The FAIR Foundation is dedicated to fair and equitable distributions of Nation Institutes of Health (NIH) research funds for all diseases, including the sixteen that kill more Americans than AIDS.

Letters to the Editor
(Printed 5/16/06 in edited form)

Dear Editor,

I agree with the CEO of the Desert AIDS Project, Warner Engdahl, when he says in the Desert Sun that testing everyone in the USA for HIV is not necessary and that “the best test is done with people who are in high-risk groups.” As stated by the CDC, that would include the gay and injection drug-user communities.

In addition, your reporter omitted important facts in her “STATS” summary on AIDS. The death rate from newly infected California AIDS patients has plummeted 98 percent from 1992 to 2005 (to 211 deaths as of 3/31/06) and this mirrors the great success HIV researchers and advocates have accomplished throughout America.

It should also be noted that the latest CDC estimate for HIV/AIDS deaths (2004) is 15,798. To place AIDS in proper perspective, it should be noted that annually cardiovascular disease kills 930,000, diabetes kills more than AIDS and breast cancer combined, COPD and Alzheimer’s disease kill nine and four times that of AIDS respectively, and dozens of HIV groups are now stating in letters to Congressional Appropriations Sub-Committees that hepatitis C related liver disease is now the leading cause of death among people with HIV/AIDS.

Richard Darling, DDS
President & CEO
The FAIR Foundation

To the Desert Sun as footnotes to corroborate my statements:

211 deaths and 98% decrease: http://www.fairfoundation.org/quiz/quiz.htm

Alzheimer’s, COPD, CVD deaths: http://www.fairfoundation.org/factslinks.htm

Hepatitis C leading cause of death: http://fairfoundation.org/specter_letter_hcv_in_aids_pts.pdf