368,379 people killed, 306,096 injured and over $2,815,931,000 in economic damages

What's the harm in HIV/AIDS denial?

There are people who deny that HIV is actually the cause of AIDS, and some deny that AIDS is even a disease at all. Belief in this poses understandable risks to those infected. Read more about HIV/AIDS denial

Here are 365,026 people who were harmed by someone not thinking critically.

Ken Anderlini Age: 45

Vancouver, BC, Canada Died

April 17, 2007 Ken was a filmmaker and professor at Simon Fraser University. He did not believe that HIV is the cause of AIDS. He later died of a neurological disorder that his friends admitted mainstream medicine would have said was caused by HIV. Read more

Fela Anikulapo-Kuti (musician) Age: 58

Lagos, Nigeria Died

August 2, 1997 A famous musician and activist in Nigeria, Fela claimed that AIDS did not exist. He later died of the disease. Read more & more

Michael Bellefountaine Age: 41

San Francisco, California Died

May 10, 2007 Michael was a member of ACT UP San Francisco, a group that denies that HIV is the cause of AIDS. He later died of the disease. Read more & more

Sophie Brassard Age: 37

Montreal, Quebec, Canada Died

September 16, 2002 Sophie was HIV-positive and mother of two HIV-positive sons. She denied that HIV caused AIDS and refused conventional treatments for her sons. Her custody was revoked and she later died of AIDS. Read more

Ronnie Burk Age: 47

San Francisco, California Died

March 12, 2003 A poet, artist and activist, Ronnie belonged to ACT UP San Francisco, a group that denies that HIV causes AIDS. He died of the disease. Read more & more

Sylvie Cousseau Age: 41

Paris, France Died

March 31, 2001 Sylvie was diagnosed HIV positive, but pursued alternative treatments for her disease including homeopathy, acupuncture and drinking her own urine. She eventually died of AIDS. Read more & more & more

Mark Griffiths Southwestern France Died

October 2004 He ran an HIV denialist website. His friends speculated as to the cause of his death, but many believe it was due to AIDS. Read more & more

Robert Johnston Toronto, Ontario, Canada Died

April 3, 2003 HIV denialism Read more

Christine Maggiore Age: 52

Van Nuys, California Died

December 27, 2008 She denied that HIV caused AIDS and refused to take medications for her herself or give them to her children. Her daughter Eliza Jane Scovill died in 2005, and she died in 2008. Read more

Peter Mokaba (politician) Age: 43

Johannesburg, South Africa Died

June 9, 2002 A strong youth leader during South Africa's struggle for freedom, he later denied the existence of HIV. He also described anti-retroviral medications for AIDS as "poison". He later died of the disease. Read more & more

Marietta Ndziba Cape Town, South Africa Died

October 2005 She was given a quack medical cure, including large doses of vitamins, for AIDS. She even endorsed the cure on the salesman's website. She later died of AIDS. Read more & more

Noxolo Ngalo Du Noon, Cape Town, South Africa Died

October 30, 2005 She was being treated with vitamin megadoses for AIDS, but died of liver failure. Read more & more & more

David Pasquarelli Age: 36

San Francisco, California Died

March 8, 2004 David was a leader of ACT UP San Francisco, a group that denies HIV causes AIDS. He eventually died of the disease. Read more & more

Eliza Jane Scovill Age: 3

Los Angeles, California Died

May 15, 2005 Her HIV-positive mother refused to take HIV medications while pregnant and did not have the girl tested. She told Air America the girl was very healthy. Seven weeks later she was dead of AIDS-related pneumonia. Read more

Jody Wells England Died

HIV denialism Read more

Huw Christie Harry Williams Age: 41

St. Helens, Tasmania, Australia Died

August 17, 2001 He was an editor of Continuum, an AIDS denialist newsletter, which folded after all its editors died. He did not believe AIDS was caused by HIV, and eventually succumbed to the disease. Read more & more

Scott Zanetti Age: 52

Morristown, New Jersey Died

October 6, 2002 HIV denialism Read more & more

365,000 South African AIDS patients South Africa 365,000 premature deaths

2000 to 2005 A study by Harvard researchers estimates that if the South African government had abandoned its President's AIDS denialist policies and provided antiretroviral drugs, it could have prevented 365,000 premature deaths. Read more & more

"Noluthando" Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa Died

June 2, 2005 Diagnosed with HIV in 2002, she was was on a waiting list for antiretrovirals. She started taking an alternative treatment, and in three days she could not even walk. Soon she was dead. Read more

"Ntombekhaya" Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa Died

March 27, 2005 HIV positive, she was being treated for TB when someone offering alternative remedies contacted her. She stopped taking her TB medicines and later died. Read more

"Patient X" Cape Town, South Africa Died

October 8, 2005 He was being treated by a quack when his disease got out of control and he was hospitalized. He never had a chance to beat AIDS because of the time he wasted on the treatments. Read more