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Living With AIDS A Time Of Testing A year ago I would have said, "No thanks, no way." What difference would it make if I fmd out I'm HIV positive? It wouldn't change what I do sexually. That's already safe-well, almost always. And besides, I would just worry at every little cold. Sure, I know, my doctor said, "Time for gay men to pull their head out of the sand." Now if we are positive, there are things that can be done. Doctors can monitor our status, look for early indications of change, move in early with therapy before other symptoms appear. And increasingly, there are more options than just AZT. Finally, I decided it was time to know. I wanted to be able to plan while I'm feeling well and not suddenly be surprised when I'm not. It seems to me this is just another way of trying to take control and not letting myself be a victim of circumstance. And so I’m sitting in the Gay Center-whcre testing is anonymous and only cost $10-talking to a counselor. No matter that I've just come from the hospital. Seeing my friend there has only stiffened my resolve to be tested. The counselor explains about the test—that it is not a test for AIDS but the antibody to the vims that almost all experts believe causes AIDS-and then talks some more with me about why I want to be tested, about my feelings about being tested. Then she tells me results are usually back within ten working days. Next a pleasant volunteer (Td seem him the last time I'd had a VD check) takes some blood and gives me my anonymous number. Updates Sunlight and HIV Recent reports indicate that sunlight may activate the human immunodeficiency vims (HIV). Research suggests that ultraviolet light may cause HIV to grow as much as 150 times faster. Scientists in the U.S. and Belgium report that virus growth dramatically increased in cells "primed" by exposure to ultraviolet light Approximately 30 minutes of sunlight rendered the same effect. Until more is learned about the possible effects of sunlight on HIV positive persons, some doctors are strongly advising their patients to avoid tanning and to use a #15 or high sun screen (one containing p-aminobenzoic acid otherwise known as PAB A, which diminishes the effects of ultraviolet radiation) during periods of exposure to sunlight The definitive research is not in on this subject but until reasonable documentation is published rat the possible relation between HIV and sunlight, persons should consider using an appropriate sun screen before exposure to sunlight For a much more in depth but readable discussion of this subject see Ann Fenner's informative article entitled "Sunlight May Activate AIDS" beginning on page 17 of the June 14,1988 issue of The Village Voice (check the public library for back issues). Medical references to Ms. Fetmer's article can be obtained by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope to her in care of The Village Voice, 842 Broadway, New York City, New York 10003. -Terry Francis AIDS Hysteria in Singapore Hotel Singapore-The, hotel room of a gay man who died of AIDS at the Tan Tock Seng hospital in Singapore on June 11 was "sterilized" by hotel management The hotel destroyed the carpets and burned the sheets and towels from the room, despite objections from the Singapore health Ministry, which insisted that "AIDS cannot be spread through day-to-day contact" management also ordered that the hotel swimming pool be drained. -Chris Bull Gay Community News Japanese AIDS Cases Still Low Latest reports from Japan indicate that AIDS has made limited inroads into Japanese society. Of the 50 cases reported, most are hemophiliacs who caught the virus from imported blood products. Japanese gay males are better prepared to take precautions because the use of condoms is widely practiced in both the gay and non-gay communities. IV drag users are not likely to become infected with the HIV because drug users do not routinely share needles as in other countries. Clean needles are readily available in Japan. -John Hubert AIDS Group Disrupts Stockholders Meeting Chicago-Thz May stockholders meeting, of the LyphoMed Corporation was disrupted by members of Chicago for AIDS Rights, who came to confront the company on its price hikes for pentamidine. The protesters were angered that in the last four years, LyphoMed has initiated six price hikes on the drag used to treat pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, the most frequent cause of death fra people with ADS. The company is in a race with other drug giants to develop an aerosol version of the drag and claims the price increases are necessary to pay for development. 'Td like to ask if you think the increase in the price of pentamidine fra people who are dying of AIDS is an ethical business procedure," Ferd Eggan, member of the AIDS rights group, asked LyphoMed officials. As security guards dragged him away, he shouted "Why don't you answer the question just the same? The stockholders might be interested in knowing about the people who are dying and you're taking their money." Other stockholders expressed an interest in the company’s response, and other protesters began bombanding officials with questions. The protesters were removed from the auditorium. -Philadelphia Gay News I leave the Gay Center feeling more relieved than anxious. Td made my decision, it was now a done thing. But now the waiting begins. And worse, I know the odds. Td just looked at a Fulton County report that said that 23% of the gay white men and 45% of the gay black men who present themselves to anonymous testing sites in Atlanta test positive. I also know that, according to the most recent research, at least half, and possibly most, of those testing positive will develop serious health problems within ten years. Waiting, I play the scene in my mind. I know I have to be as ready to hear yes as no. Countless times a day, I imagine myself back in that room, talking to the counselor. I hear the result said, I imagine-again and again-my reaction. Ten working days later, I call. All day, I have been preparing myself. I feel honed to a high state-tense but ready. No, that number isn't back yet, I'm told. Damn, I was prepared fra yes or no, but not maybe! Panic sets in. I think, of course it isn't back-the ELISA was positive and they're waiting for the confirmatory Western Biol This is Wednesday. Because the clinic operates Monday through Wednesday, 6:00-9:00 pm, this means I now have to wait until next Monday. Monday comes. I call. No, still haven't located that block of numbers, I'm told. You may have to crane back in for new blood. What, I think, begin a new cycle of waiting! Tuesday I call again. Yes, the results fra those numbers are here, they finally came in. Again, I'm in the Gay Center waiting room. The counselor calls my turn. She is a pleasant- looking, somewhat plump woman, short and friendly. I note the looseleaf notebook she holds. We talk for a moment-anything to delay at this point-then she asks me for my number. Of course, I think, she doesn't know yet either. I fish out my number from my pocket, she opens the book, finger running along the page, looking fra my number, my result.... - R. Bakeman RetumTbThose Our story is simple. Just take a few precautions and you can love as normally as you did before the AIDS panic. That’s it. If you know what these precautions are, then you’re excused from this ad. If you don’t, call AID Atlanta at 876-9944 or 1-800-551-2728 and we’ll tell you. After all, the sex life you save may be your own. AID Atlanta AID Atlanta Benefits From Advertiser's A new public service campaign, donated to AID Atlanta by the locally based ad agency of Cole Henderson Drake, Inc., targets heterosexuals, and anyone who thinks no-one gets AIDS today unless they're gay or drug addicts who share IV drag needles in shooting galleries. The message of the campaign is two-fold: anybody can get AIDS, but anyone who knows the facts about how ADS is actually transmitted and takes reasonable precautions has nothing to fear. The groups at highest risk today are the uninformed, and especially those, including the young, who tend to think they are invulnerable. The idea for the campaign came from Bob Morrison, who wrote the copy for all the ads. He interested artist Mark Ashley and senior account executive Sheri Haase in the project and, together, they took it up with their agency, who gave them a firm go-ahead. Checking frequently with AID Atlanta, and devoting countless hours of their own time to the project, in addition to meeting all their regular agency commitments, these three peqple, aided by a host of other volunteers, first produced a television commercial that, at normal agency rates, would have been budgeted at nearly $120,000.00-and did it at no cost to AID Atlanta. Print media ads are now ready for distribution as well, thanks to their efforts, and public service announcements for radio use are expected to go on the air in the fall. Page 12