Should we not fight against hoax HIV/AIDS emails ?

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum,

Recently I got a mail from a very senior Rotarian friend of mine the content of

which is pasted below for your kind perusal:

" A few weeks ago, in a movie theater, a person felt something poking from her

seat When she got up to see what it was, she found a needle sticking out of the

seat with a note attached saying 'You have just been infected by HIV'..The

Disease Control Center (in Paris ) reports many similar events in many other

cities recently. All tested needles were HIV Positive. The Center also

reports that needles have been found in cash dispensers at public banking

machines. We ask everyone to use extreme caution when faced with this kind of

situation. All public chairs/seats should be inspected with vigilance and

caution before use.. A careful visual inspection should be enough. In addition,

they ask that each of you pass this message along to all members of your family

and your friends of the potential danger.Recently, one doctor has narrated a

somewhat similar instance that happened to one of his patients at the Priya

Cinema in Delhi .. A young girl, engaged and about to be married in a couple of

months, was pricked while the movie was going on. The tag with the needle had

the message 'Welcome to the World of HIV family'.Though the doctors told

her family that it takes about 6 months before the virus grows strong enough to

start damaging the system and a healthy victim could survive about 5-6 years,

the girl died in 4 months, perhaps more because of the 'Shock thought'.We all

have to be careful at public places, rest God help! Just think about saving a

life by forwarding this message. Please, take a few seconds of your time to pass

along..rather than forwarding irrelevant mails, kindly pass this to every one. "

I am shocked to note the content of this mail which is a severe threat to our

fight against " HIV/AIDS " .

This is a a hoax mail which is causing sensation among the Indians, these days.

Though,the original mailer is still to be traced out.

The mailer naming himself Arvind Khamitkar, I.A.S, Director of Medical &

Research Division, Chennai,India is a fake person and there is no such IAS

officer or Department in Tamilnadu as confirmed by various sources.

The Health Department officials has also described the e-mail as a hoax.

As reported on net, Dr Usman, former director of Institute of Sexually

Transmitted Diseases, Government General Hospital said, ``For the virus to be

transmitted, it has to freshly taken in the syringe and the anti-coagulants had

to be mixed. The virus stays fresh till the blood is moist and it has to

injected immediately on a person. But in the hot climates the virus cannot

survive outside for long.''

This mail appears to be a combination of spam and prank and the new and Internet

users appears to be indulged in this kind of Cyber crime. Should we not trace

the Internet Protocol address from which this mail has originated?.

The fact that the story is being circulated again and again on the internet

shows that huge number of people still believe it to be true! The problem

increases when the senior educated persons forward these mails to prove their

net expertise.

In my opinion there is an urgent need of a cyber drive against this challenge to

our fight against the draconian virus.

Do you agree?

Jasvinder Sehgal,

Free Lance Broadcaster,

Jaipur,

e-mail: <jasvindersehgal@...>