Subject: Applaud Time for AIDS focus...???'s Ho as lone AIDS savior
From: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 18:54:30 -0500

ACT UP Washington "perplexed" over Time Magazine's choice of "Man of the
Year" 
"David Ho might have a good publicist, but he doesn't have the AIDS cure"
for more contact ACT UP Washington at 202.547.6780
Selecting several researchers would have better reflected the realities of
AIDS
ACT UP Washington says, "While we applaud Time Magazine for this AIDS focus,
we believe that our quest for a cure  would be better served by the casting
 of a wider net and highlighting the work several research scientists."
for immediate release                                December 21, 1996  
Lone AIDS Researcher named 'Man of the Year'... 
Time Magazine ignores the efforts of others in pursuit of an AIDS Cure...
ACT UP urges multi-track race for a cure

(Washington, DC-December 21, 1996) AIDS researcher Dr. David Ho was named
Time magazine's Man of the Year, in an announcement made today, Saturday
December 21.  The AIDS advocacy and protest group ACT UP in Washington DC
urged caution that singling out one research theory could derail other
approaches.

 "AIDS research is a collaborative effort." States ACT UP spokesperson Steve
Michael.  "Too often research has been driven by egos, hype, and intense
competition for publicity and the research dollars that comes with it."

 ACT UP has long pushed for an AIDS Cure Project modeled after other
scientific breakthroughs, like the Manhattan Project which developed the
atomic bomb, or the Apollo Project which landed Americans on the moon.  

 There is little cooperation or communication among AIDS researchers,
according to the first ever evaluation of AIDS research at the National
Institutes of Health published earlier this year.  Advances have been
severely hampered by the lack of information sharing.  AIDS activists charge
that often, researchers spend more time chasing publicity than in their labs.
 A bitter war erupted between Dr. Robert Gallo and French scientists over ten
years ago, when each claimed credit for discovering the 'AIDS virus.'

 In 1960, fifteen  scientists shared Times 'Man of the Year' award.
 Activists are worried that by focusing on Dr. Ho, other research theories
may not be pursued in the search for an AIDS cure and vaccine. "Time should
have focused on the research, not one researcher.  Remember, there are
nameless, faceless AIDS researchers out there working to save our lives."
adds Michael, who is HIV positive.  "Dr. Ho may have a good publicist, but he
doesn't have an AIDS cure."

 Triple drug therapy, combining a new class of drugs called protease
inhibitors with older AIDS drugs, has been found to lower the measurable
amount of HIV in the blood.  Dr. Ho is among a number of scientists
investigating this form of therapy.  There is insufficient clinical evidence,
however, thatt Ho's specific approach to  drug cocktails can actually extend
or enhace the lives of AIDS sufferers.

 "It's misleading for people to think that a cure for AIDS is on hand."
comments Wayne Turner of ACT UP.  "The hype surrounding the new AIDS drugs
could actually lead to more new HIV infections.  In the search for a cure, we
should leave no stone unturned."

 Michael concludes, "While we applaud Time Magazine for this AIDS focus, we
believe that they would have better served our quest for a cure by casting a
wider net and highlighting the work several research scientists. "