Conspiracy Theories: The Truth About Aids
Groups as diverse as the KGB, white supremacists and the Nation of Islam have clamed HIV and AIDS are a man-made epidemic. Could they be right?
The AIDS epidemic began in the early 1980s, and it did not take long for the link between the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) to be found as the cause. When AIDS arrived in the west, particularly in the USA, it spread within certain sections of society the quickest – homosexuals, drug users and the black communities. As was to be expected, this led to a whole range of conspiracy theories to be formed regarding the nature of the epidemic.
What the Theorists say:
The most common theory is that HIV was created for the purpose of eradicating the “undesirable” elements of society. According to the notoriously anti-semitic organisation, Nation of Islam, the vrius was created by the Jews as a tool for the genocide of blacks.
KGB propaganda and disinformation spread in the 1980s was picked up by many Western theorists. It declared that HIV was manufactured by US chemical and biological warfare laboratories and used by the US government and CIA to target undesirable sections of the population.
In the 1990s, South African president Thabo Mbeki declared that AIDS was not caused by HIV, but was instead caused by poverty and the experimental medicines of the white-owned pharmaceutical companies. This one man could be easily rebuked, but a more credible source – Robert Gallo, the man who first isolated the virus – has suggested links to vaccination programs, such as the anti-hepatitis B vaccination program tested on gay men in America in the 1970s. Or the massive African smallpox vaccination program conducted by the World Health Organisation from 1966 to 1967. People who believe the latter scenario typically also brand the WHO as a servant organisation of the Illuminati, who use the UN as a front for a New World Order.
Theorists typically point to the Tuskegee experiment as proof that the government is behind the epidemic. A 40 year long study began in the 1930s involved poor Souther blacks with Syphilis were deliberately left untreated and uninformed of their condition so doctors could study the effects of the disease.
The Official Story?
There are countless scientific and epidemiological holes to be poked in such theories. Many theorists claim that an artifically combined sheep and human virus created HIV, even though it bears no resemblance to such a virus while it does have many similarities with known monkey retroviruses. Theorists also point to the sudden epidemic in the 1980s as being too quick to be natural, even though cases of HIV and AIDS have been found as far back as the 1950s.
Should You be Paranoid?
Not in the slightest. For a conspiracy which has so many holes in it, the HIV/AIDS theorists have done catastrophic damage to prevention efforts. Who knows how many people have died because they believed the conspiracies and refused to follow advice given by doctors that could have saved them?
Image via Wikipedia
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