Re: Philippe Krynen 10 years on

"Alex" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>AIDS IN AFRICA
>
>A field experience in Tanzania
>
>(translated from the original French*)
>
>Dr. Marc Deru
>
>The time is 1981. Philippe Krynen, a pilot, bids farewell to aviation. He
and his wife
>have decided
>to change the direction of their lives and, henceforth, to care for orphan
children,
>said to be so
>numerous in Africa. They join the Austrian association, SOS Kinderdorf Int.,
and, for
>three years,
>run childrens' villages in Senegal, Ivory Coast and Rwanda. In 1984, they
spend some
>time with Third
>World children in Bangladesh and in India (in the Kerala district).
>
>This three-year experience enables them to realize what it is they really
want to do,
>ie help
>orphans get off to a good start in life - without removing them from their
environment
>- and to set
>up their own aid structure. In preparation for this, they undergo nursing
training at
>Sélestat
>(France). Three years thus go by.
>
>Travel
>
>In 1988, with diplomas in hand, they decide to do an on-site exploration.
They choose
>Tanzania. For
>two months, they backpack up and down the country until they are informed
of the dramatic
>plight of
>thousands of children in the Kagera, a region bounded by Rwanda, Uganda
and Lake Victoria.
>
>"Ten years later, I can remember our arrival in Bukoba. I can see once again
the grey
>dawn after a
>long, uncomfortable night aboard an overcrowded boat, the mud puddles by
the quayside.
>It has just
>stopped raining.
>
>Dense mist from the lake drowns the countryside between the harbour and
the hotel. The
>mist hums: it
>'s made up of tiny flies. Billions of them. Their predator, a featherweight
spider with
>outlandishly
>long legs, weaves its web on facades, trees and hedges. The webs are tattered
by the
>wind; the town
>is falling to pieces. Observations made on the three following days of the
visit are
>likewise:
>impassable roads, broken bridges, empty stores, rationed petrol (gasoline),
no running
>water, no
>electricity. The hotel makes us pay in advance so as to be able to purchase
meal ingredients.
>We are
>the only customers.
>
>What kind of a war was it that caused the capital of a region with a million
and a half
>inhabitants
>to be in this state? "Things have gotten better", I am told, "five years
ago, you couldn't
>even find
>a box of matches. Soap came in from Uganda by contraband."
>
>It's worse in the villages. The banana plantations are declining, the livestock
is sick,
>the huts
>have been eaten away by termites and the people are in rags. Samsom Musheba,
the Lutheran
>bishop,
>drives us 40 km to the North, to the Uganda border, to visit Kashenye. I
remember the
>four hours of
>track under driving rain, the ghostly silhouettes of chilled, half-naked
children huddling
>together
>as the Land Rover went by.
>
>While on foot in Kashenye, I see the same silhouettes up close during an
interminable
>door-to-door
>visit behind the mayor and the pastor, who point out to us the houses that
are the most
>affected by
>"this disease", the name of which is never mentioned."
>
>So wrote Philippe Krynen not long ago.
>
>With these unsettling impressions in mind, they return to Europe and get
in touch with
>the European
>Economic Community (EEC), which promises funds. They stimulate public awareness
and
>draw the media's
>attention to the drama that is unfolding in the Great Lakes Region, which
soon becomes
>labelled as
>the epicentre of AIDS in Africa.
>
>Things could have ended there, with the publishing of an upsetting news
report on a
>dramatic
>situation. But this is merely the beginning of the story, since, as opposed
to the reporters,
>researchers, media representatives and experts of every kind who have been
visiting
>"AIDS-plagued"
>Subsaharan Africa for the past 10 to 15 years, Philippe and Evelyne Krynen
return to
>the region to
>get their project off the ground. They are backed up by promises of funds
from the EEC
>as well as by
>four thousand child sponsorship pledges from families in France.
>
>Partage** Tanzania
>
>In December 1989, following eight months of specialization at the Institute
of Tropical
>Medicine
>(IMTA), in Antwerp, they are back in Bukoba. It is in that location that
the NGO, Partage
>Tanzania,
>is created, with a view to setting up a global health and development programme
covering
>an area of
>50 x 50 km (31 x 31 miles) and encompassing some 30-odd villages and 70,000
inhabitants.
>
>It is also there that, in the following years, Philippe makes observations
which, little
>by little,
>cause him to reconsider the conclusions he had drawn during his first trip
in 1988.
>These had led
>him to declare that the Kagera region was the victim of a new and deadly
disease, a
>terrible
>epidemic.
>
>Of course, he doesn't question his initial observations: the area around
Bukoba is indeed
>in the
>direst misery, and the immunity of its inhabitants to disease has totally
collapsed;
>the acquired
>immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) appears to be an obvious reality. However,
he wonders
>about the
>origin of this social distress and widespread breakdown of immunity. He
seeks an answer,
>he asks
>questions.
>
>Kagera
>
>At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the region was considered a little
paradise,
>thanks to
>its favourable climate (1,200m (4,000') altitude), regular rainfall throughout
the year,
>banana
>trees with bean plots - ensuring an abundant food supply - growing in their
shade around
>every
>house, with fisheries products to complete the diet. The development of
the coffee trade
>brings in
>cash. Children are schooled on the spot or are sent to Uganda for their
secondary education.
>
>However, from the First World War on, a series of events brought about a
complete reversal
>of this
>idyllic situation. East Coast Fever decimated the cattle. Banana trees thus
deprived
>of their
>natural fertilizer - dung - slowly withered away, to the point of falling
prey to a
>fungus disease
>several decades later, ultimately bringing about a brutal decline in their
productivity.
>In
>addition, coffee prices collapsed. Nationalisation schemes, begun in 1967,
resulted
>in the
>dismantling of the economic system. Then came the ultimate catastrophe:
the devastation
>of the
>region brought about by Idi Amin Dada's war against Tanzania in 1979. Serious
malnutrition
>became a
>lasting feature. Basic commodities were in short supply. The children who
managed to
>survive
>malnutrition reached adulthood with weakened immune systems, and mortality
(from tuberculosis
>and
>other respiratory diseases, intestinal infections and massive infestation
with parasites)
>in these
>young, chronic malaria-ridden adults was high. The disastrous sanitary and
agricultural
>situations
>forced the survivors to leave and try their luck in the large East African
cities.
>
>The Partage Tanzania Programme
>
>This is the picture Philippe Krynen has before his eyes when he begins his
work in the
>Kagera
>region. He now understands the causes of this catastrophic situation. He
discovers that
>half of the
>"orphans" are actually wards of the extended family, that is, children left
in the village
>in the
>care of their often resourceless grandparents by their own parents who have
gone off
>to the city in
>search of means of survival. He thus begins his programme with the aim of
supporting
>each orphan
>child till adulthood, while maintaining the child in his/her family environment.
>
>In former times, a fatherless or motherless child would have been taken
in charge by
>the clan. A
>tutor responsible for raising the child and protecting his/her inheritance
would have
>been
>appointed. The elders would have seen to it that the child's rights were
respected.
>Nowadays, with
>the overly large number of orphans, this traditional system no longer functions.
It
>is now the
>grandparents who take in the children, without the support of the community,
which itself
>has fewer
>and fewer assets at its disposal. It is now up to elderly people lacking
in resources
>to feed, send
>off to school and educate swarms of grandchildren. In certain villages of
the North,
>one family in
>three is thus composed of very young alongside very old people. These unbalanced
families
>are in
>great need of support.
>
>Partage Tanzania thus took it upon itself to create an overarching health
care structure:
>day-care c
>entres in each village, where children are looked after by day and return
to their families
>in the
>evening; a health care centre in Bukoba, in which about twenty children
can be fed,
>observed and
>looked after until the improvement in their state of health allows them
to return to
>their families;
>a dispensary in each village to ensure follow-up, and a malaria prevention
programme
>(malaria being
>the prime cause of mortality among children in the Kagera), based on educating
people
>as to the
>benefits of using mosquito netting. In addition, kindergartens, primary
schools and
>manual skills
>workshops were gradually set up in all of the villages. A programme for
the rehabilitation
>of
>agricultural land was instituted (for growing bananas, coffee and beans);
houses were
>rebuilt,
>sources of spring water were managed to ensure the widespread use of really
safe drinking
>water.
>
>Unorthodox observations
>
>For two years, in line with what he had learnt at the IMTA [Antwerp Institute
of Tropical
>Medicine],
>Philippe continues to look upon the health situation as the consequence
of an epidemic
>attributable
>to a new virus - HIV - and he decides to do some testing.
>
>What he first notices is that the children, whether HIV-positive or negative,
have exactly
>equal
>chances of being restored to health, provided they receive proper nourishment
and care.
>What he also
>notices is that HIV-positive subjects, when tested following a bout of malaria,
for
>instance, can be
>HIV-negative six months later.
>
>On the occasion of the eight international congress on AIDS in Amsterdam,
in July 1992,
>he makes
>mention of an unexpected observation: tests carried out on his own staff
of 149 persons
>revealed
>that only 5.4 % were HIV-positive! His statement is rejected. This survey
is valuleless
>because the
>group tested is not considered as being representative of the general population.
So
>it must be,
>undoubtedly. Philippe returns to Tanzania and, in order to clear up the
matter once
>and for all,
>goes about testing all of the inhabitants (some 842 persons) of a village.
Result: 13.8%
>are
>HIV-positive, whereas the WHO states that in the Great Lakes Region, some
40 to 50%
>are
>"contaminated by HIV".
>
>During the Yaoundé congress on AIDS in December 1992, he gives a press conference
in
>which he
>presents the results of this survey and expresses his doubts as to the viral
origin
>of the
>"epidemic". His statement is very unfavourably received by participants
at the congress.
>Philippe
>Krynen suddenly loses all credibility; whereas he had been the darling of
such congresses
>in the
>past - for so long as he carried the torch of the viral theory of AIDS -
he has now
>become the
>heretic to be rejected and avoided.
>
>An interview with Neville Hodgkinson in 1993, published in the Sunday Times
[UK] under
>the
>provocative title of "AIDS, the Epidemic that Never Was" finally discredits
him totally.
>Funds
>promised by the EEC never arrive. The Tanzanian government threatens to
expel him, but
>quickly goes
>back on its decision, after taking note of the effectiveness and disinterested
nature
>of his work in
>the Kagera region.
>
>Since then, Philippe Krynen has retired from the "public life" of congresses
and relations
>with the
>major press media. He goes about implementing his health programme quietly
and efficiently
>by
>applying and disseminating elementary common-sense measures. All that is
necessary,
>as well as
>indispensable, to be in good health and to overcome immunodeficiency resulting
from
>miserable living
>conditions is to eat properly, drink unpolluted water and take the appropriate
measures
>to prevent
>and treat the endemic, familiar diseases that have been around for a long
time. Moreover,
>in order
>to ensure that the health of the population will not become dependent on
outside intervention,
>education must be promoted; the young and not-so-young should be made aware
of the causes
>of
>declining health.
>
>In the meantime, he makes another observation: young HIV-positive children
who are vaccinated
>in
>accordance with Western practices and treated with Bactrim and Nizoral to
prevent the
>onset of
>opportunistic diseases continue to have very fragile immune systems and
all too frequently
>die. The
>effects of these long-term immune system-depressing medications clearly
outweigh the
>anticipated
>benefits. Thus, from 1994-1995 onwards, these "preventive" measures are
also set aside,
>resulting in
>a very noticeable drop in infantile mortality. From this point on, no more
mention is
>made of the
>theory of virally induced acquired immunodeficiency.
>
>Results
>
>What makes Philippe Krynen's experience in Tanzania particulary interesting
derives
>from the
>timespan it covers and that the results obtained can now be evaluated with
12 years
>of hindsight.
>
>In 1989, he set himself up in the region considered to be the very epicentre
of the
>AIDS epidemic,
>in the midst of a population declared by the WHO and the big media to be
doomed to rapid
>decimation,
>unless drastic measures were taken to halt the spread of a new and deadly
sexually transmitted
>virus
>called HIV.
>
>It so happens that since that time, no one in this area was treated with
antiviral drugs
>(cellular
>poisons with very serious side-effects, especially in young cells and bodies),
no condoms
>were
>distributed, no consideration was given to the notion that the immune system
breakdown
>and the high
>mortality rate in the population were attributable to infection by a new
virus, and
>HIV tests
>revealed themselves to be of no practical use whatsoever.
>
>Medical follow-up of thousands of orphans and abandoned children was based
on ensuring
>an adequate
>and balanced diet, consumption of safe drinking water and providing a safe
and secure
>family-type
>environment. Prevention consisted essentially in educating the population
in basic hygiene
>as well
>as in the use of mosquito netting. Medical care per se was limited to the
classical
>treatment of
>endemic diseases (malaria, borreliosis, tuberculosis, parasitic ailments)
and of two
>types of acute
>diseases which are a frequent cause of mortality: respiratory infections,
on the one
>hand, and
>intestinal conditions (of parasitic, bacterial or mycotic [fungal] origin)
with serious
>diarrhea and
>dehydration, on the other.
>
>In the space of only a few years, these basic sanitation measures led to
a spectacular
>decline in
>morbidity and mortality, as well as to the disappearance of this immunodeficiency
epidemic
>which had
>placed the region at the epicentre of AIDS. Instead, it is now the epicentre
of a health
>and social
>recovery process!
>
>In the area covered by Partage Tanzania, the infant mortality rate (ie for
that part
>of the
>population under 18 years of age) is now, according to statistics, equivalent
to a third
>of the
>national rate for that same age group, and to a quarter of the rate for
the Kagera region
>as a
>whole. Those figures speak for themselves.
>
>The Partage Tanzania Programme is now approved, supported and often cited
by the Tanzanian
>authorities as an example to follow in the development field.
>
>It must be noted that, over the last twelve years, the situation outside
the area covered
>by Partage
>Tanzania, ie for the whole of the Kagera region, has also significantly
improved. A
>ghost town in
>1988, Bukoba is now a lively and busy place. The spectre of a deadly epidemic
has receded
>and Kagera
>is no longer referred to as the "epicentre of AIDS in Africa". The epidemic
of misery
>has abated and
>the region has regained a certain equilibrium thanks to social and sanitation
measures
>applied by
>the Tanzanian government.
>
>Of what value are all the scientific studies and discussions on "HIV", the
statistical
>estimates and
>the catastrophic predictions, in the face of these irrefutable facts and
results? Why
>insist at all
>costs on administering highly toxic products to HIV-positive pregnant women
who are
>essentially
>suffering from dietary deficiencies, malaria and parasitic ailments, when
we know that
>the children
>they will bear will be in excellent health, provided they are simply given
food supplements
>during
>their pregnancy (as demonstrated in a 1998 study)?
>
>What conclusions are to be drawn? The "HIV" virus which scientific authorities
have
>peremptorily -
>and in the absence of any concrete evidence - declared to be the cause of
AIDS has never
>allowed
>itself to be isolated, cultured and analysed in compliance with the criteria
laid down
>in classical
>virology. In spite of the very intense reactions that such pronouncements
invariably
>engender, it
>must be stated clearly that the very existence of an "HIV" virus remains
a mere hypothesis,
>that the
>"evidence" of its presence in a patient's blood (as determined by HIV and
viral load
>testing) only
>indicates the presence of particular proteins and genome fragments of undetermined
origin.
>These
>tests have no specificity and thus do not constitute proof of the presence
of a new
>pathological
>virus.
>
>The Kagera experience clearly shows that the viral hypothesis put forth
for AIDS does
>not accord
>with the reality on the ground and that the causes of immune system breakdown
in Africa
>are
>obviously extreme poverty as well as the lack of basic sanitary infrastructures.
>
>This plain common sense position, held by numerous scientists and doctors
throughout
>the world, is,
>however, largely ignored, ridiculed or even violently rejected owing to
the high stakes
>involved in
>the fight against HIV.
>
>At present, the Great Lakes Region no longer makes the headlines. Rather,
it is countries
>such as
>Botswana or South Africa, said to be "contaminated to the extent of 40 or
50% by HIV",
>which are the
>object of apocalyptic forecasts. Now it is President Mbeki who is in disgrace
because
>he dares to
>question the basis of the fight against HIV.
>
>Can one ignore the fact that, in spite of its status as a "rich" African
country, South
>Africa
>remains profoundly scarred by the apartheid regime? This regime, which ceased
to exist,
>from a
>political standpoint, in 1994, continues to survive in every economic and
social aspect.
>Most of the
>land is still in the hands of a minority of large landowners; this state
of affairs
>deprives rural
>people of any food self-sufficiency as well as of the possibility of living
with dignity.
>A high
>urban crime rate and drug use (which, along with malnutrition, constitutes
another major
>cause of
>immunodeficiency) are thriving against the backdrop of a deplorable economic
situation;
>the politics
>remain indulgent vis-à-vis the business world as well as the foreign banks,
holders
>of enormous debt
>claims inherited from apartheid. The GEAR, a "made in South Africa" structural
adjustment
>scheme put
>into place in 1997 (with the applause of the IMF) is a dismal failure for
the majority
>of the
>population.
>
>Will Mr. Thabo Mbeki and his government, who inherited this highly tense
situation in
>1999, have the
>will as well as the means to reverse present trends and implement a real
social policy?
>Will they
>take the necessary measures? Will Mr. Mbeki succeed in implementing a basic
health and
>social
>programme, comparable to what has happened in the Kagera region, in his
vast country?
>Will he be
>able to set, for all of Africa, the example of a great country which has
freed itself
>from this
>epidemic of misery? This is within the realm of possibility and it is what
we hope will
>come to be.
>
>Marc Deru, June 2001
>
>References
>concatenated
>
>
>
>



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