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WBAI: Do not put Gary Null's dangerous show on the air (Sign on)


17 November 2010

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A large number of organisations and individuals have signed this letter to the WBAI management asking them to reverse a decision to restore supplement-entrepreneur Gary Null's show to WBAI radio. You can sign on by emailing [email protected].

To: Tony Bates, Interim Program Director

Berthold Reimers, Interim General Manager

Mitchel Cohen, Local Station Board Chair

Arlene Englehardt, Pacifica National Board and Executive Director

To whom it concerns:

We are writing as individuals and organizations who are deeply distressed by WBAI's recent restoration of supplement-entrepreneur Gary Null to the airwaves of WBAI Radio five days a week.

We are gravely concerned about this prospect and the consequences for people at risk of and living with HIV. Mr. Null and his frequent radio guests support the notions, among others, that HIV does not play a role in causing AIDS; that the disease is not transmitted sexually or via dirty needles; that HIV tests are meaningless; and that antiretroviral drugs are not only poisonous but can actually cause AIDS. Legitimate concerns and grievances about the pharmaceutical industry are eclipsed and diminished by this life-threatening stance.

The spread of false claims about HIV and AIDS is deadly, and particularly harms the poor communities of color most devastated by HIV/AIDS. Disinformation about HIV has caused the unnecessary suffering and death of an estimated 300,000 men, women and children (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/26/aids-south-africa ).

Both the existence of HIV and its role in the causation of AIDS has been amply demonstrated (see, e.g., www.aidstruth.org). Among the destructive effect of spreading these falsehoods is to reduce condom use, increase infection risk and dissuade people from the use of life-saving antiretroviral therapy (among other modalities).

We respect the station's longstanding free-speech tradition, and support open debate on critical public health issues. We also deeply appreciate the fiscal difficulties facing WBAI and the Pacifica network. However, the notion that WBAI's survival is dependent on relying on Mr. Null while spreading a message of death is antithetical to the mission of the station and of the Pacifica Network to which it belongs.

We call on WBAI management to immediately reverse its decision to add Mr. Null's program to its schedule.

Signed,[This list will continue to be updated]

Institutions:

ACT UP/East Bay, Berkeley-Oakland, CA

ACT UP/NY

ACT UP/Philadelphia

African Services Committee

AIDS Action Baltimore

AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA)

AIDS Treatment Activists Coalition (ATAC)

Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP)

Foundation for Integrative AIDS Research (FIAR), Brooklyn, NY

Global AIDS Alliance

HealthGAP

Housing Works, Inc.

Middle East Childrens Alliance, Berkeley, CA

New York Buyers’ Club (NYBC)

Project Inform

Proyecto SOL Filadelphia

Treatment Action Group (TAG)

Individuals:

Aaron Boyle

Alice Iversen, former Bd Member, Two Harbors, MN Co-op Credit Union and Community Health Center (the first community clinic n MMO in USA-see NY Times, 1947)

Amanda Lugg, African Services Committee

Andrew Velez

Andy Humm, veteran gay activist

Ann Brameier, L. Ac.

Ann Northrop, member, ACT UP/NY

Anna Forbes, MSS

Charles King, President and CEO, Housing Works

Charlotte Winczer

Chloé Forette, member, ACT UP/Paris

Dan Borden

Donald Grove

Elizabeth Harvey Richards

Ellen R. Shaffer, PhD MPH

Eric Sawyer

Eustacia Smith

George A. Bishopric, MD

George M. Carter, Director, FIAR

Grant Gailey

Gregory 'gar' Russell, ACT-UP/East Bay

Gus Cairns, editor, HIV Treatment Update

Hans Kindt

Holly Horne

James Wentzy

Jared Becker

Jeanne Bergman, AIDStruth.org

Jeff Burack, MD, East Bay AIDS Center, Oakland

Jennifer Getty, Atlanta, GA

Joel E. Gallant, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

John Iversen, enrolled member Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Berkeley Needle Exchange Co-founder

John Riley, member, ACT UP/NY

John Winters, ACT UP/East Bay

Jon Winkleman

Jose de Marco

Julene Weaver

Julie Davids, CHAMP

Ken Bing, member, ACT UP/NY

Kendall Q. Morrison

Laurie Wen, member, ACT UP/NY

Lily Kirsanow

Liz Highleyman

Lynda Dee, AIDS Action Baltimore

Marilyn Ringstaff, CNM, JD, Women of W.O.R.T.H., Inc.

Mark Milano

Matt Sharp

Maudelle Shirek, former Vice Mayor, Berkeley, CA

Michael Mooney

Nanette Kazuoka, member, ACT UP/NY

Nelson Vergel, Director, Program for Wellness Restoration

Nina Reznick, Esq.

Paul Dalton

Paul Davis, HealthGAP (Global Access Project), Kenya

Paul Iversen, Duluth, MN Central Labor Council, enrolled member Minnesota Chippewa Tribe

Paul Volberding, MD, San Francisco

Phyllis Bloom, L. Ac.

Richard Jeffreys

Rob Camp

Robert Carpick., OHD, Piladelphia, ACT UP/East Bay

Shoshana Silberman, NP

Steven Kovacev, marathon runner, author and 25+ year HIV survivor

Steve O'Brien, MD, East Bay AIDS Center, Oakland

Timothy Lunceford, member, ACT UP/NY

Tony Arena, member, ACT UP/NY

Tony Howard

Tym Tschneaux, ACT UP/East Bay

Udo Schuklenk, PhD 

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