is there such a thing?

[tendai]

there's a rumour here in Zimbabwe that our rich celebrities and politicians with HIV go overseas to UK States and South Africa and have total blood transfusions. like they get their infected blood pumped out and have unifected blood pumped into their bodies.  i said its impossible but they insist that its happening all the time abroad and thats why our celebrities and politicians and rich people dont die of AIDS.  funny thing is they do die of AIDS even though they call it a "long illness" in the news and papers.  So guys in the know, is there such a thing as this transfusion business?

[penguin]

they don't die, or don't die as often, because their money buys quality medical care & continuous access to anti-retrovirals.

end of story, no magic.

kate

[Andy Velez]

I hadn't heard for quite a while about anyone doing the transfusion thing. I first heard about people going to Mexico to do it in the early 90s. A friend of mine who is now gone, did it. It didn't work of course. That was before the advent of the meds in the mid-90s and unfortunately as with so many others, he missed out on them.

But I guess some are still grasping at straws and doing the blood routine. 

[Moffie65]

Frankly, I feel that this is probably just rumor.  I don't dout that the rich in Africa are going to Europe and the U.S. to get medical care and good sources for medications but I very much doubt that someone who has HIV would now be doing the whole blood transfusion therapy anymore.  Like Andy said, this is a very old, tired and ineffective attempt to prolong life.  No, it just does not work.  HIV hides in too many places, other than the bloodstream for anyone to rid themselves of the virus through this tired treatment.

Please tell your friends over there that this is definately not true, no more true than if you have HIV and have intercourse with a baby that you will become HIV free.  Unfortunately this disease has far too many "stories" around it, most likely due to the hopelessness that so many on the African Continent feel these days.

In Love and Support.

[Cliff]

Kate's probably right.  The rich in Zimbabwe aren't dying of AIDS because they have the resources, (money & connections), to obtain treatment for the disease outside the country or even inside the country.  The rich always do better than everyone else, even in the West.  I wouldn't be surprised if most were going to South Africa to get their treatment (advance medical care with very low costs compared to the States).

And if the rich do die of AIDS, their family are likely to cover it up.  Though that probably isn't just an attribute of the rich.  I overheard my grandmother tell someone, about a year or so ago, that my uncle died of pneumonia.  While that's technically correct, it's not really the truth.