A Tale Of Two Outbreaks: After 40 Years, How Have We Responded To COVID-19 Compared With HIV?

Arlington TX

18 February, 2022

6:46 PM

Description

By Alexis Allison, Fort Worth Report February 17, 2022 When visitors walk into the AIDS Outreach Center, a nondescript building on Beach Street in Fort Worth, they invariably meet Ivan Rubell, the center's soft-spoken greeter who's been living with HIV since 1989. His desk and the newspaper racks nearby brim with condoms, hand sanitizer and masks — items that serve both as gifts for passersby and reminders of the two viruses that have helped shape his world. Rubell's goal, after decades of navigating his own positive status, is to provide newly diagnosed people with hope. He's seen how far the world has come in terms of treatment and acceptance and resources. He's seen, too, the similarities between the early years of the HIV epidemic and those of the COVID-19 pandemic — especially when it comes to stigma and misinformation. In the 40-year span that separates the two outbreaks, much has changed for the better, said Marc Fleming, an HIV researcher and former associate professor at The University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth. But "there's just so much work that still has to be done," he said, especially when it comes to serving communities who are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.