How covid conspiracy theories led to an alarming resurgence in AIDS denialism
Widespread distrust of our public health system is reviving long-debunked ideas on HIV and AIDS—and energizing a broad movement that questions the foundations of disease prevention.
by Anna Merlan
Following the pandemic, a renewed suspicion of public health figures and agencies is giving new life to ideas that had long ago been pushed to the margins. And the impact is far from confined to the dark corners of the web. Arguments spreading rapidly online are reaching millions of people—and, in turn, potentially putting individual patients at risk.
The fear is that AIDS denialism could once again spread in the way that covid denialism has: that people will politicize the illness, call its most effective and evidence-based treatments into question, and encourage extremist politicians to adopt these views as the basis for policy.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/07/1095762/covid-conspiracies-hiv-aids-denial-public-health
-MIT "technology" Review