San Francisco: Chinese Medicine Programs for Seropositives

(I.) Quan Yin Acupuncture and Herb Center in San Francisco will sponsor a new herbal program and study for 100 persons who are HIV positive. The 12-week program, which is partially subsidized and offered in conjunction with the Institute of Traditional Medicine in Portland, OR, and the Oriental Healing Arts Institute in Long Beach, CA, still has 35 places open. Participants must call immediately to avoid missing the starting date of the program.
The cost of the herbs is $55. a month. A monthly consultation with an herbalist is included at no extra charge. Other costs are for two acupuncture sessions per month with any acupuncturist at Quan Yin (required as part of the program--
sliding scale $20. to $75. per session), and a CBC blood test once per month (cost about $10.). Quan Yin does accept
insurance, does accept MediCal for acupuncture, and will help people with their insurance and financial planning.
For more information or to get an application, stop by Quan Yin at 513 Valencia St. (corner of 16th), or call 861-1101.
(II.) Separate, comprehensive HIV-positive (and AIDS/ARC) programs run by the San Francisco AIDS Alternative Healing Project (AAHP) will start in early September. Interested participants must call immediately.
These programs include acupuncture, herbal consulting, nutritional counseling, nutrition groups with Tom O'Connor,
massage, individual counseling, hypnotherapy, chiropractic as needed, donated nutritional supplements, a support group run by a counselor, and additional consulting with Misha Cohen, clinical director of the HIV programs.
The programs require a 26-week commitment, and costs $140. per week for the HIV-positive program, and $170. for the AIDS/ARC, which is more intensive. AAHP does accept insurance, and does help people plan for financing, but it is a non-profit organization with no outside funding, so it must support itself through fees.
AAHP is just completing a six-month herbal treatment study with 22 persons with HIV infection and six with chronic fatigue syndrome.
The new programs will start in mid September. For more information call the Project at 558-9292. Call immediately to
avoid missing the starting date.
(III.) Other programs. Both Quan Yin and AAHP have or are developing other HIV programs. Some can be started at any time; but the advantage of the ones which begin at set times is that they are group programs, meaning that participants regularly meet each other and can more easily compare experiences. For more information about any of these programs, call the organizations at the numbers above.
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