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a trip to rural Missouri in 1990, Sister Mary Elizabeth met a number of
people living with AIDS who were unable to obtain the latest news and information
about the disease for fear of losing their privacy. "I realized that
electronic bulletin boards were the answer,'' the 57-year-old Episcopalian
nun says. "Users would have up-to-date information and could retain
their anonymity.''
That same year, Sister Mary Elizabeth followed her inspiration
and founded the AIDS Education Global Information System (AEGIS), now
the world's largest database for AIDS and HIV information. AEGIS, which
Sister Mary Elizabeth runs from her mobile home in the old California mission
town of San Juan Capistrano, is the hub for some 341,000 electronic files
that include all the AIDS-related contents of the National Library of Medicine
and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
AEGIS also provides scores of bulletin board areas where
those with AIDS, as well as doctors and researchers, can share information
about the disease, which is now the third leading cause of death among
adults aged 25 to 44. AEGIS is free to users; the $20,000 annual cost of
maintaining the service is acquired through contributions and Sister Mary
Elizabeth's part-time work as a computer consultant.
From around the world, as users communicate over the AEGIS
bulletin board, Sister Mary Elizabeth has come to recognize individuals
among the thousands. "You become accustomed to their writing style,
their voice," she says gently. "Then all of a sudden, there is
silence. Another bright star in the heavens has gone away."
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