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The ONLY way to provide a comprehensive compassion response to the AIDS pandemic
By David Keane, May/2003
Why is it that after a generation of scientific research into HIV/AIDS, a comprehensive compassion response to the AIDS pandemic has not been found? On the contrary, the UNAIDS figures released for Dec'2002 reveal that the total number of people in the world infected with HIV now stands at 42 million. Of these, 5 million were newly listed as infected during the year 2002, a 12% annual new infections rate, compared with the total. Infection explosions for HIV/AIDS in India and China indicate that they may soon overtake Africa in numbers infected.
There is a simple formula to provide a comprehensive compassion response to the AIDS pandemic. It is built upon 4 pillars.
As we look carefully at these four pillars, it is evident that not one of these 4 founding pillars is demonstrated on a significant scale in the modern world. The drug corporations, the governments and the global compassion and aid organisations are not interested in going back to simple fundamentals.
Accordingly a small group of goodwill servers have linked together to form a charitable organisation called Compassion Response Network. Most of the members are themselves poor, and of the six present directors, three are representatives of poor nations, one is a pensioner and another unemployed. And on a shoe-string budget, and simply by developing upon these 4 foundational pillars, they have planned and prepared projects for the year 2003 that will initiate a truly compassion response to the AIDS pandemic. To our understanding, an initiative to develop these four pillars, individually or together, has NEVER been tried before. Moreover it is the ONLY pathway towards a comprehensive compassion response to the AIDS pandemic, because it is building upon these four foundational pillars.
Let us therefore examine each of these 4 foundational pillars and compare the initiatives otherwise in today's world, and the approach of Compassion Response Network.
Provision of free basic health care to the poorest of the poor,
Let us first look at figures for triple drug cocktails which orthodox medicine claims has in America reduced death from AIDS by 76% since 1996. An average figure for pediatric triple drug therapy in Africa is now between US$100 and US$130 a month. Even then the drugs do not cure AIDS, eliminating HIV infection and restoring healthy immunity system levels.
In the pilot projects of Compassion Response Network, treatment is provided for free to the 43 advanced AIDS patients involved with the project. The project itself will run over 6 months and will involve various expenses; payment of laboratory blood tests, setting up of treatment centres, payment of African staff to run the centres, food and transport for the patients. These costs are generally cheaper than hostels and hospices which provide care but leave the patients to steadily decline in health. The extraordinary thing about all these treatments is that they have all been donated for free, and those treatments that prove themselves will be able to be provided to the community for an extraordinary low cost by goodwill semi-skilled servers. The main costs of treatments can be absorbed by re-employing former AIDS patients in industries that cheaply produce and disseminate these treatments; herb gardens, electrical workshops, treatment centres and the like. Such low costs can in future easily be balanced by an international aid organisation supportive of such locally centred initiatives.
Open inquiry and open publication of comparative studies of all alternative treatments for AIDS,
There is open availability of statistics for conventional orthodox treatments for AIDS, and these show a positive reduction in numbers in affluent countries that are dying from AIDS. Comparable statistics for reduction in HIV blood-level count and raising of immunity levels are however embarrassingly absent. Nor are quality of life surveys encouraged for these studies. And the escalating tragedy within Third World countries is not considered in these statistics. It is simply assumed that this First World "solution" is appropriate also for the Third World.
In contrast there are arising numerous claims for alternative treatments that not only reduce but eliminate HIV infection, actually restore immunity CD4 and CD8 levels to healthy proportions, and produce a vibrant restoration of normal healthy activity. How does orthodox medicine respond to these claims? They demand testing and proof protocols that cost billions of dollars, an amount only the multinational drug corporations can afford, and which is far beyond the capabilities of any of these alternative treatment companies to "prove" the curative value of their treatments. Thus such treatments, despite the many cases of healing being abundantly demonstrated, are branded as "unproven" and are vigorously opposed by national orthodox medical authorities. Any claim regarding healings is challenged in courts and they are not endorsed by insurance claims which makes them liable for wrongful death suits if there is an unsubstantiated perception by a complainant that a certain treatment may have contributed to an injury or death.
The companies trying to demonstrate the scientific value of their alternative treatments, are faced with an uphill struggle against gigantic opposing forces, a struggle which in the best of studies will take decades to "prove" the curative value of the treatment.
There is however a very simple alternative approach, a comparative treatment and testing program to test all these treatments, using the most scientific of medical diagnostic tests. To our knowledge and amazement, such a simple idea has NEVER been trialed before.
And so Compassion Response Network has developed projects which we believe represent a world first. We are providing alternative treatment over 6 months for 34 advanced AIDS patients in two treatment centres in Africa, Harare and Kinshasa. Each patient will receive one of nine alternative treatments. We will not be using antibody tests which are unreliable and do not indicate the present HIV levels in the blood. Every two months, at pre-treatment, and 2-months, 4-months and 6-months stages of treatments, we will be providing state of the art medical scientific diagnostic tests --- bDNA viral load blood count, immunity CD4 blood count, and full blood count for red corpuscles, white corpuscles and platelets. Besides we will be providing pre- and post- treatment tests for creatinine, urea, ferritin, liver function and liver enzymes. We will be providing iron and folic acid supplementation to balance anemia which is the cause of death in many advanced AIDS patients. The patients will be receiving fortnightly medical checks by experienced and dedicated doctors, who will provide regular quality of life assessments. The HIV/AIDS patients will be classified into the 5 etiological (cause of disease) groupings for easy comparative studies.
All results will be openly published on the Compassion Response Network website, and so will be publicly available for comparative studies. Such comparative studies have not previously been available that we are aware of, so this will again be a world first. Such a comparative study will reveal to all thinking persons which treatments are better for eliminating HIV viruses, which for increasing CD4 immunity levels, which for providing nutritional needs, which for reversing anemia, which for providing vibrant health.
Such a limited survey involving just 34 patients will NOT provide medical proof that a certain treatment "cures". This is not its immediate purpose. It would however provide a simple comparative survey to indicate which treatments may be most beneficial and cheap to initiate local production and treatment industries in Africa, and which treatments would be most rewarding to involve in later comparative treatment and testing studies involving thousands of AIDS patients, and strict double-blind and cross-over (placebo) studies.
Direct involvement of African AIDS patients and most AIDS affected peoples in central planning, evaluation and production,
This simply isn't happening in today's world. Even with UNAIDS which involves many African researchers and assistants, the basic treatments are directed according to standard orthodox medical dictums. If the AIDS patients themselves were involved directly in the central planning process, they would opt for treatments that were cheap, simple, safe, non-toxic, with no side effects and which resulted in vibrant health and happy patients.
Yet the treatments that are imposed even by benevolent aid agencies, only postpone death; they do not lead to clear viral counts or restored immunity systems or vibrant cheerful patients. Nor do any charitable organisations involve the AIDS patients themselves in the assessment process, and in the building of health-promoting industries from the labour of formerly AIDS infected patients.
Direct participation by the AIDS patients themselves in the planning, assessment and production aspects is central to the way Compassion Response Network organises itself. One of our main objectives is to empower the AIDS patients themselves to make decisions for the future local comprehensive response to the AIDS pandemic. As soon as the patients recover sufficiently to become involved in creative activities, we will be helping them form discussion circles through which they can all participate in the decisions relating to their treatment, welfare and interests.
Then when the 2-monthly blood test results are back for both the Kinshasa and Harare projects, new opportunities for participation by the patients will arise. These results will provide for us the first set of scientific data to determine which treatments would be best for long term development in Africa. In such long term planning we must consider many needs, from cost, safety, prevention of secondary infectious diseases, nutrition, psychological development and empowerment, economic sustainability and development of employment opportunities for formerly AIDS infected patients. The AIDS patients themselves will be fully involved in the planning for the next year's projects. In the initial stages we will be involving 5 circles or groups in the planning process, Compassion Response Network, the two service groups in Harare and Kinshasa, and the two AIDS patients groups in Harare and Kinshasa. We will be using a scientific methodology called "sociocracy" for full participation by everyone in all of these circles in the planning and decision making process, and for creative dialogue between the various circles.
Facilitation of a global goodwill network through which the many groups interested in participation in a comprehensive compassion response to AIDS can creatively contribute to the whole effort.
This simply is not happening in today's AIDS treatment projects. The type of treatments are being directed by a patronising bureaucracy which directs the way things are to be done, rather than listen to the appeals for help coming from the patients themselves, and all groups of interested professionals and goodwill volunteers.
Once results start coming in and the AIDS patients themselves start to become involved in the decision making process, we will start to attract the interest and participation of AIDS patients not on our initial project, doctors not yet involved in the projects but deeply interested in developing future scientific and compassion projects, members of compassion and NGO groups, providers of alternative health treatments, businesses and governments, educators and artists, experts from affluent countries who long to contribute to provide effective long term solutions to the vast challenges of AIDS in Africa, and men and women of goodwill who simply want to help. It will be an immense challenge to involve all of these various groups each in their own aspect of involvement and planning for the future development of various projects. Again sociocracy provides the key to creative involvement of all the various groups of participants. Sociocracy has been thoroughly tested in running multi-level corporations and organisations, leading not only to better economic outcomes, but better social and environmental outcomes as well. Sociocracy is the only methodology capable of involving such a diverse assembly of interested people and organisations in a common enterprise, simply because it has been developed along scientific principles, especially in Holland where it originated.
Such participatory enterprises will very quickly explore all the manifold and diverse aspects of response to the problems involved with AIDS. It will discuss the provision of free treatments, right nutrition, creative employment after recovery, prevention and education, social and religious issues, and all the many facets of a truly comprehensive compassion response to the AIDS pandemic.
The Compassion Response Network Initiative
Compassion Response Network has been officially registered as an Australian public company (Australian Company Number 103 240 071) and charitable organisation. Its postal address is Compassion Response Network, PO Box 582, Gosnells WA 6110, Australia. Email contact is through keane@nw.com.au Information about its proposed projects may be found on
http://www.compassion-response.net/
Compassion Response Network has as its primary objective,
"To facilitate AIDS treatment and testing projects of sufficient scientific-medical quality to attract the interest and commitment of major aid and charitable groups."
To this end this group is supporting the goodwill activities of two AIDS support and welfare groups in Africa, one in Harare, Zimbabwe and the other in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. At each of these locations a project has been planned extending over 6 months. In all, 34 advanced AIDS patients will be provided with daily treatment for six months. Each will receive one of nine alternative treatments that have been chosen or donated, each bringing with them remarkable claims;
Zapper + colloidal silver + ozonated water,
Dr Bob Beck treatment,
Tetrasil/Imusil,
Essiac formula,
Flor Essence,
Aurea Cento Spice Oils,
Glyco-nutritional supplements,
Absolutely pure colloidal silver + Oxyrich,
Sutherlandia herb.
Compassion Response Network remains detached from those claims. Their task is simply to facilitate the treatment over 6 months for each of the patients. During this period, top doctors will regularly report on their condition, and extensive blood tests will be conducted every two months; bDNA viral load tests, CD4 immunity level tests, Full Blood Count and other tests together with bone marrow biopsies to test bone marrow viral count before and after treatment. These are the critical diagnostic tests to demonstrate scientifically whether a treatment heals or cures AIDS.
The results of all these tests will be published openly on the Compassion Response Network website, which will be updated regularly with the most recent results. These results will permit a scientific comparative assessment of the effectiveness of the various treatments.
To our knowledge, such a scientific and comprehensive comparative survey of alternative treatments for AIDS, HAS NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE.
Because of the extreme poverty in the Congo and the impending famine in Zimbabwe, all patients will daily be provided with one highly nutritious meal. All treatments will be provided for free to the patients. Various expenses will be incurred, apart from the cost of laboratory tests. Various medical items need to be purchased. Treatment houses in Kinshasa and Harare need to be rented and set up, wages provided over the treatment period for trained carers, cooks and in Harare a secretary and office assistant. There will be costs for food, transport and miscellaneous expenses.
The projects are being organised on a goodwill, voluntary basis. Compassion Response Network is a non-profit, charitable organisation, required by law to spend money exclusively for its charitable purposes. All six present directors serve on a voluntary basis, attracting no financial reward. Every year the accounts, including receipts, expenditure, minutes and full yearly financial statements are audited by a registered chartered accountant, conforming to optimum Australian accounting standards. No expenditure will go towards advertising. Promotion will be exclusively on a goodwill, word of mouth basis.
Forward estimate of expected expenditure for the Harare and Kinshasa projects comes to US$90,000. We will need to raise US$45,000 (half the amount for the total appeal) before the treatments can commence. This sum is necessary to pay for lease and setting up of the treatment centres, payment of the pre-treatment blood tests and rental, wages, food, travel and miscellaneous costs for the first two months of treatment. Running costs to continue the treatment will require the raising of an additional US$9,000 a month.
For information on these projects, please go to the Compassion Response Network website at;
http://www.compassion-response.net/
There you will find many fascinating and informative articles, discussing service group purpose and vision, details for the Kinshasa and Harare projects, details of expenditure estimates, progressive monthly updates of all blood test results, information on all alternative treatments used, how to make donations and many more subjects.
Global Launch of Public Appeal
On 11th/April 2003, Compassion Response Network launched its public appeal through a release of an email flyer to 200 email addresses over Internet. These were special addresses, networking contacts from all over the world who have in recent years expressed interest in the compassion work that we are engaged in. Among this list, about 50 are networks in their own right, along many lines, goodwill, economic reform, compassion, New Age, alternative health, healing, general networking. The flyer carried with it an invitation to copy and send to friends.
After the first month of the appeal, donations were received amounting to AUD$1,000, or US$600. If such donations were to continue at this rate, it would take 13 years to raise the US$90,000 required to complete the projects. Though grateful for those who so generously contributed, the message simply has not yet been getting out to many people.
Compassion Response Network itself has membership simply of six present directors. Three of these are themselves representatives from poor countries, one is a pensioner and another is unemployed. It has largely been through sponsorship by the members themselves that the group activities have, on a shoe-string budget, developed so far and we have established a fully accountable charitable fund for facilitation of the projects.
The projects themselves are for the welfare of humanity and they need support, financially and in other ways, from men and women of goodwill from around the world for them to succeed. The problem of AIDS is a global problem. We have provided a solution, and done the groundwork in preparing treatment and testing projects that will initiate this great work. But if there is ever to arise a truly comprehensive compassion response to the AIDS pandemic, then such initiatives need to be strongly and broadly supported by the many.
A Challenge for Humanity
The role of Compassion Response Network is to present a vision, and to prepare those treatment, testing and comparative assessment projects which will catalyse a truly comprehensive compassionate response to the AIDS pandemic.
We now share that vision and details for the projects with humanity, for it is only through the awakening of the heart of humanity itself, that we can actualise these dreams. For a generation, we have witnessed the steady growth of AIDS until now it is a global pandemic of horrendous proportions. It is only when men and women accept responsibility to think through the issues involved to find a solution, only then will that solution be found.
We appeal therefore for men and women to think through the solutions we propose and the practical projects which we have planned.
To journalists and newspaper editors, who among you dare to speak truth, for the truth is simple, and it needs to be shouted from the rooftops? If you are cautious or skeptical, then we will provide for you the starting points for an inquiry of investigative journalism that will confirm the things that we say and enthrall your readers.
To New Age and Alternative Health Magazines, it is indeed possible that the next generation will know of AIDS only as a tragic past memory. For this to happen, our present generation must establish an agenda for a comprehensive response to the AIDS pandemic in practice. Let the vision for solution be spread abroad like a beacon, and let the human story behind AIDS and about the valiant compassion workers be told.
To the providers of alternative health treatments, you have battled for years to demonstrate the validity of your own treatments. Your research has laid the foundations for the future work. But the public as a whole will remain skeptical of your claims while you continue thus to promote yourselves. Let the many providers of treatments link together to support comparative treatment and testing projects, and establish a truly independent international body to supervise comparative assessments. Then the speed of public acceptance of what you say will be speeded up many times.
To doctors and health workers, it is not for a First World "solution" of life extension through expensive drugs to be patronisingly imposed upon the peoples of the Third World. Third World peoples demand treatments that are cheap, simple, safe and vibrantly restore health. Surely an independent body to comparatively assess alternative treatments along scientific/medical lines, with primary regard to the benefits that would flow to millions dying from AIDS, is preferable to the rigid First World orthodox formulas for medical approval of treatments.
To businesses and insurance companies, in AIDS ravaged countries, it makes such enormous economic sense for you to support research into simple, cheap alternative treatments that can be administered on a goodwill basis by semi-trained men and women who care. It will be those companies that safeguard the health of their workforce, that will survive in today's competitive environment.
To governments of AIDS affected nations, unless you start to think, and empower independent and people centred research, you will become administrators of graveyards.
To schools and teachers, will you teach your children the despair of walking into a living graveyard, or will you explore with the children pathways for solution and hope?
To musicians and promoters of the arts, no more dreaded tragedy can we imagine than the exploding AIDS pandemic. Why then does humanity insulate itself from creative action? The solutions are so simple. Only you can touch people's hearts so that they begin to respond with true compassion.
To compassion and humanitarian aid workers, what will be the legacy of your present efforts, if you ignore the need for independent research into comparative surveys of alternative treatments, and the need for Africans AIDS patients themselves to become central in the planning and assessment process of a truly compassion response to the AIDS pandemic?
To men and women of goodwill around the world, it is only through the opening of your hearts and the taking of small actions in support of affirmative action, that the AIDS tragedy can be turned around. Goodwill is the touchstone that will transform the world.