San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, August 10, 2000
Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer

At a supervisors' Finance Committee hearing, standing behind statistics that showed a rise in San Francisco to "Sub-Saharan African" levels of HIV transmission, AIDS and public policy experts projected that 30 to 32 percent of the city's gay male population has HIV. And those numbers could rise, they said.

The percentage of gay men who will be infected over the next year is estimated to be from 1.7 percent to 6 or 7 percent, said Tom Coates, director of the University of California at San Francisco AIDS Research Institute.

"By any measure, that is a sub-Saharan African epidemic," he said. "The difference is we have treatment."

Having HIV is no longer a death sentence, said San Francisco Public Health Director Dr. Mitchell Katz, noting that life-extending drugs have helped thousands of people lead normal lives.

That has to be taken into account when designing HIV-prevention messages, he said.

"San Francisco needs a new prevention model," Katz said. "People do not have the fear they once did of contracting HIV. The new model . . . like in the '80s must be a community effort."

New HIV infections have increased from 498 in 1997 to 790 last year, according to data compiled from population and epidemiology information. The increase of 573 new infections last year among gay men more than doubled the 283 infections in 1997 in that group.

Much of the data was gathered from city clinics where people can take the HIV test anonymously. The statistics were released in June. Katz said San Francisco could reduce its HIV infection rates by 95 percent if the city could eliminate unprotected anal sex between HIV- positive inserting and HIV-negative receptive partners.

"This is not about blame," Katz said. "It's about ownership, and saying the epidemic stops with me."

With that, Katz presented an 11- point plan that included persuading members of the gay community to know their HIV status and work on developing programs that emphasize prevention for HIV-positive people, expanding drug treatment and reducing viral loads.

Some audience members jeered while others applauded Katz's message. Longtime AIDS activist Jeff Getty said he was pleased with the hearing, but not before grilling health officials about the numbers.

Getty said the gay community has to demand an end to advertisements by drug companies that "glamorize" living with HIV.

"I'd like to see more discussion with HIV-positive men on how not to transmit HIV and when and how to disclose their status to their partner," Getty said.

"I'd like to see ads lampooning the (drug) ads that glamorize AIDS like they've done with the tobacco and cigarette ads." Getty was referring to ads depicting handsome, healthy-looking men taking in the great outdoors.

"I want posters of 10 persons with AIDS sitting on toilets, saying, `This is what it's like to be positive," Getty said after the meeting.

San Francisco Sheriff's deputies arrested two members of ACT UP, a group of AIDS activists who don't believe HIV causes AIDS, after they shouted, threw flyers and sprayed Katz with Silly String.

The two men, David Pasquarelli and Jason Swindell, were booked into County Jail on suspicion of battery against Katz and of violating their restraining orders to stay away from several audience members. Their bail was set at $3,000 each.

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