. The fate of the accused hangs in the balance. Let's hope that the tragedy of 426 children infected with HIV is not mocked by a miscarriage of justice.Richard Gallagher, Editor rgallagher@the-scientist.com

Ignorance, Persecution, and HIV

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of