2001

Living With AIDS: Activists fight barriers to organ transplants for HIV-positive patients: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, December 30, 2001; Carol Ness, Chronicle Staff Writer; A headline announcing the death of writer and AIDS activist Larry Kramer last week was sad news to many -- but no shock, since the 66-year-old s liver had been on the brink of failure for months. So the fact that the news service was wrong, and Kramer was actually doing well after a hard-won liver transplant, was even
AIDS Ride planners sue S.F. charity over new race: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, December 13, 2001; The Southern California company that has operated the California AIDS Ride for the past eight years is suing the San Francisco AIDS Foundation in an attempt to stop it from having its own cycling event in May. Los Angeles-based Pallotta TeamWorks filed suit Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court against the AIDS F
Order in courthouse cafe: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, December 7, 2001; Lord Martine; San Francisco -- Just for a new spin on things, Bob Rybicki, 50, the former priest who is executive director of Shanti, and I hiked to the second floor of the Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse at 450 Golden Gate at Larkin Street for squawk and peck at a little-known nest called Cafe 450. Upon entrance
Quest for an AIDS vaccine is a story of courage and determination: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, December 3, 2001; Tom Abate; The overlooked secret of success at biotech companies isn t brains or cash, but dogged courage of the sort exemplified by Bay Area researchers who ve spent nearly two decades developing AIDS vaccines. Even now, researchers at VaxGen in Brisbane are in the final stages of testing an AIDS vaccine that originated with a 1
Quest for an AIDS vaccine is a story of courage and determination: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, December 3, 2001; Tom Abate; The overlooked secret of success at biotech companies isn t brains or cash, but dogged courage of the sort exemplified by Bay Area researchers who ve spent nearly two decades developing AIDS vaccines. Even now, researchers at VaxGen in Brisbane are in the final stages of testing an AIDS vaccine that originated with a 1
S.F. shines a light on World AIDS Day: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, December 2, 2001; John M. Hubbell, Chronicle Staff Writer; San Francisco -- A former Marine, said Manny Martinez Jr., speaking of himself and choking on the words. And I m crying. The gospel singers were packing up, the gardener who tends the National AIDS Memorial Grove had already taken his bow. The mud grew still worse underfoot. And here, after an hourlong ceremony yesterd
Elton John co-sponsoring AIDS ads for MTV, VH1 / Networks donate time to spread word of rising rates: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, December 2, 2001; Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer; Cable TV networks MTV and VH1 and the Elton John AIDS Foundation began a new public service announcement campaign yesterday aimed at bringing attention to the fact that rates of HIV infection in the United States continue to rise -- despite years of public health messages emphasizing the need to practice safer sex.
AIDS activists charged with stalking; Two taken into custody, held on $500,000 bail after hearing: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, November 29, 2001; Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer; Two AIDS activists were arrested in a San Francisco courthouse yesterday and charged with stalking and making terrorist threats against city health officials and staff members of The Chronicle. David Pasquarelli and Michael Petrelis were held on $500,000 bail each. Both had come to Superior Court for a hearing on civil
Health bill endangers civil rights / Bush pushes plan to expand control in bioweapon attack: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, November 25, 2001; Bernadette Tansey, Chronicle Staff Writer; Worried that decades-old public health laws could prevent authorities from battling a 21st century bioterror plague, the Bush administration is urging states to grant health officials sweeping powers in such an epidemic. The administration wants all 50 states to adopt a law allowing public health authorities to take ov
Sounding the alarm: East Bay's teenage 'Town Criers' use cameras to bring new focus to AIDS: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, November 25, 2001; Meredith May, Chronicle Staff Writer; Calling themselves Town Criers, a group of East Bay teenagers is using insider photography to break the silence surrounding AIDS in their neighborhoods. The street-level snapshots under bridges, in living rooms and at the doctor s office have been shown in an Oakland church and are drawing the attention of the Alameda
Chiron drug study a disappointment / Immune system disorder treatment fails final clinical trial: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, November 22, 2001; Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer; Shares in Chiron Corp. slid 9 percent yesterday after the Emeryville biotech company reported than an experimental medicine failed a final stage clinical trial. Before yesterday s announcement, Chiron had spent nearly two years testing the experimental compound on 2,000 patients afflicted with sepsis, a condition in wh
S.F.'s HIV fight may be too sexy / Feds to review city's prevention programs: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, November 16, 2001; Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer; Sexually explicit HIV prevention programs offered by a federally funded nonprofit organization in San Francisco may be in violation of U.S. guidelines, according to a government report circulated yesterday. As a result of the examination of two Stop AIDS Project workshops, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thom
Judge bars 2 AIDS activists: The men are suspected of threatening Chronicle staff members: San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, November 13, 2001; Chronicle Staff Report; A San Francisco judge yesterday barred two AIDS activists suspected of making threatening telephone calls to several Chronicle staff members from having any contact with the newspaper s employees. Judge James Robertson II s temporary restraining order also forbids Michael Petrelis and David Pasquarelli from coming with
Open Hand's Oakland kitchen has Southern flavor: California Hotel site serves 200 free meals a day: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, November 9, 2001; Vicky Elliott; When Tahj Thomas of East Oakland first signed up with Project Open Hand a year and a half ago, his weight had fallen to 128 pounds; now, thanks to Shelton Jackson s down-home cooking, it s way up again. I don t know how you say thank you for 35 pounds, he says, describing how the program has offered him, as a person li
U.S. push for cheap Cipro haunts AIDS drug dispute: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, November 8, 2001; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer; A new round in the battle over cheap AIDS drugs for poor countries is shaping up as World Trade Organization ministers meet in Qatar tomorrow, with the Bush administration facing charges of rank hypocrisy. Just two weeks after the administration muscled steep price concessions from
Magic, 10 years later: Athletes haven't gotten message: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, November 7, 2001; David Steele; FIFTEEN YEARS ago this past summer, I stood in a packed Cole Field House on the University of Maryland campus and heard the Rev. Jesse Jackson eulogize Len Bias. A few days earlier, Bias -- age 22, college basketball star, top draft pick of the then-world champion Boston Celtics -- had died from a cocaine overdose. A
Confront the AIDS crisis: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, November 7, 2001; LAST MONTH, it took only a handful of deaths from anthrax for the Bush administration to put public health before profits. The administration rightly threatened Bayer that unless it slashed the price of the antibiotic Cipro, it would override Bayer s patent and authorize production of a generic version. This month, how
Gays searching for ways to help after terror attacks: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, November 5, 2001; Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer; Many gay men and lesbians find themselves in a quandary these days: They want to join their fellow Americans in responding to terror and in expressing grief. But they are often unable to: They can t fight, they can t give blood, and some will never receive the survivor benefits guaranteed to others who lost loved ones
Hospitals slow to use new needles: Measure to protect workers often ignored: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, November 5, 2001; William Carlsen, Chronicle Staff Writer; One year after President Bill Clinton signed a federal law to protect health care workers from accidental needle sticks, many of the nation s hospitals are not complying with the new regulations or have been slow to buy the safe needle devices and adequately train health care workers in their use. The Needlestick Safet
Bay Area firms break ground in quest for progess and profits: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, October 29, 2001; Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer; The Foster City headquarters of Gilead Sciences are busier than usual these days as the company gears up to launch Viread , an AIDS medicine that treats strains of HIV that have mutated to become resistant to other drugs. For HIV patients, Viread offers a potent one-a-day pill.
Gilead HIV drug OKd for wide use: Viread allowed for initial therapy: San Francisco Chronicle - Saturday, October 27, 2001; Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer; The U.S. Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved a new one-a- day pill to treat HIV and gave Foster City s Gilead Sciences broad authority to promote the medicine as a front-line treatment for AIDS. Analysts had expected the FDA to approve Viread , bu
Big spike in cases of syphilis in S.F. / Gay, bisexual men affected most: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, October 26, 2001; Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer; San Francisco -- Syphilis is spreading at startling rates in San Francisco, especially among the city s gay and bisexual men, a Department of Public Health official said yesterday. The number of reported cases citywide grew from 39 in 1998 to 47 in 1999 and 71 last year. Through September of this year, the San Francisc
"Poppers" link to HIV prompts call for warnings in S.F.: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, October 25, 2001; Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer; A Board of Supervisors panel has recommended that the San Francisco Department of Public Health and the district attorney s office revive health warnings about amyl nitrate, a chemical inhalant used as a sexual stimulant that has been shown to increase the risk of HIV transmission. It s about having the education mater
Study shows gay men in S.F. less afraid of HIV / Attitude may be leading to more infections: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, October 22, 2001; Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer; San Francisco -- Gay men have adopted a don t ask, don t tell policy when it comes to talking about HIV, which might be contributing to a rise in infection rates, a new study by the University of California at San Francisco has shown. The just-released study also showed what experts already knew: Gay men don t find HIV
Public health imperiled: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, October 17, 2001; To most Americans, public health is like the phone system: we only notice it when it doesn t work. Yet now, as the nation faces actual threats of bioterrorism -- as well as a cascade of hoaxes -- we are discovering how poorly prepared we are to deal with major threats to public health. Once, Americans understood the im
Calabash gives gourds new role / Art festival benefits AIDS food bank: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, October 5, 2001; Suzanne Pullen, Special to The Chronicle; This Sunday, 50 artists from Sonoma County will go out of their gourd for a good cause. Calabash! A Celebration of Gourds, Art and the Garden, benefits Food For Thought, the Sonoma County AIDS food bank. This silent gourd-art auction also features music played on gourds, seasonal food and wine. I had no idea . . . ther
FDA panel endorses Gilead's AIDS drug: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, October 4, 2001; Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer; A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended approval of a new AIDS drug yesterday, but split on whether it should only be intended for those patients who ve already tried other AIDS drugs, or should also be cleared to treat new cases of HIV. The recommendation, which the FDA will factor into
Caring for HIV patients: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, October 3, 2001; IF IT S TRUE that a society is judged by how it cares for the elderly, the sick and the poor, the state s reputation for charity and compassion will be greatly impaired if a health care bill for HIV patients dies on the governor s desk. That s where AB937 has languished since leaving the floor of the Legislature on Sep
FDA panel to vote on AIDS drug: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, October 3, 2001; Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer; A U.S. Food & Drug Administration advisory panel will vote today on whether to recommend approval of an experimental AIDS drug designed to treat patients who ve become resistant to other medicines. If, as expected, the vote is favorable, the committee must also recommend whether the new drug should be approved only
White employers defy law to test black domestics in South Africa: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, September 10, 2001; Gavin du Venage, Chronicle Foreign Service; Johannesburg -- Evette Harrison s maid would often comfort her employer s infant by having the child suck her breast. For some white South Africans, it was simply part of growing up in Africa, where traditional child-raising methods have resisted change. Harrison, who lives in a small farming community in rural KwaZulu
S.F. health official defends employee / HIV-positive worker admitted unsafe sex: San Francisco Chronicle - Saturday, September 8, 2001; Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer; San Francisco -- A top San Francisco health official lashed out yesterday at a congressional inquiry into the sexual practices of an HIV-positive Department of Public Health HIV prevention worker who disclosed in a newspaper interview that he has engaged in unprotected intercourse with anonymous partners. Steven Tierne
Livestock virus shows potential for AIDS vaccine: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, September 7, 2001; Carl T. Hall, Chronicle Science Writer; An experimental AIDS vaccine built into a common livestock virus has been shown to work in monkeys and may soon be headed for human safety trials, researchers reported yesterday. Using a weakened form of an animal virus called VSV as the delivery system, scientists at Yale University School of Medicine said the new vac
HIV's drug resistance increasing rapidly / UC study forecasts 42% of S.F. cases affected by 2005: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, August 31, 2001; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer; Researchers at the University of California are forecasting that 42 percent of HIV infections in San Francisco will be resistant to current AIDS drugs by 2005, further complicating efforts to keep the rapidly mutating virus in check. Forty-two percent is a lot of resistance. It will certainly be a challenge if we do no
Photos show AIDS 'everyday warriors': San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, August 31, 2001; Dave Ford, Chronicle Staff Writer; Simo Neri is a photographer who likes to work big. Or at least tall. Indeed, she has been working with an original technique the past four years that allows her to print multiple images in one continuous photographic print that is hung from a gallery s ceiling. If I combine numerous strips, I can go as high and wide as
China finally faces AIDS: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, August 30, 2001; CHINESE OFFICIALS finally acknowledge that they face a serious threat of an AIDS epidemic. But a tragic sidelight on their newfound candor is that government secrecy surely worsened the spread of HIV. Silence denied a vulnerable population the preventive education it needs. As the Beijing leadership turned a blind eye
Legal hurdles limit conference ranks / Some gay activists can't get to Oakland: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, August 29,; Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer; Oakland -- Dilcia Molina, a 37-year-old psychologist from Honduras , was among the lucky ones to obtain a visa to attend a gathering of international gay activists yesterday in Oakland. Organizers of the Global Gay Summit said many would-be delegates were denied clearance from their embassies, either because they aren
Frenzy in Thailand over 'drug' for AIDS / Experts outraged that creators call it a cure: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, August 27, 2001; Rafael D. Frankel, Chronicle Foreign Service; Sydney -- THE ENGLISH-speaking world s first injection center for heroin and other users -- as its spokesman Pat Kennedy called it -- lies across Darlinghurst Road from King s Cross Station. It has no sign. A security guard flanks one side of the unadorned storefront nestled in Sydney s notorious red- light district.
A clean, well-lighted place for junkies: San Francisco - Thursday, August 23, 2001; Debra J. Saunders; Sydney -- THE ENGLISH-speaking world s first injection center for heroin and other users -- as its spokesman Pat Kennedy called it -- lies across Darlinghurst Road from King s Cross Station. It has no sign. A security guard flanks one side of the unadorned storefront nestled in Sydney s notorious red- light district.
Blood banks strive to stay in the black / Daily monitoring, inventory tracking on tap: San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, August 21, 2001; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; Facing a steadily worsening shortage of donated blood for transfusions, the federal government and the nation s community blood banks are creating two separate systems to monitor supplies and steer surpluses -- if any -- where they re needed most. The federal Department of Health and Human Services announced yesterday
Safety the watchword when being an ambassador of love: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, August 19, 2001; Ulysses Torassa; It s a balmy night, and moonlight is sparkling off the water. A soft, scented breeze is rustling through the palms. You re away from home, alone. Maybe you re drinking a little more than usual. One of your fellow travelers starts to look pretty good to you. And you begin to think about the lust in wanderlust. Being awa
Press on with AIDS battle: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, August 15, 2001; The Fight to control and stamp out AIDS is far from won in the United States , much less the rest of the world. Through much of the 1990s, sharp declines in the number of new cases and AIDS-related deaths raised hopes for beating the epidemic with preventive education and improved treatment. Fresh data from the federal
AIDS maintaining its grip in U.S., latest figures show: San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, August 14, 2001; Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer; Warning that further complacency could lead to a resurgence in the AIDS epidemic, federal health officials yesterday reported that AIDS cases and deaths in the United States failed to decline for the second year in a row. The groups at highest risk remain African Americans and gay and bisexual men, researchers at the C
AfroSolo festival puts AIDS issues in your face: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, August 10, 2001; Venise Wagner, Chronicle Staff Writer; San Francisco -- Tanee McIntosh knew the dope on AIDS. She heard all the stats on its slow devastation of the black community, including those in a recent report issued by the Centers for Disease Control: -- While African Americans only make up 12 percent of the population, they account for half of all new HIV cases.
AFRICA/AIDS in school: Teacher-student sex spreads HIV in Central African Republic: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, August 6, 2001; Lucy Jones, Chronicle Foreign Service; Bangui, Central African Republic -- Self-assured and beautiful, Nadine Igala stares straight ahead as she describes the fate of her friend at Miskine High School on the outskirts of Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic. At age 15, with hopes of living in Paris, her friend was diagnosed as HIV- positive.
A lighter slice of life with AIDS / French comedy 'The Adventures of Felix' is a jolly road trip: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, August 5, 2001; Wesley Morris, Chronicle Staff Writer; Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau s first movie, Jeanne and the Perfect Guy, was an ode to love and casual sex in AIDS-era France . It was a musical, too -- an ecstatic Technicolorama with a quiet mordant streak. Girl meets boy, boy is HIV-positive. In the scheme of things, the guy in Ducastel and Martineau s new
UC Berkeley student hits front lines of Africa's AIDS war: San Francisco Chronicle - July 29, 2001; Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer; Shortly after her arrival in Zimbabwe , Caitlin Brune, a public health student at the University of California at Berkeley, heard nurses and midwives lament that they lacked bleach to disinfect the delivery tables at a clinic where the babies can come two an hour. It was extremely sobering, Brune said during a crackli
Camp Arroyo gives terminally ill children a place to be: San Francisco Chronicle - July 27, 2001; Justino Aguila, Chronicle Staff Writer; Eleven-year-old Dillon Scheer has to deal with the knowledge that he s HIV-positive as well as endless amounts of medications - and occasional name- calling from some classmates. But at Camp Arroyo, he s free to be a kid. Camp was fun, Dillon said while playing video games in his home in Forestville in Sonoma County.
Pot study in spotlight: San Francisco Chronicle - July 25, 2001; Bill Workman, Chronicle Staff Writer; Philip Alden thinks it s ironic that after smoking pot for four years to relieve the stabbing pains and appetite loss brought on by AIDS that he s now abstaining from it for six weeks in the name of science. The 37-year-old Redwood Shores writer and AIDS activist is the first volunteer to be chosen to take part in the
SOUTH AFRICA: She can bark -- and bite: South African activist dogs government on corruption, AIDS policy: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, July 16, 2001; Joel Pollak, Chronicle Foreign Service; Johannesburg -- South Africa s newest video game hero is a Pac-Man-like character who races around a maze and gobbles up political points while being pursued by corrupt and inept members of the ruling party. When she discovers and eats one of the four illegally obtained luxury cars at each corner of the maze, her enemi
San Francisco AIDS Walk raises record $3.8 million: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, July 16, 2001; More than 25,000 people raised a record-setting $3.8 million during yesterday s AIDS Walk San Francisco in a rousing show of solidarity against the disease two decades after the first cases appeared. The Bay Area consistently steps up to the plate in recognizing that AIDS is still a crisis, said Redge Norton, spokesman
Rogue virus in the vaccine: Early polio vaccine harbored virus now feared to cause cancer in humans: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, July 15, 2001; William Carlsen, Chronicle Staff Writer; A growing number of medical researchers fear that a monkey virus that contaminated polio vaccine given to tens of millions of Americans in the 1950s and 60s may be causing rare human cancers. For four decades, government officials have insisted that there is no evidence the simian virus called SV40 is harmful to humans
A friend indeed: Volunteer puts good listening skills to work at AIDS Foundation: San Francisco Chroncile - Sunday, July 15, 2001; Jonathan Curiel, Chronicle Staff Writer; Worldwide, 36 million people are HIV-positive or suffering from AIDS. Every Tuesday morning, Ron Siegel talks to three of those people as part of his volunteer work with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Intense, fulfilling and sometimes agonizing, the conversations give Siegel a weekly window into a devastating pande
New S.F. initiative to stem HIV spread Chlamydia, gonorrhea rates also up sharply: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, July 13, 2001; Ilene Lelchuk, Chronicle Staff Writer; San Francisco -- Facing alarming rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea in San Francisco s African American neighborhoods and a growing HIV infection rate citywide, health officials announced four new initiatives yesterday to combat the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. San Francisco plans to use a $1 million grant fr
For Bush, sex education is a no-no: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, July 9, 2001; Helen Thomas, Hearst Newspapers; U.S. SURGEON GENERAL David Satcher said recently that more sex education is needed to help prevent AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. President Bush and most politicians reacted as if Satcher s recommendation were radioactive. Satcher, whose term ends in February, got an icy response fr
Birds, bees and disease: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, July 5, 2001; SURGING TEEN promiscuity has intensified the need for some straight talk with children about pregnancies and disease. With AIDS the sixth leading cause of death for young people, a report by Surgeon General David Satcher urging parents and schools to teach sex education seems almost overdue. The 30-page report primaril
Surgeon general sex education report cheered, attacked / He discourages abstinence-only approach, urges respect of gays: San Francisco Chronicle - Saturday, June 30, 2001; Ray Delgado, Chronicle Staff Writer; A frank and controversial report about sex education by the surgeon general sparked strong reaction today in Washington and in the Bay Area. The White House expressed disappointment with Surgeon General David Satcher s report released yesterday, which called on communities to encourage abstinence as well as birth contr
Funding, fairness at core of U.N. AIDS plan / Resolution strives to help poor, women: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, June 28, 2001; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer; After weeks of behind-the-scenes wrangling, the United Nations General Assembly special session on AIDS adopted a historic resolution last night committing member states to a vast expansion of global efforts to contain the epidemic. A 16-page Declaration of Commitment lays out a plan to meet a five-year goal of boostin
Program breaks silence about sex / South African program could become a model: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, June 27, 2001; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer; Johannesburg -- Thabo Mbeki admits he is no Nelson Mandela. He joked shortly before coming to power two years ago that Mandela s shoes were too ugly for him to want to fill and that he would walk his own path. Distancing himself was astute. His predecessor was a virtual saint who brought peace and racial reconciliation
Mbeki's morass / South African leader's term has been marred by series of blunders: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, June 27, 2001; Gavin du Venage, Chronicle Foreign Service; Johannesburg -- Thabo Mbeki admits he is no Nelson Mandela. He joked shortly before coming to power two years ago that Mandela s shoes were too ugly for him to want to fill and that he would walk his own path. Distancing himself was astute. His predecessor was a virtual saint who brought peace and racial reconciliation
AIDS meeting opens with conflict / Dispute over gay speaker delays U.N. conference: San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, June 26, 2001; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer; United Nations -- With a mix of lofty rhetoric and bare-knuckled parliamentary brawling, an unprecedented United Nations General Assembly special session on AIDS got off to a rocky but historic start yesterday. AIDS can no longer do its deadly work in the dark, said U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan of
EDITORIAL: World denial on AIDS: San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, June 26, 2001; TWO DECADES after scientists first described HIV/AIDS, the global epidemic has killed 22 million victims, left 13 million orphans and infected an estimated 36 million people. Yet, denial remains the greatest obstacle to containing history s largest pandemic. The truth is, hardly any nation wants to admit that its citiz
U.N. meets in search of AIDS strategy / 3-day session spotlights crisis -- diverse views dog consensus: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, June 24, 2001; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer; World leaders from developing nations are converging on New York City for the opening tomorrow of an unprecedented United Nations General Assembly Special Session on AIDS. For three days at this highly visible forum, diplomats will hammer out a final draft of a declaration that will guide international efforts to bring
U.N. estimates cost to fight AIDS / $9.2 billion needed yearly, report finds: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, June 22, 2001; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer; As the United Nations prepares for next week s global summit on AIDS, a new study released by the United Nations yesterday estimates that it will cost $9.2 billion a year to turn the tide against the epidemic. Prepared by researchers at UNAIDS in Geneva and a team of experts around the world, the report is the most com
End HMO horrors: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, June 21, 2001; Debra J. Saunders; THE DEBATE over the U.S. Senate s two patients rights proposals reflects the most American of attitudes: Folks hate lawyers, until they re in an accident. Or end up in a bad HMO. Having an unresponsive low-level bureaucrat uphold a bonehead decision that is harmful to your health is, well, harmful to your health. U.S.
Individual insurance a problem: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, June 21, 2001; Victoria Colliver, Chronicle Staff Writer; People trying to get individual health insurance routinely get rejected for conditions as minor as hay fever or an old knee injury, according to a study released yesterday. The study by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, conducted by Georgetown University researchers, sent seven hypothetical health care users with
Medical team fights charges it tried to infect Libyan kids with HIV / Prosecutor wants death penalty for 6 Bulgarian workers: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, June 20, 2001; Matthew Brunwasser, Chronicle Foreign Service; Sofia, Bulgaria -- In a trial that sounds like a chapter out of a bad Cold War spy novel, a Libyan prosecutor sought the death penalty last weekend for six Bulgarian medical workers charged with intentionally infecting 393 children with the virus that causes AIDS. A Libyan People s Court, which typically hears cases in
Fight AIDS globally, ex-lawmaker urges / Ron Dellums addresses Oakland forum: San Francisco Chronicle - Saturday, June 9, 2001; Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer; Oakland -- Former East Bay Rep. Ron Dellums, now chairman of the President s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, urged hundreds of people attending an AIDS conference in Oakland yesterday to attack the epidemic from a global perspective. Dellums called AIDS the greatest threat to the human family, requiring a response from a
AIDS activists in uproar over official's remarks on Africa: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, June 8, 2001; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer; Controversial remarks by a top Bush administration official are sowing confusion over the future of international efforts to bring cheap AIDS drugs to Africa and other impoverished regions of the world. U.S. Agency for International Development administrator Andrew Natsios suggested in an interview published yesterday
AIDS AT 20 / Epidemic has only begun spreading its global devastation: San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, June 5, 2001; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer; Since June 5, 1981, when University of California at Los Angeles immunologist Dr. Michael Gottlieb and colleagues described five cases of rare pneumonia among gay men, AIDS has killed nearly 450,000 Americans -- including 18,600 in San Francisco alone. Yet two decades into the epidemic, the outbreak of AIDS in America
Just say no to just-say-no sex education: San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, June 5, 2001; Stephanie Salter; BY THE TIME funding for five years of abstinence-only sex education is up for congressional reconsideration next year, U.S. taxpayers will have handed over about a half-billion dollars for it in federal and state money. Too bad we re just now studying whether such a narrow approach actually works to lower the teen preg
AIDS AT 20 / New wave of infections hitting minorities hardest / Efforts to promote safe sex breaking down: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, June 4, 2001; Christopher Heredia, Sabin Russell; Twenty years after HIV first appeared in America, the face of AIDS has changed, and it looks a lot like Tim m West. Through his teen years and early 20s, the smart and angry hip-hop artist living in Oakland kept his sexuality on the down-low - a term some African American gay men use to describe being in the closet.
Caught playing with fire: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, June 4, 2001; Sabin Russell; When Ty Whitehead moved to San Francisco in the 1980s, AIDS was everywhere. Tending bar at the Giraffe on Polk Street, he saw that regulars were dying. Businesses were closing. I realized I was the only one working there who was HIV-negative. He practiced safe sex, religiously then. But after five years behind the bar,
3,300 climb on bikes for AIDS marathon: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, June 4, 2001; Jim Doyle, Chronicle Staff Writer; Like so many others from all walks of life, Concord Police Sgt. Keith Whitaker has crossed paths with numerous people afflicted with AIDS and HIV. Yesterday, the police officer joined 3,300 people taking part in a marathon bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise money for AIDS patients and to help incre
Researchers undaunted in complex quest for vaccine / Half-dozen creations in test stages: San Franciso Chronicle - Monday, June 4, 2001; Keay Davidson, Chronicle Science Writer; Why is it taking so long to develop an AIDS vaccine? In June 1990, Dr. Wayne Koff was one of the speakers at an AIDS conference in San Francisco. At that time, he ran the AIDS vaccine program at the National Institutes of Health - and he was very excited by recent developments in animal models of AIDS. So excited, in f
AFRICA / Diamonds and dreams / Botswana worries that stigma of gems' role in African wars could undermine its progress: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, June 4, 2001; Kathy Chenault, Chronicle Foreign Service; Gaborone, Botswana -- An appraiser holds a rough diamond up to the light, studying lines and shape through a magnifier before giving his estimate: The stone is worth $60, 000. That s one stone, from one pile of uncut diamonds sitting in mounds on tables at the Botswana Diamond Valuing Co. In Botswana, this scene sy
Plumbing the immune system / AIDS research sheds light on functions, but vaccine remains elusive: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, June 4, 2001; Keay Davidson, Chronicle Science Writer; In the last two decades, AIDS has pushed immunology - the science of the immune system - to the forefront of medicine. In the process, AIDS has provided important new information on the workings of the immune system, that invisibly small army of molecular soldiers that wars against infections. But many immunological my
AIDS AT 20 / Crisis has sapped artists of energy / For some, passion has given way to caution: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, June 3, 2001; Edward Guthmann, Chronicle Staff Writer; In the mid-1980s, when it became clear what a huge impact AIDS was having on the nation s arts communities, a number of publications illustrated the devastation with rows of photographs of felled artists. The Chronicle was the first to address that subject in December 1986 with a series of mini-profiles and related sto
AIDS AT 20 / Meeting epidemic head-on: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, June 3, 2001; Sabin Russell; It was on Dr. Paul Volberding s first day on the job at San Francisco General Hospital, 20 years ago, that he saw his first patient with Kaposi s sarcoma. He joined the county hospital on July 1, 1981, as chief of cancer care. But it would not be long before the brilliant young researcher would become the driving force
AIDS AT 20 / AIDS by the numbers: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, June 3, 2001; Johnny Miller, Chronicle Research Librarian; SAN FRANCISCO 27,484 - The number of AIDS cases reported in San Francisco since 1980. 18,605 - The number of AIDS deaths in San Francisco. 56 - The number of AIDS deaths in San Francisco so far in 2001. 8,879 - The number of people living in San Francisco with AIDS. THE NATION 900,000 - The estimated number of U.S. res
AIDS AT 20 / Finding hope after the devastation / AIDS victim begins new life despite his disease and the pain and loss it has brought to his life: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, June 3, 2001; Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer; Bob Lawrence remembers the dreadful phone call he got in the early 1980s from a friend telling him that a former roommate had died of what was then being called gay pneumonia. Lawrence, who had a wild sex life in the 1970s but was in a relationship at the time, mourned the loss of his friend. Then he wondered about him
AIDS AT 20 / Disease that changed our world: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, June 3, 2001; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer; This Tuesday, the world will mark 20 years of AIDS. It is a ghastly anniversary, especially for San Francisco, where the epidemic touched down early and devastated a generation of gay men. Like a disaster in slow motion, AIDS has taken 18,600 San Francisco lives, far more than the city lost in wars and earthquakes and
ARGUMENTS / AIDS: 20 Years Out / 'Acceptance' isn't the issue -- it's HIV: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, June 3, 2001; Insight asked San Francisco journalist Bruce Mirken, who writes frequently about AIDS, and Michelangelo Signorile, New York author and Gay.com columnist to address the question: Has the AIDS epidemic helped or hurt acceptance of gays in America? After agreeing that the question was absurd, the debate morphed into a con
EDITORIAL / AIDS at 20 / The nightmare goes on: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, June 3, 2001; TWO DECADES after AIDS was first recognized, mortality statistics are stunning and prospects for the future are grim. There is no cure, no vaccine is in sight and the disease is spreading like wildfire to every corner of the map, especially in developing countries. And there is alarming new evidence that AIDS is on the
Young gays contracting HIV at 'explosive' rate, CDC says: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, June 1, 2001; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer; Young gay men in U.S. cities are contracting the AIDS virus at rates rivaling the early days of the epidemic, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned yesterday. The warning is based on preliminary results of a six-city study of gay men between the ages of 23 and 29. Although the results did not in
'Explosive HIV rates' / Infection among young gay men rising quickly, U.S. warns: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, May 31, 2001; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer; Young gay men in U.S. cities are contracting the AIDS virus at rates rivaling the early days of the 20-year-old epidemic, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this morning. The warning is based on preliminary results of a six-city study of gay men using new blood tests that can separate recent in
AIDS AT 20: A new day has dawned; Did activism or AIDS get gays out of the closet?: San Francisco Chronicles - Thursday, May 31, 2001; Eric Rofes; WHEN I GRADUATED from college in 1976, 25 years ago this week, Americans thought about gay issues in a very different way than they do now. I saw few images of lesbians and gay men on television or in movie theaters. None of my Harvard professors ever discussed homosexuality. When I informed classmates that I was gay,
AIDS AT 20: An 'interesting medical oddity'; First report of AIDS 20 years ago offered no hints of epidemic to come: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, May 30, 2001; David Perlman; THERE WAS SOMETHING foreboding about the first paragraph of an article The Chronicle carried on June 6, 1981. The report was just 10 inches long and ran routinely on Page 4 with no byline. It read: A mysterious outbreak of a sometimes fatal pneumonia among gay men has occurred in San Francisco and several other major c
THE AIDS GENERATION: The epidemic meant loss of friends and family, derailed lives: San Francisco - Tuesday, May 29, 2001; Dave Ford, Chronicle Staff Writer; TO IMAGINE what it was like living in San Francisco at the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, try this: Invite 30 close friends over for a party. Get happy for a few hours. Then, in the span of 20 minutes, each of your guests should leave -- some without a goodbye, others with a long, sad parting -- until you ar
In medicine and understanding, we've come so far and yet have so far to go: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, May 27, 2001; Lisa Capaldini; As an intern at San Francisco General Hospital in 1983, I cared for my first patient with HIV disease. We didn t call it HIV disease back then. It was called GRID, gay-related immunodeficiency, and we didn t know what was making increasing numbers of young gay men succumb to rare infections and strange tumors. My first
No wonder drugs: Advertising for AIDS treatments shouldn't exaggerate effectiveness, activists say: San Francisco Chronicle - Saturday, May 26, 2001; George Raine, Chronicle Staff Writer; Mike Devlin s preparation for a pitch for Agouron Pharmaceuticals advertising account led him to several AIDS clinics in New York so he could put a face on the 20-year-old epidemic. It wasn t pretty. These were not the faces of the pretty boys in all those ads selling drugs for people living with AIDS. The people D
Proposal for reporting HIV raises confidentiality worries / Social Security digits included in state's plan: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, May 16, 2001; Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer; New rules for reporting HIV under review by state health officials are drawing fire from AIDS activists who say the requirements might keep people from getting tested for the virus. The Health Department will hold a public hearing today on a controversial proposal to begin reporting HIV in California using a set of cri
A breath of hope in the East Bay / Camp Arroyo to give HIV-infected kids some fun in the sun: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, May 3, 2001; Paul McHugh, Chronicle Outdoors Writer; Airy rooms, in a classy Mediterranean-style village, once perched here among forested hills to provide respite for tuberculosis patients. Then the site became a camp for troubled youth. Next, abandoned, it devolved into a clump of bottle-strewn, graffiti-laced hulks, a rendezvous for nocturnal revelers, a target for va
Trivializing the AIDS campaigns: San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, May 1, 2001; THE INCREASING tendency for pharmaceutical companies to directly market drugs to consumers is a concern in itself. Americans are being bombarded with slick advertisements urging them to ask by name for a remedy for high cholesterol, diabetes, depression, hay fever, toenail fungus, hair loss and impotence. The list goes
Bay Area activists ready for U.N. session on AIDS: Planning strategy, forming alliances for June talks: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, April 30, 2001; Tyche Hendricks, Chronicle Staff Writer; Bay Area AIDS activists were elated when a powerful consortium of drug companies earlier this month dropped a lawsuit aimed at halting the use of generic versions of patented AIDS medicines in South Africa . It s an amazing victory, said John Iversen of ACT UP East Bay, who organized local protests of the suit, and has
Deceptive AIDS ads must stop, FDA says / Buffed-up models pitch medications: San Francisco Chronicle - Saturday, April 28, 2001; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer; Prompted by complaints from San Francisco, the Food and Drug Administration ordered drugmakers yesterday to tone down their upbeat ads for AIDS medications, calling them misleading. FDA marketing division chief Thomas Abrams told drugmakers in a letter that they must change their ads within 90 days. New ads will ha
Further testing discounts AIDS-polio theory; Chimp virus not found in vaccine sample: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, April 27, 2001; William Carlsen, Chronicle Staff Writer; There is no evidence to support the controversial theory that the AIDS epidemic sprang from a batch of contaminated vaccine, according to a group of scientific studies released yesterday. The hypothesis that an experimental polio vaccine administered in Africa caused AIDS -- most notably advanced in Edward Hooper s 199
Further testing discounts AIDS-polio theory / Chimp virus not found in vaccine sample: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, April 27, 2001; William Carlsen, Chronicle Staff Writer; There is no evidence to support the controversial theory that the AIDS epidemic sprang from a batch of contaminated vaccine, according to a group of scientific studies released yesterday. The hypothesis that an experimental polio vaccine administered in Africa caused AIDS -- most notably advanced in Edward Hooper s 199
SAN FRANCISCO / Judge limits access of AIDS dissidents: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, April 19, 2001; A judge has ordered six members of the AIDS dissident group ACT UP/San Francisco to stay away from offices of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and five employees after the group staged a noisy protest at the agency Oct. 23. San Francisco Superior Court Judge James McBride s order, which covers a three-year period, say
Federal syringe rules take effect, aiding health workers: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, April 18, 2001; Reynolds Holding, Chronicle Staff Writer; Federal workplace regulations requiring medical facilities across the nation to use safer syringes and blood-drawing devices will take effect today, affording doctors, nurses and other health care workers long-sought protections against potentially deadly needle sticks. Mandated by the Needle Stick Safety and Preventio
Scott Evertz: New AIDS Czar Called a Skillful Bridge Builder / Evertz the first gay man to hold position: San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, April 10, 2001; Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer; Scott Evertz, who was appointed this week to be the nation s new AIDS czar, is known by acquaintances in Wisconsin as someone with a knack for producing bipartisan consensus. Evertz, 38, is the first openly gay man to be appointed by a Republican president and the first gay man to be director of the Office of National
Money Well Spent: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, April 09, 2001; WITH HIV/AIDS running rampant through much of the developing world, the U.S. Senate s resolve to double America s spending to combat the global crisis is both heartening and critical. Under the Senate resolution, the United States will commit more than $1 billion during the next two years to help stem the spread of AID
Inmates Sue State Over Health Care / State Hit With Huge Class Action Over Health Care in Prisons: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, April 6, 2001; Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer; Prisoners-rights advocates accused the state yesterday of systematically ignoring the medical needs of California s 160,000 prisoners. In a suit billed as the largest class-action ever filed over prison conditions, nine inmates and their lawyers claimed the system s health care suffers from poor training, staff shortag
Breakthrough Study of Medical Pot Use: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, April 4, 2001; Chronicle Staff Report; San Mateo County will be the first local government in the nation to prescribe marijuana when it begins doling out medicinal pot to dozens of AIDS patients later this month. Researchers yesterday began recruiting the first 60 people to take part in the two-year, outpatient study of marijuana s medical benefits. Dr. Den
Compassion Before Profit In AIDS War: Sanh Francisco Chronicle - Monday, March 26, 2001; Matthew Yi, Chronicle Staff Writer; Bombay -- Sitting in his corner office with stacks of medical research papers behind him, the head of India s biggest knockoff-AIDS-drugmaker says he s only doing what his conscience is telling him to do. In the area of AIDS and HIV, there are no borders. There s room for everyone to contribute, Yusuf K. Hamied said.
South Africa: Coming to Terms: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, March 25, 2001; Kathy Chenault, Chronicle Foreign Service; Johannesburg -- In the worldwide battle against AIDS, the front line is South Africa , where one out of every nine citizens is infected with HIV. After years of inaction and a fumbling response, the government finally seems to be facing its AIDS crisis. But so far, all the attention has done little to benefit the natio
Brazil: Showing Others the Way: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, March 25, 2001; Andrew Downie, Chronicle Foreign Service; Isabel Almeida was watching television one evening when she saw a report about a government plan to distribute AIDS medicine free to people infected with HIV. Almeida, who contracted the virus from her husband, was ecstatic. Four months later, the government approved her application for treatment, sending a wave of rel
Drugmakers Yield to Pressure: Multinational firms offer tiered pricing for life-saving medications: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, March 25, 2001; Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer; Prodded by activists and pressed by competition, the world s leading pharmaceutical companies have lowered their prices for key AIDS drugs sold in Africa - bringing hope that life-prolonging drugs may be more broadly disseminated. In recent weeks, Bristol-Myers Squibb said it would sell its
ACT UP Members Convicted in Fracas: 3 hurled pills in dispute of belief HIV causes AIDS: San Francisco Chronicle - Saturday, March 17, 2001; Chuck Squatriglia, Chronicle Staff Writer; Three members of a dissident San Francisco AIDS group with a history of antagonizing mainstream AIDS organizations were convicted yesterday of hurling pills at panelists discussing treatment options for the disease. The convictions of ACT UP/San Francisco members Jason (Todd) Swindell, David Pasquarelli and Michael Bel
S.F. Ban on AIDS Drug Ads Proposed: Dubious message in bus shelters: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, March 15, 2001; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer; They re young. They re sexy. They re strong and healthy. And they re taking AIDS drugs. What s wrong with this picture? Plenty, according to a band of AIDS activists, the San Francisco Department of Public Health and Board of Supervisors President Tom Ammiano. In a new twist on the ever-controversial topic of costly AI
A New AIDS Challenge: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, March 12, 2001; Whether it was damage control or corporate charity, major drugmakers were wise to announce huge price cuts in costly AIDS drugs badly needed in poor countries. It s an overdue move that offers hope for those infected, especially 25 million Africans living in poverty. Drug combinations, developed by major drug firms, ha
Equal Rights Needed to Halt Spread of AIDS, Experts Say: S.F. meeting told women in developing nations need help: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, March 9, 2001; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer; AIDS experts meeting in San Francisco yesterday declared that equal rights for women are crucial to stopping the gruesome onslaught of the disease in African nations and developing countries throughout the world. During an International Women s Day symposium, researchers issued a new AIDS prevention plan aimed at rever
Bill Would Boost Access to AIDS Drugs: It bars U.S. sanctions against poor nations that use generics: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, March 7, 2001; Zachary Coile, Chronicle Washington Bureau; Washington -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California introduced legislation yesterday designed to help poor countries import or produce generic AIDS drugs in defiance of pharmaceutical firms that patent the drugs. The bill, co-sponsored by fellow Democratic Sen. Russell Feingold of Wisconsin, would block the U.S. governme
Hepatitis C Testing, Counseling Approved: San Mateo County will help poorest, most at-risk: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, March 7, 2001; Angelica Pence, Chronicle Staff Writer; Alerted that hepatitis C may be killing more San Mateo County residents than AIDS, county supervisors yesterday agreed to spend $85,000 a year to help those most at risk. Up to 17,000 people -- or 10 to 13 times as many as those infected with HIV -- may carry the hepatitis C virus, according to a study by the Hepatitis
Bitter Pills: What if doctors chose global treatment for AIDS over pharmaceutical companies' freebies?: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, March 2, 2001; Herbert Schreier; I Received a call recently, inviting me to a talk about the treatment of depression by a somewhat well-known psychiatrist. The presentation would be at an upscale restaurant. I could bring a guest and I would be paid $100 just for attending. It s not uncommon for pharmaceutical companies to sponsor such events. A child
The Patient as Private Eye/Independent research instills sense of being in charge: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, February 25, 2001; Ulysses Torassa, Chronicle Medical Writer; A serious diagnosis like cancer, multiple sclerosis or HIV infection can easily leave patients feeling overwhelmed and at the mercy of white-coated doctors speaking in medical jargon. Often, doctors say, patients will nod numbly as they lay out the prognosis and treatment options, asking few questions. Meanwhile, studi
SAN FRANCISCO/State Funds Marijuana Studies for First Time: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, February 23, 2001; The University of California at San Francisco will conduct one of the first state-funded research projects focusing on marijuana s potential medicinal uses, state and university officials said yesterday. Dr. Donald Abrams, a UCSF professor of medicine, will lead two studies to evaluate the effectiveness of smoked marij
AIDS Pill Lowers HIV Levels in Clinical Trials: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, February 21, 2001; Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer; A biotech firm in Foster City said yesterday that its experimental, one-a- day pill significantly lowered HIV levels in the bloodstream of AIDS patients who were becoming resistant to current medicines. Mark Perry, executive vice president of Gilead Sciences , said that based on this Phase III, or final stage, clinical
An Encore For Clinton: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, February 18, 2001; Chris Matthews; SEVENTEEN MILLION dead! Twenty-five million mortally wounded! If Europe were hit with such ghastly casualties, would America be sitting on the sidelines? If the lands of white America s roots - England, Ireland , Germany , Italy ,
Quality of Care/Oakland's Dr. Scott goes the extra mile to tend to his patients, people with AIDS: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, February 16, 2001; Gregory Lewis, Chronicle Staff Writer; When Robert C. Scott walked into an East Bay medical clinic in the early 1970s, he was a content Laney College biology instructor who was looking for relief from a simple cold or flu. He was treated, he recalled, but it was so impersonal, so harsh, that it changed his life. No one took time to explain anything, and par
White House AIDS, Race Relations Bloopers: Bush says offices will stay open, after top aide said they'd close: San Francisco Chronicle - February 8, 2001; Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer; A day after a top administration official announced the National Office of AIDS Policy had become obsolete, President Bush flipflopped and said he was keeping the office open. We re concerned about AIDS, the president said yesterday. Make no mistake about it. The snafu forced the president s handlers to spend quite a b
New Program Aims to Slow Spread of AIDS: Plan is to find those unaware they're infected and treat them: San Francisco Chronicle - February 7, 2001; Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer; Health experts yesterday announced a new national HIV prevention strategy aimed at testing people unknowingly infected with HIV, with the goal of reducing the spread of the epidemic by 50 percent by the year 2005. The Serostatus Approach to Fighting the HIV Epidemic -- or SAFE -- will use radio commercials and bus ads
San Francisco Survey: San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, February 6, 2001; San Francisco was not one of the six cities included in the study. However, a survey by the same group in 1994-95 found a 13.3 percent rate among gay African American men between 15 and 22 in San Francisco. That compared to a 4.3 percent rate among white gay men in the same age group. We ve seen very similar patterns h
Activists Want Quilt to Stay in San Francisco: San Francisco Chronicle - February 6, 2001; Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer; A plan to move the beloved AIDS Memorial Quilt from its pricey San Francisco headquarters to cheaper digs on the East Coast has some local AIDS activists threatening to steal the 50-ton patchwork to keep it here. San Francisco s Names Project Foundation, keeper of the quilt, is losing its lease and plans to move its of
Frustrating, Fractious And Underfunded / A vivid account of researchers' struggle to find an AIDS vaccine: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, February 4, 2001; Reviewed by David Perlman; SHOTS IN THE DARK The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine By Jon Cohen W.W. Norton; 440 pages; $27 The very start of Jon Cohen s masterful history of AIDS vaccine research, Shots in the Dark, recalls a shocker: On Oct. 15, 1982, 600 Americans -- almost all of them young gay men -- were sick with a mysterious disorder na
This Plague Hasn't Ended: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, January 25, 2001; Bruce Mirken; San Francisco -- Dr. Paul A. Volberding, one of the world s foremost AIDS physicians and a pioneering researcher since the epidemic began, is moving on. The director of the AIDS clinic at San Francisco General Hospital since it opened in 1983 and an international leader in combatting the disease, Volberding has been na
Top AIDS Expert Quits S.F. General For VA Hospital: Paul Volberding has run pioneer clinic since 1983: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, January 25, 2001; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; San Francisco -- Dr. Paul A. Volberding, one of the world s foremost AIDS physicians and a pioneering researcher since the epidemic began, is moving on. The director of the AIDS clinic at San Francisco General Hospital since it opened in 1983 and an international leader in combatting the disease, Volberding has been na
'Rebound Epidemic' Feared As HIV Rate Jumps in S.F.: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, January 24, 2001; Ulysses Torassa, Chronicle Medical Writer; In an alarming reversal, the rate of new HIV infections among San Francisco s gay men has more than doubled since 1997 and is climbing steeply, according to a comprehensive analysis released today. A panel of two dozen researchers and AIDS experts estimates in a draft report that the rate of new HIV infections is 2.2 p
Brighter Vision: Renovated mural on women with AIDS shines through graffiti-proof cover, expanded imagery: San Francisco Chronicle - January 19, 2001; Ray Delgado, Chronicle Staff Writer; When a moving, in-your-face mural about women with AIDS was vandalized and doused with paint last year, muralist Juana Alicia didn t cry or scream in outrage at what had been done to her work. Instead, she made it better and raised the profile of the enormous work of art painted on the side of a market at Scott and Hai
Did Modern Medicine Spread an Epidemic? After decades, and millions of injections, scientists are asking the chilling question - Part 2 of 2: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, January 14, 2001; William Carlsen, Chronicle Staff Writer; The two men met purely by chance. On an October 1997 flight from New York City to New Orleans, virologist Preston Marx noticed the passenger in the aisle seat was reading an article about one of his colleagues at an AIDS research center in Manhattan. The passenger, Ernest Drucker, was a professor at New York s Albert E
Quest For The Origin Of Aids - Part 1 of 2: San Francisco Chronicle - Sunday, January 14, 2001; William Carlsen, Chronicle staff writer; The longer Edward Hooper studied the maps, the more he believed he had solved one of the great mysteries of modern medicine. He had marked the Central African villages that were home to some of the earliest known cases of AIDS. In a striking number of cases, those villages were near the rural clinics where a U.S. compa
AFRICA - An Open Battle Against AIDS: Ugandan campaign to educate people and break down taboos has helped lower rate of HIV infection: San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, January 8, 2001; David Gough, Chronicle Foreign Service; Kiyunga, Iganga Province, Uganda -- The small band of villagers wore tattered clothes and expressions of bewilderment as the rickety old ambulance lurched along a remote dirt road. We wish to inform you, said a voice amplified by a megaphone resting on the ambulance s rusted window frame, that anybody who reports tomo
New Year's Eve Fruitvale Blaze Looks Like Arson: Fire gutted needle-exchange office: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, January 3, 2001; Henry K. Lee - Chronicle Staff Writer; Oakland -- A New Year s Eve blaze that destroyed the offices of a needle-exchange program in Oakland s Fruitvale district appears to be arson, a fire official said yesterday as the program s director pledged to continue helping those infected with HIV. The three-alarm fire that gutted part of a building at 3229 San Lea

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