Dec 1, 2008 7:42 pm US/Pacific
Bay Area Observances Mark World AIDS Day
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / KCBS) ―
HIV infects well over 100 Californians every day of the year. But that doesn't blunt the optimism of those with the disease, and those combating it on the 20th "World Aids Day," being observed around the Bay Area Monday.
"The battle days of AIDS in terms of the levels of suffering were in the beginning, around 1980," said Dr. Diane Havlir of UCSF who has been working with HIV patients since then.
Today's understanding of the complex disease combined with anti-retroviral therapies have people living many, many years with HIV.
"Even in the United States, there's still nearly one million people living with HIV," said Havlir.
Havlir, who is the S.F. General HIV/AIDS Chief, smiles when asked whether a cure is possible.
"There now are many researchers around the world who are reinvigorated to explore different therapeutic strategies to eradicate HIV," said Havlir.
Research is the key and Havlir is hoping the new Obama administration increases funding so that one day HIV/AIDS is medical history.
San Francisco General Hospital's Ward 86, the oldest outpatient HIV/AIDS clinic in the world, was holding an open house to commemorate its 25th anniversary. An observance was scheduled for noon at the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park.
In Oakland, Mayor Ron Dellums was hosting a World Aids Day Community Awards Reception to celebrate a record breaking year in Alameda County for HIV testing.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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