Doug Nelson
It is difficult to look back 30 years to the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. It was a horrifying and heartbreaking time. I recall the frightening news in 1981 that several gay men in New York and California were stricken with unexplained cancer and pneumonia. Within a year, 452 gay men from 23 states were sick. Half of them had died.
Originally this mysterious disease was labeled Gay Related Immune Deficiency. Some called it the gay plague. It was destroying the immune systems of gay men across the country, causing rapid disease progression and early death. Doctors were helpless with no life-saving treatments. Patients were terrified and endured overwhelming homophobia. I will never forget the painful, heartbreaking deaths.
No one then could imagine that 30 years later this mysterious disease would be a worldwide AIDS pandemic killing 25 million people with 33 million more diagnosed and living with HIV disease. We now know that gay men were not the victims of a gay plague but were the very first HIV patients at a time with no life-saving treatment options.
Today, while AIDS continues to threaten gay men and people from all walks of life, we are fortunate to have the knowledge to prevent and treat HIV. Condom use, clean needle exchange, counseling to reduce risk and outreach to educate at-risk youth, women and men from diverse cultures are the life-saving actions of HIV prevention that must be a never-ending commitment. In Wisconsin we are fortunate to have innovative leadership from agencies like Diverse and Resilient and the LGBT Community Center of Milwaukee that is strengthening HIV-prevention strategies and working hard to save lives.
For the more than 8,000 people who are living with HIV in our state, our unique system of HIV health and social services make Wisconsin one of the best places to be. Leading the way is the ARCW Medical Center, Wisconsin’s largest provider of HIV health care. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently called the medical center “a role model of comprehensive care and one of the best examples of integrating health care and social services.”
At ARCW an HIV patient can see a doctor, a dentist and a mental health therapist for quality health care, a pharmacist for HIV medications and adherence counseling, a lawyer to resolve legal issues, a housing specialist for rent assistance, a case manager to secure entitlements and a nutritionist for healthy food from the food pantry. All of these services are available regardless of ability to pay.
Recently the National Committee for Quality Assurance recognized the ARCW Medical Center as a Patient Centered Medical Home, citing our commitment to high-quality care. While we are proud to be Wisconsin’s largest provider of HIV health care, we are even prouder to be recognized for the high quality of health care we provide.
Nowhere in America can HIV patients access as many health and social services in one place as they can at the ARCW Medical Center. We are deeply grateful for the strong and steadfast support of the LGBT community that has helped to make this wonderful resource possible.
Throughout 30 years of AIDS we have endured stigma, homophobia, terrifying illnesses and ultimately the loss of our loved ones. The heartaches from these losses never really end. Yet they are soothed by high hopes for a future in which HIV infection is prevented and HIV health care is successful in enabling all patients to live long and healthy lives.
Doug Nelson is president and CEO of AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin.
