BUSINESS WIRE; Thursday, May 28, 1998
The findings will be published in the June 1 issue of "Annals of Internal Medicine," one day after 2,500 bicyclists being a 560-mile journey to raise AIDS awareness and funding.
"This study confirms many of our worst fears about the long-term ability to control HIV with currently available treatments," said Derek Gordon, director of communications for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. "For those of us living with HIV, and those of us fighting to end HIV/AIDS, this is a wake-up call: the epidemic is not over."
Researchers, led by Dr. Robert Shafer of Stanford University Medical Center, say the new results suggest the AIDS epidemic has split, with patients falling into two distinct groups: the newly infected, who benefit tremendously from powerful new drug combinations, and those who started with earlier classes of HIV drugs and now have HIV strains resistant to one or more drugs.
"Our concerns are three-fold," said Gordon. "First, our government must reinvigorate its commitment to fully funding AIDS research as well as care and support for those living with HIV; second, prevention efforts are more important than ever, particularly if multi-drug resistant strains of HIV are developing; and third, we must continue to impress upon the pharmaceutical industry the importance of continuing aggressive research and new drug development until we have a cure."
In a stunning show of support for the fight to end the HIV epidemic, 2,500 committed individuals will begin the 560-mile California AIDS Ride 5 Presented by Tanqueray. Starting at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco Sunday at 6:30 a.m., riders will raise awareness along the coast and inland valleys of California about the epidemic and raise an estimated $9.5 million for services at the S.F. AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center.
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Derek Gordon of the S.F. AIDS Foundation, as well as HIV-positive participants in Tanqueray's California AIDS Ride, will be available for comment and interviews about the study Fri. May 29; Sat. May 30; and at the AIDS Ride's visually dramatic opening ceremonies Sun. May 31 at Fort Mason Center.
CONTACT: SF AIDS Foundation Derek Gordon, 415/487-3031
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