It's a conspiracy.

[Ben E Lou]

Wow.

From Bend.com news sources
Posted: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 1:27 PM
Reference Code: PR-20767

January 25 - CORVALLIS - A new study suggests that a number of African Americans are distrustful of the government's role in the origin and treatment of HIV/AIDS - and that African American men who have such beliefs also have more negative attitudes toward condoms and use them less consistently.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development, one of the National Institutes of Health. It was published this week in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

It is the believed to be the first study to examine a wide range of HIV/AIDS conspiracy beliefs and their relationship with condom use.

"These 'conspiracy theories' have been out there for a while and are part of a larger distrust of government, as well as of medical and public health institutions, by many African Americans," said Sheryl Thorburn, an associate professor of public health at Oregon State University and co-author of the study. "But this is one of the first studies to show that these beliefs about HIV/AIDS may be affecting behavior."

The researchers conducted a national telephone survey with 500 randomly selected African Americans, ages 15-44. Included in the survey were questions about HIV/AIDS beliefs, attitudes toward condoms, and condom use.

More than half (53.4 percent) of those surveyed said they believe that there is a cure for AIDS, but that it is being withheld from the poor. Only 37 percent felt that the government was telling the truth about AIDS.

Among the other findings:

43.6 percent of African Americans surveyed felt that people who take new medicines for HIV are human guinea pigs for the government;

26.6 percent said AIDS was produced in a government laboratory;

48.2 percent believed that HIV is a man-made virus;

15.2 percent said AIDS is a form of genocide against blacks.
"We need more open discussion about these beliefs, because they are very real," Thorburn said.
The study found that conspiracy beliefs were associated with negative attitudes toward condoms and with inconsistent condom use among African American men - regardless of socio-demographic characteristics, perceived risk and other factors. The researchers did not find the same results for women in the survey.

Thorburn conducted the study with Laura M. Bogart, a researcher with the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, Calif. They said their results suggest that conspiracy beliefs may have a negative impact on HIV preventive practices.

Researchers believe that HIV/AIDS conspiracy beliefs stem from well-documented racial discrimination and disparities in health care - as well as past examples of unethical research, including the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study in the mid-20th century, the authors say.

In the Tuskegee study, which took place from 1932-72, the U.S. Public Health Service studied the effects of untreated syphilis in nearly 400 low-income African American males from rural Alabama. The men were told they were being treated for "bad blood" and were denied treatment for the disease.

Distrust of the government's role in HIV may translate into distrust of public health prevention messages about HIV and condoms, Bogart said.

"Public health professionals need to acknowledge conspiracy beliefs and work toward addressing them," Bogart said. "It is critical to have people from the community delivering messages about HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention methods."

African Americans have a disproportionately high rate of HIV and AIDS, the authors point out, and addressing barriers to prevention is critical in changing that trend.

[sachmo71]

Did you know? You cannot get AIDS from sitting on a toilet.


Unless a shadowy figure was in the stall just before you.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Hmm ... seems research along these lines may be a specialty of some of these folks

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/conten...00002/art00012
Birth Control Conspiracy Beliefs, Perceived Discrimination, and Contraception among African Americans: An Exploratory Study

EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP OF CONSPIRACY BELIEFS ABOUT HIV/AIDS TO SEXUAL BEHAVIORS AND ATTITUDES AMONG AFRICAN-AMERICAN ADULTS
http://www.nmanet.org/1057-1065jnma1103.pdf

Now, before people start wondering about my position on things like the grass knoll, I'm not saying there's anything biased at all in this research. I'm just saying that, sometimes, researchers develop tunnel vision & produce results to match the expected/desired results. That's all I'm saying.

[Balldog]

"15.2 percent said AIDS is a form of genocide against blacks."

wtf

[JeeberD]

More than half (53.4 percent) of those surveyed said they believe that there is a cure for AIDS, but that it is being withheld from the poor.

That's not too far from the truth considering how expensive HIV treatment is...

[Fritz]

Ben,

A friends wife had a scholarship to Norfolk State. One of MLKs daughters spoke at the school and blamed the govt. for creating and spreading aids.

[Huckleberry]

Someone should tell them that the real government conspiracy is to make them believe that AIDS is a government conspiracy so that they'll distrust the warnings, decide not to use condoms, and then get AIDS and die.

That should throw 'em for a loop.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry

Someone should tell them that the real government conspiracy is to make them believe that AIDS is a government conspiracy so that they'll distrust the warnings, decide not to use condoms, and then get AIDS and die.

That should throw 'em for a loop.

To me, that actually seems much more plausible.

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'm just saying that, sometimes, researchers develop tunnel vision & produce results to match the expected/desired results.

As someone who spent six years in graduate school with eyes open to what was going on instead of the tunnel vision required to get a Ph.D., I can assure you that this happens the VAST majority of time. When someone gets a grant to do research, they are expected to produce certain results. If they get the wrong results, there goes the follow on contract.

[miked]

Originally Posted by Samdari

As someone who spent six years in graduate school with eyes open to what was going on instead of the tunnel vision required to get a Ph.D., I can assure you that this happens the VAST majority of time. When someone gets a grant to do research, they are expected to produce certain results. If they get the wrong results, there goes the follow on contract.

This also stresses the importance of randomized, double-blinded clincical trials. But the problem is you can't withhold a potential cure to have a placebo-controlled trial for something of this magnitude. Imagine thinking you got a potential cure only to find out you were in the placebo group.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry

Someone should tell them that the real government conspiracy is to make them believe that AIDS is a government conspiracy so that they'll distrust the warnings, decide not to use condoms, and then get AIDS and die.

That should throw 'em for a loop.

Or that AIDS was made to force them to use condoms and reduce the black population. The options for absurd conspiracy theories are endless!

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by miked

This also stresses the importance of randomized, double-blinded clincical trials. But the problem is you can't withhold a potential cure to have a placebo-controlled trial for something of this magnitude. Imagine thinking you got a potential cure only to find out you were in the placebo group.

Essentially this was a study to determine how someone felt, and why they felt that way. It was certainly plausable that it was a randomized, blinded study. It really depends on where the sample came from, and to make sure that the people who are scoring the survey really have no information about what they are scoring. Thereby, providing the most objective results. Then when the researchers get the information returned they are strickly looking at the numbers and running the statistical analysis to see if there is any statistical correlation between anything. As long as you use a different set of assistants to disseminate, score and anylize the data, there should be no researcher bias in the study.

You do need to be on the lookout for individuals who were not honest in the inventory, and make sure that the questionnaire was written in such a way that random answers would highlight those individuals so that they could be excluded from the study.

If done correctly, can make this a valid and representative study.

[Fonzie]

Originally Posted by Samdari

As someone who spent six years in graduate school with eyes open to what was going on instead of the tunnel vision required to get a Ph.D., I can assure you that this happens the VAST majority of time. When someone gets a grant to do research, they are expected to produce certain results. If they get the wrong results, there goes the follow on contract.

Whoa there - the VAST majority of the time? Am I understanding you to say that you think most scientists systematically twist, unconsciously misperceive, or deliberately falsify data to get the desired result? If so, then I'd have to say that my experiences in grad school were apparently very, very different from yours. I'll acknowledge that there are certainly some unscrupulous folks out there who engage in this practice deliberately, and a few more who do so on a less-conscious level, but in my experience these folks constitute a very small minority. The VAST majority of the funded researchers I've worked with strongly embraced the scientific method, the desperate need for honesty in academic endeavors, and the need to keep an open mind about unexpected results. The unexpected results can often be a great deal more interesting than the expected results to those folks, too, and provide additional opportunities for obtaining funded research.

The beauty of the scientific method is that it allows for replication, and most intriguing research findings get replicated by other laboratories. If those unscrupulous folks were up to no good or had to go through numerous statistical contortions to obtain the predicted results then they'll be found out. And that does them a LOT more harm than getting unexpected results - and sometimes ends careers.

Of course, if I misunderstood what you were saying then please disregard this post.

[Jesse_Ewiak]

Actually...I wouldn't be entirely surprised if in 100 years, somebody found documents that some virus got loose from military base and mutated into AIDS. Not a conspiracy, but a case of Murphy's Law.

[Franklinnoble]

True story... the founder of planned parenthood did so with the intention of curbing the black population.

Look it up.

[Suicane75]

"It's true"

[ShaefIllini]

Well, look at it this way - only 21.6 percent believe HIV is a man-made virus that was NOT produced in a government laboratory.

Rogue Mad Scientists???

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

True story... the founder of planned parenthood did so with the intention of curbing the black population.

Look it up.

Which one of the two was he? (no, not Hedley, the ones on the left)



SI

[Franklinnoble]

"He" was named Margaret Sanger.

Do your own research. There's plenty of stuff out there on her.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Which one of the two was he? (no, not Hedley, the ones on the left)



SI

Where the white women at?

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

"He" was named Margaret Sanger.

Do your own research. There's plenty of stuff out there on her.

You are taking entirely all the fun out of this.

SI

[Franklinnoble]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

You are taking entirely all the fun out of this.

SI

Sorry. I'll run along and find a funny KKK or Nazi pic to make up for it...

[TargetPractice6]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

"He" was named Margaret Sanger.

Do your own research. There's plenty of stuff out there on her.

Yawn. "This is complete true even if it can't be found on any unbiased site! What do you mean a Christian site isn't neutral on Planned Parenthood?!?"

[Huckleberry]

http://www.nyu.edu/projects/sanger/msbio.htm

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

Sorry. I'll run along and find a funny KKK or Nazi pic to make up for it...

Yeesh, it's Blazing Saddles. You need to watch more Mel Brooks or lighten up or both.

SI

[Craptacular]

Excuse me while I whip this out.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Craptacular

Excuse me while I whip this out.

the youngstown ladies sing this song.... DOODAR, DOODAR.