AIDS denialism is the view held by a loosely connected group of people and organizations who deny that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the cause of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Some denialists reject the existence of HIV, while others accept that HIV exists but say that it is a harmless passenger virus and not the cause of AIDS. Insofar as denialists acknowledge AIDS as a real disease, they attribute it to some combination of recreational drug use, malnutrition, poor sanitation, and side effects of antiretroviral medication, rather than infection with HIV.

The evidence that HIV causes AIDS is considered scientifically conclusive. The scientific community rejects and ignores AIDS-denialist claims as based on faulty reasoning, cherry picking, and misrepresentation of mainly outdated scientific data. With the rejection of these arguments by the scientific community, AIDS-denialist material is now spread mainly through the Internet.

Despite its lack of scientific acceptance, AIDS denialism has had significant political effects, especially in South Africa under the presidency of Thabo Mbeki. Scientists and physicians have raised alarm at the human cost of AIDS denialism, which discourages HIV-positive people from using proven treatments. Public health researchers in South Africa and at Harvard University have independently investigated the effect of AIDS denialism. Their estimates attribute 330,000 to 340,000 AIDS deaths, along with 171,000 other HIV infections and 35,000 infant HIV infections, to the South African government's former embrace of AIDS denialism.

See also:

• Health: Conditions and Diseases: Immune Disorders: Immune Deficiency: AIDS (677)

• HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe
  avert.org
  Information from the international AIDS charity, Avert, on the situation in the country including the impact of recent government reforms and trends in HIV prevalence.
• UCSF - HIV InSite: Zimbabwe
  hivinsite.ucsf.edu
  Provides statistics, maps, country profile, reports, documents and links about HIV-AIDS. From the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine.
• African Orphans Project
  orphansinafrica.org
  A Christian based orphanage for Zimbabwean Aids orphans and streetkids, dedicated to reduce the effect of AIDS in Africa. Includes information about recent activity and organization, details on how visitors can help on its projects, and an online shop with related books and audio CDs.