Heart-felt testimonials are not good enough
Jan. 25, 2012, 3:44 p.m.
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Every now and again someone calls the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) office hoping to enlist our help in promoting some new miracle HIV treatment. Obviously we’re the wrong people to call. Our standard response is to ask for the published evidence. Sometimes we’ll be e-mailed some trial findings that invariably fall short of substantiating their claims. Most of the time though, all we get is testimonials. |
What do we know about AIDS deaths in South Africa?
Jan. 16, 2012, 9:10 a.m.
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The obscure Italian Journal of Anatomy and Embryology has published an article by AIDS denialist Peter Duesberg packed with errors. It claims that data from Uganda and South Africa shows that there is no evidence of an HIV epidemic. This journal, whose title indicates no expertise in HIV, has a track record of publishing peer-reviewed AIDS denialist nonsense. |
Improvements to Quackdown
Jan. 12, 2012, 10:58 p.m.
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We hope to publish our first article for 2012 next week. In the meanwhile, we've made some improvements to the site. |
Solal Technologies' astonishing letter of demand
Dec. 19, 2011, 2 p.m.
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Last year Solal Technologies sent letters of demand threatening to sue Roy Jobson and one of us (Steinman) for defamation. They have not carried out that threat. Now the company is once again trying to intimidate those who criticise it. |
What does science show about incentives for HIV testing?
Dec. 13, 2011, 11:17 a.m.
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The Western Cape government has implemented a lottery to encourage people to get tested for HIV. People who get tested can enter the lottery and win large cash prizes. In the fiery world of Cape Town politics, there has been much vitriol from both supporters and detractors of the lottery. But what does science show about incentives for HIV testing? |
The False Hope Industry
Dec. 9, 2011, 9:39 a.m.
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On a cold, rainy day in 2008 I went to a presentation by Professor John Flannery of UC Berkeley at the University of Cape Town Medical School. The topic for the day was progress in retinal degenerative diseases. The turn-out wasn’t bad - a few journalists, a few NGO people, a few patients and some doctors and researchers. Afterward, I waited outside for my editor who was picking me up on her way home (I was working for Health24 at the time). No doubt she’d ask how it went. Try as I may, I ... |
Electromagnetic Quackery
Dec. 1, 2011, 9:25 a.m.
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Today, on World AIDS Day the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) will picket at the Durban offices of HIVEX Limited and demand that they stop offering HIVEX as a treatment for HIV. This follows a remarkable letter that HIVEX sent to TAC and an investigation by the television programme Special Assignment. |
How a quack HIV cure is endangering a lizard species
Nov. 23, 2011, 3:51 p.m.
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Catherine Tomlinson explains how AIDS quackery is reducing the numbers of a Malaysian lizard. |
Premier Helen Zille's views on HIV are misinformed and unscientific
Nov. 15, 2011, 3 p.m.
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We take issue with Premier Helen Zille's views on HIV transmission, criminalisation and who deserves treatment. This is an expanded version of an article that was published in The Cape Argus on 15 November 2011. |
How medicines are tested
Nov. 9, 2011, 1:31 p.m.
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Adverts often claim that their product is scientifically tested. What does this actually mean? This article explains the testing process a medicine usually has to go through before reputable regulatory authorities approve it as a treatment for a disease. |
