Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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The San Francisco Examiner Wednesday, April 9, 1997
Lisa M. Krieger of the Examiner Staff
But activists are sharply critical of a key component of the proposed increase - the assumption that 15 counties in nine large metropolitan areas will come up with $12.9 million of the $83.9 million budgeted for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program.
That money, which comes from federal funds, already goes to other crucial services for persons with AIDS, activists from around the state said.
They joined Assemblywoman Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, and state Sen. Diane Watson, D-Los Angeles, in praising Wilson's proposal to increase the AIDS Drug Assistance Program budget to nearly $84 million in the 1997-98 year. But they balked at the plan to make counties provide a share.
"But we still do not have enough support, and doing the shell game is not the way to go," Watson said.
Added Migden: "Treating AIDS is a comprehensive challenge, and it does include social services and prevention and housing and counseling and support services, as well as the actual drugs that preserve and prolong life."
The affected counties include San Francisco, Marin, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara and Sonoma, as well as Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and San Diego.
Wayne Sauseda, head of the AIDS program in the state Department of Health Services, said the administration believed it was fair for the counties to pay a portion of the program costs.
Sauseda pointed out that ADAP had grown from $18 million two years ago to $36.9 million in the current budget.
"But it's come to a point where we've now quadrupled the program, and we need local government assistance, recognizing that these federal funds are intended to be used for such purposes as ADAP," he said.
The affected counties have seen their direct federal funding increase by about $10 million, which should cushion some of the blow, Sauseda said. In addition, bolstering ADAP may reduce some of the demand for other county AIDS services, he said.
FDA approves AIDS drug
The Food and Drug Administration has approved an anti-viral drug for patients to add to their complex medicine cocktails, despite conflicting evidence on how well it works.
Pharmacia & Upjohn's delavirdine, approved Friday, will be on pharmacy shelves within a month under the brand name Rescriptor.
Delavirdine is one of a class of drugs called non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, not considered nearly as powerful as protease inhibitors. But delavirdine must be used in combination with other medicines - never alone - to treat HIV patients.
The FDA's scientific advisors had deadlocked in November over whether to approve delavirdine because of conflicting data.
One study showed delavirdine taken with the drug AZT modestly helped early-stage patients' immune systems and killed twice as much HIV virus as AZT alone. But a study of sicker patients found that benefit lasted only 12 weeks. It has not yet been studied in combination with protease inhibitors.
ACT UP / Golden Gate praised the company's decision to make delavirdine one of the least expensive anti-viral drugs on the market, with a wholesale price of $2,700 annually.
News briefs
*Having completed the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon and the New York City Marathon on successive weekends last fall, Jim Howley of Carpinteria, Santa Barbara County, is going to even greater extremes to trumpet his belief in vigorous exercise for those who suffer from AIDS.
The 36-year-old AIDS patient left Los Angeles on Sunday with plans to bike, swim and run his way across the country on a 3,000-mile trip scheduled to end 52 days later with a jog up the steps of City Hall in New York.
"No one feels sorry for me. I'm Jim the triathlete, not Jim the guy with AIDS," he said.
Events
*The San Francisco Black Coalition on AIDS celebrates the revitalization of the agency Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the San Francisco Tennis Club, 645 Fifth St. Call (415) 346-2364.
* "Forum on Death and Dying," a workshop to learn how to support someone through the dying process at home, will be offered by the group Transitions on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. Francis of Assisi Community Church, 145 Guerrero St. (at Duboce). Fee is $45; scholarships are available. Call (415) 664-6975.
*Join hundreds of activists and people living with HIV for three days of congressional visits, training sessions and social events in Washington, D.C., in AIDSWATCH '97, next Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Call Project Inform at (415) 558-8669.
*A disability workshop for people with HIV-AIDS, sponsored by the AIDS Health Project, will be held April 19. For time and location, call (415) 476-6448.
* "The Changing Face of Dementia," a lecture on the impact of anti-viral therapies on long-term survival and dementia, will be offered by Dr. Ken Mills of the Community Consortium next Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in Room 126 of the Mission Center Building, 1855 Folsom St. (at 15th). Call (415) 476-9554.
The toll
William G. Haynes, a former bartender at Badlands, avid Giants fan, and player and coach in the S.F. Gay Softball League ... Kurtis L. Kobow, 35, who worked at Dunhill of London, Bechtel Corp. and Bank of America, in Laytonville ... Rory Clayton Ransom, 38, a graduate of the S.F. Art Institute who produced airbrush art for the music industry, theater and ballet, in Forestville.
Date
reported / Cases / Deaths
S.F. 4/1 23,974 16,692
Calif. 4/1 99,908 64,137
U.S. 4/1 548,102 343,000
WHO(rprtd) 4/1 8,400,000 6,400,000
Figures are cumulative since June 1981. Government officials now compile and release statistics quarterly, not monthly.
To contribute to AIDSweek, call (415) 777-7867. AIDSweek columns are available on the Internet at http://www.examiner.com/aidsweek/aidsweek.html
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