Rob.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.org (Rob Bates) (09/28/89)
The following items of Australian AIDS News are reproduced with permission from
Melbourne Star Observer #105, 22 September 1989 (C) MSO, and OZ Media Ltd.
FIRST NATIONAL QUILT TOUR
The Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt is to go on its first national tour starting
with an unfoldng ceremony at the Fitzroy Town Hall in Melbourne on Saturday
October 7.
The National Tour will finish on World AIDS Day, December 1, in Sydney. The
Quilt comprises panels made by friends and relatives of those who have died of
AIDS.
WOMEN AND AIDS BOOK LAUNCHED
Women have been largely ignored as a group requiring specialised AIDS
information. A booklet recently launched in Victoria by the Women & AIDS
Project aims to counter this.
The need for specific information was identified through a national phone-in
information campaign.
As well as basic information on HIV and infection control, the booklet
discusses discrimination, talking to your doctor, pregnancy and breastfeeding,
educating children about AIDS and living with HIV infection.
The booklet is available through the Women & AIDS Project +61 3 654 6831.
DINNER FOR AUSTRALIAN FEDERATION OF AIDS ORGANISATIONS MEDIA AWARDS
The 1989 AFAO/AIDS Trust of Australia Media Awards, for excellence in
electronic and printed media coverage of AIDS, will take place at a dinner to
be held in Melbourne on Saturday October 7.
The night will provide an opportunity to celebrate and acknowledge the positive
role played by some media workers in AIDS prevention and general community
awareness. A number of prominent speakers are being lined-up, including Justice
Michael Kirby, an international authority on the legal and human rights
implications of AIDS.
The dinner is to be held at the Exhibition Buildings with ticket prices at $50
($90 for couples) by telephoning Laurie Martin on +61 3 419 9877.
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HARD LINES AT AUSTRALIAN BIOETHICS CONFERENCE
by Adam Carr
(Reproduced with permission from Melbourne Star Observer #105, 22 September
1989 (C) MSO and OZ Media Ltd).
A national conference on AIDS and Bioethics was held in Adelaide on September
5-7. Although attendance was greatly reduced by the airlines dispute, about
150 people managed to get there. They heard a lively and challenging
discussion of some of the ethical issues surrounding AIDS from local and
overseas speakers.
The tone of the conference was generally conservative, although a wide range of
points of view was represented in the audience. People with HIV or AIDS were
notably absent from both the speakers' platform and the audience, and people
actually involved in the fight against AIDS were in the minority. Many
attendees were clergy or people from Christian organizations, including many
from the Catholic health and welfare systems.
Two international speakers gave keynote papers. Professor Charles Vella, a
Maltese-born Catholic priest and director of a large AIDS hospital in Milano,
Italy, spoke eloquently on the duty of healthcare workers to AIDS patients, and
also on the duty of Christians to offer compassion and care to all people with
AIDS, regardless of their opinions on the lifestyles or practices that may have
led to infection. Vella emerged as the main champion of "practical ethics" at
the conference.
Dr David Pence, an American doctor and lecturer, gave a more controversial
paper, focussing on what he saw as the ethical obligations of governments and
health professonals to ignore political objections and to apply rigorous public
health measures, such as contact tracing and isolation, to stopping the spread
of HIV. Pence is an articulate and in many ways attractive speaker, but most in
the audience found his views hard to accept in full. He believes, for example,
that homosexuality and prostitution should be criminalized.
The other major address was from Hiram Caton, Professor of Politics at Griffith
University, Brisbane. Caton, in a highly polemical paper, claimed that AIDS
education in Australia had failed through its failure to address ethical
questions and its reliance, as he saw it, on advertising techniques. He also
strongly opposed school-based AIDS education that appeared to condone sexual
activity and drug use by school students. Many (including Professor Vella) felt
that the credibility of Caton's paper was weakened by its heavily sarcastic
tone and its obviously political intent.
The two days of the conference was mostly taken up with debating these issues
in a workshop format. I found these debates very stimulating, since I was
forced to go back to basics and to defend the record (and indeed the existence)
of the gay community and of the AIDS Councils from fundamental principles. It
is a long time since I have had to debate the proposition that homosexuality is
a "moral evil". These debates were important, because many uncommitted people
were there, and were being exposed to some of these issues for the first time.
Some of these people will soon be making decisions that may effect the health-
care of people with AIDS.
The conference cannot simply be written off as a right-wing wank, as I think
some people have been tempted to do. Despite his less- than-friendly views on
homosexuality, Dr Pence made some telling points about the medical and
governmental response to AIDS, and raised issues that AIDS Councils are
certainly going to have to address more directly in the future than we have
done so far.
Despite the horrors of flying to Adelaide in a small metal tube with
propellers, and the indignity of having to come home by bus, I think the
conference was important, and it will probably be the first shot in a debate
that will become more intense as the epidemic progresses.
(Adam Carr is Vice-President of the Victorian AIDS Council. His views as
expressed in the Star Observer are personal ones.)
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PEOPLE LIVING WITH AIDS (VICTORIA)
(Reproduced with permission from Melbourne Star Observer #105, 22 Septmeber
1989 (C) MSO and OZ Media Ltd)
This month the People Living with AIDS program in Melbourne celebrates its
first anniversary. In just twelve months, the program has developed from an
idea into an active lobby group for all HIV infected people in Victoria.
"Basically, we have three main functions", said Peter Charlton, the program
co-ordinator. "First, and most important, we provide people with up-to-date
information on a whole range of important issues from current treatments and
drug trials to services and resources that are available.
"Second, we try to help each other through peer support networks or just on a
one-to-one basis. Perhaps the most important resource for people coming to
terms with their HIV infection or AIDS is other people who have been through
similar difficulties and are now living with, rather than dying from, AIDS or
HIV- related illness.
"Finally, we have become a recognised "voice" in the community. In just a year
we have had incredible successes in advocating on a wide range of issues
affecting plwa's. We have done this at all levels of government, as well as in
the media and the general community. Most significantly, we have been able to
advocate withing the Victorian AIDS Council, making sure that policy decisions
in all other program areas are sensitive to the needs of HIV infected people."
This all sounds very positive, but the program does have its problems. Not the
least of these is reaching those who could most benefit from the information
and peer support programs.
David Stephens is the program's information officer. "At the moment, we are
reaching only about 10 per cent of those people who are known to be infected in
Victoria," he said. "It is a real problem contacting people who could really
benefit from the information we publish in our newsletter POSITIVE LIVING.
"We realise that it must be part of the process each person living with HIV or
AIDS goes through - that they must make the move themselves. It's just a worry
that in the meantime they are missing out on valuable information which could
really help them."
A major factor keeping people from contacting PLWA comes from perceptions in
the gay community in particular.
"I'm amazed that so many gay men trash the VAC - and PLWA simply because it is
a program of the VAC", said Peter Charlton. "I think a lot of people, either
through anger or denial or whatever, are very negative about the services
available through the VAC. While the PLWA program is part of VAC, it also has a
very strong independent voice. We advocate as much within the VAC as anywhere
else. It's really sad that for all sorts of crazy reasons, people are denying
themselves access to important - maybe even life-savingh - information and
support."
PLWA has a broad membership base. It is there for all people at all stages of
HIV infection, as well as their lovers, close friends and family members. The
membership list is confidential.
The program's newsletter POSITIVE LIVING is available to all people on the
mailing list. Being on the mailing list does not mean that you need to be
involved - that decision is entirely up to the individual. The program exists
solely to provide support and information to those people who most need it.
"It's important for people to understand that they can be involved at their own
level of committment," said Peter. "I've heard people say that they won't
becopme involved in a political group, but we are more than that. If you want
political involvement, it's there for you.But if you don't, then you needn't
even know about it. You can just be on the mailing list, get a regular,
informative newsletter and that's it! It's entirely up to each individual."
Further information about the PLWA program can be obtained from program workers
Peter and David on +61 3 417 1759, or by writing to 117 Johnston St,
Collingwood, Victoria 3016, Australia.
--
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QUILT TOUR GROUNDED
(Reproduced with permission from MELBOURNE STAR OBSERVER #107, Friday 20
October 1989. All rights resevered. (C) Oz Media Pty Ltd Melbourne Australia.
The national tour of the (Australian) AIDS memorial quilt has been severely
curtailed by the pilots dispute.
After a moving launch at the Fitzroy Town Hall on October 7, it appears that
the quilt will go directly to Sydney. Unfolding ceremonies in Adelaide and
Perth have been cancelled.
A full scale national tour will be attempted again next year.
The Australian quilt is now so large that it took up all of the floor space of
the Fitzroy Town Hall, and organisers are hoping that a full time worker may
soon be afforded.
It still has a little way to go before reaching the size of the US quilt. A
display in Washington on October 6-8 will be the last ever made of the entire
quilt as it is now too big to display in one location.
Rob
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AIDS MESSAGE FROM THE PULPIT
(Reproduced with permission from MELBOURNE STAR OBSERVER #107, Friday 20
October 1989. All rights resevered. (C) Oz Media Pty Ltd Melbourne Australia.)
Priests, ministers and rabbis will be encouraging their congregations to
develope an understanding of AIDS transmission and a humane and compassionate
attitude toward people with AIDS if a recent initiative by the Churches Working
Group of the Australian National Council on AIDS (ANCA) is successful.
Eight thousand kits are to be sent out to churches, parishes and synagogues
containing medical information, biblical quotes and sermon outlines in an
effort to encourage a "humanitarian response" from spiritual leaders.
Conservative church figurs were quick to point out that they would not be using
any AIDS message as a way of condoning gay lifestyles.
Rob
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ACTIVIST CLAIMS 1,800% AZT PROFIT
(Reproduced with permission from MELBOURNE STAR OBSERVER #107, Friday 20
October 1989. All rights resevered. (C) Oz Media Pty Ltd Melbourne Australia.)
The Makers of AZT - the only proven treatment for AIDS - are making a profit of
between 900 and 1,800 per cent on the drug, according to the AIDS Council of
New South Wales (ACON) Executive Director Bill Whittaker.
The company, Burroughs Wellcome, late last month reduced the price
internationally by 20 per cent. Whittaker said that this was not enough, and
accused the company of profiteering.
"AZT will retail for $1.50 per capsule under the new price reduction,"
Whittaker said.
"The AIDS Council has obtained information that AZT costs between seven cents
and 15 cents per capsule to manufacture.
"We find this markup of between 900 and 1,800 per cent absolutely outrageous.
"The average cost of bringing a new drug to market is estimated at $145
million. It's hard to imagine that Wellcome spent anything like this on AZT.
"The exorbitant cost of AZT has meant that governments have been forced to
spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the drug over the past two years,
leaving less money to be spent on preventative AIDS ecucation and services,"
Whittaker said.
Wellcome Australia has denied the claims.
The company's pharmaceuticals director, Patrick Clear, said that Whittaker's
claims on manufacturing cost - of seven to 15 cents per capsule - were "just
nonsense".
"He has taken a hypothetical figure, and then drawn a percentage profit from
that which is completely wrong," Clear said.
"I don't know what the margin is for Retrovir (Wellcome's brand name for AZT)
"It's imported fully-made, and that's the sort of information that's kept
confidential. But I know what it costs to produce other products (with similar
manufacturing methods) and it's far more than that," Clear said.
Whittaker's allegations were "distasteful, surprising and disappointing."
However, ACON's claims are in line with criticisms in the US. The
Washington-based AIDS Action Council says the new 20 per cent price reduction
was not enough.
Although Burroughs Wellcome is a large international conglomerate, much of its
international profit derives from two antiviral drugs: the herpes drug
acyclovir, and AZT.
AZT has now been approved in the US for some HIV patients who have not
developed symptoms, and a worldwide boom in the drug's use is expected.
Wellcome shares have soared, and international criticism of the company has
intensified. An editorial in the New York Times said the price was "inhuman"
and said "all of the invention and most of the risk" of AZT development was
borne by the US government.
The 20 per cent price reduction was a response to those events.
[From Sydney Star Observer]
Rob
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GAY PUBLIC RELATIONS A PRIORITY - NEW VICTORIAN AIDS COUNCIL PRESIDENT
(Reproduced with permission from MELBOURNE STAR OBSERVER #107, Friday 20
October 1989. All rights resevered. (C) Oz Media Pty Ltd Melbourne Australia.)
The 100+ people attending the Annual General Meeting of the Victorian AIDS
Council/Gay Mens' Health Centre on October 12 were told that building better
public relations with the gay community is to be a priority of Peter Grant the
new president of the two organisations.
"According to statistics, there are between 15,000 and 18,000 self-identified
gay men in Melbourne." he said. "Where are they? Where are the young people? We
need to make those in our own community aware of our programs."
Grant warned of the possible "fragmentation" of the gay community into
"pre-AIDS" and "post-AIDS" generations, and stressed the imporatnce of
"outreach" to youth, bisexuals and others not yet taking the AIDS message to
heart.
Grant's comments were made in the acceptance speech to his uncontested election
to the position of President. He described outgoing President Keith Harbour as
"a hard act to follow".
Also elected unopposed were Vice Presidents Les Taylor (from the People Living
With AIDS working group) and Betti Knott (from the Organisational Services
working group). Chris Day was returned as Treasurer of the two organisations.
Eight members were elected to the Joint Advisory Committee (the executiuve of
VAC/GMHC): Keith Harbour, David Pullen, Ross McLachlan, Laurie Marcus, Garry
Fergusson, Geraldine Thomson, Jack Sprewitt and James Nielson. They will be
joined by representatives from the Education and Support Program Groups.
A number of changes to the rules were also passed without debate. Most of these
changes relate to changed Health Department funding requirements.
The Gay Men's Community Health Centre (GMCHC) was also renamed the Gay Men's
Health Centre (GMHC).
The only critical note to the evening was sounded by outgoing President Keith
Harbour, who slammed "some magazine-style gay journals" for ignoring the gay
community response to AIDS epidemic.
In a thinly veiled attack on the national gay monthly magazines Outrage and
Campaign, Harbour criticised their lack of recognition of today's gay community
"heroes".
"Gay pride covers many things," he said, "but for these journals it does not
seem to cover the fight against AIDS. It needs to."
The evening meeting, which ran for close to three hours, had a generally
positive, almost festive atmosphere, and was dominated by thankyous, speeches
and presentations.
Victorian Health Minister Caroline Hogg spoke of the "relentless energy" of the
two gay community-based AIDS organisations, and of its "rational, positive and
sensitive" leadership.
A Presidential Award of flowers and a plaque (forthcoming) was made by Harbour
to "all lovers and partners of people who have died of AIDS and who are living
with HIV" and was accepted by Andrew Foster, the convenor of the PLWA Lovers
and Partners Group.
A similar Gay Community Award was presented to the Boilers social group. The
longest ruunning gay group in Melbourne (since 1959), the Boilers have raised
$10,000 for AIDS over the past three years.
Three professional AIDS educators were also honored with awards. Judith Jones
from the Social Biology Resource Centre, Ian Goller from the Victorian Health
Department and Geraldine Thomson were all presented with flowers and the
promise of a plaque.
Honorary Life Memberships to VAC/GMHC were made to outgoing president Keith
Harbour, Gay Men's Health Centre psychologist Eric Timewell and outgoing
Vice-President Adam Carr. Carr has now stepped down from the executive for the
first time since VAC's formation in 1983. Each received a straw hat and cheap
handbag in preparation for their future roles as "Queen's mums".
In his last speech as President, Keith Harbour outlined some of the
achievements of the past two years of which, he said, he could feel
particularly proud.
Central to these, he said, was the diversity and range of AIDS services now
provided by the organisations, the high rate of use of these services by the
community and the integration of these services to provide "one stop shopping"
for people affected by the virus.
Harbour's period as President has seen the organisational integration of VAC
and GMCHC, the consultation for and drawing up of a "Master Plan" for the
organisations over the next five years, the development of an independent
People Living With AIDS project within VAC/GMHC, the beginnings of two
satellite AIDS Councils in Ballarat and the Barwon region and moves to set up a
community-run day centre for people with AIDS.
"Excellence is our aim," said Harbour, "and this has been largely achieved."
Congratulating the memberships of the two organisations for their work, he
said: "The world is a better place because we are here. Feel proud!"
Rob
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AUSTRALIAN AIDS AWARDS
(Reproduced with permission from MELBOURNE STAR OBSERVER #107, Friday 20
October 1989. All rights resevered. (C) Oz Media Pty Ltd Melbourne Australia.)
At a black tie dinner in Melbourne on Saturday night October 7, AIDS figures
from around Australia gathered to acknowledge the efforts of all involved in
the fight against AIDS and to present awards to some of the more notable
achievers in this struggle.
Justice Michael Kirby addressed the diners, telling them that AIDS would be
around for a long time yet, and that people everywhere would soon have to learn
to live with it.
Michael Pirrie of The Age and Shane Mooney of SBS were awarded the 1989 AFAO
Media Awards, while the AIDS Trust of Australia gave its 1989 awards for
service to the community to the Quilt Project, the Sydney Star Observer, Sister
Hilda of Fairfield Hospital and medical researcher Dr Bruce Kemp.
A controversial choice, Pirrie won the award in the print media category
because of the "original, analytical approach" taken with his work. Pirrie
edited the 1988 World AIDS Day supplement to The Age which was described by
AFAO President Dr David Plummer as "an outstanding piece of journalism".
Jill Margo from the Sydney Morning Herald was awarded a special commendation in
this category.
Shane Mooney won the award for electronic media for the documentary Living With
AIDS which was screened on SBS earlier in the year.
Pip Karmel received a special commendation for her short film Sex Rules, which
was described by Plummer as "exceptionally creative and heart-warming" and as
"a valuable resource for young people beginning to come to terms with their
sexuality".
"The Awards provide due acknowledgement to media workers who have set a high
professional standard. We hope that this will provide a stimulus for better
AIDS reporting overall." said Plummer.
The AIDS Trust of Australia Awards acknowledged "those individuals and groups
who have shown committment and courage - often at great personal sacrifice''
said Dr David Thorpe, Chairperson of the Trust.
Sydney Star Observer won the award for "providing a vital link for information
about AIDS to a vulnerable population group since 1982."
The Quilt Project won for its "remarkable contribution to our understanding of
the human impact of AIDS."
Sister Hilda and the Community of the Holy name won for "providing practical,
emotional and spiritual support at Fairfield Hospital."
Bruce Kemp was described as making "a major contribution to the design of a new
diagnostic test for antibodies to HIV" and for developing "a novel approach to
antiviral therapy".
Special commendations were awarded by the AIDS Trust to Dr Peter Foote and Dr
Ian Thompson for medical and clinical care, Bill Paterson for the care and
support of people with AIDS, Graeme Milburn for his effort in riding around
Australia to raise funds for AIDS and Streetwize Comics for the success their
AIDS awareness materials aimed at young people.
The AIDS Trust of Australia is a national, non-government charitable trust set
up to collect and distribute funds to AIDS for AIDS education, care and
treatment programs around the country.
The Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations is the national summit body for
the various State AIDS Councils.
Both the AIDS Trust Community Awards and the AFAO Media Awards are annual, and
comprise a framed certificate signed by Patron of the AIDS Trust - the
Governor General Bill Hayden.
Rob
--
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Internet: Rob.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.orgRob.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.org (Rob Bates) (10/29/89)
MELBOURNE AIDS REQUIUM
by Rob Bates
A Requium Mass for those who have died of AIDS will be celebrated in Melbourne,
Australia, on Tuesday November 7th (Melbourne Cup Day) at St. Mark's Anglican
Church, 250 George Street, Fitzroy, at 7pm.
Writing in the latest issue of Melbourne Star Observer, Parish Priest Fr. Tony
Noble notes that the communities affected by AIDS are experiencing incredible
grief and sadness as more friends die.
Says Fr. Noble: "This grief and sadness need community expression in many ways.
For those of us who are Christians, the Church's tradition of prayer for the
departed is a strong and meaningful way".
"We want to remember as many people as possible and names can be given to me -
phone (+61 3) 417 2751".
St Mark's Church has been the setting for a weekly AIDS Prayer Vigil for some
years, at which prayer is offered for the departed and the living.
Organisers of the Requium Mass are hoping that, being held on the evening of
Melbourne Cup Day (a public holiday in honor of a horse race), many people will
be able to attend.
Further details are available from Fr. Noble at the above telephone number.
(Footnote: For readers of this echo outside of Melbourne who wish to be
included in this act of remberance, I'm happy to pass on messages (and names to
be remembered) to Fr. Noble. Please address such messages to me through this
echo, or by Netmail to 3:634/381.)
Rob
--
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Internet: Rob.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.orgRob.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.org (Rob Bates) (12/07/89)
PAYOUT "DISCRIMINATES AGAINST GAYS"
AIDS Groups Slam Haemophilia Trust Fund
[Reproduced with permission from Melbourne Star Observer #110, Friday 1
December 1989, (C) 1989 Melbourne Star Observer. All Rights Reserved.]
The recent announcement of a Federal Government seeding grant of $13.5 million
to set up a trust fund to assist those infected with HIV through blood products
has been resoundingly attacked by the major organisations representing people
with AIDS.
The fund is to be called the Medically Acquired HIV/AIDS Trust Fund. It will be
available to alleviate special financial hardship due to HIV infection only for
those, primarily haemophiliacs, who have contracted the virus from treatment
with infected blood products before screening was introduced in 1985.
Of the estimated 15,000 to 25,000 Australians infected with HIV, fewer than
1,000 will be eligible for financial assistance from the fund.
David Stephens, a spokesperson for People Living With AIDS (PLWA) Victoria told
MSO that the setting up of the fund "re-inforces the notions of guilt and
innocence, and is a barrier to genuine co-operation and support between all
infected people.
"All people infected experience difficulties as a result of HIV. Any trust fund
set up for infected people should recognise this and be available to everyone
and not discriminate on the basis of the means of infection," he said.
NSW PLWA spokesperson David Arris was even more forthright in his condemnation
of the scheme.
"The decision is a blatant form of discrimination against the vast majority of
of HIV infected people in Australia," he said.
"The decision is obviously one made on the eve of an election in an attempt to
quell dissatisfaction amongst those groups demanding special priveleges and who
receive favorable treatment by press and society generally."
A joint statement from the AIDS Council of NSW and the Bobby Goldsmith
Foundation (a NSW charitable trust like the Victorian David Williams Fund) also
criticised the payout.
"Existing charitable trusts, like the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation, do not
discriminate between the way people may have acquired HIV," it said.
The statement conceded that some people with AIDS might suffer special
financial hardship as a result of HIV infection and that these hardships may
not be adequately covered by existing AIDS charities. But, it said, any special
government assistance and funding should be "accessible to all people with HIV
and not limited to one particular group."
A spokesperson for the Haemophilia Foundation of Australia, Bob Williams, said
that the Foundation was "delighted" at the decision.
"The trust fund was set-up in response to submissions by the Haemophilia
Foundation," he said. "It's been a long haul for us. It's taken four years."
Wiliams said that the Foundation did not see the setting-up of the Fund as at
all discriminatory, but said that Haemophiliacs with AIDS represented a special
group with special needs.
"Here we have something different from other groups. People with haemophilia
are already living with one life-threatening disorder, and they have no option
but to use the blood products available."
Williams said the Foundation did not believe the new charitable trust should be
available to non-hemophiliac people with AIDS.
"It's for other groups to make representations on that. We did our own."
Williams denied that the Foundation was supporting the current efforts of 31
haemophiliacs who are seeking financial compensation by suing the Red Cross
Blood Bank and a number of Victorian and NSW hospitals in the Federal Court.
"The Foundation is neutral on the question of litigation," he said.
--
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MEDIA COMMENT - SUZI'S OTHER STORY
By Colin W. Blum
[Reproduced with permission from Melbourne Star Observer #110, Friday 1
December 1989, (C) 1989 Melbourne Star Observer. All Rights Reserved.]
When Vince Lovegrove's wife Suzi discovered that she had contracted AIDS and
agreed to be the subject of the Network Ten documentary Suzi's Story, the
Lovegroves' struggle with the disease became the most public one that Australia
has known.
Her four year-old son Troy was also diagnosed as being HIV positive, and has
continued the public battle against the disease so bravely initiated by his
parents.
Vince Lovegrove, described as the man who has done more to educate Australians
about AIDS than any multi-million dollar campaign, appeared last week (8/11/89)
on Margaret Peacock's 3AK radio program.
Following Suzi's death, Vince has continued his fight against the disease which
is decimating his family. A vocal and educated man, he is turning his energies
outward, addressing conferences such as the recent "Caring For Children With
AIDS" conference.
In a remarkably measured and sensitive discourse, Vince Lovegrove described
some of the troubles he was facing. He still blames "certain sections of the
media" for sensationalising the subject.
"A lack of knowledge has made the myth of AIDS frightening, because it's not
really frightening at all when you look at the facts in black and white."
He blames the lack of knowledge of the disease in the general community and the
"connotations of AIDS... some of which are unsaid, but just thoughts connected
with AIDS... every step of the line: preschool, the doctors, a visit to the
corner shop, you find yourself in a perpetual education program."
Statistics, he admits, are frightening. "There is no handbook on how to
approach the situation (such as with) cancer and other terminal diseases."
One issue which the Federal Government had not determined in the July White
Paper on AIDS has been ejected from the "too-hard basket" with the announcement
of a $13.5 million grant for people infected with AIDS in the course of medical
treatment.
Approximately 500 to 1,000 people, mostly haemophiliacs stand to benefit from
this trust fund in the form of travel expenses, medical costs and payments to
families which lose breadwinners to AIDS.
In most cases, haemophiliacs are already prevented from taking out life
insurance policies because of the nature of their condition.
According to Federal Health Minister Neil Blewett, when he also was a guest on
the Margaret Peacock program (8/11/89), the idea is based on a similar British
trust fund set up for 1,200 haemophiliacs infected with AIDS.
While the gay community seemingly has little to be joyous about in being
excluded from such a desperately needed program, Blewett stressed that its
establishment is a sign of a more compassionate and caring government.
He cited difficulties encountered by people with AIDS in the USA, where the
absence of a public national health system and an under-funded hospital system
has meant, in many cases, financial disaster for people with AIDS and their
carers.
Blewett claimed "We are fortunate in this country that a great bulk of the
expenses are met by the Medicare scheme and under our hospital services. We are
a country which supplies AZT to all those who fit the protocol at the moment."
He says the government accepted the Haemophilia Foundation's proposal because
it (and the Prime Minister in particular) was impressed with the responsible
way they conducted their campaign.
However, on ABC TV news the same night, Heather Ross of the Haemophilia
Foundation said she was extremely disappointed that it took four and a half
years of "battling" to get the government to agree to any form of compensation.
At first, according to ABC news, Blewett was reluctant to agree to
compensation, arguing that it would set a worrying precedent (need we ask for
which groups?).
The special trust now means that many AIDS sufferers will be relieved of the
stress of a lengthy court case and, one presumes, so will the government.
What price 500 court cases? At least $13 million.
When Margaret Peacock congratulated the government on protecting "innocent
victims" with financial compensation, Blewett dismissed the term, saying "When
you have a disease which no-one knows about, it's a bit invidious to label some
people `innocent' and others not `innocent'."
If no distinction is apparent in the minister's mind, why the distinction in
his policy?
Perhaps the caring and compassionate language Blewett (thankfully) uses when
discussing this devastating disease will eventually be shown in more
even-handed Federal policies which will benefit all people with AIDS.
[Channel Ten will rescreen Suzi's Story on International AIDS Day, Friday
December 1. Other networks will also be screening special documentary features
on that day, set aside by the World Health Organisation to draw attention to
the worldwide epidemic.]
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Internet: Rob.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.orgRob.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.org (Rob Bates) (12/07/89)
NEW AIDS SUPPORT GROUP IN MELBOURNE
[Reproduced with permission from Melbourne Star Observer #110, Friday 1
December 1989, (C) 1989 Melbourne Star Observer. All Rights Reserved.]
A new Area Group of the VAC (Victorian AIDS Council) Support Program has been
created in response to the increase in the numbers of people with AIDS
requiring care in the Kew, Richmond and Hawthorn area.
To be called Inner East, the new Area Group will join the East, South, Inner
South, West and North (divided into "Yin" and "Yang") Area Groups as the
organisational framework for the 80 care teams now operating throughout
suburban Melbourne.
Care Teams comprising a small number of volunteers take responsibility for home
care, housework, transport, shopping and other household tasks for a person
with AIDS. Each Care Team is co-ordinated and resourced by its local Area
Group.
Convenor of the Support Program, David Pullen, Told MSO that the growth in the
East Group had made setting up Inner East necessary.
"There are now about 20 cases and 100 volunteers in East," he said.
"Resourcing and management becomes a problem with a group that size. For
example, the group is now too big to find good venues in which to meet."
He said that peer support, communication and training of volunteers was also
suffering as a result of the size of the group.
Pullen foreshadowed that further new Area Groups would be needed at some stage
for other areas of Melbourne, leading to a possible doubling in the total
number of Area Groups over the next few years.
He said that there was still a serious shortfall between the number of care
teams needed and the number of volunteers available.
"In 1989 we've come the closest we've ever come to not being able to provide
care teams. Some people have had to be delayed. Friends of care team members
have had to be dragged in, and some inappropriate things have happened," he
said.
Expansion of the Support Program was the biggest issue on the agenda for the
New Year, said Pullen. A recruitment campaign for new Support volunteers is to
be launched within the next few months.
"We have to find out why some people are not getting involved."
He said that he believed there were widespread misconceptions in the gay
community about what was needed to become a volunteer.
"We are not looking for doctors or nurses, but ordinary everyday people.
People can develope the skills to do something for friends with AIDS. It's one
of the few concrete, practical things that can be done about AIDS."
A new Statement of Understanding has been drafted and will form part of the
application process for members of the Support Program.
The Statement requires that volunteers respect the rights to confidentiality
and independence of people with AIDS, that volunteers be non-judgemental of the
person's beliefs, be reliable, communicative and co-operative with other
volunteers and that they undertake appropriate Support Program training.
Pullen said that there was nothing substantially new in the Statement.
Previously, Support volunteers had been required to sign a Statement of
Purpose. "This just spells it out a little more clearly," he said.
--
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Internet: Rob.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.orgRob.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.org (Rob Bates) (12/19/89)
"TRAGIC DELAY" in Summer Campaign
(Reproduced with permission from Melbourne Star Observer #111, 15 December 1989
(C) 1989 Oz Media Ltd., All Rights Reserved)
A senior (Australian) government adviser has hit at bureaucratic public service
incompetence which, he says, has delayed an urgently needed new Summer safe sex
campaign.
A special consultant on AIDS issues and former principle private secretary to
(federal) Health Minister Neil Blewett, Bill Bowtell said the new campaign had
been planned to run all Summer starting on World AIDS Day December 1.
The new television commercials will not now hit the screens before March or
April.
"It is a tragedy that we do not have a proper campaign in place over Summer,
which is when young people are most at risk," he said.
"There will be many more people infected as a result, and some of those will
die.
Networks are already re-running the "beds" advertisement. Bowtell argued that
what was needed instead was a "frank, explicit campaign to give them adequate
information."
The first Commonwealth-funded national TV advertising campaign, the notorious
"Grim Reaper", was widely criticised as scare- mongering without providing
enough clear information on risk reduction.
The second campaign, with hundreds of couples in beds, was censored following
the commercial networks' refusal to show the original in which one bed had two
men in it.
Bowtell blamed bureaucrats for the delay in production of the new campaign.
"The politicians deserve a lot of credit," he said, "but the bureaucrats in
this country do not deliver the goods on time.
"They have to translate policy into action. At the moment, they're not doing
it."
Health Minister Blewett rejected the claims, saying that the States were to
blame for the delay.
[From Sydney Star Observer]
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AIDS WORKERS TO BOYCOTT SAN FRANCISCO
(Reproduced with permission from Melbourne Star Obsrever #111, 15 December 1989
(C) 1989 Oz Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved)
Two international conferences on AIDS to be held in San Francisco in June 1990
are to be boycotted by some AIDS organisations and individuals from seven
countries in protest at the US immigration restrictions on people with HIV.
The Sixth International Conference on AIDS and the Non-Government AIDS
Conference will not be attended by representatives of the International Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Norwegian and British Red Cross have
also said they will not attend.
Organisations in Britain, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland and Denmark have
joined the boycott.
At an earlier AIDS conference in San Francisco, a Dutch delegate was gaoled by
immigration officials upon entering the United States.
Since then the government has introduced a "waiver" which theoretically allows
people with HIV to attend conferences. People applying for a visa must admit to
being HIV positive and wait for approval from the US Attorney General. If the
waiver is granted, a special mark - understood to mean HIV infection -is put in
the visitor's passport.
AIDS workers have attacked the system as being cumbersome, offensive and a
threat to confidentiality.
Jim Holm of the US National AIDS Network commented that "the procedure clearly
compromises the confidentiality of HIV positive people and could be
particularly serious for nationals of countries where the government suppresses
the rights of people who are HIV positive."
Some delegates to the last AIDS conference in Monteal Canada complained of
major difficulties when passing through US airports.
Peter Grant, President of the Victorian AIDS Council (in Melbourne, Australia)
said that he personally had "great sympathy" for any move to boycott the
conferences in protest. He said that US immigration officials used the
presence of the antiviral drug AZT in a person's baggage as evidence of HIV
infection.
"My only concern is that these conferences will still go ahead, and if the
communithy-based organisations are not present, the conferences will be even
more medical," he said.
Executive Director of the AIDS Council of New South Wales (another Australian
State) Bill Whittaker urged Australian AIDS organisations to join the boycott.
"I would find it repugnant to attend any conference in a country which has
restrictions on people with HIV entering as short term visitors.
"A significant number of AIDS service organisations have already decided not to
attend the San Francisco conferences. I predict the list will continue to
grow," he said.
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Internet: Rob.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.orgRobbie.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.org (Robbie Bates) (01/21/90)
DOCTORS LIE FOR PATIENTS' AZT
Entire contents (C) 1990 Oz Media Ltd., Melbourne Australia. All rights
reserved. Reproduced by permission.
Some doctors have been forced to lie about their patients' T cell counts in
order to qualify them for treatment with AZT, according to National President
of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) Dr David Plummer.
He said that experienced doctors were being prevented from prescribing AZT
(Zidovudine), the only drug with a proven effectiveness against HIV, by Federal
Government restrictions.
Under current Government policy, AZT can only be prescribed by authorised
medical practitioners and only to people with HIV infection and T cell counts
below 200, a third of the normal "healthy" count.
He said that to get around the restrictions, some doctors were falsely claiming
their patients had T cell counts lower than 200.
Trials in the US have proven shown that treatment with AZT helps to slow the
progression of the virus and that it can be is beneficial to people with T cell
counts of 400 or more.
A person's T cell count is recognised as a measure of the progression of the
syndrome, and the body's success in battling it.
Recent US trials of AZT on people with HIV infection were abandoned on
humanitarian grounds when it became clear that AZT was helping to arrest the
development of the syndrome, and that those in the trial programs who were
taking placebos (innactive pills) should be taking AZT.
"People in the US now have greater access to AZT," said Plummer, "but so far,
nothing is being done here.
"The government should not be sitting back and awaiting further results whilst
people are dying. It is unnacceptable in the light of current evidence to
prolong the current practice of only allowing AZT for people with a T cell
count of under 200," he said.
Referring to the current Australian trials of AZT on people in the early stages
of HIV infection, Plummer said "Many people who are at risk of progressing to
AIDS are still being given placebos or do not fit the narrow [trial] criteria,"
he said.
Plummer argues that any HIV infected person who is in danger of progressing to
full AIDS should not be denied the choice of having active treatment. He said
AZT should be prescribed following agreement between doctor and patient.
He said that there was a growing number of doctors with the expertise to
prescribe the drug who were being prevented from doing so, having to refer
their patients to large hospitals instead.
Plummer conceded that there was a "grey area" when dealing with HIV patients
with normal T cell counts and no symptoms.
"Current research indicates that AZT is of no benefit in such cases," he said.
* AFAO has also called on the Federal Government to make the promising new
treatment DDI available in Australia the same way that it is available in the
US.
SEEN-BY:
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Internet: Robbie.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.orgRobbie.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.org (Robbie Bates) (01/21/90)
"C" DOCTOR CLEARED
Entire contents (C) 1990 Oz Media Ltd., Melbourne Australia. All rights
reserved. Reproduced by permission.
The Melbourne doctor who co-authored the book You Can Knock Out AIDS With
Vitamin C and Immune Nutrients has been cleared of charges of breaching the
medical profession's advertising regulations.
Dr Ian Brighthope had previously been found guilty by the medical Board of
Victoria of professional misconduct following publication of the book, some
articles and his appearance in a television interview. Brighthope appealed and
last month succeeded in having the finding and the $5,000 fine overturned.
Brighthope had earlier had six charges of infamous conduct heard and dismissed
by the Board. The charges had alleged that he had publicly identified himself
as the author of a statement on a medical matter that could lead to financial
advantage, that he had deprecated other medical practioners, and that he had
advertised his professional services for treating AIDS in breach of
regulations.
In his controversial book, Brighthope claims that massive doses of vitamin C
can control and even cure HIV infection.
SEEN-BY:
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Internet: Robbie.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.orgRobbie.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.org (Robbie Bates) (01/21/90)
VICTORIAN AIDS COUNCIL GOVERNMENT FUNDING UP 36%
Entire contents (C) 1990 Oz Media Ltd., Melbourne Australia. All rights
reserved. Reproduced by permission.
The Victorian AIDS Council and Gay Men's Health Centre (VAC/GMHC) is currently
considering a funding offer of $991,985 from the Health Department of
Victoria's AIDS/STD Unit program.
Representing a rise of 36 per cent on last year's funding, the offer represents
substantially less than the $2.2 million the organisations had asked for and
compares to a Statewide increase in AIDS spending of 39 per cent.
The increased funding is earmarked for the employment of three more full-time
and one part-time workers: a second case/community worker (welfare and advocacy
for people with AIDS), a beats officer (education of closetted and bisexual
men), and administrative assistant (clerical) and a part-time training officer
(training volunteers for home-care of people with AIDS).
In addition, the State government has agreed to fund on a permanent basis three
positions currently funded on a temporary basis by the Commonwealth. The
co-ordinators of the People Living With AIDS (PLWA) Working Group, the Gay Now
program and a part- time bookkeeper will now be ongoing positions.
Proposed positions for which VAC/GMHC has been refused funding and so will be
unable to appoint include a full-time education worker dealing with ethnic
communities, shown in studies to be resisting other AIDS education initiatives,
and workers tackling IV drug use, alcohol and a counselling position.
The new funding proposal would bring from 18 to 21 the total number of
full-time jobs positions worked which, through part- time and job-share
arrangements, would mean 29 employees.
Included in the funding proposal is $16,000 for a car for use in the beats
program and $10,000 for a Home Care Subsidy scheme - re-imursing volunteers for
telephone and travel expenses involved in the home care of PWAs.
Agreement to the funding offer would require VAC/GMHC to report on the
performance of each funded project to the Health Department.
VAC/GMHC is also confident that its submissions and lobbying for the setting up
of a separate community centre for PWAs will soon be successful.
VAC Office Manager Alan Hough told MSO that while the figures looked
impressive, some programs such as the David Williams Fund, received no
government funding at all and required continued gay community support.
"The government does not traditionally fund programs aimed at providing direct
financial aid," he said.
SEEN-BY:
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Internet: Robbie.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.orgRobbie.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.org (Robbie Bates) (02/11/90)
DRUG TRIALS INFORMATION
In October 1989, the Australian Federationof AIDS Organisations issued two
Information Sheets on HIV/AIDS Treatment issues as part of its HIV Briefs
National Treatments Information Project.
Participating In Drug Trials:
(1) - Benefits and Risks of an HIV/AIDS Treatment Option
(2) - About Drug Trials
HIV Briefs are available from the AIDS Council of New South Wales, Tel. +61 2
221 0499, or state AIDS Councils.
VICTORIAN SUPPORT GROUPS MEET THIS MONTH
The People Living With AIDS (Victoria) Parents Support Group will meet again in
February.
A doctor will be present to answer questions and update information, and there
will be an opportunity to meet and talk with other parents in a safe
comfortable environment. Light refreshments will be served.
The Siblings Group (for sisters and brothers of People affected by AIDS) met
earlier in the month.
Information on these groups is available from David at the Victorian AIDS
Council on +61 3 417 1759
- Robbie -
--
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Internet: Robbie.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.orgRobbie.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.org (Robbie Bates) (05/28/90)
MELBOURNE AUSSIE ACT-UP TO BE ESTABLISHED
Melbourne, Friday 18 May 1990.
A public meeting has been called for Monday May 28 at the Fitzroy
Community Health Centre (75 Brunswick Street Fitzroy) at 7.30pm to
establish Aussie ACT-UP (Melbourne).
The meeting follows the establishment last month of Aussie ACT-UP NSW,
and its first protest action outside the Sydney headquarters of the
Australian Drug Evaluation Committee (ADEC) on April 27.
"It's time for people living with HIV/AIDS and their friends to speak
up," a spokesperson said.
"The apalling slow response by the Federal Government and its agencies
to offer AZT free to people with T-Cell counts below 500 and over 200 is
one example that is creating anger in people with HIV/AIDS.
"It is unsatisfactory that people wit these T-Cell counts in other
countries have access to AZT free of cost, yet people in Melbourne are
being forced to buy AZT because they do not fit existing antiquated
protocols.
"AZT is immediately available free of cost to health care workers, yet
is not available to those who wishto access AZT as part of their
prevention treatment.
"The slow procedures to get new treatments in to Australia is another
area that can not be tolerated. It is time to organise nd act. We cannot
stay silent," the spokesperson said.
Other areas of concern to people with HIV/AIDS that ACT-UP is likely to
address are the insensitivity of medical services in some Melbourne
Hospitals, limited access points for AZT, the non- funding of a HIV
educator by the State government, poor referral procedures from
hospitals and doctors to community support services and the need for
improvement in the confidentiality of services in regional Victoria.
The public meeting will feature a speaker from Aussie ACT-UP (NSW). It
will identify areas for action and will be an open forum for all
interested in supporting direct action.
(C) 1990 Oz Media Limited, Melbourne, Australia. All Rights Reserved.
Reproduced By Permission.
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RADIO-CONTROLLED BEATS EDUCATION
Melbourne, Friday 18 May 1990
As part of a project to reach men at beats with appropriate AIDS
prevention education, a Beats Education Officer has been employed at the
Victorian AIDS Council and equipped with a car complete with car phone.
Gary Ferguson started work in late March and has been planning an
appropriate campaign in collaboration with the Education Project
Management Committee of the VAC. Gary has been a VAC volunteer for the
past two years and has facilitated several Peer Education Workshops,
including the first rural "Gay Now!" series at Ballarat.
"When my marriage of six years ended and I came out, I joined VAC to
meet other men who were proud to be gay," he said.
"As a member of the Education Program I made some close friendships. I
also became aware that little was known or discussed about beats."
The Beats Project will comprise mostly outreach work, including visits
to beats to distribute condoms and educational material and to talk to
men about safe sex.
Prior to such outreach, however, there will be discussions with those
already with experience of beat issues, a small "field study" of beats,
liaison with police and local councils and other activities aimed at
identifying beats as well as the training of volunteers to assist with
the project.
A workshop will be held at 7.30pm on June 13 at the St Kilda Community
Health Centre.
"I am very excited about the Beats Project and the challenge it
presents," said Gary. "I am looking forward to meeting men who enjoy
doing beats."
Participation and assistance with the Beats Project is as easy as
phoning Gary at the VAC on (61 3) 417 1759.
(C) 1990 Oz Media Limited, Melbourne, Australia. All Rights Reserved.
Reproduced By Permission.
--
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Internet: Robbie.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.orgRobbie.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.org (Robbie Bates) (06/07/90)
ENDING THE ERA OF DENIAL
Candlelight Vigil Mobilises Huge Crowd in Remembrance, Hope & Action
By Chris Gill
Melbourne, Australia, 1 June 1990 (MSO)
The Police estimated that between 4,000 and 6,000 people were
there. The television news crews settled somehow on a figure of
4,500. Other estimates were lower, but whatever the precise
figure, the Melbourne vigil was a huge event - and a huge
increase on last year's figure of 350.
But the success of 1990 Candlelight Vigil was obvious in more
than mere numbers.
Quilt Project Convenor Phil Carswell commented after the event
that it marked the beginning of a new era of AIDS consciousness
in Victoria.
"This is the end of the era of denial," he said. "The vigil marks
a significant breakthrough in popular consciousness and
understanding about AIDS."
There were mums and dads, kids and grannies, lovers, friends and
others for whom the night was an opportunity to share both their
grief, their hope and their solidarity.
Above all, the 7th International AIDS Candlelight Vigil, held
this year in 220 cities around the world, was a profound public
statement about the emotional impact of the epidemic.
At the Princes Plaza rallying point, one of the organising team,
Tom Carter, gave a short speech about the purpose of the
gathering. With the lights of Flinders Street Sation blazing and
the flags of all nations hanging quietly in the chilled evening
air, Carter spoke to a quiet crowd.
"We are here," he said, "in rememberence of those lost, in hope
for those infected and together in action to fight against AIDS."
Melbourne's bid to host the Olympics claimed its first victim
when an elderly woman tripped and broke her leg on the shoddy,
exposed metal grid holding up the forest of flags. She was helped
away to hospital for treatment.
As participants lit their candles and moved off across Princes
Bridge, the enormous size of the gathering became apparent.
As those at the head of the march reached the Art Gallery and
looked back toward Flinders Street, there was just a river of
burning candles, five or six across, stretching all the way back
over the bridge to the rallyiong point at Princes Plaza.
Police were caught completely unprepared for the size of the
march. One of the young constables on point duty at Flinders
Street followed the head of the parade to the gallery and tried
unsuccessfully to direct leaders onto the footpath. The police
were disobeyed with dignity and good humour. No-one was going to
allow the procession to be pushed aside or marginalised.
As the last half of the procession approached the Gallery,
everyone held their burning candles over their heads in a
spontaneous action that swept down the procession like a ripple.
It was an impressive sight and a symbolic expression of unity.
Candles were extinguished as the crowd slowly filed through the
entry foyer of the Gallery, through the sculpture garden, past
enormous bronze sculptures, and into the Great Hall where the
ceremonial unfolding of the Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt was to
take place.
The Hall was full and people left in the courtyard clambered to
peer through the windows as the names of Victorians lost to AIDS
were read out and the panels unfolded. The "celebrity" name
readers represented a cross-section of those affected by the
virus.
Quilt Project Convenor Phil Carswell was first, wth other readers
being (in order): State Health Minister - Caroline Hogg; Federal
Health Minister - Brian Howe; AIDS Trust of Australia Board
member - Keith Harbour; ANCA Member - Dr David Bradford; National
Convenor of the PLWA Coalition - Robert Jarman; VAC/GMHC worker -
Bill O'Loughlin; Danielle - from Positive Women; Anthony Brown -
from the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service; Youth Peer Educator
- Thomas Misson; Victorian Deaf Society AIDS Educator - Robert
Leigh; and Sister Hilda - Fairfield Hospital Chaplain.
When the names were read and the Quilt fully unfolded, the crowd
walked among the panels.
People admiring the panels were moved in many different ways.
Some embraced, cried, shared memories. One popular square of
panels had been left blank especially for those present to leave
messages and impressions.
People payed their respects, caught-up with old friends,
embraced, shared their grief and then, gradually, they filed off
homewards.
Like the ANZAC Day Parade, the Candlelight Vigil presents an
opportunity for collective mourning. The Candlelight Vigil also
provides the opportunity to express the solidarity and hope that
enables us all to keep going.
As the AIDS epidemic expands, greater numbers of people will be
forced to come to terms with their own individual losses. The
Vigil and the Quilt have now been established as vital, healing
elements of our response to this crisis.
[ (C) 1990 Oz Media Ltd. Melbourne Australia. Used By Permission ]
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Internet: Robbie.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.orgRobbie.Bates@p1.f381.n634.z3.fidonet.org (Robbie Bates) (06/07/90)
MELBOURNE'S FIRST ACT-UP MEETING HELD
Melbourne, Australia, 1 June 1990 (MSO)
A public meeting held in Fitzroy on Monday night May 28 attracted
42 people and resolved to form a Melbourne chapter of the
international AIDS activist organisation ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition
To Unleash Power).
Melbourne becomes the 37th city worldwide to form an ACT-UP.
Provisionally adopted on the night was an "Action Pledge" charter
outlining broad areas for action for the group. Originally
drafted by the Sydney group, the charter will be amended at a
future meeting to more closely fit the Victorian AIDS situtaion.
Mark, a representative of the Sydney chapter of ACT-UP which was
formed at a similar meeting on March 22 this year, outlined the
democratic, activist and non-exclusive principles guiding that
group.
Sydney ACT-UP has already held two "actions", most recently
outside Parramatta Jail on Sunday May 27 to protest compulsory
AIDS antibody testing of prisoners and the lack of condoms
and clean needles inside.
A number of speakers spoke of the need for an AIDS activist
organisation in Melbourne prepared to take well-targetted and
properly executed direct action in support of the rights of those
with HIV and to prevent the further spread of the virus, for both
"respectible" and "dis-respectible" strategies.
Discussion was wide-ranging and open. A number of companies,
politicians and institutions were identified as being potential
targets for future actions. Issues as diverse as immigration,
education and drug availability were discussed.
The meeting resolved to start organising a first "action",
identified a target/issue, and allocated responsibilities to be
carried out prior to the group's next meeting - to be held at the
same venue at 7.30pm on Monday June 4. Like all ACT-UP meetings,
this will be public and accessible.
An interim telephone contact number was volunteered. Those
interested in confirming details of the next meeting should phone
525 4258.
[ (C) 1990 Oz Media Ltd. Melbourne Australia. Used By Permission ]
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FAIRFIELD JOINS BOYCOTT
Melbourne, Australia, 1 June 1990 (MSO)
The Board of Victoria's main AIDS hospital have voted to support
the boycott of the Sixth International AIDS Conference in San
Francisco in protest at the discriminatory visa policy of the US
government toward people with HIV.
Fairfield staff will not now be eligible for financial assistance
from the hospital to attend the conference, nor will they be
granted leave with pay to attend.
Fairfield Executive Director Chris Richards said the decision was
made "firstly because the concessions by the US government have
not gone far enough and is still discriminatory; and secondly to
express our solidarity with our client group."
Some doctors at the hospital are known to oppose the boycott.
Richards denied that the quality of AIDS treatment at Fairfield
would suffer as a result of the Board's decision, saying that
some hospital staff might still attend.
Hospital Board and GMHC staff member Maureen O'Brien told MSO
that "When places like Fairfield boycott the conference, it
really brings home to conference organisers and the US government
that Fairfield takes seriously the violation of human rights of
people with AIDS."
Fairfield joins AIDS Councils and community groups around
Australia and the world in staying away from the 1990 conference.
[ (C) 1990 Oz Media Ltd. Melbourne Australia. Used By Permission ]
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AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION SHIFTS RIGHT
Melbourne, Australia, 1 June 1990 (MSO)
The election of Bruce Shepherd to the Presidency of the
Australian Medical Association and recent statements by Professor
David Pennington point to yet another attempt by right-wing
doctors to hijack AIDS policy in Australia.
As National Vice President, Shepherd was one of the loudest
mouths for compulsory AIDS testing - originally for the entire
population, although he later moderated his demands to all "risk
groups" and later for all surgery patients.
Former Chairman of the National Council on AIDS (now ANCA)
Professor David Pennington has also attempted to revive the dying
issue of compulsory AIDS testing, and the bogey of "the
homosexual lobby". Pennington, now vice Chancellor of the
University of Melbourne, made his comments at a dinner held by
the AMA last week.
Pennington again asserted that people with AIDS had too much
control over the direction of AIDS policy in Australia, and that
"identification of those infected and strategies to minimise the
risk of them infecting others must be the central issue."
The last time that compulsory AIDS testing of hospital patients
was raised by the AMA leadership, Pennington, Fred Nile and other
bigots was in February 1989. Shepherd and other right wingers
then applauded on the refusal by the Freemasons Hospital to treat
an HIV infected man and called for compulsory testing and the so-
called "re-medicalisation" redirection of AIDS policy.
Their moves then corresponded to the resignation of Professor
Tony Basten as head of NACAIDS (now ANCA). It is a co-incidence
that both Pennington and Shepherd are repeating their discredited
opinions now, with a new Health Minister (Brian Howe) and a newly
restructured and weakened ANCA.
The AMA has been losing membership steadily since the
introduction of Medicare. It now represents only about one half
of doctors, mostly specialists. Most GPs belong to their own
professional association.
[ (C) 1990 Oz Media Ltd. Melbourne Australia. Used By Permission ]
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HOWE APPOINTS PLWA TO ANCA
Melbourne, Australia, 13 July 1990 (MSO)
The Federal Minister for Health, Brian Howe, has decided to appoint a
person with HIV to the Australian National Council on AIDS (ANCA).
When the new membership of ANCA was announced last month, the National
People With AIDS Coalition (NPLWAC) and community AIDS groups strongly
criticised Howe for not including a person living with AIDS.
At its first meeting on June 22, ANCA overwhelmingly agreed that a
person with HIV infection should be appointed to the Committee. This
view was strongly put to Howe when he met with ANCA later that day. He
indicated he would reconsider the matter.
At a June 29 meeting at the offices of the AIDS Council of NSW (ACON), a
meeting picketed by ACT-UP demonstrators protesting delays in drug
availability, Howe met with ACON and NPLWAC representatives.
Immediate-past Executive Director of ACON, Bill Whittaker, was
reportedly asked by Howe to be the PLWA representative on the ANCA
Committee.
Whittaker refused the appointment, reportedly on the grounds that he did
not wish to be a de facto community AIDS organisation as well as a PLWA
representative. NPLWAC has nominated either Robert Arris or Robert
Jarman from PLWA NSW. At time of going to press it was not known which,
if either, of the two would be appointed.
On June 29, Howe also accepted a recommendation from ANCA to establish a
working party on the evaluation processes for HIV- related drugs. The
working party will be chaired by Professor Peter McDonald and will
include Dr Anne Mitch from Fairfield Hospital AIDS Unit and Dr David
Bradford, a Melbourne GP who treats a number of AIDS patients in private
practise.
[In part from Sydney Star Observer]
[ (C) 1990 Oz Media Ltd. Melbourne Australia. Used By Permission ]
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DAY CARE CENTRE BLOCKED BY COUNCIL
Melbourne, Australia, 13 July 1990 (MSO)
A July 3 meeting of Caufield Council rejected a planning application for
a day care centre for people with AIDS which had been submitted for a
house in Dandenong Road Caufield by the People Living With AIDS (PLWA)
working group of the Victorian AIDS Council.
PLWA is now considering whether to appeal the Council's decision to the
Administrative Appeals Tribunal or to begin again the search for a
suitable site.
Conceding the need for such a centre, the Council cited town planning
issues alone - parking, traffic flow and noise - as reasons for the
rejection.
The July 3 meeting was packed with spectators, many of whom were part of
a vocal and well-organised campaign by a residents' action group against
the Dandenong Road site.
A leaflet earlier distributed by the group had claimed the proposed
centre would reduce property values, lead to increased risk of needle
injuries, attract "undesirables" to the area and increase the incidence
of burgulary and theft.
Dean Michaels of PLWA told MSO that he was not surprised by the
Council's decision and that he thought planning issues had less to do
with the councilors' speeches than the forthcoming Council elections.
The proposal included provision for nine car parking spaces on site, the
use of a minibus for transport, the blockage of a rear laneway access,
additional fencing to be built and opening hours of 9am to 10pm when
fully operational.
Both Caufield Council and ALP Federal Member for Melbourne Ports, Clyde
Holding, who opposed the Dandenong Road site, have promised PLWA they
will assist in finding an alternative location.
"I was surprised that the Council took it on-board to help us find a new
property," said Michaels, "and it was encouraging that there were
residents at the meeting with whom we'd had no prior contact who came
out publicly in support of the centre."
PLWA has rejected Holding's offer to chair a committee to search for a
new property, but he is likely to be invited onto such a committee
planned by PLWA should it decide against an appeal.
PLWA hopes the committee would also include State Health Minister
Caroline Hogg, a representative of the Caufield residents' action group
and the Councils of Caufield, Prahran, St Kilda and South Melbourne -
areas in which PLWA believes the centre would be best located.
Barbara Foggerty of PLWA said that the group's legal advice was that an
appeal could "quite possibly" be successful, but that there would be a
"considerable cost" and a six month delay involved.
"The steering committee of PLWA will decide whether an appeal is a wise
use of our resources or whether we should start again from scratch," she
said.
Until a permanent site is found, PLWA is to operate a one-day-a-week day
care centre every Thursday from August 2 at a location in South
Melbourne. Between 10.30am and 3.30pm, people with AIDS will have access
to activities and a midday meal. Transport can be arranged. Inquiries to
Dean or Barbara on 417 1759.
[ (C) 1990 Oz Media Ltd. Melbourne Australia. Used By Permission ]
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CATHOLIC CHEMIST CONFRONTED BY CONDOMS
Melbourne, Australia, 13 July 1990 (MSO)
Two giant condoms invaded a chemist on July 5 to demand the availability
of their little latex brothers. The pharmacy at 211 Brunswick Street
Fitzroy (a Melbourne suburb) does not stock the modern-day essentials because
proprietor andardent Catholic Geoff Belleville believes they are "morally
wrong".
"It's my right to carry what I like," he told MSO. "I don't stock guns,
pornography or condoms because of my moral philosophy."
The AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power (ACT-UP) called the light- hearted
protest, which also featured street music and placards, to make the
point that a person's religious beliefs should not be allowed to
endanger human lives.
"In the age of HIV/AIDS and safe sex education, the one place you
expect/demand to buy condoms is at your local chemist," said an ACT-UP
member. "Chemists are the major dispenser of health products to the
community, and therefore are obligated to provide products for the
prevention of ill-health."
Belleville conceded that Fitzroy was "a very gay area" and that he would
stand to profit from prescriptions filled for people with HIV contracted
through unsafe sex, but he enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to
tell the attending TV cameras that condoms were "not what the good Lord
put us on this world for", that they encouraged "sexual selfishness" and
that "the prime purpose of the sex act is for procreation".
Belleville's high moral stance was questioned by ACT-UP protestor
Meredith Gunn, who told MSO that she had previously bought both
contraceptive pills and a "morning-after" (chemical abortion) pill from
the same chemist. "He's the worst sort of hypocrite," she said.
With God on his side, however, Belleville decided to (as he put it)
"wash the scum from the footpath" with a garden hose. Police took him
aside and counselled him against chosing that moment to hose the
footpath after a number of dampened demonstrators' started to hurl
condoms and abuse. The action ended good- naturedly enough however, with
the two six-foot condoms and other demonstrators skipping-off down
Brunswick street to hand out condoms and have a coffee.
Belleville was last seen chatting with police officers inside the safety
of his Catholic condom-free chemist.
ACT-UP says it is compiling a list of other chemists who don't sell
condoms, and that actions are planned against them. Readers can register
any condom-free chemists by leaving a message on the ACT-UP line 525
4258.
The group is also encouraging people to stage their own individual
protests, such as demanding to see the manager or "take a whole lot of
things to the cash register and, after they're rung-up, ask for some
condoms. If you are refused, complain bitterly and walk out without
paying".
[ (C) 1990 Oz Media Ltd. Melbourne Australia. Used By Permission ]
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