10th March 2009 The Rt Hon Lord Archer House of Lords, LONDON SW1. Dear Lord Archer,         HIV in blood and blood products: the Archer Report of a Public Inquiry In 1982 when outbreaks of AIDS began to be investigated by the US CDC, WHO invited me to assist them by monitoring the epidemiology. I continued to do this after my retirement in 1984 until 1992, and thereafter intermittently for them and other organizations. This included examination of medical evidence of  transmission of HIV and collateral infections to haemophiliacs and others, uncovering evidence now available in the your Report. I am writing to you because this evidence gives little or no medical insight into the possibility, circumstance and consequences of infection. In view of the clinical, family, legal and financial implications, it is surprising that there is so little expertise about the technology and immunology of this possibility with HIV. The high risks of HBV,HBC, HSV, CMV etc are not in question, but were ignored or not admitted until 1984. Seropositivity is regarded as infallible proof of infection, often on the basis of a single test without proof of contact, antecedents or confirmation. This is because seroconversion is presumed to indicate past or present infection with live HIV. Even if this presumption is correct, it is insufficient to confirm a person-to-person or product-to-person transmission, and even if that is somehow confirmed it does not mean that infection is active unless there is, at least, a rise in titre of the HIV antibody, with clinical signs of progression. Since these tests are all surrogate, it could be argued also, in accordance with the Pasteur Institute’s standards, that  same strains of live virus should also be isolated, and shown to be capable of retaining activity when spiked in blood and subjected to the process of  purification and concentration. I have pursued this question with the NBTS and special units in the UK, and have had no confirmation that this has been accomplished. Did you pursue this in your Inquiry and, if so, did you have confirmation of survival of live and infectious retrovirus from the patients and after spiking samples of blood? The technical difficulties of co-cultures do not apply to blood or blood products. If proof of isolation by these criteria is not available, the decisions to apply legal sanctions, court orders and compensation are wide open to questions about unreliable results, deceptions, duplicity, life-threatening delays and wrong awards. I look forward to your reply..                 Yours sincerely,                 Emeritus Professor Gordon T. Stewart MD, FPH,RCP, FRCPath.                 Consultant in Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine