Expanded
access
Run out of HIV drugs to choose
from? You might consider the following free programs. Also
see “The Buzz.”
T-20
This twice-daily self-injected
(under the skin) drug is available to a small number of people
who have multi-drug resistant virus and low T-cell counts.
It is a fusion inhibitor, a new class of HIV drugs. T-20 is
also going into Phase III clinical trials, which you may be
able to join. Because no 800 number was provided, we suggest
you contact one of the companies involved in developing T-20,
Roche. Call (800) 910-4687 or visit www.rocheusa.com.
Try also www.trimeris.com.
Tenofovir
This once-a-day drug is also
in a new class of HIV medications, nucleotide reverse transcriptase
inhibitors, and is also available in clinical trials, if you’re
eligible. Call (800) GILEAD-5 (445-3235).
Know
what I mean?
The San Francisco AIDS Foundation
(SFAF) asks, “How do you know what you know?” That’s what
they want gay men in the city to ask themselves about potential
sex partners. Why? Because studies from a number of places,
including the foundation and the Center for AIDS Prevention
Studies out of the University of California, San Francisco
(http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu),
have found that many gay men figure a new partner has the
same HIV status that they do. It’s that old concept found
on other people’s health campaigns, where the guys are thinking,
“He must be positive like me because he hasn’t asked about
my status” or “He must be HIV negative like me because he
hasn’t asked about my status.” SFAF will use billboards, bus
shelter ads, and magazine ads, among other places, to get
their message across. The organization will also encourage
people to come in for counseling around making sexual decisions.
Visit their Gay Life website, www.gaylife.org.
More
Golden Gate
The city’s health department
conducted a survey at its clinic for sexually transmitted
diseases which found that 62% of the people questioned believed
that HIV drug ads may cause people to have unprotected sex.
However, among men who have sex with men, only 25% of the
ones with high exposure to HIV drug ads believed that the
medications made HIV a less serious disease. The health department
is fighting the dangers of unsafe sex by meeting with the
FDA to try to control HIV ads and by contacting the drug companies
directly. Visit www.hivandhepatitis.com
for a report by activist Jeff Getty on this topic.
Oral
ulcers
Low-dose thalidomide was
previously found to work wonders in getting rid of oral ulcers
in people with AIDS. Unfortunately, a new study found that
the drug was not effective at preventing the ulcers from reappearing.
In fact, it seemed that continuing to use thalidomide may
create the risk of having ulcers return. The results of the
AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) study were published in
the January 15 Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Straight
retreat
The Center for Positive Connections,
a Miami organization for straight people living with HIV,
is organizing a 7-day retreat for the HIV heterosexual community,
in Montego Bay, Jamaica, October 18–25. The first deposit,
for a third of your hotel stay, is due ASAP. The second is
due June 11 and the final payment is due August 5. Hotel,
meals, drinks and sports, depending on length of stay, cost
$555 to $960. Discounted airfare available separately; contact
Merry at 1-800-749-1900, ext. 165. Call Positive Connections
at 1-888-POS-CONN (767-2666) or visit www.positiveconnections.org.
E-mail pozconnect@aol.com.
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