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Form New Coalition |
| By John S. James AIDS Treatment News
The August 17-19 meeting, hosted by The Center for AIDS: Hope and Remembrance Project in Houston, Texas, resulted from earlier community meetings held at the annual Retroviruses conference in 2000 and 2001. The new organization, tentatively named AIDS Treatment Activist Coalition, will address several concerns:
U.S. activists want to move toward the European system of ongoing, structured meetings with the companies, where the community selects its own representatives and invites the company whose products will be discussed, instead of letting industry determine who will represent the community at major company/community meetings. ATAC also hopes to improve communication about the discussions that take place at these meetings, so that activists who do not attend can be informed.
Membership policies, bylaws, and other specifics are still being determined. For example, it is likely that membership will be open to all persons with HIV and their advocates, with members joining as individuals (not as representatives of organizations) and paying nominal dues; but there might or might not also be a separate category of organizational member for nonprofit organizations. The organizers are seeking input from the public and can be reached through the email addresses below. Standing committees so far are Bylaws; Communication; Fundraising; Membership; Mentoring; and Research, Development, and Access. For More Information; Contacting ATAC ATAC has started a Web site at http://www.atac-usa.org; you can also send email to info@atac-usa.org ATAC has a temporary steering committee, and you can also contact the members individually: Parrish Crosby Parrishfc@yahoo.com Yvette Delph YvetteDelph@aol.com Larry Diaz sadatatx@hotmail.com Mike Donnelly MrDonnelly@aol.com Gregg Gonsalves greggg@gmhc.org Michael Marco Mikemarco@aol.com Bob Munk bobmunk@ix.netcom.com Claire Rappoport clairer@itsa.ucsf.edu Notes: (1) This writer participated in the organizing meeting in Houston, and drafted the statement above with the assistance and approval of the group. (2) We are especially impressed that this coalition has started useful work immediately, within a week of its organizing meeting; see http://www.atac-usa.org AIDS Treatment News Published twice monthly Subscription and Editorial Office: 1233 Locust St., 5th floor Philadelphia, PA 19107 800/TREAT-1-2 toll-free email: aidsnews@critpath.org useful links: http://www.aidsnews.org/ Editor and Publisher: John S. James Associate Editor: Tadd T. Tobias Statement of Purpose: AIDS Treatment News reports on experimental and standard treatments, especially those available now. We interview physicians, scientists, other health professionals, and persons with AIDS or HIV; we also collect information from meetings and conferences, medical journals, and computer databases. Long-term survivors have usually tried many different treatments, and found combinations that work for them. AIDS Treatment News does not recommend particular therapies, but seeks to increase the options available. AIDS Treatment News is published 24 times per year, on the first and third Friday of every month, and print copies are sent by first class mail. Email is available (see below). Back issues are available at http://www.aidsnews.org/ To subscribe, you can call 800-TREAT-1-2 or 415-255-0588: |
Twenty-one U.S. AIDS treatment activists met for three days
in August and began to outline a new coalition to improve
AIDS research, treatment access, and empowerment of new
activists in communities most affected by the epidemic.
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