AIDS conspiracy

A popular conspiracy theory claims that HIV is a man-made virus spread by Western governments, intelligence agencies or pharmaceutical companies (using deliberately infected needles or vaccines). The virus was allegedly developed to decimate and control the black population.
This myth became particularly widespread in Africa, with fatal consequences. As many people either believed that Aids was not real or that there was no treatment, the number of Aids infections and deaths rose massively. In addition, the theory resulted in the stigmatization of AIDS patients and widespread mistrust of Western institutions and medicine.