Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Chicago Tribune; Tuesday, December 2, 1997
Phat X. Chiem, Tribune Staff Writer.
With the much-publicized advances in AIDS treatments and a decade of constant safe-sex messages, a small population has grown complacent about protecting themselves with condoms, health officials report. The practice of having intentionally unprotected sex has many activists in the AIDS/HIV community worried about the consequences of this so-called "condom fatigue."
"Regression is always a problem we fight with a certain percentage of people giving up on safe sex and throwing caution to the wind," said Tim Hadac, spokesman for the city's Department of Public Health.
"If there is a downside to progress in this epidemic, that is that as we make medical advancements, it almost fosters the notion that the medicine will pull a rabbit out of a hat . . . and cure the epidemic," Hadac said.
The trend added a sense of urgency to this year's World AIDS Day, which groups in Chicago used to educate people about the scope of the epidemic and to emphasize the need for more research and prevention efforts.
Hadac and other health officials warn that the AIDS epidemic is far from over. In fact, the United Nations reported Monday that 42 million people worldwide have been infected with the AIDS virus--much more than the 12 million once thought by doctors to carry the virus. In Chicago, the number of AIDS cases has reached about 14,000 with roughly 1,500 new cases added each year, according to the Department of Public Health.
"AIDS should be taken as seriously as it ever was. People are certainly still dying from it," said Phillip Matthews, executive director of Test Positive Aware Network, a counseling and referral center on the North Side. The group held an educational program Monday evening at the Theatre Building, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. Taking note of World AIDS Day, about 50 people from the Chicago Recovery Alliance marched in front of the Harold Washington Library to protest what they said were city cutbacks of needle-exchange programs for intravenous drug users.
Alliance director Dan Bigg said the cutbacks would leave thousands of people at risk for HIV infection through dirty needles.
But the department's Hadac said, in fact, the city has spent more money than ever on needle-exchange programs. He said the Department of Public Health has merely decided to allocate much of its 1998 clean needle program funding to an agency other than the alliance, which has long commanded the bulk of that funding.
And inside the Harold Washington Library, Department of Public Health Commissioner Sheila Lyne presented two Chicago HIV-related service providers each with a $25,000 grant. The Night Ministry runs a bus that provides on-site counseling services in various city neighborhoods and the AIDS Alternative Health Project specializes in therapies such as massage, acupuncture and chiropractic for AIDS patients.
The Puerto Rican Cultural Center also held a candlelight vigil on the West Side to honor those who have died from the disease. U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) was among those scheduled to appear.
CAPTION: PHOTOS: To mark World AIDS Day, Cheryl Wilson and other members of the Chicago Recovery Alliance march at the Washington Library to protest what they call city cutbacks of needle-exchange programs for drug users. Tribune photos by Chuck Berman.
Copyright 1997/The Chicago Tribune. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Chicago Tribune, 435 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611.
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Copyright © 1997 - Chicago Tribune. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Chicago Tribune, Permissions Desk, 435 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611 http://www.chicagotribune.com
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