“THE END OF AIDS? Not Yet—But New Drugs Offer Hope,” Newsweek, December 2, 1996.On December 2, 1996,
“THE END OF AIDS? Not Yet—But New Drugs Offer Hope,” Newsweek, December 2, 1996.On December 2, 1996, twenty years ago today, Newsweek explored the impact of the first drugs to give real hope to those with HIV. “Since 1983,” the article explained, “a diagnosis of HIV-positive has been an automatic death sentence…But, in the last year, a handful of drugs have dramatically changed that prognosis.”Noting the increased availability of effective protease inhibitors and drug “cocktails,” Newsweek made clear: “This is not the end of the plague.” Staggering costs, ineffectiveness in certain individuals, and other drawbacks gave reason for pause. Nonetheless, it was the end of an era, as “doctors are starting to consider HIV a chronic, manageable disease rather than a death sentence.”With the promise of the new drugs, a profound new question arose: “How does a population psychologically braced to die suddenly get on with the business of living?” Or, as Chuck Johnson, a San Francisco man who, in what he assumed were his final months, cashed in his life-insurance policy and bought his dream car, asked after a few weeks on an effective cocktail: “What the fuck am I supposed to do now?”And, while those fortunate enough to afford the new drugs navigated the new realities of life, less fortunate individuals remained in harm’s way. In fact, “though often associated with gay white men, the virus now hits hardest in poor and minority communities. The infection rate among African-Americans is five times higher than among whites.” Moreover, “as AIDS shifts to poor communities, it plays to the phenomenon known as compassion fatigue. At the AIDS support group PAWS/LA, for example, individual donations are down 25 percent in the last year.”In the midst of all the hopeful faces, Newsweek reminded readers of the “faces of others who will never get the drugs, or for whom they won’t work…[and] the faces of those who died too soon, never knowing the hope that even the most unproven remedies can offer. Some are our friends, our family, our loved ones. If this is the end of the beginning, bring on the beginning of the end.” #lgbthistory #HavePrideInHistory -- source link
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