Downing Street Says

The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) advised journalists that the Prime Minister would be hosting a breakfast in Downing Street tomorrow morning at which he would outline the Government’s strategy to tackle Aids in developing countries. Hilary Benn, adults and young people affected by Aids and the heads of key international agencies, including the Chief Executive of UNAIDS, Peter Piot, would also attend. A message would also be transmitted from Nelson Mandela as co-chair of the International Aids Trust. The Prime Minister would spell out how £1.5bn announced in the CSR would be spent on Aids and he would make clear how political will and leadership had to be teamed with financial commitment to tackle this issue. Aids would, of course, be the centrepiece of the UK’s presidency of the G8 next year and the focus of the Commission for Africa which was launched by the Prime Minister in February. He would also announce £150m for Aids orphans and children made vulnerable by Aids, doubling the UK’s contribution to the UN’s Global Fund to fight Aids, taking the total to over £150m over two years. He would also make clear that the strategy would have a clear emphasis on care and treatment, as well as prevention. The Prime Minister would say tomorrow that, “Ignoring the issue of Aids is simply not an option. This is a tragedy that spans personal and global scales and it is appalling that life expectancy is some of the worst affected areas is falling back to pre-1950s levels. But this is not just about the millions of personal and family tragedies, appalling though these are. Already fragile economies are seeing their working age populations destroyed. Quite simply, we cannot hope to tackle poverty on a global scale without addressing Aids. Today’s strategy will place Britain at the forefront of this response”. The PMOS took the opportunity to point out that tomorrow morning’s event had been timed to co-incide with the international conference on Aids in Bangkok.

16 Comments »

Given that aids may still be a man made virus and debate still continues on that, I think it would be very wise if politicians around the world looked at how to make SURE research in this area was as controlled as it is possible to make it!.Failure to do so may solve all mankind`s problem`s!!!.
Comment by george dutton — 2 Aug 2004 on 10:08 am | Link
…ugh.

Half of Africa might be dead within the next 20 years. I don’t think anybody really cares whether or not it’s "man-made"; any such conspiracy utterly fails to address the fact that millions of people are dead already, and millions more will die.

As for whether it’s man-made; this is one of those fascinating conspiracies that ignores fact. Not the fact as to whether or not it was engineered – that’s besides the point. The fact is, if the accusations being made are true, then it was being made as a weapon by government, and would never fall under those laws regardless. In fact, such weapons are already clearly illegal under existing international treaties.

So. Nothing to do with ordinary research going on every day, and even if true, certainly not an example of how "research goes wrong". If anything, it’s a damning example of why weapons development may inevitably lead to the end of human society, whether that’s developing nuclear technology or AIDS viruses.

However, any AIDS-is-manmade theory is utter and pure conjecture, at best, and can’t be substantiated; moreover, it’s besides the point at almost every level – with millions of people at risk of death, none of us actually care where it came from; we just want it gone.
Comment by Gregory Block — 2 Aug 2004 on 2:22 pm | Link
It is a matter of FACT that the casing/cloak that the H.I.V.virus uses to enter the body was first seen by mankind over six year`s before the first case of aids was ever seen in San Francisco.This was knowing by a lot of those that work in this field it should have been they made it!!!.Of course they then said it was a coincidence that over six year`s later nature produced the same casing/cloak and it seem`s most people accepted that and do to this day.
Comment by george dutton — 2 Aug 2004 on 9:08 pm | Link
It’s a matter of FACT that those people are dying regardless, and waving one’s hands in the air and calling it all a conspiracy isn’t going to save lives. More importantly, there is no law in the land – here, there, or anywhere – which will prevent a government from creating these weapons, if indeed it was weapons research as the conspiracy claims. It is already illegal; there is no need for national laws to rule out what is already illegal in international law.

I.e., that theory has nothing to do with the need to send aid to Africa, a positive step taken by Britain; nor does it negate the need for a coordinated plan to deal with HIV infection rates and treatment in Africa.

All that theory does is attempt to apportion blame – something which, quite frankly, just doesn’t matter. If the theory is wrong, we still have an epidemic of global proportions that will decimate societies on several continents, and if it’s right, those people are still dying or on their deathbeds, and no amount of "research control" will prevent any government involved in that kind of research from having biological weapons research programmes.

It’s a moot point. It just doesn’t matter. All that matters now is stopping it before we lose the future of Africa to a disease.
Comment by Gregory Block — 3 Aug 2004 on 3:13 pm | Link
Goverment`s the world over must take the risk of another aids type virus or an armageddon virus much more seriously before it`s too late.
Comment by george dutton — 5 Aug 2004 on 2:16 am | Link
I think you should also take into consideration that research in the field of viruses does not have to be taken by government`s. A gifted individual that work`s in that field could make them in his garden shed!.
Comment by george dutton — 23 Aug 2004 on 1:16 am | Link
Put in or HER garden shed!.
Comment by george dutton — 23 Aug 2004 on 1:59 am | Link
If you honestly think that doing work on viruses in the scale of 0.1 microns (4 millionths of an inch) is something you can do in your garden shed, then you’ve got an absolutely AMAZING garden shed, and should let the world in on it.

Otherwise, really, you’re just ranting again.

I mean, honestly, what are you going to do to get live virus? Walk around soho and ask people to wank into test tubes? Do you actually *know anything* about microbiology???

Sometimes, you really do border on the… sanity challenged.
Comment by Gregory Block — 23 Aug 2004 on 9:48 am | Link
Am I Gregory! you don`t think it`s possible! I think you will find it is Gregory. It is VERY possible and far easier then you think if you have the resource`s and money most thing`s are possible.You can buy all that is needed to carry out such research I KNOW.You should have watched question time on B.B.C.1 a couple of year`s ago a female labour M.P. told us all what is happening in this field it was more then frighting what research was going on.Once again Gregory comes on to this site and say`s I border on the "sanity challenged" well Gregory I have got a lot of catching up to do to reach you.
Comment by george dutton — 23 Aug 2004 on 11:47 am | Link
As a follow up to the above I should tell you all what that female labour M.P.said. "They ALREADY have viruses that can kill by race.How they do this is by attacking the D.N.A.that is slightly different,that one part of the D.N.A. that part that make`s a person have there own destination to the rest of the human race".
Comment by george dutton — 23 Aug 2004 on 12:49 pm | Link
LOL! At least it’s not me and George banging on about WMD…

I don’t believe a word of what that female MP said, George. DNA research certainly hasn’t advanced to the point where they can do things like that. If it had, there’d be no disease left in the world. Don’t listen to everything you hear from MPs – they are prone to lying and exaggeration. In fact, it’s in their job description…
Comment by PapaLazzzaru — 23 Aug 2004 on 4:14 pm | Link
L.O.L.That`s true.But who told her!.
Comment by george dutton — 23 Aug 2004 on 4:44 pm | Link
Oh, I’m sure someone told her SOMETHING; then it’s equally probably that she distorted it to support a point she was trying to make or a policy she was trying to promote.

We know how things get distorted via the old Chinese Whispers thing – I’m sure that people (MPs) use that knowledge deliberately so they can justify any slight distortions without being accused of outright lying. The problem is nowadays, it is so commonplace that they DO tell outright lies but the checks and balances have over time become eroded to the extent where we now expect it – and can do nothing about it anyway.
Comment by PapaLazzzaru — 23 Aug 2004 on 5:57 pm | Link
Still it`s not the run of the mill lie.Why should anyone lie about a thing like that!!!.What concern`s me is the fact that mankind has NEVER NOT used a weapon he has made in the whole of his history!. I now see that the U.S.A. is now making a SUPER nuclear bomb,WHAT IS THE POINT OF THAT.
Comment by george dutton — 23 Aug 2004 on 7:52 pm | Link
Didn’t realise they were; I knew they were working on smaller "tactical" nukes, the kind of thing that can be fitted into smaller-than-ever-calibre guns. Stupidity; however, the US Arms Industry (and the US economy by extension) NEEDS more and more advanced weapons to sell to third world countries.

Regardless of how small they are, they still pollute even if they don’t directly kill – depleted uranium is bad enough and that isn’t even a nuke (or even a WMD).
Comment by PapaLazzzaru — 23 Aug 2004 on 8:26 pm | Link
I bet you did not know about the Demon.Now that kill`s everybody for mile`s and mile`s around much more then a nuclear bomb.It does VERY VERY little damage to the infrastructure.Once it explodes it scatter`s VERY fine radioactive material over a huge area.There is no escape from it even if you were in a VERY DEEP nuclear bunker the particles are so fine they filter down and go through anything and would kill you.The Demon is the size of the Saturn rocket.
Comment by george dutton — 23 Aug 2004 on 11:08 pm | Link

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» Monday, July 19, 2004

Aids

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