San Francisco Chronicle (SF) - SATURDAY August 17, 1991
Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff Writer

The decision, generally hailed by advocates for AIDS patients as a courageous stand on principle, was also influenced by threats from protest groups to disrupt the Boston conference in May if the federal restrictions remained in place.

Dr. Max Essex, chairman of the Harvard AIDS Institute, which is sponsoring the event, said the university had run out of time in its attempt to persuade the Bush administration to lift regulations that bar individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus from visiting or immigrating to the United States.

"This is a clear statement that we don't feel comfortable with the policy and can't go ahead with it in place," he said. "The conference is now only eight months away, and it is imperative that our planning proceed immediately."

Acknowledging that he is frustrated by the turn of events, Essex also announced yesterday that he is stepping down as chairman of the conference, and he named as his successor Jonathan Mann, a Harvard epidemiologist who heads the Institute's International AIDS Center.

Although the federal government has said that the ban would be temporarily lifted to allow foreign participation in the Boston conference, Harvard said that was not enough. A similar exception permitted foreign visitors to attend the International AIDS Conference in San Francisco in 1990.

Pat Christen, director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, said, "Harvard is doing the only ethical thing that they can. It is an admirable and noteworthy decision."

Essex had vowed during the last international AIDS conference, in Florence, Italy, in June that the Boston conference would be canceled if the U.S. government rules remained in place by August.

The new conference is expected to be held in either Madrid or London, although Harvard will remain its sponsor. Any overseas convention, however, is likely to be smaller than the Boston gathering, where 15,000 scientists from around the world were expected to attend. Fewer American scientists are also expected to participate, because of the cost of international travel.

AIDS experts applauded Harvard's stand but expressed anger at the Bush administration and disappointment at the prospect of the United States losing the conference.

"Once again, politics has won out over public health; conservatism has won over compassion and caring," said Dr. Mervyn Silverman, president of the American Foundation for AIDS Research.

Despite opposition to the travel and immigration rules within the gay community, there was some dissension over the wisdom of taking an uncompromising stand. "There was a principle at stake, but fighting AIDS is not about principles. It's about saving lives. I think this is a mistake," said Jesse Dobson, an AIDS patient and a member of the San Francisco group Project Inform.

Dobson contended that moving the conference not only denies many American researchers a chance to share information about the disease, but also strips the AIDS community of a U.S. political forum during an election year. "It's a great opportunity lost," he said.

Asked about the Harvard decision at his Kennebunkport vacation retreat in Maine, President Bush said, "I understand they might have canceled at Harvard, which is too bad. That (travel ban) is a good, sound policy. The American people, I think, are supportive of it."

Calling the U.S. scientists the best and most "forward-looking" in the world, Bush said. "They'll find other ways to get together, so it doesn't bother me."

JUSTICE DEPT. POSITION

Secretary of Health and Human Services Louis Sullivan had endorsed a proposal in January to lift travel and immigration bans for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, but the plan was dropped after the Justice Department objected under pressure from conservative political groups.

Although there was talk of a compromise that would have allowed HIV-infected travelers to visit but not immigrate, it never materialized.

Oakland gay rights advocate Jeff Brooks said it was vital that Harvard refused to settle for a lifting of only the ban on foreign tourists with AIDS. "My lover has AIDS and a foreign passport," he said. "Right now, under these ridiculous laws, he's deportable. We have enough to worry about now."

MEDICAL PROBLEM

Christen, of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, said the immigration ban is particularly onerous in California, where many undocumented immigrants infected with HIV avoid medical treatment because they fear deportation.

"The immigrant community is one of the most disenfranchised," she said. "Were the travel and immigration policies to be split apart, the chances for the immigration issue to be revisited are virtually nil."

San Francisco General Hospital's Dr. Robert Wachter, program director of the 1990 AIDS conference, said Harvard faces a daunting task to organize the conference at a new site in such a short time. He said, however, that "if I were sitting where they sit, I would do exactly the same thing."

The decision is a significant financial blow to Harvard and to the sluggish Boston economy. It is estimated that Harvard has already spent $1 million to prepare for the conference. Boston area hotels and restaurants expected the event to generate $20 million in business.

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