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AIDS FOCUS
Chris Coleman and Harold Leaver, founders of The Actor's Express. Leaver co
directed Safe Sex in August which raised more than $1,600 for AID Atlanta.
Living With AIDS
I cried because of AIDS for the first time
reading Harvey Fierstein's Safe Sex.
Miraculously protected from the destruction
of this virus, I had had virtually no knowledge
or conception of its scope. The play made me
consider AIDS on a human level, one which I
had avoided considering before.
My tears became anger as I read Randy
Slots'And the Band Played On. But my
anger had no outlet; I desperately wanted to
blame someone, something, for the
inhumanities Shilts uncovered. I wanted to do
something about it, but I felt so impotent
against something many could only refer to as
the "A" word.
Thus was bom the idea to produce Safe
Sex as a benefit for AID Atlanta, an idea that
since has become a reality. With the support
of director Gregory Blum, I negotiated the
donation of the show's rights by the
playwright; I borrowed the money necessary
to get the show on a stage; I found a space
(Seven Stages Back Door) for the three one-
acts; I wrangled with Actors' Equity so that
two particularly talented artists could
participate in this event And designer Greg
Brown found me, offering his talent to help
unify the show's concepts.
Today the cashier's check for $1,632.36
was cut and written out to AID Atlanta for use
in their safe sex education and PWA home
care projects. The amount may or may not be
a lot of money, but that little piece of paper
represents much, much more. Safe Sex
moved and challenged its audiences, and that
is our real gift to the community.
I want to recognize the artists involved,
everyone of whom went above and beyond
the call of duty, for their work; Gregg Blum,
Greg Brown, Chris Coleman, Scott Sophos,
Clayton Surratt, Jan Chafin-Zonder, Michael
Ogletree, Tess Malis, John J. Owens, Susan
Lanier Scarbrough, Eric Jennings, and Greg
Bowles.
But it’s not over yet: more money for AID
Atlanta is forthcoming from Seven Stages for
concession sales; The Actor's Group has
become The Actor's Express, with the
promise of more exciting theatre for years to
come; and maybe, just maybe, one of those
people who saw Safe Sex and cried about
AIDS for the very first time, is now doing
something about it
You know, I have much more respect now
for Rebecca Ranson and her work with
SAME. Here's a lady using her greatest
talents to continually do work for a society
with AIDS. I hope everyone with any skill,
craft, or talent will find some inspiration in
these types of projects, and take it upon
themselves to do their share in the epidemic,
because we’ve just begun repairing the
damage.
Thanks for your support, Atlanta, I look
forward to seeing you.
- Harold M. Leaver
Updates
Bristol-Myers Signs
License for AIDS Drug
Bristol-Myers Company signed a federal
license on August 11 for exclusive rights to
manufacture and market the drug Peptide-T,
which is being tested as a treatment for AIDS.
The license requires Bristol-Myers to charge
"reasonable prices" for the drug if it is
eventually approved by the FDA for
commercial distribution, according to Peter
Bridge, M.D. of the National Institute of
Mental Health, the agency that has a patent
pending on Peptide-T. Dr. Bridge said
concerns about allegations of overcharging by
Burroughs-Wellcome for the drug AZT,
which is also federally licensed, led to the
stipulation requiring reasonable pricing.
The drug is the first treatment specifically
designed as a weapon against AIDS. It
reportedly relieves several neurological and
immunological symptoms of the disease. The
drug was discovered by Candace Pert, a
research pharmacologist who specializes in
brain-immune system interaction at the
NIMH.
The drug prevents the human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and its toxic
byproduct gpl20 from binding to cells,
according to Frederick K. Goodwin, M.D.
and Peter Bridge, M.D., the supervisors of the
clinical testing program for NIMH.
"Bristol-Myers has developed the broadest
portfolio of AIDS-related therapies and
vaccines of any company in the U.S.,” said
Ronald Nordman, a research analyst for
Payne Webber in New York. "There are
close to a dozen compounds the company is
looking at and Peptide-T will join that
portfolio," he added.
The pharmaceutical giant's participation is
expected to enhance the prospects for the drug
in several ways. The firm will collaborate
with NIMH in the design of clinical trials,
refine production methods so that greater
quantities of the drug can be produced, and
"take over financial responsibility for phase
two trials and beyond," according to Dr.
Bridge.
Peptide-T has been tested clinically in
Sweden and the United States. Data from
early U.S. tests on six patients show "no
evidence of any toxicity whatever," said Dr.
Bridge. NIMH testing has focused on
detecting toxic effects and determining a
suitable dose for later trials, which will test the
drug's effectiveness. U.S. clinical research
began in November, 1987 atU.S.C. Last
month, NIMH began expanded phase one
trials of the drug involving 36 patients at the
University of Southern California Medical
Center in Los Angeles.
Dr. Bridge said patients experienced
improved neurological functions, weight gain
and increased T8 cell counts while taking the
drug for a month. "Some immunologists
think T8 increases may presage T4 increases,"
said Dr. Bridge, who added that the
symptoms reappeared after the patients
stopped taking the drug. Dr. Bridge cautioned
that the tests at U.S.C. were open trials in
which patients knew they were receiving the
drug. "A double-blind placebo controlled
study is what it takes to make a claim about
efficacy," Dr. Bridge asserted. The first tests
of Peptide-T were delayed for months
because the AIDS drug evaluation unit at the
National Cancer Institute in Bethesda,
Maryland was not open, according to Dr.
Bridge.
Dr. Lennart Wetterberg, professor of
psychiatry at the Karolinska Institute in
Stockholm, said patients in a small double
blind placebo controlled study at the institute
showed significant decreases in HIV activity,
improved lymphocyte counts and improved
brain functions. The institute has suspended
the trials pending the outcome of negotiations
with Bristol-Myers on the issues of access to
the drug and funding for the trials.
The study atU.S.C. still needs volunteers.
Contact Charles Hovis at (213) 226-4643.
- David Smyth
LAMP Project Hopes To
Locate In John Howell Park
The Living AIDS Memorial Park (LAMP)
Project, Inc. received endorsement from a
Virginia-Highlands, Momingside-area
neighborhood planning unit following an
introductory slide presentation to the group on
September 19, said LAMP Project president
Julie Hamilton.
The same presentation was made at the
Virginia-Highland Civic Association's
September 7 meeting, but the issue was not
discussed at that time, said Hamilton.
"They (Virginia-Highlands Civic
Association) have not officially said how
they feel, and there have been no proposals
made," she said.
The LAMP Project plans to construct a
"beautifully landscaped park for anyone who
has been affected by AIDS" and give it to the
city of Atlanta, Hamilton said. The group
hopes to use a Virginia-Highlands park
recently renamed in honor of John Howell, a
long-time Atlanta gay activist who died this
summer due to complications of AIDS, but is
looking at other sites as well.
"It's not really a memorial park, perse. It's
gone far beyond that We want it to be a
positive statement - built out of love - for
people who are living with AIDS and every
one else in the community," Hamilton said.
The LAMP Project has not decided speci
fically how the park will honor people who
have died from AIDS, but Hamilton stressed
the group's efforts to create an atmosphere
that will appeal to the entire community.
"There's not going to be a neon sign saying
'AIDS Memorial Park,"' she said.
Plans for the design of the park include
benches, flowers, a water feature and a
gazebo, said Hamilton.
Funding for the $500,000 to $1 million
project will be primarily through corporate
sponsorship, but the group has not yet pursued
anything on this level, she said. The LAMP
Project has collected approximately $5,000 in
donations so far in their fundraising efforts.
-Wendy Morse
Current CDC Report
Supports That U.S. AIDS
Patients Are
Disproportionately Black
The latest report from the Centers for
Disease Control (CDC) supports previous
findings that AIDS patients are
disproportionately black and Hispanic in
relation to the general population and that the
proportion of intravenous-drug-associated
AIDS cases is substantially greater in U.S.
blacks and Hispanics than in U.S. whites.
Of the 66,464 cases of AIDS reported to
the CDC from June 1,1981 to July 4,1988,
60 percent occurred among non-Hispanic
whites. However, blacks and Hispanics
accounted for 70 percent of the cases in
heterosexual men, 70 percent of those in
women and 75 percent of those in children.
A disproportionate number of blacks and
Hispanics surveyed was treated for heroin
abuse, suggesting that they may have a higher
prevalence of intravenous-drug abuse than
whites.
"Black and Hispanic communities in the
United States and Puerto Rico should be
especially targeted for measures to prevent
HIV transmission by treating drug abusers
and by counseling drug abusers and their sex
partners on the risk of HIV infection," the
report statedPatients Allowed to Refuse
Treatment From HIV-Positive Workers
Chicago-Patients at Cook County Hospital
will be allowed to refuse treatment from
workers carrying the AIDS virus following a
vote by the county board.
The Cook County Board, which also
operates as a Board of Directors for the
hospital, adopted the rule by a 15-to-2 vote,
but still has no idea how to implement it
Officials of the American Medical
Association attacked the plan, the first of its
kind in the country, saying no one has
contracted AIDS from a health-care worker.