UNAIDS: redefining HIV and AIDS

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Martin - 05 Jun 2007 12:18 GMT

Here's an interesting article about UNAIDS' new recommendations for
defining HIV and AIDS:
<http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_general_news?id=56521688>.

It picks up on a point I've previous mentioned about how HIV and AIDS
have been merged in to HIV/AIDS:

"...rather than HIV/AIDS, HIV should be used unless one is
specifically referring to AIDS. HIV and AIDS should also not be used;
it should be AIDS unless specifically referring to HIV."

And it also admits there is no test for AIDS:

"There is no such thing as an 'AIDS test'; the right words to use are
HIV test, or HIV antibody test."

The way HIV and AIDS have been merged to become HIV/AIDS, and the
loosely defined definitions of HIV and AIDS has been something that's
annoyed me for a while.

It appears that UNAIDS is now attempting to go some way to correct
these problem, however I note their website at
<http://www.unaids.org/en/> is titled "UNAIDS: The Joint United
Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS."

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Larry Farrell - 05 Jun 2007 19:23 GMT

[snip]

> And it also admits there is no test for AIDS:
>
> "There is no such thing as an 'AIDS test'; the right words to use are
> HIV test, or HIV antibody test."

[snip]

And when did anyone with even basic knowledge ever claim that there
was a test for AIDS? It has *always* been a test for the presence of
antibody against HIV.

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Martin - 06 Jun 2007 08:26 GMT

>[snip]
>>
>> And it also admits there is no test for AIDS:
>>
>> "There is no such thing as an 'AIDS test'; the right words to use are
>> HIV test, or HIV antibody test."

>[snip]
>
>And when did anyone with even basic knowledge ever claim that there
>was a test for AIDS? It has *always* been a test for the presence of
>antibody against HIV.

Type 'AIDS test' in to Google and see what you get.

How about this one from UNICEF
<http://www.unicef.org.uk/press/news_detail.asp?news_id=768>:

"A revolutionary method of testing infants for HIV/AIDS is saving the
lives of babies."

I would expect UNICEF to know better. But it's this merging of HIV
and AIDS that UNAIDS is complaining about.

The use of the term 'AIDS test' is usually down to sloppy language.
And the definition of AIDS is open to debate, anyway.

Also, there are lots of people who believe an 'HIV test' is a test for
HIV itself, and not a test for an indirect (and unrelated) marker.
This is why it's widely referred to as an 'HIV test' and not an 'HIV
antibody test.'

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