[spetznaz]

I am always willing to keep an open mind and check out all the pertinent facts before taking one side or another (at least i really strive to do so). Hence this article was rather interesting.

I do have one question however. Even IF HIV was not the transmitting factor, and there is no such thing as heterosexual aids, then how would the rampant infections in Africa and Asia be explained. I know the article alluded to 'poor nutrition' as one of the 'causes' (pardon the quotation marks please), however you cannot tell me all the cases are due to nutrition. Some of the infected cases are among segments of the population that do not fall under the whole 'poor starving African' stereotype. For example one of the hotspots of infection is South Africa, and you cannot say all those cases (some say up to 25%) are due to poor nutrition. S.Africa is not the Gambia.

And anyways, i guess my most important question is this: if not HIV what then?

[Melas]

Don't forget the decimated hemophiliac population in America. During the 80's they were hit hard.

[Melas]

Don't forget the decimated hemophiliac population in America. During the 80's they were hit hard.

[aruanan]

I do have one question however. Even IF HIV was not the transmitting factor, and there is no such thing as heterosexual aids, then how would the rampant infections in Africa and Asia be explained.

Although this has been discussed for several years, there was just something within the past couple of weeks in the news from some organizations in Africa admitting that the numbers for AIDS cases in certain regions there have been overblown. AIDS in Africa, a continent awash in disease generally, receives more money for AIDS than for any other specific medical condition and almost more than for all other diseases combined. Organizations there are motivated to describe as many cases of disease as AIDS or HIV-related as they possibly can. Not only that, there are organizations in those countries that are created specifically for the purpose of taking advantage of all the money from the West being made available to fight AIDS/HIV.

This is not to say that there is not a higher rate of AIDS among heterosexuals there than in the US, just that the overall number is overstated. Also, the reason for the high rate of heterosexual AIDS is due to certain sexual practices--notably the desire of men in various African cultures for quick, rough, dry penetration. This, combined with the associated physical trauma such intercourse causes and a man with HIV, makes it far more likely there than in other parts of the world that there will be enough blood and trauma for infection to occur.