gay peoples CHRONICLE

Vol. 2 No. 1

Cleveland, Ohio

AIDS Conference

pages 8-9

February 1986

AIDS CONFERENCE EDUCATES

By CHARLES CALLENDER and ROB DAROFF

An unusually diverse range of authorities spoke on various aspects of AIDS at the January 24 Conference at Cleveland Clinic. They addressed an equally varied audience whose 150 members included medical personnel, union officials, educators, and personnel workers. Some of them also represented the gay and lesbian community.

Titled "AIDS: An Enlightened Policy for the Work Place and the Community," the Conference was sponsored by the United Labor Agency, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and Congressman Edward F. Feighan.

Those attending the Conference were impressed by its design and organization, thought it addressed its educational goals with outstanding success, and found the information provided by the speakers exceptionally useful.

Welcome by Feighan

In his brief welcome, Congressman Feighan raised number of eyebrows by describing the Federal Government's response to AIDS as "swift and generally effective," but most of them lowered when it turned out he was talking about the role of the U.S. Congress.

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In making the case Congress Feighan inevitably pointed up the slow and very grudging response of the Reagan administration. Congress appropriated funds for AIDS research when the administration asked for none,

Starting Our

Second

Year

and this past year provided full funding when it asked for cuts.

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Noting that the incidence persons with AIDS is still relatively low here, Feighan described accurate information about the disease as the greatest threat to its spread. He described the Conference as designed to present the most accurate information available.

AIDS as a Disease

Session I, moderated by Dr. Susan Rehm of Cleveland Clinic, included presentations by Dr. Leonard Calabrese, Cleveland Clinic; Dr. Bryan Davis, Metropolitan General Hospital and CWRU School of Medicine; and Dr. Mervyn Silverman, former Director of Health for the City and County of San Francisco.

Clear and informative, the presentations were an implicit indictment of distortion by the media when presenting medical evidence about AIDS. The role of the media also drew some explicit criticism in this session, particularly Calabrese's slide of the notorious Life cover screamsafe ing "Nobody is from AIDS."

Reactions to HTLV-3 Calabrese, who has been working with its victims since 1981, briefly reviewed the history of AIDS from recognition of the syndrome, through identification of the HTLV-3 virus in 1984, to the present.

He compared the pronounced individual variation in responses to the virus to reactions to the common cold.

Dr. Leonard Calabrese

About 80 per cent of those exposed to the virus show no symptoms. Others develop ARC --AIDS-related complex--a reaction milder than AIDS and without opportunistic

infections. Perhaps 25 per cent of those with ARC progress to AIDS. Follow-up studies over a period of seven to eight years of Dersons Page 8, Col. 1

OVEN PRESENTS VARIETY SHOW

Oven Productions will present the 11th annual Women's Variety Show on Saturday, February 15.

One of the most important annual events in the Cleveland's women's community, the Variety Show draws large and enthusiastic audience. Last year almost 600 women attended its Tenth Anniversary production.

Oven Productions says that this year's extravaganza promises to be a special event, featuring the women's community's best in comedy drama, and music. It will include a few favorite acts from past shows, plus sensational new ones.

The Variety Show will be held in the Assembly Hall at The Civic, 3130 Mayfield Road in Cleveland Heights,

from 8 to 10 pm. The annual Variety Show Party will follow.

Ticket prices are a sliding scale from $7 to $10 and must be purchased at the door. Guests under 12 or over 60 years of age will be admitted for $1.

Childcare and work exFor change are available. more information, call 3719714 or 321-3054.