A controversial organization challenging mainstream HIV/AIDS medical consensus.
Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives, initially known as Health Education AIDS Liaison (HEAL), was founded in 1995 by Christine Maggiore, an HIV-positive activist who later became a prominent figure in the AIDS denialism movement. The organization questions the link between HIV and AIDS, the accuracy of HIV tests, and the efficacy of antiretroviral medication, promoting a narrative starkly opposed to established medical consensus.
Christine Maggiore’s journey into AIDS denialism began after her HIV diagnosis in 1992. Despite initially engaging in conventional AIDS activism, she became skeptical of the established views on HIV/AIDS and advocated against the use of antiretroviral drugs, even for pregnant women at risk of transmitting HIV to their offspring. This stance became tragically personal with the death of her three-year-old daughter, Eliza Jane Scovill, who was never tested for HIV but died from complications consistent with untreated AIDS. The Los Angeles County coroner determined that Eliza Jane died from Pneumocystis pneumonia in the setting of advanced AIDS, a conclusion that Maggiore contested, attributing her daughter’s death to an allergic reaction to amoxicillin.
The organization’s advisory board includes notable AIDS denialists, and it has been involved in legal controversies, particularly regarding the medical care of Christine Maggiore’s daughter. Alive & Well promotes alternative therapies for managing HIV/AIDS over proven medical treatments, a stance that has drawn criticism from the scientific community for endangering lives by dissuading HIV-positive individuals from following evidence-based medical advice.
The death of Christine Maggiore in 2008 from conditions associated with untreated HIV/AIDS brought additional scrutiny and criticism to the organization. Despite her own death and the death of her daughter, both of which were linked to untreated AIDS, Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives continues to disseminate its controversial views, contributing to the broader phenomenon of AIDS denialism. The organization’s activities have been widely criticized by medical professionals and researchers for potentially increasing the risk of HIV transmission and for contributing to preventable deaths by discouraging effective HIV prevention and treatment strategies.
image via The Skinny Confidential
