NIH Strikes Again

Here we go again. Not content with wasting US tax dollars studying drunken gay sex in Argentina and advising Chinese prostitutes on how to drink responsibly on the job, the NIH is also researching the reasons behind drug-using Thai prostitutes having high HIV rates.

The federal government is spending $178,000 to better understand why drug-abusing prostitutes in Thailand are at greater risk for HIV infection, an endeavor taxpayer watchdogs are calling a huge waste of American taxpayers' money.

Something of an understatement.

The NIH funds many studies that focus on HIV risk and prevention in hopes that it can lay the vital groundwork for developing treatment and intervention plans to thwart the deadly AIDS virus.

Now, why would female and transgender prostitutes who also abuse drugs have higher than normal rates of HIV? Hmm, that's a real puzzler. It's also difficult to think of some way of reducing the rates in a group of people who regularly engage in risky sex and risky drug use? Oh, if only there was some clue to solving this enigma.

The NIH spends $29 billion each year to help fund thousands of health studies, including many overseas initiatives.

Oh, and they're also studying suicide patterns in young men and women...in China. Apparently the NIH doesn't seem to realise that they are a US institution funded by US citizens. I think too- I think this is right, correct me if I'm wrong- that Argentina, Thailand and even China have their own governments which can, if they so desire, spend their own money on these particular research programs.

Your tax dollars at work, folks. And, as they say on FARK, still no cure for cancer.