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‘We can't stop now’

World AIDS Day ceremony celebrates breakthroughs while recognizing the path ahead

BRATTLEBORO — Despite all the medical advances of the past three decades,18,000 people die each year of AIDS in the United States, according to Marguerite Monet, senior case manager for the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont.

“Yes, we recognize that we've made progress, and things are getting better worldwide,” said Monet. “Prevention is working, but we continue to have new infections. We can't stop now.”

That was the theme of this year's edition of World AIDS Day, which was observed in Brattleboro last Thursday at the River Garden.

The global event, held every Dec. 1, adopted “Getting to Zero” as this year's slogan.

That's zero - as in zero new infections, zero deaths, and zero discrimination for those affected by AIDS.

In the 30 years since the world first found out about a disease called Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, AIDS has gone from being a virtual death sentence for those affected to a chronic disease that can be managed.

But even that statement comes with huge caveats.

It assumes that one has access to health care. It assumes that one can afford the expensive drug regimen that keeps the disease at bay. It assumes that one has the support system to stay healthy.

Worldwide, Monet said, the number of people who have contracted AIDS has fallen 21 percent from 1998 to 2010, and the number of deaths have fallen from 2.2 million in 2005 to 1.8 million in 2010.

The AIDS Project, which marks its 25th anniversary next year, serves about 80 people in Bennington and Windham counties.

Executive Director Susan Bell echoed Monet's sentiments about balancing the good news about declining infection rates and longer lifespans for HIV-infected people with the reality that new cases are still added every year.

“There have been fewer deaths, but we're still seeing new cases and the need has increased,” said Bell. “Ninety percent of the people we serve live below the poverty line.”

Monet said 20 states have waiting lists for assistance to pay for medicine. Vermont is not one of them, she said, but resources are limited here also.

She believes that the work of the AIDS Project is totally entwined with the health-care reform issue.

“The poor and disenfranchised are the ones who suffer the most, and they are the ones who have health problems that never got dealt with until they got an AIDS diagnosis,” Monet said. “That's going to always be the case until the day that health care becomes a human right instead of a commodity.”

About 600 people are living with AIDS in Vermont, Monet said, and two people died in the past year.

“The numbers are getting smaller, but they still count,” she said.

Success stories

But there still are success stories to cheer, like that of Bruce Taft of Brattleboro. Twenty years ago, he was living in Bennington and was involved in an auto accident.

Taft said he was taken to the hospital, and found out he was HIV positive when the doctor came into his room and told him, “You have AIDS, and you're going to die in six months.”

His life quickly fell apart until, he said, a friend pointed out to him that “the only thing that changed in my life was the information.”

That's when he committed himself to recovery and getting help from the AIDS Project.

Taft celebrated his 60th birthday in September, and he said the highlight for him was receiving a card from the doctor who all but pronounced him dead 20 years earlier, apologizing for his diagnosis.

“Sure, there have been losses, but there is also gratitude,” Taft said.

“If I didn't have the accident, I never would have been diagnosed,” he said.

Taft, who will mark his 16th year of sobriety in January, added, “If hadn't been diagnosed, I never would've gotten sober.”

“I have a community behind me, and it's much bigger than just Brattleboro,” he said.

Although he collects a monthly disability check from Social Security, Taft still works at the Brattleboro Country Club.

“I choose to work for a living, so I don't get food stamps or Medicaid,” he said. “It can be a struggle sometimes. But I work, I pay taxes, and I vote, and that makes me like everybody else.”

Moving forward

Alex Potter, HIV prevention specialist for men for the AIDS Project's Men's Program, said that the medical successes in treating HIV have “moved HIV off the radar” for most people.

Potter said the AIDS Project will be focusing on “raising our profile in the community again” during the organization's upcoming 25th anniversary events.

“People are living with AIDS now,” he said. “In a way, we're getting punished for our success. The federal government is slashing funding for programs, and states without a lot of new cases, like Vermont, are getting hit.”

At the same time, Potter said, these changes reflect how the medical community now deals with AIDS.

“It's moving toward a medical model, where the goal is to identify HIV-positive people and get them into treatment,” he said. “That's great for treating new infections, but we still need resources to focus on prevention and stopping new infections from happening.”

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