Badpuppy Gay Today

Tuesday, 20 May 1997

Bill Clinton has raised hopes that in ten years (just as JFK raised hopes of men on the moon in the 60's) there will be an effective AIDS vaccine. The President promised Sunday to set up a special vaccine research center at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

ACT UP spokespersons, as reported yesterday, have responded with disdain, demanding that the government's research focus be switched from vaccine to cure, thus insuring the continuance of people now living with AIDS. Low government funding was also an element in ACT UP critiques.

Other activist organizations, including AMFAR (American Foundation for AIDS Research) and HRC (Human Rights Campaign) are more cheerful, but not much more.

"We applaud the president's commitment but stress that this project will require a large infusion of federal money, which must not be siphoned from other programs that support people with HIV and AIDS," stated Winnie Stachelberg, HRC legislative director.

AMFAR's president, Dr. Arthur Ammann commented, "The goal of developing a vaccine is achievable.The time is hard to pin down."

Those who are not sure it is achievable--even by 2007-- include Dr. June Osborn, former chair of the U.S. Commission on AIDS (1989-1993). Like ACT UP, Dr. Osborn stressed the importance of increased financing.

Dr. Osborn recounted how AIDS researchers have sought an elusive vaccine since the mid-80's and that some are convinced the making of such a protective substance is impossible.

New York's (TAG) Treatment Action Group has said much the same thing, though it has signaled cautious optimism in its response to the president's plan. TAG official, Gregg Gonsalves, is also worried about "budget cutting zeal," especially if members of Congress target the National Institutes of Health.

AMFAR's president sees silver linings, however. "At the beginning," he said, "we were very pessimistic about finding the cause of AIDS; then we found the virus in 1985. A lot of people said we'd never find a treatment and now we have 11 treatments."

Other AIDS goals, once thought impossible, have been reached, said the AMFAR official. These include AZT stoppage of virus transmission between infected mothers and newborns, an achievement certified in 1994.

While AMFAR seems not to question, as does ACT UP, the president's push for a vaccine instead of a cure, Dr. Osborn is calling for more focus. "I think one has to be in awe of the problem (AIDS)," she said. Presently experts estimate that three million persons are infected annually. The number of living persons with AIDS world-wide is now in the vicinity, it is said, of 30 million. AIDS is soon expected to overtake tuberculosis and malaria as the leading killer disease of people aged 25-to-44.