AIDS Action Council Hires Derek Hodel As Treatment Advocate; Expands Political Assistance

The AIDS Action Council, "the only national organization
dedicated solely to shaping federal AIDS policy," has hired
Derek Hodel, formerly executive director of New York's PWA
Health Group, the largest and most influential buyers' club
in the nation, as a full-time, Washington-based treatment
advocate, starting July 13. Hodel will "lobby, advocate, and
organize on issues associated with HIV-related research and
HIV-related drug development and access within all relevant
branches and agencies of the federal government, within the
private sector, and within the AIDS and health-advocacy
communities." His first assignment will be to represent the
AAC at the International Conference on AIDS in Amsterdam.

AAC Assistance for Community-Based Organizations

For the last year, the AAC has run the AIDS Action Network,
currently consisting of 720 CBOs from 144 states -- including
170 minority organizations. These member organizations
receive a short newsletter (usually five or six pages) every
two weeks, providing background on policy issues. Recent
newsletters have included healthcare reform, the Presidential
campaign work of United for AIDS Action (see AIDS TREATMENT
NEWS #153, June 19, 1992), and tuberculosis. Sometimes they
include "federal funding alerts" on deadlines to apply for
funds; these can be faxed if urgent.

Recently the AAC started a Community Organizing and Education
department, run by Belinda Rochelle (who is well known as a
treatment advocate, especially with the AIDS Clinical Trials
Group of the U. S. National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases). This project will help local
organizations to lobby effectively -- for example, by letting
them know what political work can legally be done by
publicly-funded service groups, who, like others, have a
right and responsibility to stay in touch with their
Congressional representatives. It will work with the whole
spectrum of AIDS organizations in a target city, when invited
by them, to help them solve federal, state, or local problems
-- concerning lobbying for state funding, for example, or
talking effectively with federal agencies. Initial cities to
receive this help are Cleveland, San Diego, and Richmond. The
new department is also assisting in visits to eight other
cities -- Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Cleveland, Portland
(Oregon), Chicago, Des Moines, and Little Rock -- to work
with local groups to organize visits to key members of the
appropriations committees in the Senate and House, to urge
maximum funding for all AIDS programs.

If your community-based organization wants to join the AIDS
Action Network, call Belinda Rochelle at AIDS Action Council,
202/986-1300, ext. 20.

AAC Background

The AIDS Action Council is a membership organization
supported by the over 500 community-based organizations which
are its members. (Do not confuse these organizations with the
720 member organizations of the AIDS Action Network; no fee
is required to belong to the latter.) It has been active on
many issues, for example: Congressional funding for
prevention, care, and research; fighting the federal freeze
on funds for housing for disabled persons with AIDS; fighting
political restrictions on effective campaigns against AIDS
transmission; bringing together physicians and other experts
to develop policies on the tuberculosis epidemic; and
restoring funds cut from programs targeting AIDS prevention
in minority communities. AAC also convenes the National
Organizations Responding to AIDS (NORA), "a 150-member
coalition of national health care, civil liberties, women's,
minority, and gay groups involved in the fight against AIDS. "

Comment

AIDS Action Council's work "to forge the bonds between
community-based service providers and national decision-
makers," is especially important because many members of
Congress have said that they are not hearing about AIDS from
their constituents. If more people would let their
representatives (and other officials) know that AIDS is
important to them, that we need effective prevention
programs, treatment research and development, access to care,
and compassionate treatment of persons with AIDS or HIV, then
the battles in Washington would no longer be an uphill fight.
The AIDS Action Council believes that grassroots pressure
will keep AIDS a priority in government, and in people's
minds. Educating those who care about AIDS on the mechanics
of being heard in local, state, and federal governments, and
on the background of the policy issues involved, will make
that pressure more effective.

Today the usual answer on AIDS, from members of Congress and
other federal officials, is that there is no money. AIDS
Action Council answered, "However bad the year, where there
is political will, increases can be found. We saw that with
Desert Storm." (We could add that Congress is willing to
spend billions of dollars for weapons systems the Pentagon
doesn't even want, just to make jobs in members' districts.
AIDS funding would create more jobs, while saving lives
instead of accumulating useless hardware.)

But not all the problems are financial. The research and
development of new treatments, on which so many people's
lives directly depend -- and which, when successful, will
make many other problems far more manageable -- has been
characterized by unbelievable wasting of opportunities even
when money is not the issue, due to lack of leadership and
lack of political will. Until recently there has been a
dangerous advocacy vacuum concerning federal issues of
science, management, and drug development; the Washington
organizations have had to focus elsewhere (on funding,
prevention, and services), while the treatment organizations
have not had the resources or the federal experience to give
these issues the attention they deserve. This is why we are
encouraged that two major organizations which know the
federal system -- the AIDS Action Council, and the Human
Rights Campaign Fund -- have started treatment-advocacy
projects.

San Francisco: Combination Trial of Compound Q Plus AZT

A trial at San Francisco General Hospital is now comparing
GLQ 223 (trichosanthin, also called compound Q) in
combination with AZT, vs. AZT alone or GLQ 223 alone.
Standard doses of AZT will be used; the compound Q will be
given every week for the first four weeks, and then every
three weeks, in escalating doses. The study will last 45
weeks.

To be eligible, volunteers must have AIDS or symptomatic HIV
infection (but not have an active AIDS-defining opportunistic
infection when they enter the study). They must have a T-
helper count between 200 and 500, have been on AZT for at
least nine months before the study, and never have used
compound Q. There are additional entry criteria, but these
are the ones most likely to rule out potential volunteers.

For more information, call Carol Arri, 415/476-9296 ext.
84094.