Many in the scientific community claim there is no evidence HIV is actually causing AIDS. Hence, even if this is a successful vaccine, there is no guarantee it will protect from AIDS.
Before you say these things lightly, think about it for a few minutes.
i) Here is a recent analysis of existing evidence: http://hivskeptic.wordpress.com/2008/01/15/hiv-has-never-bee....
ii) A prize of $100.000 "was officially offered to anybody who would demonstrate HIV particles in the blood of allegedly high viral load patients". It has not been claimed yet.
So far, there is ground for a reasonable scientific doubt regarding claiming that HIV causes AIDS. The accumulated evidence is not conclusive unfortunately.
Kind of funny that people with AIDS tend to, you know, live, when HIV-targeting drugs are administered.
Just one of those weird coincidences, I guess.
"What you're saying, though, is a stance that's literally killing millions of people in Africa. Before you say these things lightly, think about it for a few minutes."
"This claim is made by a discredited minority."
I don't think there is anything wrong with not believing, but rather questioning and examining a scientific assumption. Also when it is held by the majority.
And to attack people directly, making them look stupid, evil or irresponsible is certainly no going to convince them.
I found this text [1] which encourages to question orthodoxy, but also shows very clearly why in the case of AIDS/HIV there is overwhelming evidence for causation. It makes clear note that there is not a proof.
First I've ever heard of anything like this.
It's a fair statement to say that no credible scientist in the field honestly believes this.
http://hivskeptic.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/official-italian-...
However, the article was withdrawn by Medical Hypotheses later
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/09/pity_poor_peter_du...
Of all the pseudoscience and conspiracy theories in the world, I think this one bugs me the most, primarily because it has a real cost in human lives [3] (unlike moon landing or JFK conspiracies). Hopefully if/when a reliable vaccine is found, HIV can be wiped out for good and this will no longer be an issue.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Numbers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Other_Side_of_AIDS
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thabo_Mbeki#AIDS
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Maggiore#Eliza_Jane
Are these the same scientists who don't believe in global warming?
Then again, Michelle Bachmann can speak in a public forum and decry an HPV vaccine as "slut juice" and the next day cite revoked not-even-psuedo science as vaccines causing mental retardation, so I think there's something to be said for some scientific opinions or observations being more sound than others.
(ie: the ones that actually employ the scientific method with some genuine modicum of effort.