AIDS cure, or false hope?

[wanderingone]

The Gambian president is doing nothing but putting his own citizens at risk of increasing the number of HIV cases in his country. All these people who believe they are cured will simply be passing the disease on. While people taking his "cure" report feeling better and living symptom free they would need to be tested to document that "Cure"

People with HIV can be symptom free for a very long time. I have a dear friend who has been HIV positive now for over 15 years. The only symptom he has dealth with has been wasting from some of the treatment.

Being symptom free for a while (even years) is no indicator of a cure.

Certainly if people are claiming they once tested positive and now they are no longer positive there is need of scientific testing. Kicking someone out of the country who wants scientifically proven meds to continue to be used is a sign this man is not interested in having to prove his own "cure"

 

[RealityCheck]

1. Saw thread, gave opinion based on the bible
2. OP saw his spotlight being taken away, decides to misquote and lie. Completely sinful.
3. Thread is still going on, but OP has not presented his side of the case adequately without personal attacks or proper references, as contained in the bible.

sknight -

You might try reading Ezekiel 18. And Job. Ecclesiastes. And pretty much all of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. All of John.

By and large, the Bible disagrees with your primitive position. And yes, it IS primitive. To believe that disease and misfortune are a consequence of sin? Seriously - read the Bible and you will see you are WRONG.

 

[jamesrwright3]

I have a cure for AIDS
1.Don't do drugs.
2.Don't have sex with someone unless they have been tested.

 

[PaulRNelson]

Paul R. Nelson approves of sknight.

 

[SallyNow]

I have a cure for AIDS
1.Don't do drugs.
2.Don't have sex with someone unless they have been tested.

And what if the only hospitial or clinic you have access to does not have the equitment to sterelize needles or other medical instruments because they were robbed, or never even got the shipment? And that the only clinic nearby has no running water, but just a hand pump? Or a clinic that must sterlize all its water?

What if the only way to give birth is in an unsterlized room, with a midwife or doctor who has no access to running water? And where, when you need a C-section, you are rushed to the local clinic to be operated on with equitment that may be contaminated, and could pass AIDS on to your child?

And what of the prenatal tests, any one of which, if you recieved them, could have passed AIDS to you?

Or what if you are raped by men who have AIDS, who believe they will be cured if they have sex with you?

And besides the millions who get AIDS through the above situations, there are those who get AIDS through unprotected sex or through needles. And frankly, a good portion of North Americans participate in things that are unsafe. Some drive motorcycles, some go snowboarding in untamed areas, and lots of other activities. It's easy to say "just don't have sex or do drugs", but reality is so much more complicated.

 

[Morcova]

"Honestly? Nowhere, it was a story made up by ignorant tribesmen.

Bibically they would have come from god, which yes still paints god as evil. Sorry but murdering children for what the pharoh did, AFTER making sure that the phraroh wouldn't relent is evil. "


Paul R. Nelson would love to know your views on Dinosaurs.

What do you want to know.

 

[Morcova]

I have a cure for AIDS
1.Don't do drugs.
2.Don't have sex with someone unless they have been tested.

That's not a cure that's a prevention.

 

[Pogue]

Paul R. Nelson approves of sknight.

Unsurprising, since they're the same person.

 

[RealityCheck]

Unsurprising, since they're the same person.

That's what we usually call a "sock puppet."

 

[RealityCheck]

I have a cure for AIDS
1.Don't do drugs.
2.Don't have sex with someone unless they have been tested.

That's "prevention" and no amount of word redefinition will make "prevention" mean the same thing as "cure."

And it amazes me to no end that people still think it's "just that simple." People suffering from AIDs in Africa generally are not drug-users. And attitudes towards sex in Africa are not like attitudes here in the US. If you think that every society around the world works just the same as the US, then you need to kindly step out of political discussions until you've taken a few history, civics, culture, and global issues classes.

TO begin with, many African countries and societies are not so free as America is when it comes to sex. I know, some people will say "America isn't either" but consider this:

- In America we have this concept of "consent," in which we consider sex to be "sex" when adults involved have agreed to and consent to sex. We consider sex to be "rape" if one or more adults are involved but do not give consent, or if a child is involved. Women in this country are free to agree to sex with a partner, or are free to refuse it. Women in many parts of Africa, however, do not have that freedom.

- In America, we have a wide range of STD-prevention methods available to us. We not only have the manufacturers providing them, but we have the money to buy them at will. That's not the case in Africa. Simple protections that could drastically cut the rate of the spread of AIDs, even condoms, are not freely available in many African nations, nor are people able to purchase them. Even if they COULD, many African cultures prohibit their use, as they are not only STD-barriers but they are also contraceptives.

- And here, we have excellent medical facilities where you can screen blood transfusions. We can screen out donors that carry HIV or any other blood-related disease. We have sterile equipment and sterile facilities as a matter of routine, we expect no less. That isn't true in plenty of places in Africa, and in some places the need for blood is so dire that screening just isn't done.



Now, what the OP suggested is perfectly good as a method of prevention for Americans. What would he suggest for Africa, knowing what he does now?

 

[Shubunkin]

Closed for review.