Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives

Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives is a 501(c) non-profit organization of AIDS dissidents (people who do not believe that HIV is the cause of AIDS). The organization's stated mission is to "present information that raises questions about the accuracy of HIV tests, the safety and effectiveness of AIDS drug treatments, and the validity of most common assumptions about HIV and AIDS." The organization's founder, Christine Maggiore, estimated in 2005 that the organization had assisted about 50 HIV-positive mothers in plotting legal strategies to avoid having their children tested or treated for HIV.

Founding
Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives was founded in 1995 by Christine Maggiore, who had tested HIV-positive in 1992. Although Maggiore was initially active in the AIDS community, providing AIDS and HIV education through AIDS Project Los Angeles, she later came to question her diagnosis. Ultimately, she came to believe that HIV was not the cause of AIDS, and formed Alive & Well to expound her views.

Maggiore became a controversial figure following the death of her 3-year-old daughter, Eliza Jane Scovill. Eliza Jane was never tested for HIV. She died on May 16 2005 after 3 weeks of illness; the Los Angeles County coroner determined that she had died of Pneumocystis pneumonia in the setting of advanced AIDS.

Maggiore continues to believe that Eliza Jane did not have AIDS, and that her death was due to an allergic reaction to amoxicillin. Maggiore has also alleged incompetence, political bias, and conspiracy on the part of the L.A. County coroner. Dr. Mohammed Al-Bayati, a board member of Alive & Well and a toxicologist, issued his own report arguing that a drug reaction, not AIDS, was responsible for Eliza Jane's death. Eliza Jane's death was the subject of reports by ABC Primetime Live and the Los Angeles Times; several independent medical experts contacted by these programs agreed unequivocally that Eliza Jane had died of complications of AIDS.

Members
The advisory board of Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives includes many prominent AIDS dissidents, such as Harvey Bialy, Peter Duesberg, Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos, and David Rasnick.

Advocacy
In spite of extensive scientific evidence to the contrary, Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives promotes the viewpoint that HIV is not the cause of AIDS. The organization also espouses the viewpoints that:
 * HIV tests are inaccurate.
 * AIDS is not a major problem in Africa.
 * Pregnant women should not take antiretroviral medication to prevent HIV transmission to their children.
 * The syndrome of AIDS in fact results from malnutrition, mental stress, AZT, recreational drug use among gay men, or other causes.
 * The mainstream scientific community's efforts to promote AIDS awareness and develop effective treatments are examples of fearmongering and are compromised by ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives encourages the use of unproven alternative therapies for HIV-positive people in place of proven mainstream treatments. Examples of treatments advanced by Alive & Well as substitutes for antiretroviral therapy include herbal and nutritional therapy, naturopathic medicine, homeopathy, therapeutic enemas, acupuncture, and "imagery".

Mainstream scientists and AIDS researchers have decried the activities of Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives and other AIDS dissident organizations, arguing that by persuading people to forego proven treatments they are causing unnecessary and preventable deaths. Speaking at the XVI International AIDS Conference, John Moore argued:

Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives encourages people to "get involved" by passing out AIDS reappraisal literature, donating copies of Christine Maggiore's book "What If Everything You Knew About AIDS Was Wrong?", contacting radio and television shows, writing to newspapers and magazines, and starting their own discussion groups.