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AIDS: THE UNTOLD STORY

By Dr. Stanley Monteith

It has been said that "men become accomplices to those tragedies which they fail to oppose". Nowhere is
that truth more clearly demonstrated than in the apocalypse currently unfolding across the world as the HIV
epidemic continues its silent spread from land to land.
As of January 1, 1997 over 350,000 Americans will be dead, another 200,000 will be in the terminal stages
of their illness, and an additional six hundred thousand to a million more will be HIV infected. Barring the
possibility that protease inhibitors can permanently block HIV-induced immunosuppression, almost all those
currently infected will progress to terminal-stage illness and death.

The enormity of the tragedy facing America today, however, is dwarfed by the tragedy sweeping Asia and
Africa. As of mid-1994, in the small landlocked nation of Malawi in Southern Africa, 30% of high school
students and 68% of college students tested were found to be HIV infected. (1) Recent testing of soldiers
throughout Africa revealed a 50% HIV infection rate, while testing of military units in Zimbabwe revealed a
90% infection rate. It is estimated that in Zimbabwe between one-quarter and one-third of President
Mugabe's Cabinet have already perished from AIDS. (2)
In the May, 1996 issue of Special Warfare, a magazine distributed primarily to members of Special
Operations (Military Intelligence) units, Dr. Brian Sullivan writes: "The immediate future may present other
daunting challenges...Because of complicated social and cultural reasons, AIDS already infects a high
proportion of the military and civilian officials of Zaire, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia and other central African
countries. In some or all of these countries government establishments may collapse in the next 10-15
years...civil rule may also erode or break down in parts of North Africa, the Middle East, India and
Southeast Asia." (3)

In Uganda, the average life span of men has fallen to 30 years, while the average life span of women has
fallen to 27 years. (4) A missionary friend living in Africa reports that there are over nine million children in
sub- Saharan Africa who have lost their mothers to AIDS, and that one in every four miners working in
South Africa are HIV positive. These statistics were communicated to me by E-mail from Vern Tisdalle, a
missionary stationed in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is estimated that by the turn of the century the
epicenter of the epidemic will have shifted from Africa to Asia. Indian health authorities currently estimate
that "as many as 20 million or even 50 million Indians will be infected by the year 2000, and that there will
be more AIDS patients than hospital beds". (5) On June 1, 1996 Reuter's News Service reported that Dr.
William Blattner of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland estimated that 100
million people will be HIV infected by the year 2000. (6) In both Asia and Africa, HIV infection (AIDS) is
primarily a heterosexual disease, while in Western nations the illness is found almost exclusively among
homosexuals, IV drug users, and more recently among heterosexual blacks. Why is there such variance
between the continents? There are several possible explanations. Dr. Max Essex, Director of the Harvard
AIDS Institute, has reported that the predominant subtype of the virus found in Western nations is HIV-I:
subtype B, whereas in both Asia and Africa the predominant subtypes are C and E. Dr. Essex believes that
the Langerhans cells which line the vagina and oral cavities are the primary sites for HIV infection. In
laboratory experiments using Langerhans cell cultures, investigators have discovered that HIV I: subtype B
is only minimally infectious to LH cells, whereas subtypes C and E are highly infectious. This study may
explain why we find heterosexual spread of HIV infection in Asia and Africa where subtypes HIV I: C and E
predominate, but only rarely in Western nations where subtype B is found. It is presumed that homosexuals
and IV drug users contract HIV I: subtype B readily because of their lifestyles involving needle sharing and
rectal sex. (7) Dr. Essex's work, however, does not explain the heterosexual epidemic developing within
black America today. This aberration may be explained by studies which have found that certain genetic
factors predispose blacks to HIV infection. Researchers have recently identified two mutated genes in some
whites that are not found in blacks; these altered genes protect their hosts from HIV infection. There may
well be other yet unrecognized genetic factors which confer complete or partial immunity to whites, but
these factors have yet to be identified. (8,9)

Shortly after the year 2000 blacks will make up the majority of new HIV infections occurring here in the
United States. (10) That supposition is reflected in statistics released by the Department of Health in Virginia
in 1996. Because of the 10-year latency period between HIV infection and immunodeficiency, AIDS
statistics reflect the status of the epidemic 10 years ago rather than what is happening today. Virginia's
current AIDS statistics suggest equal numbers of blacks and whites infected while HIV statistics reveal that
64% of recent infections are among blacks while only 31.8% are among whites. These figures become even
more frightening when one reflects that blacks make up only 22.6% of Virginia's population. (11)
What most people do not realize is that all efforts to utilize public health measures to slow spread of the HIV
epidemic have been thwarted. Why?

(A) Because most people don't understand what is happening,

(B) Because many who do recognize the unfolding tragedy have been threatened and are afraid to speak out,
and,
(C) Because both public health officers and physicians have been effectively blocked from introducing the
public health measures needed to stop further spread of this modern-day plague. (12)

(A) Randy Shilts, author of "And The Band Played On" recognized this fact when he wrote: "The bitter truth
was that AIDS did not just happen to America - It was allowed to happen by an array of institutions, all of
which failed to perform their appropriate tasks to safeguard the public health ... There was no excuse, in this
country and in this time, for the spread of a deadly new epidemic." (13)
Why is this happening? Tragically, most Americans do not understand the magnitude of the epidemic
because our print and TV media have been selective in reporting matters dealing with the epidemic. I know
that from first-hand experience because I and many of my cohorts have been thwarted in our efforts to
disseminate the truth about the magnitude of the epidemic. I have recorded that story in my book "AIDS:
The Unnecessary Epidemic", published in 1991 by Covenant House. An interesting study in thought control
in America today is to try to acquire my book via regular distribution channels.
In recent years several other books have been published which have, in my opinion, presented misleading
information about the epidemic. Tragically, that misinformation has discouraged introduction of the public
health measures needed to save human lives. In 1990 Regnery Gateway published Michael Fumento's "The
Myth of Heterosexual AIDS". In that book, Fumento assured his readers that there was no possibility of
heterosexual spread of AIDS here in the United States. Noting that the epidemic had not exploded within the
white, heterosexual community as feared, Fumento crafted a convincing tale belittling those of us who
wanted to introduce public health measures to block further spread of the disease. In his book, Fumento
accused me of "iceberg-theory terrorism" because during the early stages of the epidemic I expressed fear
that HIV disease would spread into the general heterosexual population. (14) As time has gone by I have
publicly modified my view, but to the best of my knowledge Michael Fumento has never recanted his
message that no public health measures were needed. During the early stages of the epidemic, we were both
wrong. I erred on the side of caution; Michael Fumento erred on the side that insists that preventive health
measures were not needed to stop the epidemic.

The tragedy unfolding in both Asia and Africa today reflects the apathy engendered by the misinformation
disseminated during the early 1990s. I sincerely believe that the lives of hundreds of thousands of
homosexuals, IV drug users, black heterosexuals and black children could have been saved had public health
measures been introduced at that time. Had measures been introduced in Asia and Africa, hundreds of
millions of lives could have been saved. That, however, was not to be. (15). In 1994 Inside Story
Publications released "Why We Will Never Win the War on AIDS" written by Brian Ellison and Dr. Peter
Duesberg. Dr. Duesberg insists that there is no AIDS epidemic, and that most of those who are assumed to
have died from AIDS have actually succumbed to the complications of drug usage, sexual stimulants, and
AZT. (16) An updated version of Dr. Duesberg's book was republished by Regnery Publishing Inc. in 1996
under the title "Inventing the AIDS Virus". Both books contended that:
[1] "in most individuals suffering from AIDS, no virus particles can be found anywhere in the body" (17)
[2] "retroviruses do not kill cells" (18)
[3] There are no scientific studies to document any relationship between HIV infection and
immunodeficiency (19)
[4] Kimberly Bergalis was perfectly healthy before she was given AZT (20)
[5] HIV-infected hemophiliacs and transfusion recipients do not die from immunodeficiency but rather from
their hemophilia and other diseases. (21)
A number of other questionable arguments were presented in a clever and convincing manner in Dr.
Duesberg's book, and they swayed many people. After all, why would Dr. Duesberg, a world-famous
retrovirologist, make such statements if they weren't true? Let me respond:
[1] Clinicians presently chart the course of HIV disease by measuring the numbers of viral particles present
in peripheral blood.
[2] Because the HIV retrovirus routinely kills normal T cells in the laboratory, special resistant lines of T
cells must be used to culture the retrovirus: This information was confirmed by telephone conversation with
Dr. Donald Francis in August 1996, and with the chief of the CDC virology lab in Atlanta, Georgia, in
February 1996.
[3] There have been a number of published studies documenting the relationship between HIV infection and
terminal-stage immuno- suppression: (22,23)
[4] Kimberly Bergalis was severely immuno- compromised, contracted pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and
had a CD4 count as low as 41 before she was started on AZT. This information was obtained from
Kimberly's college medical records which were graciously provided to me by her father, George.
[5] Both Ellison and Dr. Duesberg ignore the fact that hemophiliacs and transfusion recipients who have
died have virtually all manifested the classic, clinical picture of terminal- stage immunodeficiency. (24)

A detailed analysis of Dr.Duesberg's arguments and his agenda is beyond the scope of this article. That
subject is covered in my HIV-Watch newsletter, and in my monograph, "The Population Control Agenda".
Unfortunately, Dr. Duesberg's books have convinced many otherwise sincere people that there is no reason
to institute standard public health measures to control further spread of the epidemic. (25)
(B) Why have people been afraid to speak out? I personally know of physicians, medical personnel and
politicians who have had their professions ruined simply because they dared to comment publicly on the
mishandling of the epidemic. On one occasion two public health officers approached me stating: "We want
you to know that we support you and what you're doing, but we can't come out publicly because we've been
threatened." That pattern of intimidation has been commonplace since the inception of the epidemic. The
story of the threats and intimidation utilized to silence concerned professionals is also covered in "AIDS:The
Unnecessary Epidemic". (26)
(C) For centuries epidemics have been stopped by identifying the infected, and preventing them from
transmitting their illness to others. In the case of HIV disease it would have been relatively simple to have
blocked further spread of the epidemic in the mid-1980s when the HIV blood test became available. That,
however, was not to be. Even before the blood test was released in May of 1985 there were forces organizing
to block the introduction of standard public health measures to control further spread of the epidemic.
Virtually all necessary public health measures have been precluded because of those efforts. (27,28)

The precedent for public health management of a sexually transmitted disease epidemic was established by
Surgeon General Thomas Parren during the syphylis epidemic of the 1930s. Had physicians been allowed to
introduce the public health measures needed in the mid-1980s we could have stopped further spread of the
plague. What should have been done?
[1] Physicians should have been instructed to carry out routine, non-mandatory, confidential HIV testing on
all office and hospital patients.
[2] Mandatory reportability of the names of the infected to public health officials should have been instituted
to facilitate contact tracing, compilation of accurate statistics, and identification of those who were
intentionally spreading their illness.
[3] Mandatory premarital, prenatal, and neonatal HIV testing should have been introduced to save the lives
of sexual partners, unborn and newborn children.
[4] Infected prostitutes should have been identified and removed from our streets.
[5] Houses of prostitution, gay sex clubs and bathhouses should have been closed.
[6] Nationwide treatment programs for drug addicts should have been introduced.
[7] Education should have stressed chastity and morality rather than instructing our youth how to put on
condoms and lecturing them on aberrant sexual activity.

Tragically, almost all efforts by concerned public health officers and physicians to address the HIV epidemic
have been thwarted. I know from personal experience because for over a decade I led the battle within the
House of Delegates of the California Medical Association to introduce the public health measures needed to
stop the epidemic. Year after year the physicians voted to introduce effective public health measures, and
year after year those within the hierarchy and the bureaucracy of organized medicine worked to block
implementation of those policies. That tragic story is also chronicled in my book "AIDS: The Unnecessary
Epidemic".
Men and women of conscience are not relieved of their moral responsibility to speak out concerning the
manner in which this epidemic has been handled simply because it has failed to involve the white
heterosexual population of America. In my opinion, almost everyone who acquires this disease today does
so because of our nation's failure to implement the public health measures necessary to block further spread
of the illness. I sincerely believe that men do become accomplices to those tragedies which they fail to
oppose. Failure to speak out in times of moral crises makes cowards of men, and these days we live in are
surely times of great moral crisis.

(1) Radio Interview. John Harris. 9/13/95. Radio Liberty, P.O. Box 13, Santa Cruz, CA 95063. Copies
available.
(2) Radio Interview. Peter Hammond of Front Lines Ministry: 9/20/96. Radio Liberty. Copies available.
(3) Sullivan Brian R. Special Operations and LIC in the 21st Century: The Joint Strategic Perspective:
Special Warfare. The John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School May 1996; 9(2):4. Contact
Superintendent of Documents, US Publishing Office, Washington D.C. 20402
(4) Life Expectancy Shortened in Uganda. Xinhua News Agency 8/18/96. (See also CDC AIDS Daily
Summary 8/19/96).
(5) Burns JF. Denial and Taboo Blind India to the Horror of the AIDS Scourge. New York Times 9/22/96: 1.
(See also CDC Daily Summary 9/23/96: 2.)
(6) Blattner W. More than 100 Million Worldwide Predicted to be HIV-Positive by Year 2000. Reuters News
Service 6/17/96. (See also CDC AIDS Daily Summary 6/19/96: 2.)
(7) Soto KE et al. HIV-1 Langerhans' Cell Tropism Associated with Heterosexual Transmission of HIV.
Science 3/1/96; 271: 1291
(8) Kolata Gina. New AIDS Study Reveals Startling Immunity Data. New York Times 9/27/96: A13:
(9) Dean Michael. Genetic Restrictions of HIV-1 Infection and Progression of AIDS. Science 9/27/96; 273:
1856.
(10) The Changing Face of AIDS. New York Times 11/04/96: A26
(11) Commonwealth of Virginia, Department of Health: Division of STD/AIDS Surveillance Quarterly;
4(2,3):1. Available from P.O. Box 2448,Room 112, Richmond, VA 23218
(12) Monteith SK. AIDS:The Unnecessary Epidemic. Covenant House 1991. (See also HIV-Watch; I-V.)
P.O. Box 1835, Soquel, CA 95073.
(13) Shilts Randy. And the Band Played On. St. Martin's Press 1987: xxii.
(14) Fumento Michael. The Myth of Heterosexual AIDS. Regnery Gateway 1990: 303.
(15) Ibid: 178-184
(16) Ellison Brian., Duesberg Peter H. Why We Will Never Win the War on AIDS. Inside Story
Communications. El Cerrito CA 1994 : v-viii.
(17) Duesberg Peter H. Inventing the AIDS Virus. Regnery Publishing Inc 1996: 175
(18) Ibid: 158
(19) Why We Will Never Win The War On AIDS. op cited: 250
(20) Inventing the AIDS Virus: op cited: 348-252
(21) Ibid: 4, 183-185, 286-288
(22) Asher MS. et al. Does Drug Use Cause AIDS. Nature 3/11/93; 362:103
(23) Schecter Martin T. et al. HIV-1 and the Aetiology of AIDS. Lancet 3/13/93; 341: 658-659
(24) Minimal Data Set for Risk Reduction,National Totals 1/1/93 - 12/31/93. 125 Hemophilia Treatment
Centers Reporting to the CDC.
(25) Why We Will Never Win the War On AIDS; op cited: 122
(26) AIDS:The Unnecessary Epidemic; op cited.
(27) And the Band Played On; op cited: 539-560.
(28) AIDS:The Unnecessary Epidemic: op cited: 136, 161-66, 193, 342-43.

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