Diary Prequel Package — page 20

vaginal viral loads. Do we really know this is true? We have ONE study --- The Rakai survey. That's it.) - HAART will, to quote Sachs, "save millions of lives". Really? But we now have 3 studies on large patient pops. showing the life expectancy benefit of HAART in USA and Europe is perhaps as little, on average, as 1.5 years, no more than 5 years. That's not even a "saved life" in cancer terms, as in "5 year survival rates". When grim data came out a year ago critics charged that the high failure rates were due to large populations of Americans who were getting diagnosed and treated in late stage HIV infection. Well, now we have changed the treatment reccommendations to specifically say that later stage treatment is preferable --- so much for that explanation, no? What really, truely, is the statistically valid efficacy of HAART? - In terms of the pentultimate concern that I believe (I hope) is the bottom line for all sides --- SAVING LIVES --- what would be the impact of a massive spending commitment aimed at: - cleaning up the blood supply (less than 10% of which globally, according to WHO, is currently screened for Hep B, C and HIV) - global large scale distribution of autodestruct nonreuseable syringes and MANDATORY coupling of all injectable drug and vaccine products with such syringes. In other words, if a vial of measles vaccine contains 10 child doses, if should be vaccum sealed to a slab of cardboard on which are 10 autodestruct syringes. Talk about immorality! How in the world can ANY humanitarian, medical or UN agency POSSIBLY justify distributing vaccines in countries with greater than 5% HIV rates without attaching enough autodestruct syringes to ensure that EVERY SINGLE CHILD receives a sterile injection? I have seen this with my own eyes ---nobody can BS this one. I have been in African villages where 20 kids were vaccinated with the same "single use" plastic syringe. And I have been in Ukarianian hospitals where syrgines were passed from child to child like candy. Consider these points: - Russia estimates that by 2006 12% of her population will be HIV+, and nearly all the infected will be under 29 years of age, IVDUs. It's not a sexual epidemic --- YET --- in Eastern Europe and ex-USSR. The opportunity to stop that part of the pandemic COLD is there. It's easy. It's mass access to autodestruct syringes. And it's this question: which societal concern should guide HIV policy --- hatred of narcontics users, or fear of the virus? Am I wrong about this? - CDC just released a report indicating there were 19 BILLION (yup) medical injections last year globally, some 90% of which were unnescessary. And 80% in Asia were nonsterile, 75% in SS Africa and 70% in ex-USSR. PHYSICIAN DO NO HARM: why the hell hasn't anybody asked what %age of this pandemic is nosocomial, iatragenic?????