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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 15, 2001)
k (une 15. 2001 » *11 news t began with just a small article, a cluster that we became more pmdent in our sexual of gay men in Los Angeles dead or dying escapades has been replaced with false images of of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, an mountain climbing and triathletes competing unusual lung infection. The date was because of their combination therapies. The pandemic enters a new decade — and transitions into a new phase June 5, 1981; the journal was Morbidity Sexually transmitted diseases are on the and Mortality Weekly Report, an obscure publica upswing. Small outbreaks of syphilis have been by Bob Roehr tion of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre reported in Seattle, Dis Angeles and San Fran vention read primarily by public health officials. cisco, while New York’s caseload for the first Then four weeks later MMWR printed news Then there are the side effects—the imme Washington state reported a 6 percent increase quarter of this year was double that of the pre of 26 young gay men in New York and Califor diate ones such as diarrhea and rash and the in the number of AIDS cases, another sign that vious two years, primarily among gay men in nia diagnosed with Kaposi’s sarcoma, a rare form longer-term ones we still know so little about: drugs are failing. Manhattan. of cancer heretofore seen primarily in elderly fat that seems to migrate, creating sunken pock Public health officials are concerned by a STDs are a marker of unsafe sexual activi men of Jewish and Mediterranean extraction. ets and lumpy masses, a disfiguring new stigma decline in safe-sex practices as measured by sur ty that increases exposure to HIV. They also The trickle of events became a flood of what ta marking those whose bodies are fighting the vey data. That is particularly true among the facilitate the transmission of and vulnerabili would be called HIV/A1DS. virus; imbalanced blood chemistry that greatly young. Those younger than 25 constitute half of ty to HIV. Still, it is unclear if the higher lev It was not the start of the HIV epidemic— heightens the risk of diabetes, high cholesterol, ail new infections and are of a generation that els of STDs represent a broad trend or a rela that began surely years and likely decades earli heart attack and a always has known AIDS. tively small circle of barebackers who arc er—but it did mark the beginning of our recog liver under continu That very familiarity has reduced its sting, passing the infections back and forth among nition of that pestilence. ous pharmaceutical while the success of new therapies has created themselves. The statistics during the past 20 years numb assault. the illusion that the disease can be managed eas The domestic challenge is to formulate new one beyond comprehension, be it nearly a mil But the number ily. The specter of gaunt shuffling victims who prevention interventions that greatly reduce lion U.S. citizens estimated to be infected with of those dying from so unsettled us infections; develop new therapies that are more I HEN: Rock Hudson (with HIV, the 40,000 who still become infected each AIDS continued to a decade ago effective, less toxic, easier to use and more Doris Dav three months before year or the 440,000 who have died of the disease. fall every year after affordable; and provide access to Who can understand the meaning of 36 mil protease inhibitors medical care and support for lion people throughout the world carrying the were introduced. So those who need it. virus? Or that the rate of infection continues to this must be better; The international challenge explode throughout much of the world? It is things were getting is even greater. In the United only when we realize that a 15-year-old in South back to “normal.” States, 1 in 300 people are in Africa has a 50-50 chance of dying of AIDS The public seems to believe fected with HIV. In much of before the age of 30 that the horror begins to that, as reflected in polling data sub-Saharan Africa, the ratio is take on a human scale. released May 25 by the Kaiser NOW: Today’s advertisements 1 in 5 and in some villages as The U.S. perception of AIDS has gone Family Foundation. The pro are being criticized for creating high as 1 in 2 women of child through a cycle of meanings during the past two portion of U.S. citizens who the illusion that HIV can be bearing age. decades. First came fear of the unknown, a ter call AIDS the nation’s top managed easily Even if drugs were provided ror that stalked the gay community and fueled health problem has declined for free, there simply is insuffi its pariah status among the broader public. from 44 percent in 1995 to 26 cient medical infrastructure to Many gay men reacted with denial. As more percent today, second to cancer. use those drugs ethically on a became known of the mysterious killer, they Still, 66 percent think the broad scale. Furthermore, labora adopted safe-sex practices that reduced the risk federal government is not doing tory tests suggest the crucial pro of exposure. enough to fight the epidemic. tease inhibitors do not work as They cared for sick friends and lovers—first Only 5 percent say spending is well against the strains of HIV through informal networks of support, satn with too high, 25 percent say it is prevalent outside the United an unprecedented blossoming of organizations that “about right,’’ and 55 percent States and Europe. sprang from the community. Those organizations call for more money. Support is Developing a preventative not only changed the gay community, they also nearly universal for sex educa vaccine will be the cornerstone changed the way biomedical research is conducted, tion in high school that of reining in the pandemic, hut drugs are approved and medicine is practiced. includes HIV prevention (97 that seems to be at least a decade Protease inhibitors, introduced in the mid- percent) and information about away and perhaps is impossible. 1990s, slaked the terror, although they did not condoms (90 percent). Education for prevention, con work for all. Skeletal people rose from their But the respite the develop doms and development of micro deathbeds, gray flesh plumped to pink fullness in ing world has purchased with its bicides that can be used in lubri what came to be called the Lazarus effect. expensive drugs appears to be cants to kill HIV are all compo The miracle drugs first brought expecta fading. Several factors suggest nents that are more immediately tions that AIDS might be vanquished, then a AIDS is transitioning into a available and must be used. more reasonable hope that perhaps HIV could new phase. It seems AIDS will remain a become a chronic, manageable disease. They The number of AIDS deaths central concern for society for brought a respite, a lull of normalization—if has stopped declining; in fact, it our lifetime. jn one considers it ‘‘normal’’ to take a dozen or has begun to rise again. New more pills a day on a rigorous time clock paced York City reported a 2 percent B or R oei 1R is a free-lance reporter around meals. increase in 1999. Last year, based in Washington, DC. AIDS T urns 20 I W m tk M Rcrtfm you It tw wcU. eA* Make Bender Properties your real estate home. Put your feet up and relax! Details are our business. You won’t lift a finger as we attend to every aspect of buying or selling your home-even the lit tle chores that others sweep under the rug. 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