South African President Thabo Mbeki's claim that poverty causes AIDS was misinterpreted by the public, said a visiting professor on Friday.
The Science, Technology and Society Program hosted Smith College Professor Albert Mosley's lecture, "Does HIV Cause AIDS: In Defense of Thabo Mbeki." In his lecture, Mosley sought to clarify and defend Mbeki's statement linking poverty with AIDS.
Mosley said Mbeki does not deny the fact that HIV is necessary for an individual to contract AIDS, but says it is not the cause of the AIDS epidemic. The epidemic, Mosley said, is the result of impoverished cultures, which lack sanitation and education, among other things.
"Poverty does indeed structure a situation in such a way that makes the occurrence of AIDS much higher," Mosley said.
"Throughout the third world, just getting clean drinking water is a huge problem."
Mosley said the reason AIDS is significantly more prevalent in African countries is not because they lack the biomedical knowledge of the developed world. Instead, he attributed this trend to their inadequate public health measures.
Mosley said research in modern science is performed in a way that supports pharmaceutical drug companies, but may not be the best way to attack all diseases.
"Our strategy in helping countries battle the epidemic is based on having these countries buy drugs from American pharmaceutical companies. The problem is that underdeveloped countries cannot afford them," Mosley said.
Mosley said it is important to try to prevent AIDS and other epidemics by improving the general health infrastructure of countries such as South Africa.
Mosley's paper also challenges the scientific notion of cause-effect relationships, which suggests one specific cause can be found for a given effect.
For example, Mosley said many scientists believe if they can find a way to intervene and stop the HIV virus from infecting with a drug or vaccine, then they will stop the incidence of AIDS.
"There are many factors involved in the AIDS epidemic, the greatest of which is extreme poverty," Mosley said. "You cannot blame everything on a simple virus."
