Texas Communities Benefit From Research, Awareness of AIDS

By The Associated Press

As countries around the globe on Sunday celebrated World AIDS Day, Texans could take solace in the benefits of AIDS research and improved awareness closer to home.

Fighting the disease is especially important in Texas, because the state has reported 35,000 cases - more than every state except New York, California and Florida, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Several ongoing programs have shown promise toward lessening the threat of HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS.

-- In Waco, doctors are excited about the initial success of a new family of powerful HIV-fighting drugs called protease inhibitors, which became available in their Central Texas town earlier this year.

"I have some real optimism for the first time," said Scott Lea, a doctor at Waco's Infectious Disease Clinic. "I can look my patients in the eye and tell them there is something I can do to help them."

-- In the Rio Grande Valley, the fight against AIDS is gaining strength among corporate donors, but it's still rare for someone to take a public stance against AIDS.

"It's changing, but only very slowly," said Mary McGreevy, executive director of the Valley AIDS Council, based in McAllen.

-- In Arlington, 18-year-old Tim Veigel is planning to walk 2,928 miles across the country to raise money for children with AIDS.

He's doing it on behalf of The Forgotten Children Inc., a charity based in Arlington that finds homes for HIV-infected children; and two other AIDS groups.

The availability of the new medications in Waco is important because an estimated 1,100 to 1,500 people in surrounding counties are HIV positive.

So far, AIDS patients and their loved ones are cautiously optimistic about the medicines. Many remember the hype surrounding AZT and they fear protease inhibitors could also let them down, said Rachel Brand, a case worker at the Waco-McLennan County Health District.

"We've all heard of these so-called breakthroughs before," she said. "It's like we're crying wolf yet again."

Three protease inhibitors - saquinavir, ritonavir and indinavir - are available in Waco, and three more are expected to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration by the end of this year, Ms. Brand said. The drugs fight the enzyme protease, which the virus uses to reproduce itself.

The protease inhibitors are often used in combination with older HIV-fighting drugs - AZT, 3TC, ddI, ddC and d4T - that were previously prescribed by themselves. They are usually used in various combinations of three.

Besides side effects, another downside of drug combinations is cost. The triple drug combinations can run more than $12,000 a year.

The Arlington teen-ager's walk-a-thon already is drawing attention to the new children's group his trek is benefiting.

Group president Larry Barber said Forgotten Children tries finding homes for youngsters infected with HIV.

The organization is funded by private donations and Barber spends much of his time on the phone seeking corporate and private sponsors.

"The thing I want to do is not only help kids, but really, really stress public education," Barber said. "AIDS has the same negative public opinion as leprosy used to have, and I don't think that's right.

"We're all God's children, and AIDS is not God's punishment. It's just a virus."