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Published in the Bulletin of Experimental Treatments for AIDS 1999 Year-End issue, by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. |
Dear Reader,On behalf of the entire BETA staff and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, I am pleased to present this special edition. While we are calling it the "1999 Year-End Special Edition," this expanded issue was prepared with the conclusion of not only the year and the millennium in mind, but also the first 20 years of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In this issue, we present an especially wide range of cutting-edge HIV-related information, from coverage of some of the year's most important scientific meetings to thorough research articles on such topics as hepatitis C and managing complex combination antiretroviral regimens. Also featured are a review of what has been learned about HIV positive women over the past several years, a status report on HIV vaccine development, a summary of issues relating to HIV and adolescents, a conversation about dermatology with an HIV clinical expert, and more. Over the past two decades, great progress has been made in understanding, preventing, and treating HIV disease; challenges, too, have continued to emerge. Powerful antiretroviral treatments have been developed and approved, and the rates of both opportunistic conditions and AIDS deaths have fallen dramatically in the developed world-translating into more people living with HIV in need of services and care. In the developing world, AIDS deaths and new HIV infections continue to rise steeply, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where 70% of the world's people with HIV live and where access to treatment is limited at best. Also, as potent as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) regimens are and as successful as they are at improving clinical health, quality of life, and life span in many people, HAART has not been able to eliminate HIV infection in anyone. As we enter a new millennium, it is crucial that treatment developments and health-care delivery systems continue to evolve and that vaccine research and development be given the highest priority. Developed countries are challenged with finding ways to actively assist the low-resource regions most impacted-sub-Saharan Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and now the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and Russia. In addition to supporting prevention and treatment efforts, funding must be provided for the humane care of thousands of people worldwide who are acutely ill or orphaned each day. Thus, it is critical that political will be enacted and that business communities commit to support HIV-related research and access to care around the world. In the words of the late Jonathan Mann, former director of UNAIDS, "The AIDS epidemic cannot be stopped in one country until it is stopped in all." As the year, the 20th century, and the first 20 years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic end, we are ever mindful of our goal, which is to disseminate vital information to people living with HIV, their caretakers, and their loved ones. In the coming year, we will continue to bring you coverage of the most current and critical topics in HIV care. Best Wishes in the New Year to each and every one. Sincerely, Leslie Hanna Page last updated 8 January 2000 |
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