OK, it’s uphill for now. I was reminded why when I was recently forwarded a speech of a key international organization figure on African HIV-AIDS, passed around approvingly by a colleague of similar rank. Well, it almost read like a feminist parody. It was wrong-headed in a pity-without-thinking way, invoking HIV-AIDS as a scare/shame tool against sexual abuse of women in Africa, along with stray ramblings irrelevantly celebrating affirmative action. Fighting sexual abuse of women, while a noble cause, is only somewhat relevant to a serious fight against HIV-AIDS in Africa. Another Left-bred bias was present – a lack of realistic appreciation that African data can be tainted by widespread official corruption, as well as endemic poverty, ignorance, and superstition.To reassure readers – even if we are all wrong here (I doubt it) and "heterosexual" transmission is the major route in Africa -- inspiring better data and scientific rigor is worth the effort. Moving injection safety to the forefront is still beneficial for fighting HIV, hepatitis, and many other infections, including the recent Marburg virus outbreak. Sexual hygiene education will continue no matter what; even skeptics of the "heterosexual" African spread assumption still feel that sexual transmission of a certain type is a key route (and some significant penile-vaginal transmission may be yet the case as well), along with the sense that accurate sex education and hygiene benefits general health care.
"Another Left-bred bias was present – a lack of realistic appreciation that African data can be tainted by widespread official corruption, as well as endemic poverty, ignorance, and superstition."
African data is not complete because most do not have health care and adequate testing. Imagine the numbers if poverty-stricken and the very rural were tested. Often in Africa, people die without knowing what caused the death. The numbers are not inflated, AIDS deaths are undercounted.
Every day, people (including many babies) waste away and die. Who counts the AIDS deaths in these bush communities with witch doctors counted as the medical professionals? You are right about superstitions. Sometimes when an African gets those purple legions, they are said to be "possessed" when they in fact have AIDS.
Imagine how many people died of cancer in this country when we were dirt poor and at the technological equalivalent that many Africans are today. What was listed as their cause of death? Does it mean we didn't have cancer in this country until the advent of modern day pollution?