Be Here For The Cure I (1992)

A history of the S.F. AIDS Foundation's Early Care Campaign

A hopeful image of the Earth resting in a radiant gold setting was the icon for phase one of the "Be Here for the Cure" campaign, which was launched February 12, 1992. The project was produced by campaign development coordinator Bill Hayes. One of the first public education campaigns in the nation promoting early HIV intervention, the campaign was composed of outdoor advertisements (bus shelters and billboards) in English, Filipino, and Spanish; television PSA's in the three languages; and an assortment of popular give-away items (posters, T-shirts, stickers, and buttons).

The community-based campaign was designed to urge that people who are HIV-positive take all necessary steps to stay healthy. Early treatment begins with antibody testing, and continues with seeing an HIV-knowledgeable health care provider, monitoring the immune system, and seeking drug treatment if appropriate. It may include a wide range of other healthy approaches, including sound nutrition, reduction in drug and alcohol use, rest and exercise, and stress release.

Nearly thirty thousand San Francisco residents are estimated to be HIV-positive; it is unknown exactly how many are not receiving care. With the slogan, "Be Here for the Cure," the Foundation hopes to encourage HIV-positive people to think about a future where HIV will be a manageable disease and to take action now to be part of that future. With advancements in medicine, support services, and a combination of therapies and approaches, people with HIV have an increasingly better chance of maintaining their health and extending their lives. Indeed, they have a chance to envision surviving this pandemic.

A resident of Washington, D.C. writes: "Be Here for the Cure" is a message of hope to all people with HIV, but a message that speaks loudest to people with AIDS, who--without that hope--are consumed by death and dying. It doesn't have to be that way. I am living (and I do mean living!) with AIDS. I am hopeful. I have hope because this campaign has given me the courage to go on living. No one had ever told me that. I take care of myself. I do the right things. I believe what this campaign says: I will be here for the cure."

The "globe" campaign was so successful in San Francisco that the Foundation reprised it simultaneously--on December 1, 1992, World AIDS Day--in Seattle, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.

On May 13, 1993 the San Francisco AIDS Foundation presents the second phase in the "Be Here for the Cure" campaign, featuring Annie Leibovitz's provocative portraits of people living with HIV.