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REA SO N S FO R H O PE
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Use the Internet to find treatment information—even if you don’t own a computer
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by The AIDS Writers Group
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nowledge of HIV is growing and
changing daily. One way to keep up
on HIV treatments is the Internet,
which offers a vast resource for in
formation on HIV treatment through
Web sites, newsgroups, mailing lists and more.
Many people may think this information
doesn’t apply to them, because they don’t have a
computer that is connected to the Net or they have
little experience using a computer. However, many
advice to those who have just tested positive, and
includes an interactive service where you can ask
scientific experts in the field of HIV questions on
treatment issues.
A somewhat more detailed site with lots to
offer is AEGIS (AIDS Education Global Intoi ¡na
tion Service). AEGIS is the oldest and perhaps
best-known HIV Web site. For those who are
newly infected, AEGIS also has a ‘starter kit’
known as “AIDS 101.” In addition, AEGIS offers
Newsline, which features daily news reports on
AIDS from a wide variety of sources such as the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and
wire services. AEGIS also has an extensive treat
ment library and its own search engine to help you
find specific information on its site.
Other Web sites with thorough and easily
understood HIV treatment information include
Project Inform’s extensive site and the Commu
nity AIDS Treatment Information Exchange, or
CATIE, an interesting Canadian site.
■Su
IV/AIDS
people are finding that they can access this infor
mation and get on line free with the help of
computers at public libraries or local colleges and
universities.
it
I nternet B asics
and the W eb
The Internet is an enormous collection of
interconnected computer networks. To get on line
you will need access to a computer with Internet
capabilities that is connected to an Internet ser
vice provider, such as America Online or
CompuServe. The best known segment of the
Internet is the World Wide Web. The Web is a
vast and ever-growing collection of what are
called sites, which consist of a page or a collection
of pages that you can access with a browser. A
browser (such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft
Internet Explorer) is a software application that
allows you to get around on the Net, and to view
the pictures and text on the various Web sites.
Each Web site has its own unique Internet
address, called a uniform resource locator, or
URL. If you know the exact address of the Web
site you want, it’s usually just an easy step to enter
the URL into the address or location box on the
Web browser. Hit enter, and within seconds you
are connected to that site. If you are looking for a
specific Web site but don’t know its address, then
you can do a search using any of a number of
search engines.
Search engines (such as Excite, Yahoo! or
Infoseek) are tools that to allow you to search
through vast amounts of information on the Web
by typing in key words or even general ideas.
When the search is completed, the engine pro
vides you with numerous links (or hypertext
options) to articles or sites on the Web that match
your request. All you need to do is place the cursor
(or arrow) on the link hypertext, click the mouse
and the browser will instantly move to that Web
page. Sometimes links appear as a specific sym
bol to click on, but often they are just underlined
or highlighted words. (Once you have visited a
particular site, many Web browsers will display
that link in a different color, to remind you where
you’ve been.) Some search engines take a bit of
practice to use well, but once you get used to
them, they can save a lot of time and help you find
information you otherwise might never have
found.
There are a great many Web sites, and a
growing number of them deal with HIV and HIV
treatment. Many HIV sites are personal, some are
set up by government agencies, others are com
mercial, while still others are run by nonprofit
organizations such as AIDS service and advocacy
organizations. The information provided by these
sites can range from basic facts on HIV and HIV
infection to the most complex scientific knowl
edge on the virus. Whether you have just tested
H IV in D epth
positive and are in search of answers to the many
questions you may have about HIV infection, or
you are a researcher who wishes to study the
genetic structure of HIV, there are certain to be
Web sites that can meet your needs. And if one
site does not have what you are looking for, most
offer links to other sites.
J ust S tarting O ut
If you are looking for basic, easily digestible
information on HIV treatment or living with HIV,
there are a number of Web sites with much to
offer. (See the box for the addresses of all sites
mentioned below.)
One site with a lot of information written at a
very basic and understandable level is the AIDS
Treatment Data Network. On it you will find the
network’s newsletter and fact sheets on HIV
drugs and opportunistic infections. ATDN has
one of the better links pages around, because it
includes a brief description of the other sites, so
you can figure out whether there is one that might
be of interest to you. ATDN’s clinical trials page
is possibly the most comprehensive and compre
hensible on the Web—equal, if not superior to the
U.S. government’sown site, ACTIS (AIDS Clini
cal Trials Information Service).
Another site that has a lot of fairly basic
information is called The Body. This site offers
Some HIV information sites to get you started
(Note: all of the following URLs begin with http://www.)
E
a s y - t o
-M
ode rate
Search for a Cure: sfac.org
AIDS Treatment Data Network: aidsnyc.org/
network
The Body: thebody.com
AEGIS (AIDS Education Global Information
Service): AEGIS.com
Project Inform: projinf.org
AIDS Clinical Trials Information Service:
actis.org
San Francisco AIDS Foundation: sfaf.org
Community AIDS Treatment Information Ex-
change: catie.ca/catie.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National AIDS Clearinghouse: cdcnac.org
M
ore
A
dvanced
HIV Insite: hivinsite.ucsf.edu/
American Medical Association: ama-assn.org/
special/hiv/hivhome.htm
Medscape: medscape.com/
International Association of Physicians in AIDS
Care: iapac.org/
C
onference
C
overage
Healthcare
C om m unications
Group:
healthcg.com
National AIDS Treatment Advocacy Project:
aidsnyc.org/natap
A
c t iv is t
S
it e s
ACT UP-New York: actupny.org
ACT UP-Golden Gate: actupgg.org
For those of you looking for a more in-depth
understanding of HIV treatment there are more-
advanced sites, including some geared toward
medical professionals but which can provide in
formation for others as well. HIV Insite offers a
textbook called the AIDS Knowledge Base, and
an Antiretroviral Drug Database that includes
information from dosages to drug interactions on
most HIV drugs, approved or in development.
The International Association of Physicians in
AIDS Care also has a comprehensive site that
addresses the concerns of doctors in treating their
patients.
Another use for the Web is that it allows you to
follow the events at important HIV medical con
ferences. It is often at such conferences that sig
nificant treatment breakthroughs are First reported.
Many conferences set up their own Web sites
where you can view abstracts, or even hear re
corded conference presentations. Other Web sites,
such as National AIDS Treatment Advocacy
Project and Healthcare Communications Group,
offer daily, easy-to-understand reports from many
of these conferences.
A final cautionary note on the information you
find on the World Wide Web. Although the Web
is a great place to find the most up-to-date treat
ment information, HIV standards of treatment
continue to change. Always take note of the pub
lication date of any information you download off
the Web, to be sure that it reflects the latest
standards of care. In addition, remember that
seeing something on the Net does not make it
accurate. It’s always a good idea to check for
confirmation before acting on the information.
No one article can sum up all of the HIV
treatment information available on the Net. What
is important to understand is that the Net has
brought each of us that much closer to the infor
mation we seek. More people are using the Net, so
there are new Web sites and newsgroups going up
all the time. If you haven’t tried the Net to keep
updated on the latest on HIV and HIV treatment,
now is the time.
The AIDS Writers Group consists o f Robert
Folan and Lou Pesce o f ACT UP-Boston; and
David Scondras, Robert Krebs, Derek Libby
and Larry Bresslour from Search for a Cure.
For more information, contact Search for a
Cure, 58 Burbank St., Boston, MA 02115;
phone (617) 536-2474; fax (617) 266-0051;
or e-mail hope@sfac.org.