AIDS is [not] on the Rise Again

Dr. Wainberg suggests that it is the pathologic effects of HIV which produce these serious side–effects. This idea is not in agreement with recent investigations. In 2006, the Antiretoviral Therapy Cohort Collaboration recognised the toxicity of ARVs and noted that these drugs did not decrease mortality but appeared to promote AIDS among HIV positive patients. This is not surprising since all ARVs (including the newest ones) are potent inhibitors of basic and essential cellular processes. In 2007 Dr. R Culshaw demonstrated that the annual mortality for untreated HIV patients was 1–2% compared to a rate of 7–9% for those receiving ARVs. A provocative article in the January 6, 2008 edition of the New York Time described the magnitude of debilitating conditions present at an early age and in disproportionate numbers in the first wave of AIDS survivors on ARVs to reach middle age. In 2007 the editors of the Annals of Internal Medicine opined that ARVs recipients lead far from normal lives with a corresponding limited longevity.

It is reasonable to assume from the above that ARVs are the probable cause of the cancers mentioned by Dr. Wainberg.

Dr. Wainberg believes that AIDS is on the increase. However, the Public Health Agency of Canada in a recent report on HIV/AIDS records that Canadian cases of AIDS progressively declined from a high of 1,827 in 1993 to 255 cases in 2006. Interestingly, the decrease began before the introduction of ARVs.

Dr. J. Hardie, Vancouver, BC