WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1810/97 by Ernesto CACCAVALE to the Commission. AIDS controversy
Date: 1997-05-28
Institutions: CACCAVALE, European Parliament
Subjects: AIDS, European Commission, exchange of information, fraud, medical research, public health, report, research staff

22. 1. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 21/99

Is the Commission looking into ways around these problems of access when those with disabilities already face
so many barriers in accessing buildings and utilizing public transport?

Answer given by M. Flynn behalf of the Commission

(16 July 1997)

The Commission is aware of the problems which disabled people can experience in access to buildings. In its
communication of 30 July 1996 on equality of opportunity for people with disabilities (1), the Commission noted
the fact that many public buildings continue to be inacessible or accessible only with difficulty and further noted
the  benefits  that  (cid:145)designed  for  all(cid:146)  and  universal  access  can  bring  for  many  groups,  including  people  with
disabilities.

Council Directive 89/654/EEC concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the workplace (2)
specifies  that  (cid:145)workplaces  must  be  organised  to  take  account  of  handicapped  workers,  if  necessary.  This
provision applies in particular to the doors, passegeways, staircases, showers, washbasins, lavatories and work
stations used or occupied directly by handicapped persons(cid:146).

(1)  COM(96) 406 final.
(2)  OJ L 393, 30.12.1989.

(98/C 21/203)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1810/97

by Ernesto Caccavale (UPE) to the Commission

(28 May 1997)

Subject: AIDS controversy

Many questions have been raised about AIDS by a scientific controversy involving more than 700 specialists
from 23 countries including the greatest living retrovirologist, Peter Duesberg.

Extensive documentation has recently been published in Italy by the well-known sexologist Luigi De Marchi and
the specialist in infectious diseases Fabio Franchi ((cid:146)AIDS › La grande truffa(cid:146) (the big fraud), SEAM, Rome,
1997). The publications highlight unjustified alarmism and numerous conflicting opinions of most Italian and
international health authorities on the subject of AIDS.

The controversy questions the validity of major crucial aspects of the presentation and treatment of AIDS from
discovery  of  the  virus  to  definition  of  the  illness,  epidemiological  prognoses,  the  uselessness  of  tests,  the
harmfulness of treatments and the search for an (cid:145)impossible(cid:146) vaccine.

1. 

2. 

Is the Commission aware of these publications and the theories they expound?

If so, will it inform the European Parliament and other bodies of the importance of the documentation and the
claims?

3.  Does  it  not  consider  it  advisable  to  appoint  a  multidisciplinary  committee  of  inquiry  (not  confined  to
virologists and infectious disease specialists) to shed light on the numerous inconsistencies concerning this
plague of the second millennium?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission

(16 July 1997)

The Commission has no knowledge of the publication mentioned and is collecting the information necessary to
answer the questions put by the Honourable Member. It will let him know the results of its inquiries as soon as
possible.