COMPASSION RESPONSE NETWORK

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COMPASSION RESPONSE NETWORK CIRCULAR No 15

Compassion Response Network,
Australian Company Number 103 240 071
By David Keane, 16/September/2003
PO Box 582, Gosnells WA 6110, Australia
Email address: keane@nw.com.au
Website address: http://www.compassion-response.net/

Since the launch on 11^th/April/03 for the Compassion Response Network global appeal for funds to finance comparative treatment and testing trials in Harare and Kinshasa, funds received in April, May and June of 2003 totalled just AUD$2,768.53, or about US$1,800, about 2% of the total funds being sought. Those donations received have been spent on preliminary purchases in early anticipation that the full appeal goal might soon be met, but now further expenditure is necessarily being put on hold.

In July and August funds received totalled just AUD$20.00. Clearly, the receipt of funds has for the moment dried up. This funding crisis has caused our Inner Planning Circle to drastically re-think our strategies. In the last CRN circular, published in August 2003, we announced that Compassion Response Network had launched upon a new direction. Since then, the Inner Planning Circle has intensely debated the strategy for implementing this new direction. This debate has led to the Inner Planning Circle passing on 10^th/September/03, two landmark resolutions, one relating to a new aim for education of the global public, and the second approving the launch of a mini trial with just three patients, to be conducted in Kinshasa. Let us now discuss in detail each of these resolutions, and how they will provide opportunity to re-invigorate the work of Compassion Response Network, despite relatively low funding for our projects.

A: To support and facilitate an educational programme to develop and promote

1. provision of free basic health care to the poorest of the poor,
2. open inquiry and open publication of comparative studies of all alternative treatments for HIV/AIDS,
3. direct involvement of HIV/AIDS patients and most HIV/AIDS affected peoples in central planning, evaluation and production of future treatments,
4. a vision for a global Alternative Treatments Movement and Alternative Treatments Charter through which the many groups interested in participation in a comprehensive compassion response to HIV/AIDS can creatively contribute to the whole effort.

B: The role of Compassion Response Network over the next year or two will not be to facilitate such a global Alternative Treatments Movement and Alternative Treatments Charter, but simply to promote the vision, and in time to participate as one among many international groups when there will be widespread and simultaneous international invocation for such a Movement and Charter.

1. common sense criteria for safety, quality and efficacy for comparative surveys of alternative treatments for HIV/AIDS, used in Third World conditions,
2. criteria for progressive testing and community provision of the more effective, safe and cheap treatments for HIV/AIDS, so to enable a direct and increasingly comprehensive compassion response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Inner Planning Circle Debate Behind the Second Main Aim

This is the second Main Aim that Compassion Response Network has ever adopted.

On 20/April/2002, our Inner Planning Circle decided upon the final wording of the first Main Aim for Compassion Response Network, as follows;

"To facilitate treatment and testing and publication of results with comparative assessment for about half a dozen affordable, safe and reputably effective alternative treatments for AIDS over a six month period, involving regular PCR, immunity and other blood tests as required."

The number of treatments in our projects has since then expanded to nine.

This first Main Aim provided the direction for Compassion Response Network's practical service activity over the subsequent year, when we developed in detail the programs of action and cost estimates for the Harare and Kinshasa projects, registered in Australia as a public company with charitable objectives, and finally in April/2003 launched our Compassion Response Network website and global fundraising appeal to fund the Harare and Kinshasa treatment and testing projects.

That first Main Aim still remains very relevant, and will continue to remain relevant until those two projects are fully completed. We are committed to see our chosen projects through to completion. But when in June it had become clear that the needed funds would not come easily, then it became vital that we would need to adopt a second or supplementary Aim.

An Aim provides the way of realising the group Mission. Aims can vary over time. They depend on what a group wants to achieve at any given time.

An Aim describes a product or service. Those receiving the service (in the case of Compassion Response Network, this would be men and women of goodwill) must be able to understand the Aim.

Vision and Mission provide identity and motivation, whereas the Aim provides an overlap with those receiving the service.

The Mission Statement that Compassion Response Network has adopted is so vast!

In the face of insufficient funding for our projects, how can we now find a new direction to inspire men and women of goodwill to contribute to and fund our projects?

At the time of the public launch of our appeal in April 2003, none of us anticipated the poor financial response by the public. That smallness of financial response had, during April and May, caused us to strongly review where we were going. In May 2003, David wrote an article "The ONLY Way", which can be accessed through the Menu page of the CRN website. This article presents the view that the only way to initiate a comprehensive compassion response to the AIDS pandemic, is through lifting up four "pillars"; free medical treatment, a comparative survey of alternative treatments, involvement of AIDS patients in the planning process, and formation of an international Alternative Treatments Organisation. Our Inner Planning Circle felt that these four "pillars" provided the way to move forward, and so in July and August, we strongly debated the wording for a second Main Aim that would reinvigorate Compassion Response Network and enable us to complete our chosen comparative assessment projects.

Our funding campaign did not falter through lack of goodwill in the world. The campaign faltered because only a few were prepared to think deeply about the issues. The ideas we are presenting are new, and despite their common sense and simplicity, most people simply do not understand them. We therefore agreed that the present group need in order to facilitate completion of the CRN projects, was educational. We need to impact meaningfully upon the mass consciousness of the general public with our ideas.

The four pillars as presented in our second Main Aim, are each preceded by the words, "To support and facilitate an educational programme to (develop and) promote"

All four pillars need regular and growing development, besides promotion, and even after our trials are completed and a global Rio-Earth-Summit style Alternative Treatments Charter decided at a global conference, these will still need constant review and further development.

The first three of these pillars, free medical treatment, a comparative survey of alternative treatments, involvement of AIDS patients in the planning process, seemed fairly self-evident. The fourth pillar, however, led to much discussion;

(4) To support and facilitate an educational programme to develop and promote a vision for a global Alternative Treatments Movement and Alternative Treatments Charter through which the many groups interested in participation in a comprehensive compassion response to HIV/AIDS can creatively contribute to the whole effort.

There was expressed a concern that the fourth pillar could drain a lot of our energies away from the current projects in Harare and Kinshasa. We are a small group, and we must be careful not to over-reach ourselves. After much discussion, it was agreed that our task would not be to facilitate such a global Alternative Treatments Movement and Charter, but simply to support and facilitate an educational programme to develop and support a vision for that Movement and Charter. We would become a cooperative participant in that Movement, as one small player among the multitude of groups interested in the challenge of developing a comprehensive response to the AIDS pandemic.

If we are to promote an educational campaign at all it makes no sense if we do not include an invitation for the many groups to come together to develop between themselves a global vision of their united contributions. All great documents from the Hague Declaration for Peace to the United Nations Charter and the Rio Earth Charter first needed someone to hold a vision of having the global conference and then inviting everyone to that conference. That is our task as defined in the second Main Aim, to hold the vision for the Alternative Treatments Charter and invite global groups to consider and develop an agenda for leading up to such a global conference.

The rigid guidelines set by orthodox medicine for testing of treatments for AIDS have a strict bias towards orthodox medicine and pharmaceutical drugs. It would cost vast fortunes, perhaps a billion dollars, to "prove" that a treatment cures AIDS. Until such time as such proof is provided before a court of law, even the most effective alternative treatments are vigorously opposed by the American FDA and orthodox medicine.

We felt a need for a different approach, one based upon three premises,

1. that if a treatment is safe and produces positive results with HIV/AIDS patients in a small trial, then that treatment is worthy of more extensive trials,
2. that the exponents of alternative treatments ought to get together to develop an Alternative Treatments Charter in which they agree on common sense guidelines for scientific study and evaluation of treatments for AIDS.
3. that direct compassionate response to the millions with AIDS is the driving force and priority in all treatment programs.

A key element here seems to be to lift up an Alternative Treatments Charter that governments, politicians, businesses and insurance companies can take note of, even though it falls far short of the orthodox medical requirements of provability. A correct and comprehensive response to AIDS ought to be able to be initiated for perhaps a hundredth of the cost of conventional programs. And once politicians and businesses start to take note, some will put big money into such projects because it will be so obviously economic for them to do so.

We felt that engaging in the issue of self regulation of the complementary medicine and health products industry, or to work with other diseases, was not our task. Nor should we waste energy on trying to convince those who oppose our ideas. Our task is to promote a vision for what needs to be done to initiate a comprehensive compassion response to the AIDS pandemic. Our task is simply to lay the information and invitation at the cross-roads for all who come by to respond to or not as they choose.

Nor should we set out to challenge the rules of orthodox medicine. But common sense international rules for comparative testing of alternative treatments for AIDS do not exist at the moment, and it is an essential part of our work to progressively help develop such internationally recognised rules.

Kinshasa-Imusil Trials Resolution (passed 10/September/03)

Kinshasa-Imusil Trials Costings:

Originally, when Compassion Response Network in April 2003 launched its global public appeal to raise funds for the Kinshasa and Harare projects, we had developed a plan with cost estimates for treating seven AIDS patients in Kinshasa, with three of these patients receiving Imusil treatment, two AIDS patients receiving zapper, colloidal silver and ozonated water treatment and the other two AIDS patients receiving Dr Bob Beck treatment. The treatment would continue over 6 months and there would be regular blood testing every two months. The overall cost estimates for this former Kinshasa project amounted to US$24,690.

The details and costings for the Kinshasa-Imusil trials are still in line with that original plan and costing arrangement, with this one alteration, that we are focusing on just the one treatment (Imusil), and giving that one treatment priority for direction of funding to be received until it is completed. The other two Kinshasa treatments and all the Harare treatments are being put on hold until the Kinshasa-Imusil trials with three AIDS patients have been fully financed.

The costing estimate for completion of the Imusil trials for three patients is only 18.6% of the cost of the overall Kinshasa project for seven patients. Cost cutting was possible because daily treatment for the Imusil patients is required for only three days instead of 6 months as with the other treatments. Thus there is no need for costings for premises, wages for a cook and treatment provider, and the costs of food are drastically slashed.

The main cost remains blood testing. Every two months, (pre-treatment and at the 2-months, 4-months and 6-months stages of the treatment) we will be sending blood samples to the Toga Laboratories in South Africa to have bDNA (viral load), CD4 (immunity test) and Full Blood Count (red corpuscles, white corpuscles, platelets). There are no facilities in Kinshasa to do these tests, and so the two-monthly blood samples will need to be privately couriered to South Africa.

Also pre-treatment and at the 6-months post treatment stage, there will be blood testing in the Kinshasa laboratories for creatinine, ferritin, urea, liver function and liver enzymes tests. All patients will undergo a fortnightly medical checkup by an experienced and dedicated doctor. All these results will appear on the CRN website soon after they are received.

The three patients will require proper nursing care for the three days of the Imusil treatment, and a daily nutritious meal and transport costs will be provided for the three days of treatment and each fortnightly medical checkup. There will also be costs for medical items such as syringes, EDTA tubes, needles etc. Printing, phone and photos costs are essential.

Our Inner Planning Circle has decided to not commence the Kinshasa-Imusil trials until US$2,500 of the target US$4,600 has been raised. This will provide full funding of the pre-treatment costs and the first two months following the commencement of the treatment. It will also include the costs for the pre-treatment and two-monthly blood tests, and so even if the remaining US$2,100 is not donated, we will be able to provide a quality assessment, before and after, of the effectiveness of the Imusil treatment.

The financial statement for Compassion Response Network has been prepared and presented to the auditor. Our Inner Planning Circle will be inspecting it this month and it will be presented to the Annual General Meeting in November 2003. As soon as it is fully confirmed, it will be placed up on the CRN website, probably before the end of October.

It is possible to give a concise summary now. We shall consider here only the period since 23/December/2002 when CRN was officially registered as an Australian company.

Income 23/Dec/02 to 30/June/03

General Donations to CRN fund = AUD$2,867.34 (about US$1,800)
Total Income = AUD$2,867.34

Expenditure 23/Dec/02 to 30/June/03
Postage = AUD$43.30
Central office expenses = AUD$31.60
Electrical devices = AUD$91.00
Transfer money to Harare = AUD$1,171.00
International transfer fees = AUD$95.00
Website registration = AUD$449.00
Auditor fee = AUD$400.00
Corporations fee = AUD$36.00
Total Expenditure = AUD$2,316.90 (about US$1,455)

Net Surplus 23/Dec/02 to 30/June/03 = AUD$550.44 (about US$345)

Besides central administrative costs, two main areas of charitable support were facilitated during this period;

1. Electrical devices: a colloidal silver maker was constructed for Joseph Bile in Ivory Coast and another constructed that has since been sent with a zapper to Bonaventure in Sierra Leone.
2. We were able to send money for Geraldene (our Harare coordinator) to purchase essential equipment in preparation for the Harare trials. She went to South Africa in April/May/03 where she purchased a second hand computer set (Rand 3,228.50), printer ink (Rand 201.06), cell phone (Rand 850.00) for a total of Rand 4,279.56 (about US$590). Also three months wages at US$30 a month for Jack Makonye, who acted as office assistant to PNI offices in Harare. All these expenses were in line with the Harare project forward estimates. As of 30^th/June the Harare project held a net surplus of US$53.40, of the AUD$1,171.00 sent over for the Harare project.

The CRN bank balance as of 30/July/03 stood at AUD$828.74. Since 1/July/2003 until now (mid-September), only a further AUD$20.00 has been received in donations and so all the remaining balance of the CRN fund has been withdrawn to pay for electrical devices sent to Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone, and a further payment sent to the Harare project to provide further urgently needed office equipment (a surge protector and decoder).

The computer and office equipment that were sent for initial expenditures in the Harare project were in line with the projected cost estimates for the Harare project. That project could not get underway because of inadequate funding. Since July however, with the total collapse of the Zimbabwe economy, our Inner Planning Circle must consider the practicality of continuing the Harare project. We must consider the possibility of transferring the Harare trials to another African country. All expenditure for the Harare Project is therefore now on hold.

Five months ago, on 11^th/April/2003, Compassion Response Network launched its global fundraising appeal to raise US$90,000. Looking back in hindsight, the goal was too big for our as then limited public outreach.

We have now revised our strategies, firstly by developing a public educational campaign to awaken the general public and thinkers of the world to the essential issues, if we are going to initiate a comprehensive compassion response to AIDS. And secondly, we have reduced our treatment and testing survey to the bare minimum that will bring about effective results. That is we need to treat and test three AIDS patients, with just the one treatment Imusil, over six months providing optimum medical tests.

A story about our approach to charitable and aid organisations, indicates the critical importance of such a mini-trial. Over a year ago, I contacted many charitable and aid organisations asking whether they were interested in sponsoring our proposed charitable trials. Most of these replied that health research was not their major area of charity. Lions however, do focus on health research and Third World Health provision. When I contacted Lions in Australia, they responded that their focus was on other health areas such as hearing, eyesight, cancer and heart research; if I wanted Lions groups that were interested in AIDS, I must contact Lions in South Africa. And so I contacted Lions in South Africa, and though they were very interested, and they were interested in alternative treatments, they needed some hard scientific and medical evidence that what we were doing was cost effective and worthwhile. Lions raise their money through local groups which act independently and so we need to persuade local Lions groups in South Africa that our comparative trials with alternative treatments would be effective and productive.

There it is in a nutshell. If we are going to start to impress large charitable groups, we need to "get some runs on the board" so to speak, which means we need to demonstrate the effectiveness of sponsoring at least one treatment with comprehensive testing over 6 months. That will require at least three patients to be treated.

So the Imusil-Kinshasa project is the basic minimum size of a project and appeal we require to expand to the next stage.

The goal to raise is now US$4,600 (about AUD$7,000) for the full Imusil-Kinshasa trials over six months, or at least US$2,500 (about AUD$3,800) to start the trials with the remaining US$2,100 to be raised in the next four months. If we cannot raise this amount our entire Compassion Response Network initiative must collapse and come to nothing.

What are the consequences if the Compassion Response Network initiative collapses? We know from recent UNAID figures that during the year 2001, 3.5 million Africans were newly infected with HIV, and a further 2.2 million Africans died from AIDS. And these figures are escalating exponentially at over 10% a year, and are now devastating entire national economies in Africa and will soon similarly devastate many parts of Asia.

We present in our article now being disseminated to magazines, "In Search of a Comprehensive Response to AIDS" that the ONLY way to initiate a truly comprehensive compassion response to AIDS is to lift up the four pillars, of free basic treatment, comparative surveys of alternative treatments, involvement of AIDS patients in basic planning, and development of an Alternative Treatments Movement and global Alternative Treatments Charter. We know of no other group that is similarly lifting up these four pillars. And so if we fail there simply will not be a comprehensive response to the AIDS pandemic. AIDS throughout the world will simply continue to grow and grow, devastating one national economy after another.

US$4,600 should not be too hard to raise. I as secretary of Compassion Response Network have been on disability pension with total renal failure requiring regular dialysis for the past fourteen years. I had decided a while ago to put half of my disability pension towards assisting needy groups in poorer nations. I now sponsor nine service groups in Africa, Russia, India and Ukraine. By doing without television, superfluous food, luxuries, entertainment, car or holidays I am now providing a regular AUD$460 a fortnight towards these groups. That equals AUD$1,000 a month, or about US$660 a month from the fortnightly savings of one modest disability pension. It is a huge sacrifice, but I considered, that if my own health is so disabled, I can at least give to others who are offering so much through service but are in such desperate need of financial assistance. Just one person making a similar commitment could save the US$4,600 required for the Imusil-Kinshasa project in seven months. I would sponsor this project myself, except that the nine service groups I am already sponsoring are so depending upon my continuing sponsorship, and I have no other cash flow available.

If no-one is interested in making such a small sacrifice, if their present life-style is more important to them than doing anything to reverse the AIDS pandemic sweeping Africa, then this entire Compassion Response initiative will come to nothing and the AIDS pandemic will continue to expand unchecked.

We have decided to put the Harare Project on hold for the time to give priority to the Imusil-Kinshasa project. So no more Compassion Response Network funds will be spent on the Harare project until after the Kinshasa-Imusil trials are fully funded. There are a few central administrative costs to be met over the next few months, distribution of a healing kit promised for Godfrey Shemea's healing work in Tanzania, some postal costs for educational outreach, an imminent auditor's bill. I have worked out my personal budget and decided I am personally able to sponsor any CRN central administrative costs such as these over the next 6 months. It will be difficult for me because besides sponsoring the nine service groups from poor nations, I am saving to pay for a truck engine replacement costing US$2,400 (an unfortunate consequence of Harare coordinator Geraldene's recent trip to South Africa). I can just manage to fund these central administrative expenses, but I definitely have no further cash flow to pay anything for the Imusil-Kinshasa project.

And from now on, we simply cannot afford to sponsor any more healing kits to service groups in Africa until after the Imusil-Kinshasa project has been fully funded.

That means that ALL donations received by Compassion Response Network from 1/July/2003 will go direct towards the Imusil-Kinshasa fund, until the fund is fully paid for.

It is now the time of decision for Compassion Response Network, where we achieve or perish. If we are to go forward, if we are to have any influence on the global trend in AIDS, then the time for giving and sacrifice is now.

I understand that many are already fully committed financially, or are themselves very poor. All who are interested, are invited to join our prayer and meditation group. Each fortnight I send out a revised prayer sheet listing the recent developments within Compassion Response Network and our immediate prayer needs. It is from the subjective or spiritual realms that these aspirations grow into becoming actualised upon Earth. If anyone is interested in joining our group for fortnightly email distribution of the updated prayer list, please contact me on keane@nw.com.au

Yours in Love and Light,
David Keane
Secretary, Compassion Response Network

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