Story Archives of 'AIDS'

What was originally considered a disease for gay men, drug users and a guaranteed death sentence has become a global epidemic... and for many in the western world, a manageable disease. As AIDS turns quarter century this week, we’ll look back at the history of HIV, from transmission to treatment, to our awareness of the disease and look to what may be ahead for the next twenty five years of AIDS. Laura's guests are Wendy Fenari, Assistant Director for the Southern New Hampshire HIV/AIDS Task Force. Lynne Weihrauch, A nurse practioner at Dartmouth Hitchcock in Nashua, who works exclusively with AIDS patients. Annie Ball, a Merrimack County resident who has been HIV positive for 16 years. Five years ago Annie was diagnosed with AIDS. We'll also be joined by Gerry Scoppettuolo, Manager of the Cambridge Health Alliance in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a comprehensive HIV counseling and testing site.

It's World AIDS Day and while the focus on the disease is increasingly international, US rates of infection are on the rise. We'll look at AIDS services, treatments, prevention, and the reality of living with HIV in our region.
Our guests are Wendy Furnari, Director of Client Services with Southern NH HIV/AIDS Task Force , Betsy Eccles, Infectious Disease Clinical Nurse specialist with the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and Hank, a Granite Stater living with AIDS for ten years.

If you are a photographer and you live in a place as beautiful as New Hampshire, you would think that you have your work cut out for you. Sophia LaCava-Bohanan and Andrew Secor took their skills elsewhere. A couple of years ago, at age 16 and solo, Sophia went to a small village in Uganda to work with AIDS Orphans' Education Trust of Uganda (AOET) delivering medication to patients sick with AIDS and helping out in the local primary school. Sophia is now a senior at Hopkinton High School. In January, she returned to Uganda with fellow photographer and Boston University freshman, Andrew Secor to document the village and the people on film. The result is the photographic exhibit, Mzungu Means White, which is at the Kimball-Jenkins Estate in Concord until May 28th. Sophia and Andrew talk about why they felt called to do this work and exhibit, the challenge of balancing philanthropy with cultural sensitivity, and why the people of Uganda have mixed feelings about photographs.

Tim lives in central New Hampshire. He's unable to work because of complications from AIDS. Merrimack Valley Assistance pays part of his rent every month and brings him food. Tim says he has a real sense of security knowing they're there to help.

December 1st is World Aids Day. In the U.S., about 40,000 people each year discover they are infected with the virus. The rate of infection is growing fastest among heterosexual women.