HIV Invasion Orphans Thousands in Malawi

By Dr.Khushnood
Malawi was invaded by HIV sometime before 1985 as the first case of the dreaded AIDS was reported there in 1985.There are so many interesting questions and answers about HIV and AIDS. When I got an email on AIDS by someone promoting the cause of HIV-affected people in Malawi , a lot of interesting things regarding HIV flashed through my mind. Now here I am to share those with you.
Where did HIV come from?



From 1979-1981 rare types of pneumonia, cancer, and other illnesses intrigued doctors in Los Angeles and New York among a number of male patients who had sex with other men. Subsequently it was discovered that they were immunodeficient.Further research found that it was due to a new type of virus.

Researchers worked to find the origin of this virus. But different groups came up with different theories. This led to the origin of the controversy regarding “the origin of HIV”. The most commonly accepted theory is that of 'hunter' theory. In this assumption, Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) was transferred to humans as a result of chimps being killed and eaten or their blood getting into cuts or wounds on the hunter. Normally the hunter's body would have fought off SIV, but on a few occasions it adapted itself within its new human host and become HIV-1.

The other theory is that when a scientist thought monkeys were immune to the Polio virus they injected it into them. The Polio virus mutated inside of monkeys and they showed no immediate symptoms. They say it happened during the preparation of polio vaccine. Most have rejected this theory. Yet it is sometimes sighted to stress on “Laboratory infection control” in Hospitals. The movie “I am the Legend” perhaps took cue from this theory. In that movie the cure for cancer was discovered through engineering measles virus. This virus mutated leading to a disease for which mankind had no cure. The scientist who discovered the cure became “the legend”.
In recent times “researchers found that chimps acquired the disease from eating one of their favorite preys: monkeys. The primate version of HIV, called SIV (simian immunodeficiency virus), emerged in chimps apparently through a commingling of two monkey viruses from the red-capped mangabey and the greater spot-nosed monkey.”

Who discovered HIV?

The claim was made by French scientist Luc Montagnier and American researcher Robert Gallo in 1983 and 1984 respectively. In 1987 political interference led to both teams receiving equal credit. Subsequently, in 1991, the origin of the samples in Gallo's laboratory was traced to Montagnier. The Karolinska Institute awarded half of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Montagnier and his colleague Françoise Barré-Sinoussi 'for their discovery of "human immunodeficiency virus"'.
Back to Malawi
Here is the email I got
“I wanted to let you know about I AM BECAUSE WE ARE, a powerful new work of photojournalism documenting the AIDS pandemic in southern Africa. This new collection by award-winning photographer Kristen Ashburn, a companion piece to Madonna's documentary film by the same title, takes an intimate look into the lives of seven of the 1 million Malawian children who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Make sure to catch the film if you can, which runs on the Sundance channel until December 17.

We are encouraging our allies to spread the word about this opportunity to benefit both a loved one and a Malawian child by pre-ordering I AM BECAUSE WE ARE this holiday season, and I thought Health Is Money would be a good place to get the word out. All author proceeds will go directly to Raising Malawi(www.RaisingMalawi.org), a non-profit dedicated to providing community-based assistance to Malawian children who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS.”
And a photo by award-winning photographer Kristen Ashburn,






I will come up with a few more interesting articles on HIV/AIDS in future.
Good Day.

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