20th Anniversary Of First Reported AIDS Case Gets Wide Coverage in State Newspapers
Tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of the first published report on the disease that would come to be known as AIDS. California Healthline rounds up some of the articles appearing in newspapers statewide marking the anniversary (Newspaper names appear in alphabetical order.)
Contra Costa Times
- "AIDS' Grim Death Toll: 22 Million in 20 Years": Examines the history of HIV/AIDS and the possibilities for an AIDS vaccine (Haney, AP/Contra Costa Times, 6/3).
- "In AIDS' Infancy, Doctors Could Refuse to Care for Patients": Examines how during the early years of the epidemic, physicians sometimes refused to care for AIDS patients out of fear of infection (Collins, Knight Ridder News/Contra Costa Times, 6/3).
Los Angeles Times
- "A Legacy of Change": Looks at how AIDS has forever altered the field of medicine (Marsa, Los Angeles Times, 6/4).
- "Hope for Vaccine Rises, but So Do Fears of Spread": Describes recent efforts to develop an AIDS vaccine; reports on fears associated with the decreasing effectiveness of AIDS drugs due to drug-resistant HIV strains (Mestel, Los Angeles Times, 6/4).
- "An AIDS Timeline": Highlights milestones in the AIDS epidemic over the past 20 years, including development of AIDS drugs and the deaths of famous AIDS patients (Los Angeles Times, 6/4).
- "Stigma, Ignorance Persist After Two Decades of AIDS": Pearl Jemison-Smith, a retired nurse and founding board member of the AIDS Services Foundation and AIDS Walk Orange County, reflects on her involvement with the epidemic and discusses what new developments the future may bring (Jemison-Smith, Los Angeles Times, 6/3).
- "Life is Forever Altered as Epidemic Turns 20": Examines the impact of HIV/AIDS over the past 20 years and how the disease turned the era into a "time of fundamental change" in the United States (McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 6/3).
Sacramento Bee
- "AIDS Group Not the Force it Once Was": Chronicles the rise and fall of the Sacramento AIDS Foundation, the area's first AIDS organization, from a staff of 50 with a budget of $3 million to a staff of three (Griffith, Sacramento Bee, 6/3).
- "San Francisco's AIDS Activists Angry at Disease's Evolution": Examines the re-emergence of HIV among the gay community in America, a trend that has angered AIDS activists (Mason, AP/Sacramento Bee, 6/3).
San Francisco Chronicle
- "Disease That Changed Our World": Addresses the effect of AIDS on San Francisco, where the disease killed a generation of gay men in the early 1980s (Russell, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/3).
- "AIDS By the Numbers": Offers statistics on AIDS deaths in San Francisco, the United States and the world, as well as a history of the disease (Miller, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/3).
- "Discovering a Global Killer": Chronicles the stories of early AIDS researcher Dr. Michael Gottlieb, who served as an assistant professor of immunology at the UCLA School of Medicine in 1981 (Russell, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/3).
- "Meeting Epidemic Head-On": Profiles Dr. Paul Volberding, who served as chief of cancer care at San Francisco General Hospital in 1981 (Russell, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/3).
- "Finding Hope After the Devastation": Explores the struggles of Bay Area AIDS patient Bob Lawrence (Heredia, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/3).
- "Survivor Remembers the Worst": AIDS patient Chuck Bierwirth remembers 20 years of the virus (Russell, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/3).
- "She Lost Far More Than a Brother When He Died of AIDS": Features the story of San Francisco resident Tina Perry, who grappled with her younger brother's homosexuality and death from AIDS (Perry, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/3).
- "Crisis Has Sapped Artists of Energy": Chronicles the ravages of AIDS on arts communities in the Bay Area during the 1980s (Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/3).
- "The Literature is Changing Along with the Epidemic": Examines the evolution of the literary treatment of AIDS during the past 20 years (Kipen, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/3).
- "New Wave of Infections Hitting Minorities Hardest": Discusses the impact of AIDS in minority communities and the challenges facing prevention efforts (Heredia/Russell, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/4).
- "Researchers Undaunted in Complex Quest for Vaccine": Describes the challenges researchers face in developing an AIDS vaccine and the potential vaccines being tested (Davidson, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/4).
- "Plumbing the Immune System": Outlines the impact of AIDS research on the field of immunology and potential problems in developing a vaccine (Davidson, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/4).
- "Caught Playing with Fire": Chronicles the life of Ty Whitehead, a San Francisco resident living with AIDS (Russell, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/4).
San Jose Mercury News
- "A Tiny Virus Changed How We Live and Love": Explores the effect that AIDS has had on the world (Kreiger, San Jose Mercury News, 6/2).
- "A Few Harbor the Virus But Never Seem to Get Sick": Chronicles the story of Walter Park and other patients infected with HIV who, despite having the virus for years, do not contract AIDS-related illnesses (Kreiger, San Jose Mercury News, 6/3).
- "Prominent People": Lists a number of prominent figures who have died from AIDS (San Jose Mercury News, 6/3).
This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.