Egyptian army's AIDS cure claim met with ridicule

The Egyptian Army's recent claim that they discovered the cure for AIDS and hepatitis C has been met with public ridicule.

The head of the Cancer Treatment and Screening center boasted of his scientific phenomenon seen by others as a "scientific scandal."

"I defeated AIDS with the grace of my God at the rate of 100 percent. And I defeated hepatitis C," said Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Abdel-Atti, according to a CNN report.

Medical researchers expressed scornful criticism and concern that the announcement would taint their reputation as scientists.

"I want to be clear and explicit, what has been said and published about the invention of the armed forces hurts the image of scientists and science in Egypt," Essam Heggy, the scientific adviser to the president, told the private Al Watan newspaper Tuesday.

Dr. Ihsan Hanfy Hussein, a member of Abdel-Atti's research team, claims that the "Complete Cure Device" cures patients in as little as 16 hours by withdrawing blood from the AIDS patient, breaking down the disease and returning their purified blood back into their body.

One skeptic insists there is no true medical evidence to support this discovery.

"What has been said is not scientifically disciplined. There is nothing published, and there is nothing in medical conferences, and there is no single eminent professor around the project," said Dr. Gamal Shiha, leading liver specialist and member of a team evaluating the controversial device. "Nothing scientifically relevant has been said."

Egypt contains the highest prevalence of hepatitis C worldwide, with at least 10 percent of the population suffering from the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Until we see the results of all phases of clinical research, we as academics cannot accept to hear this," Shiha said. "The place of scientific facts is in published papers and journals, not in press conferences."