UN lowers AIDS counts by 40 per cent

The United Nations is backing off its scare tactic of overestimating the numbers of people suffering and dying from AIDS. They have been so far over year after year that knowledgeable people have been complaining every year. Why did the UN bureaucrats and scientists make such a huge error? They wanted more funding, so they lied, I mean, emphasized the immensity of the problem. Washington Post

The worldwide total of people infected with HIV -- estimated a year ago at nearly 40 million and rising -- now will be reported as 33 million. Having millions fewer people with a lethal contagious disease is good news. Some researchers, however, contend that persistent overestimates in the widely quoted U.N. reports have long skewed funding decisions and obscured potential lessons about how to slow the spread of HIV. Critics have also said that U.N. officials overstated the extent of the epidemic to help gather political and financial support for combating AIDS. "There was a tendency toward alarmism, and that fit perhaps a certain fundraising agenda," said Helen Epstein, author of "The Invisible Cure:Africa, the West, and the Fight Against AIDS." "I hope these new numbers will help refocus the response in a more pragmatic way." [link in the original]