Health

AIDS is caused by HIV; it's a fact established beyond any reasonable doubt. Yet many beg to differ, blaming it instead on social causes, from poverty to promiscuity. South African president Thabo Mbeki is perhaps the most famous HIV denialist, with tragic consequences for his country's fight against AIDS. HIV denial is also flourishing worldwide on the internet and it is costing lives.

According to a new analysis, HIV denial is remarkably similar to other anti-scientific ideologies such as creationism, anti-vaccine movements and even Holocaust denial (PLoS Medicine, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0040256).

For example, HIV denialists claim that the idea that HIV causes AIDS is backed by an orthodoxy, or conspiracy, that makes money selling HIV drugs; that science is based on faith, rather than evidence, and that their ideas are on the verge of acceptance. They point to gaps in the science, back-pedalling as those gaps fill up. The study calls for scientists to fight back.

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