Relative to the worst-hit continent with this pandemic, Africa, politics, profiteering and debate over HIV/AIDS causations and treatments aren't very helpful. Results are what is needed. Homeopathy can provide an affordable worldwide partial solution to this disease, in conjuncion with other modalities, especially in those areas where the expensive AIDS drugs can not be afforded on a massive scale and where large portions of the population are infected. Homeopathic remedies work regardless of serostatus, political or medical affiliations, income level, nationality, ethnicity, stage of the disease or sexual orientation. And, unbelievable to many, these powerful medicines can be mass reproduced to treat an unlimited number of people using a seed pharmacy with relatively little technical skill and very inexpensively!

The historic 13th International A.I.D.S. Conference held in Durban, South Africa in July of 2000 and its unfortunate political/medical debate has strongly emphasized to me the need for more effective, practical and low-cost approaches to the terrible health crisis in Sub Saharan Africa where 15 million people have died from A.I.D.S. since its world-wide outbreak in the early 80's which accounts for about two-thirds of A.I.D.S. cases worldwide! It is ludicrous and immoral to attempt to stifle debate about alternative treatments for a disease which is claiming thousands of lives daily on a global scale and for which the allopathic medical school can only offer suppressive drugs to slow down the disease process at the average cost of from US$10,000 to $15,000 per year per patient! Leaders in Africa continue to seek alternative methods to control the pandemic without completely depleting their limited financial means. The intense poverty and lack of education in the developing regions fuel the problem even more and these combined conditions call for new approaches to the disease for countries like South Africa where from 10 to 20% of the population is H.I.V. positive. I am not a proponent of the H.I.V. theory of A.I.D.S. causation; however, there is at least a correlation between H.I.V. and A.I.D.S. in most cases, but not all, which does not necessarily mean a causation. But in the absence of available funds or lower medication costs, Homeopathy remains a vast, untapped health resource in these areas. Homeopathic Medicine relegates the results of laboratory tests as having only peripheral hierarchy in the determination of treatment. The symptoms of the patient must be given the highest importance in choosing the correct remedy for the case (the similimum), followed by etiology, history and lifestyle habits. In countries where A.I.D.S. medications can not be afforded, homeopathic medicines can save countless lives and should be employed immediately on a grand scale. Unfortunately A.I.D.S. conferences since 2000 have continued to fail to effectively address this situation.

My perspective on viruses and microbes in general follow the thinking of Pasteur's spurned contemporary, 19th century French microbiologist Antoine Bechamp, whose years of laboratory experiments lead him to reason that microorganisms are the result of a change in the terrain of the blood and are not the cause of it. Be that as it may, as I have repeatedly asserted, it is not "the bug" that is important, it is the remedy; that is to say, results are more important than theorizing. We can debate this theory or another while another million people die from the disease or we can quickly employ the effective, low-cost and curative powers of Homeopathy to this pandemic in Africa now in addition to financial, educational and other assistance to the most strongly affected countries such as Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa where the infection rate is the highest in Africa, according to Karl Vick in his report for the Washington Post on July 13th, 2000.

Also of note here are the works of Dr. Hulda Regehr Clark, Ph.D., N.D. Her groundbreaking work, "The Cure for HIV and AIDS", published in 1993, completely destroys the HIV causation theory. I highly recommend the work to broaden one's mind about this "condition" as she refers to it. In her research and work with patients Dr. Clark has found that (quoting from page 14), "HIV is a virus, AIDS is a condtion. Sometimes they occur together. Sometimes they occur separately. HIV stands for Human Immnodeficiency Virus. AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome." On the next page is a greatly enlarged image of the Human intestinal fluke (Fasciolopsis buski) with the heading, "This is the source of the HIV virus". One can order her book from many places on the Internet or visit her website: http://drclark.com/ Her works on cancer treatment and cures for many other diseases surround a group of causative factor groups as I see them including heavy metals, parasites, industrial solvents and pollutants, especially benzene, poisonous dentistry, lanthanides, asbestos, PCBs, azo dyes and others. One thing is certain in my mind, HIV/AIDS is not a single causation disease. There are many factors that have weakened or destroyed the immune system to which we are all exposed on a daily basis in modern society.

I wish to present a very small but vital group of remedies that can literally save millions of lives if properly employed on a large scale. In the West, the need to employ the healing powers of Homeopathy on a large scale is not so urgent as it is in the developing countries, due to the success that many A.I.D.S. patients have had with the new allopathic medicines and the financial resources available in developed countries. With the banks and pharmaceutical companies dickering with South Africa and other developing countries to pay the same exorbitant prices for antiretroviral drugs, reverse transcriptase inhibitors and protease inhibitors that developed countries can barely afford in these economically challenging times, there exists a viable alternative that must be considered by these the governments of these countries which find themselves between the outstretched hands of large corporations eager for profit and those of the dying and suffering masses of their fellow countrymen crying out for medical care. Although some small reductions in medication prices have occurred recently, they are still beyond the reach of most poor countries' medical budgets. The power and democratic universality of Homeopathic Medicine is a viable answer to this human dilemma. No one owns a patent on homeopathic medicines. They are available to all at very moderate prices. Whoever would undertake the necessary effort and time to acquire the knowledge to use them safely and effectively to heal the sick will be greatly rewarded with satisfactory results in most cases. Also patients can directly purchase these wonderful healing agents without paying a king's ransom for them just because they are being used against a feared and deadly disease. No one can charge more than a reasonable fee to sell an homeopathic medicine, though they have powers, in skilled hands, to cure even the most deadly diseases which stump the allopathic school. The cost of a low potency remedy, for example, is only about US$5-10 and higher potencies are generally US$10-20. These remedies are easily and cheaply reproduced and can treat many many patients and are the most logical therapeutic choice for treatment of large populations in developing countries heavily burdened with this pandemic.

I commend the South African President, Thabo Mbeki, for having the courage to challenge the homogenized mentality of the global allopathic medical establishment, so driven by profit and opposed to debate, and to encourage discussion and new ideas to circulate when the present set of choices simply is not working for his country and his people. Medicine is not a religion and dogma has no place in it. One should employ the best and most effective methods of both major schools of medicine as well as Traditional Oriental Medicine and other natural systems of healing together to alleviate human suffering, misery and early death. Open debate and the examination of all medical modalities is the best climate for selecting the best solutions available--not by being limited to those which multinational medical corporate monopolies want you to know about. The Internet has brought us the Information Age where we can share our knowledge, views, opinions and perspectives on a global level for the greater good of Mankind. Their is no such thing as too many choices or too much knowledge, only too much censorship. The world is continuing to experience the tremendous revolution of the expansion of knowledge and democracy and this needs to expand to medicine and science. The inability of current scientific laws and knowledge to explain alternative medical methods is no reason to exclude them from consideration as therapeutic modalities for the sick and dying. Don't let the self-serving interests of the few dictate what is best for the many. Only those with selfish and destructive interests want to stifle debate, freedom of speech and the exchange of knowledge. I also commend the reconciliatory words of Former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, in his speech closing the conference who has sounded the call for combined efforts and action rather than rancor and division. Africa needs action and results and not rhetoric. Even with limited success employing homeopathy in Africa and other countries where the death rates from A.I.D.S. is staggering, millions of lives each year could be saved. This would be no small accomplishment in the absence of available funds for allopathic A.I.D.S. medications in these countries. Westerners have become emotionally numb to continuing reports of millions of African and even Asian deaths from A.I.D.S. and have learned to turn themselves off in stead of trying to alleviate this suffering. Human life is the same world-wide and if we continue to harden our hearts to such horrendous human misery, then we have indeed lost our own humanity.

Homeopaths are seriously at fault for not pro-actively sharing their knowledge of healing and medicine to combat this and other medical crises world-wide and are even more culpable than those behind the allopathic profit-driven machinery in my view. There is a huge sucking sound in developed countries which represents the leadership vacuum in the homeopathic community on global as well as national public health issues. Few Homeopaths with any degree of fame, skill or renown have troubled themselves to address issues which do not concern their legitimacy as a practitioner or legal issues regarding the practice of Homeopathy in their state or country. Homeopathy has yet to produce any effective representatives for the promotion of its therapeutic uses globally--certainly there is none in the United States where political discussions of universal health coverage have no holistic or homeopathic proponent anywhere to be seen or heard in the national media.

Homeopathic Medicine is available to all for a fraction of the cost of Allopathic Medicine, especially when in such diseases as A.I.D.S. the medications are being sold at such gougingly high prices. These drugs, after all, act suppressively while correctly chosen homeopathic remedies act curatively. Now, let me tell you a little secret that the drug companies and even the Homeopathic Pharmacists will balk at and don't want you to know, but this information will greatly assist those countries struggling to find affordable alternatives to the "drug cocktail" option for their sick and dying masses:

OK, Here Goes... Homeopathic Medicines can be reproduced to make large quantities of medicine for thousands of people for next to nothing! And, despite the expiration dates manditorily printed on them, homeopathic remedies stay viable and active for many many years, so long as they are properly stored and kept away from sunlight, heat, camphor and other deteriorating forces.

There, the secret's out of the bag! Too bad if special interests don't like it. It is quite true and it is too valuable a piece of information to keep secret when millions of people are dying from a disease that a few judiciously administered doses of the correct Homeopathic Medicine to each individual could prevent. And in poverty-stricken countries which can't afford expensive medications, the simple process of replicating and distributing a few of the most commonly needed A.I.D.S. medicines such as Arsenicum album, Silicea and Thuja could save millions of lives, accompanied by basic training of local healers in the new medical system, of course. The process of replicating remedies is relatively simple. They are reproduceable in a clean water medium from previously made potency tinctures or medicated pellets or tablets. Still, you must use proper protocols for safety, potency preservation and to prevent the pharmaceutical employees from poisoning themselves with the remedies since homeopathic medicines will stimulate the Vital Force through skin contact, especially in the liquid potency form, when taken orally as well as through the mucous membranes such as through inhalation or "olfaction". This last method of remedy administration works well with extremely sensitive subjects, the elderly and the very ill.. I will go into this in great detail soon in a separate article. But the more pressing issue is to name the remedies that I have found to be invaluable in A.I.D.S. and to elaborate on the remedies that are needed and to guide those with a basic knowledge of Homeopathic Medicine to employ these medicines to effectively help alleviate the ravages of this disease.

1. The knowledge of how to use the remedies properly, effectively and safely (training of students locally by volunteer homeopathic practitioners).
2. The remedies themselves, reference texts and the supplies necessary to safely and correctly reproduce the medicines, label them, pack and ship them and to send them to other areas where they are needed, as well as basic medical supplies.
3. Physical facilities capable of serving both as a large clinics as well as a centers for education with adequate electrical and plumbing capabilities. Telephone and Internet service are needed. Also nearby residences to house the staff. Providing for the needs of the staff at such facilities is extremely important in order to guard against burnout and subsequent inability to work where there is a continuous flow of patients.

Powerful homeopathic medicines are utterly useless and even dangerous in the hands of the untrained and inexperienced. Combination teaching facilities and clinics would provide both aspects of an homeopathic medical students proper education. Translators, administrators, secretaries, medical doctors, nurses as well as custodial and security staff would all be needed to insure the success of such facilities.

Education and infrastructure are vital no matter how bare-bones they may be. They are needed to educate students in the methods and practices of Classical Homeopathy. Instruction in reproducing and handling the remedies so that they retain their effectiveness and so the handlers don't poison themselves with them while working with the remedies. Instruction is required to teach basic homeopathic medical philosophy, to study The Organon, anatomy, physiology and so forth. Eventually the best students will become teachers. Of course, books are required. The cheapest homeopathic books may be purchased from India. Glass amber dropper bottles, labels, water purification systems and pure ethyl alcohol to preserve the mother tinctures and liquid potencies are also needed. Potentizing machines would not be necessary, since ready-made potencized remedies comprising a seed pharmacy would have to be purchased or donated and replicated for each local clinic founded. Sorry if homeopathic pharmacies don't like this suggestion, but there are millions of people dying without medicines in Africa and that trumps business concerns every time. If homeopathic pharmacies offer to send a complete pharmacy for each location begun, then there would be no need to use these means, but considering the need and the corresponding lack of donations, this is a practical and viable option.