AIDS Exhibition   

An Exhibition of material from the Monash University Library Rare Books Collection
19 March - 17 May 1998

The human race has had to contend with epidemics for many centuries, presumably ever since the population grew dense enough to support spread of micro-organisms by droplet, vector or personal contact. The first epidemic we have hard data on is plague. The organism is Pasteurella pestis, which is carried in the digestive tract of fleas, particularly the rat fleas. The Black Death devastated Europe between 1346 and 1350 - it is estimated that 25 million out of a population of 105 million died. The day to day running of society ceased; peasants stopped ploughing, merchants closed their shops, and people fled their districts. It brought about a sense of urgency, a pursuit of pleasure. Moral standards declined: the cuckold was reviled, the seducer admired. The Muslim church regarded it as the will of Allah, with death being martyrdom for the believer and punishment for the infidel. The Christian Church generally regarded it as God's punishment because man had strayed from the straight and narrow path of true belief[1]. Several public health measures were introduced, especially in Italy which was the hub of Europe. In Venice, incoming ships were not allowed to unload for 40 days (una quarantina) to let any plague on the ship run its course. Accurate statistics of deaths started to be kept, which showed that a person had a 1 in 3 chance of contracting the plague, with death following in 1 - 5 days. The terror inspired by this must have been very great. Sufferers were rarely cared for - the response of the community was to board up the houses of plague patients. Christians fastened onto the idea that the Jews had brought on the Black Death by poisoning the drinking-water. They were therefore treated as scapegoats and were killed or driven out in large numbers. Laws were introduced in Spain to protect them - an early piece of anti-discrimination legislation - but in the two years it took to re-establish normal police and judicial authority, Spain's Jewish Community had been reduced to one quarter its original size.

Leprosy, which had been the most important infectious disease in Europe from the tenth to the thirteenth centuries, was dreaded not because it was very contagious but because it was horribly mutilating. It was seen as a "disease of the soul", caused by divine judgement, and therefore beyond the reach of medicines. Lepers were not accepted into mediaeval hospitals (which were really religious institutions) because they were seen as "unclean". Upon diagnosis, a leper was counted among the dead - a mass was said over his soul and he was isolated from society, either in a leper colony or a lazar house. The order of St. Lazarus was founded in the middle ages specifically to care for lepers. It is still in existence, and it is no coincidence that the order has now concentrated its efforts on the care of AIDS sufferers. Leprosy has also had its scapegoats in Australia. The Chinese who came to the goldfields probably introduced the disease, but so also did other immigrants. The Chinese were seen as more susceptible to leprosy and smallpox and during the 1881-2 epidemic of smallpox there was a tremendous rise of anti-Chinese feeling. They were refused entry to shops, kicked off trams, and spat at in the streets. The Chinese, in their own country, were more aggressive towards aliens. In 1937, on Easter Sunday, soldiers murdered 60 Christian leper men and women at the Yeung-Kong mission Hospital. It is worth recalling contemporary medical opinion, for it is very relevant to the HIV issue:

"No other action could be so certainly followed by an increase of leprosy in the area affected. From now, and it may be for years, every leper will be driven into hiding and no patient with leprosy will dare to come out for treatment or acknowledge his disease. As the most infectious stage of leprosy is the early one, when concealment is easy, it is quite evident that the results of this appalling exhibition of cruelty may be far-reaching and lead to a greatly increased spread of the disease."

It is not known why leprosy began to decline in the sixteenth century, but its place was taken by another mutilating disease - Syphilis. The origins of syphilis in Europe are obscure. Some say Columbus brought it back from America, some say his sailors picked it up in Haiti, and some say that syphilis was already present in Europe but that something happened to convert a benign infection into a highly virulent one. No matter how divided writers are as to its origin, it is agreed that it appeared as a new disease at the Siege of Naples by Charles VIII of France in 1495. Armies in those times were composed largely of mercenaries, and Charles' army consisted of French, Germans, Swiss, Burgundians, Hungarians, Slavs, some English and many Spanish mercenaries. In addition, the army had 800 prostitutes as camp followers. They all arrived at Naples on 22nd Feb 1495. The city was occupied by the troops of Alphonso the Second. They were mainly Spanish mercenaries, and it is they who were reported to have brought syphilis from Barcelona. Therefore, when Alphonso retreated and Charles' army entered the city, they were warmly welcomed by the Neapolitans many of whom were infected with syphilis, as were his own Spanish troops. The army was decimated, and because of its weakness, he was forced to retreat, getting back to Lyons in November 1495. There the army was disbanded, and the men carried syphilis all over Europe. Each country named it after the country from whence it came - Italians called it the Spanish disease, the French called it Neapolitan disease, the English called it the French pox, Poles called it the mal des Allemands and the Russians the mal Polonais. It reached Scotland in 1497, India (with Vasco da Gama) in 1498, and from there Chinese junks took it to Canton in 1505. Thus in 10 years syphilis had circled the Known World, as AIDS has done. The reaction to its appearance was often dramatic: James IV of Scotland decreed that everyone found suffering from it should be banished to the island of Inch[2] The boat left every Friday, and anyone found with the disease in Edinburgh on Monday was to be branded with a red-hot iron.

It was very quickly realised that syphilis was a venereal disease, and it was accordingly seen as a manifestation of the wrath of God. The Edict of the Emperor Maximilian of 1495 refers to syphilis as a "flagellum Dei", and in 1496 the Emperor's secretary, Joseph Grünpeck wrote the first book on syphilis, with a frontispiece demonstrating the wrath of God. But in the next edition he changed this to the Mercy of God - he himself had contracted syphilis, and so had the current Pope (Alexander VI) and two cardinals. The idea of syphilis being the wrath of God finally died with the advent of penicillin; people could taunt the Church with "where is your wrath of God now?" With the present AIDS epidemic, the established churches have steered clear of blame (as in Grünpeck's first woodcut) and have emphasised pastoral care (as in his second). And yet, the Times Mirror Gallup Survey published in February 1988 reported that 48% of republican voters and 45% of democrat voters considered AIDS to be God's punishment for immoral sexual behaviour.

The Australian community, at least as reflected by newspaper reports in the first few years, seemed to take a different attitude to medically-acquired HIV (by transfusion of blood or Factor VIII concentrate, or vertically - transmitted during birth) than it did to HIV infection acquired by homosexual activity or intravenous drug abuse. On the one hand is innocence and tragedy, on the other is guilt and retribution. But organisms such as the spirochaete and the HIV have no morality and move solely according to where they are placed. And it is efforts to curb this transmission which have exercised the minds of public health authorities for 500 years.

In mediaeval times, public bath-houses were quite popular, either of the tub type or, more commonly, of the sweat type. In England these latter were called stews, because that's what one did, and the fact that stew also came to mean brothel indicates the level of morality in these public bathing institutions. Also in the baths were barbers and barber-surgeons who practiced venesections (bleeding), cupping, leeching and treating with the clyster. In 1496 there was a proclamation in Nuremberg forbidding people suffering from the French disease to bathe or to undergo venesection - a recognition of extra-genital transmission. And all through Europe large numbers of public bath-houses were closed: in 1546 Henry VIII sent trumpeters into Southwark to proclaim that bath-houses were not to be operated as brothels.

There is a close connection between war, sex and venereal disease, and for that reason the most interesting information about measures used for VD control comes from the military literature. In response to the alarming rate of VD in the British Army and Navy, a committee in 1862 recommended that prostitutes at garrison and sea port-towns be induced to present themselves for periodic examination and treatment in a Lock hospital[3] if necessary; and that soldiers be punished, not for contracting disease, but for concealing it. The first Contagious Diseases Act (1864) required that a woman had to be suspected not only of being a prostitute but also diseased before examination was compulsory. In the Second Act of 1866 the mere fact of being suspected of being a prostitute was enough to justify examination. In 1869 Josephine Butler organised the Ladies National Association for the repeal of the Acts, on the grounds that (a) prostitutes were subjects of the Queen and in possession of certain constitutional rights, and (b) public health would not be improved by making them alone, of all British subjects, liable to arbitrary arrest, examination and detention. With the support of thousands of women (including Florence Nightingale) the acts were repealed: they had been proven ineffective in the reduction of VD anyway. The objections to the use of compulsory HIV testing are very reminiscent of this episode.

At the outbreak of the first World War a prophylactic measure was already known : Metchinkoff had shown that calomel salve prevented inoculation syphilis in chimpanzees, and Neisser had shown that silver salts were effective against the gonococcus. Therefore, prophylaxis consisted of men reporting to stations at their barracks, marked by a blue light, as soon as possible after sexual exposure to have the urethra irrigated with argynol and potassium permanganate, and to have Calomel salve applied externally. There were "Blue Light" depots at every barracks and at Australia House in London. Later, soldiers going on weekend leave were issued with little prophylactic packs called "Blue Lights" designed for self-administration of the above regime.

Education was considered very important, and soldiers were told that continence is never harmful ; that incontinence is not an essential feature of manliness; that alcohol diminishes self-control; how to recognise the venereal diseases; the importance of early treatment; the danger of concealment and the use of quack remedies; and the importance of keeping fit for the Army and civil life (especially marriage) afterwards. But the paradox occurred to many a soldier, as it must also do to many a young person to-day, "if intercourse is not necessary for my health, and if I shall be better off without it, why does my officer go out of his way to make it safe"?

Condoms are mentioned surprisingly infrequently in the Army literature They had been recommended by Fallopius, in the form of a linen sheath, for the prevention of syphilis in 1564. Subsequently, they were made from the caecums of lambs, sheep, calves and goats. It is these condoms that were described by the great French syphilologist Phillipe Ricordas "an armour against pleasure, and a cobweb against infection". In 1844 Goodyear and Hancock first vulcanised rubber, and condoms of crepe rubber were produced with arresting trade names such as "The Dreadnought". They were issued to troops in great numbers in World War II: in New Guinea they were in great demand, not for their intended purpose, but as the only means of keeping the matches dry[4]. Why were they used sparingly in the Great War? One English officer refused to issue them routinely to men going on leave on the grounds that "like the Schoolboy's half-crown, it will only burn a hole in his pocket until it is used". This is the same nation whose Air Force Chiefs of Staff decided that the newly-invented parachutes should not be issued because it would only encourage pilots to desert their aircraft when the going got tough.

Prophylaxis, carried out within two hours of exposure, was effective in preventing VD. Among American troops at Bordeaux the venereal infection rate was 200 per thousand per year in December 1917. When the local brothels were put out of bounds, the rate fell slightly. With insistence on prophylaxis it fell to 50. Among the black troops the rate had been higher - 300 per thousand per year - and they were treated to compulsory prophylaxis: a urethral washout on return from leave whether or not they admitted to exposure. The rate fell to 20. It is now known that early treatment with anti-viral drugs following the accidental pricking of one's finger with a contaminated hypodermic needle can reduce the chance of HIV infection.

In Australia, the cumulative number of HIV infections to the end of 1996 was about 16,700[5]. There have been about 5,500 deaths and about 11,000 people are living with HIV infection. About 85% of infections occur following sexual contact between men. In Africa, most infections follow heterosexual intercourse; in Russia, most follow intravenous drug abuse. The incidence of AIDS and the number of newly-acquired HIV infections in Australia have both been falling slowly since 1994. While this is also happening in the USA, it certainly isn't in Africa, Russia, Thailand, India and China.

Where did the virus come from? There are actually three viruses which cause AIDS. HIV-1 group M (for "main) is responsible for over 99% of the world's 13 million cumulative AIDS cases to date. HIV-1 group O (for "outlier") and HIV-2 have caused the rest. The earliest confirmed case of AIDS was in a Norwegian sailor who was infected with HIV-1 group O in Cameroon in 1961-2[6].. The earliest evidence of HIV-1 group M is from 1959 and HIV-2 probably dates from 1965. All three viruses seem to have emerged around the same time, the result of zoonotic transfer from monkeys to man in Africa. This may have resulted from butchery of the monkeys, or keeping them as pets. An alternative view is that vaccines prepared from viruses grown in monkey kidney were contaminated with HIV. This implies a contributory role, albeit unwitting, for the medical profession - a point not lost on those who look for conspiracy or who oppose vaccination.

Looking back, one can see that the initial attitudes of the public to the AIDS epidemic in the twentieth century have their origins centuries earlier. What might one expect from HIV infection in the future? Firstly a diminished virulence. Syphilis, in its first twenty years, was a frighteningly virulent disease, with many deaths occurring in the primary stage. Within a generation, less acute manifestations (e.g. ulcers) were seen, and more chronic manifestations (e.g. swellings or gummata). Zinsser suggests that adaptive changes take place with repeated passage of the parasite through the same species of host. A disease that is thought of as mild may be devastating to a population which has never been exposed to it. In 1875 the King of Fiji returned home, suffering from measles after a visit to Sydney. Almost 50,000 Fijians out of a population of l50,000 died in the subsequent epidemic.

Secondly, HIV will be around for a long time. Although we can cure syphilis, there is no vaccine for it and it is still going strong 500 years after its first appearance. Prospects for an HIV vaccine are bleak at the moment, because the virus uses host cell DNA to reproduce and "none of the daughters looks like mum". Epidemics have always been extremely costly to a country in terms of disruption to commerce and loss of population. The cost of treatment of people with HIV with newly-developed anti-viral drugs and the medical support of people with AIDS and opportunistic infection is very high and it is beyond the ability of Third World countries to provide it.

The HIV/AIDS Collection in the Rare Books Library of Monash University comes from two main sources. The first followed the closure of Fairfield Hospital in 1996, when a suitable home needed to be found for the Ian Goller collection of early AIDS/HIV material. After discussion with Richard Overell, Lee Visser, Ian Goller's executor, agreed to the transfer. In addition, Louise Lyons, Director of Information Technology at Fairfield Hospital, gave permission to go through the remnants of the collection at the Vivian Bullwinkel Education Centre and Social Biology Resource Centre. This included the file of newspaper cuttings which is so useful for the interpretation of society's attitudes to the developing epidemic. The second source was the material assembled by Richard Travers and presented to Monash in May 1997 as part of the ongoing transfer of his medical collection.

Dr. Richard Travers,

March 1998.

View

1. A Service to Celebrate the Life of Ian Edward Goller 1943-1993

Ian Goller was a medical scientist specialising in immunology. He was educated at RMIT and the University of Melbourne. In 1982-83 he worked in San Francisco with various research teams including the University of California Epidemiology Group. He returned to Melbourne in 1984 and helped establish the Victorian AIDS Council and Gay Men's Health Centre. He was noted as an educator with the Public Health Unit of the Victorian Health Department, and wrote many papers on AIDS and the need for education.

This copy of the booklet from the funeral service and the photograph of Ian Goller were provided by Lee Visser, Ian's executor.

2. Monger, Edith.

Bibliography of Australian HIV/AIDS publications / compiled by Edith Monger. (Canberra : Australian Govt. Pub. Service, 1991)

A useful bibliography, arranged in chronological order within topics, listing many unpublished and minor sources, and listing papers presented at conferences as separate entries.

3. AIDS research register /AIDS Unit, Commonwealth Department of Community Services and Health. 1988 ed. (Canberra :The Department, 1988)

Lists the AIDS-related research projects funded by the Commonwealth AIDS Grants (CARG) program, as well as others brought to the notice of the AIDS Unit. Further registers in this collection were published in 1990 and 1992.

4. National AIDS bulletin : a monthly bulletin of events, information and reviews. (Canberra : Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations Inc., 1987- )

In 1987, the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations produced an internal newsletter known as the AFAO National AIDS Update. It was realised that the material was of interest to outsiders, so later that year it became the became the National AIDS Bulletin. This has been a very important source of information about AIDS, including reports of local events and opinion and of overseas conferences. Initially concentrating on the scientific aspects, it subsequently dealt with the social and cultural aspects as well, including imaginative literature.

The volume on display is open at the cover of the March 1994 edition. On the facing page is a cutting from the Melbourne Age in which Senator Richardson suggests that he would be "looking very carefully" at the future funding of the National Aids Bulletin. Perhaps that is why Stephen Dunne's story, Butt Plugs, was withheld from the November/December 1994 edition.

5. Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations Inc. National AIDS Information Clearinghouse. Monthly Listings. (Canberra, Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, 1988-1993)

A useful annotated bibliography, intended to complement Medline and other sources, dealing with public policy, social, behavioural and educational publications on HIV. It was distributed with the National AIDS Bulletin until publication ceased in 1993, when the funding ran out.

6. Travel Safe. Health Information for Travellers: GP's Kit. (Canberra, Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health, 1995)

7. Travel Safe: an AIDs Information Campaign directed at Travellers. [kit in the shape of a briefcase] (Canberra, Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health, 1991)

This program, part of the National AIDS Strategy, targeted travellers to and from foreign parts, encouraging safe sex practices.

8. AIDS in Australia /Eric Timewell, Victor Minichiello, David Plummer, editors (New York: Prentice Hall, 1992)

9. The AIDS manual : a comprehensive reference on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) / compiled and coordinated by the Albion Street (AIDS) Centre, Sydney. 2nd ed. (Sydney : NSW Government Printing Office, 1989)

This was a project of the NSW Department of Health. The Albion Street Centre AIDS manual was an important reference for HIV medicine in Australia.

10. Report to the Health Commission of Victoria on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (A.I.D.S.) / by the Victorian A.I.D.S. Committee. (Melbourne : Health Commission of Victoria, 1985)

The Victorian AIDS Council was established in October 1993. At the time of publication fifty-five cases of AIDS had been identified and this report gives recommendations for dealing with epidemic of many more cases expected.

11. The AIDS knowledge base : a textbook on HIV disease from the University of California, San Francisco, and the San Francisco General Hospital / edited by P.T. Cohen, Merle A. Sande, Paul A. Volberding. (Waltham, MA : Medical Pub. Group, 1990)

This text, covering every aspect of HIV disease, illustrates the enormous amount of clinical and laboratory research undertaken in just eight years. Among the many contributing authors is Dr. Suzanne Crowe, from Fairfield Hospital.

12. James, John S., 1941-

AIDS treatment news. (Berkeley, Calif. : Celestial Arts, 1989-1991) 2 v.

v. 1. Issues 1 through 75, April through March 1989 --. v. 2. Issues 76 through 125, April 1989 through April 1991. v. 3 Issues 126 through 189,. May 1991 through December 1993.

This project began in 1986 as a weekly column in the San Francisco Sentinel, a gay newspaper. The articles deal with experimental and complementary treatments and for an important reference source for information about them.

13. Videx (didanosine). Product Monograph. (Princeton, N. J., Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals, [1992?])

14. Retrovir. Zidovudine. Product Monograph. ([n.p.], Wellcome, [1991])

15. [Documents from the launch of the programme of therapy using a combination of zidovudine (Retrovir) and lamividune (3TC), April 1996.]

Since 1993, combinations of antiretroviral drugs have been evaluated and are now known to be more effective than one drug alone.

16. HIV briefs : national treatment information project. 1 (Oct. 1989)- (Surry Hills, N.S.W. : Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, 1989- )

Each issue has a distinctive title. "Produced by the National Information Project for the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations."

17. HIV herald : monthly magazine of National Treatments Project. Jan. 1991- (Darlinghurst, NSW : Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, 1991- )

On display vols 3-4 (1993-94)

18. HIV tests and treatments: new and improved. (Sydney : Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, 1997)

This booklet was produced for distribution among those affected by AIDS.

19. Godwin, John.

Australian HIV/AIDS legal guide / John Godwin, Julie Hamblin, David Patterson ; Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations. (Sydney : Federation Press, 1991)

The first Australian publication to provide systematic information about the wide range of legal issues surrounding the AIDS/HIV, with a comparative analysis of the various state legislations.

20. Intergovernmental Committee on AIDS (Australia). Legal Working Party.

The final report of the Legal Working Party of the Intergovernmental Committee on AIDS, November 1992. (Canberra : Dept. of Health, Housing and Community Services, 1992)

21. Intergovernmental Committee on AIDS (Australia). Legal Working Party.

Discussion Papers. Series 1-3. (Canberra : Dept. of Health, Housing and Community Services, 1991-1992)

The IGCA was set up in response to a recommendation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. The Discussion Papers constitute a comprehensive review of the issues.

22. National HIV/AIDS strategy : a policy information paper.

(Canberra : Australian Govt. Pub. Service, 1989)

The early response to the epidemic (1983-84) was dictated by doctors, gay organisations and State Governments. This was the first Federal strategy, known as the "White Paper". Among other things, it called for more emphasis on public education, including a national television campaign (the alarmist "Grim Reaper" being one result.)

23. National Conference on AIDS (1st : 1985 : Melbourne, Vic.)

Meeting the challenge : papers of the first National Conference on AIDS, Friday, 15 November 1985 and Saturday, 16 November 1985 / editorial consultant Adam Carr. (Canberra : Australian Govt. Pub. Service, 1986)

Subsequent conferences include 2nd (Sydney, 1986), 3rd (Hobart, 1988), 4th (Canberra, 1990), 5th Sydney, 1992) and 6th (Sydney, 1994).

24. Morbidity and mortality weekly report : MMWR / Center for Disease Control. (Atlanta, Ga., U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Center for Disease Control, 1984)

The MMWR , which is a news bulletin issued by the Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta, was important in bringing up-to-date information on the spread of the AIDS epidemic not just to physicians, but to the public, since it was brief, authoritative and not subject to the peer-review process of the standard journals which holds up publication by many months. The first reports, dealing with the occurrence of Pneumocystis pneumonia and Kaposi's sarcoma in homosexual men, appeared in MMWR in 1981.

On display, issues for 13 July, 26 October, 30 November, and the Annual Summary 1983. These copies are from the Ian Goller collection.

25. Australian HIV surveillance report

/ NHMRC Special Unit in AIDS Epidemiology and Clinical Research. No. 1 (1985)- (Darlinghurst, NSW : The Centre, 1985- )

It is probable that Australia's first case of AIDS, though not recognised as such till 1993[7], was that of a 72-year-old man who died of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in 1981. In 1985 AIDS Co-ordinating Unit, Commonwealth Department of Health, started issuing bulletins of the epidemic. The volumes were numbered retrospectively by John Kaldor, when he took over as Deputy Director of the NH&MRC Special Unit in 1989. In this collection, vols. 6-10 consist only of the Quarterly Supplements, which contain all the epidemiological data of the monthly sheets and detailed analyses and feature articles as well.

On display vols 1-10, (1985-1994)

26. Condoman.

This poster was based on the comic character, the "Phantom". It was produced by the Queensland Department of Health and Community Services for distribution among the Aborigines and Islanders.

27. Good Blood. AIDS. [Educational charts for use in Papua New Guinea.] ([n.p.], [n.d.])

An explanation of the effects of HIV infection and the simple rules for avoiding it. The text is in English and Pidgin. This copy is available courtesy of Dr Robert Finlay-Jones.

28. The Knockout AIDS Test Today.

This is another poster aimed at the Aboriginal communities. It was designed by Dean Dobson and Joseph Banks, and is a product of the Streetwize ComicsWorkshop.

29. Streetwize Comics. The "Gotta Know" series.

1. Young and free.

2. Caught up in it all.

3. The big noters.

4. Proud kooris.

5. Using affects all of us.

6. Positively living.

Written by Monica Morgan and drawn by Frank McLeod, the series was funded by the Commonwealth AIDS Prevention & Education Program. This particular series was written for the Aboriginal communities.

30. "You are not alone".

This poster was issued by the Women Partners of Bisexual Men Project and funded by the AIDS Bureau of the New South Wales Department of Health.

31. Positive women : women with HIV/AIDS speak out / written by the Positive Women's Writing Group for the Positive Women's Project. (Carlton North, Vic. : Womens Health Resource Collective, [1992?])

While the great majority of Australia's AIDS cases are among men who have sex with men, women have contracted HIV by transfusion, from a bisexual partner, or from intravenous drug abuse. Early on, there was little recognition of their plight and this, and other publications, addresses it.

32. [Poster encouraging the use of condoms], produced by "Europe Against AIDS"

33. Rigby, Hugh and Liebstag, Susan. Hard Wear: the art of prevention. (Edmonton : Quon Editions, 1994)

A global survey of posters advocating the use of condoms and the practice of safe sex. Much Australian material is featured.

35. Courtenay, Bryce, 1933-

April Fool's Day : a modern tragedy. (Port Melbourne, Vic. : W. Heinemann Australia, 1993)

From 1983 to November 1984, when heat-treated Factor VIII concentrate began to be used, many people with haemophilia became infected with HIV - 260 out of a national population of 1600 at risk. Brice Courtenay's son Damien, who had haemophilia, was one of them. He died in April 1991, aged 24 years.

36. Round the parlours! A Streetwize Comic production! (1992)

Workers in the sex industry are at risk of HIV infection because of multiple partners, and the fact that the presence of an other venereal disease with genital lesions increases the risk of transfer. This comic emphasises the rights of sex workers to take protective measures.

37. HIV/AIDS and prisons : proceedings of a conference held 19-21 November 1990 / edited by Jennifer Norberry, Matt Gaughwin and Sally-Anne Gerull. (Canberra : Australian Institute of Criminology, 1991)

Sex does occur in Australian gaols and it is often not consensual. The prevalence of HIV is not accurately known: in the USA the rate of seropositivity for HIV among prisoners varies between 1% and 17%, the latter figure being for one New York gaol. Intravenous drug abuse also occurs in these institutions. The rate of new infections can be reduced by the free availability of condoms and a needle-exchange system.

38. Streetwize Comics. Gaolwize. National edition, Sydney 1991.

Deals with AIDS in prison, including the hazards of intravenous drug abuse and the program for cleaning a second-hand fit (syringe and needle). Note the 2+2+2 pamphlet (rinse the fit twice in water, twice in household bleach, then twice in water before use) alongside the comic.

39. Roberts, C. E. (Charles E.), 1965-

Infected queer : notes of an activist / Charles Roberts; with a foreword by David Herkt. 1st ed. (Melbourne : Nosukumo, 1994)

An angry account of the public struggle for adequate research and treatment. "The one person I hold responsible for what will probably be my AIDS-related death is Ronald Reagan".

40. Dessaix, Robert, 1944-

Night letters : a journey through Switzerland and Italy / Robert Dessaix ; edited and annotated by Igor Miazmov. (Sydney : Macmillan, 1996)

An imaginary account which is drawn from the author's own experiences.

41. Dreuilhe, Emmanuel.

Mortal embrace : living with Aids / Emmanuel Dreuilhe; translated by Linda Coverdale. (London : Faber, 1989)

This is a translation from the French of Corps a corps, (1987). This translation was originally published: New York : Hill and Wang, 1988.

42. Stewart, Graeme (editor). Could it be HIV? The clinical recognition of HIV infection. Second edition. Sydney: Australasian Medical Publishing Company, 1994.

A series of articles appearing in the Medical Journal of Australia, republished in association with the Australian Society for HIV Medicine.

43. Stewart, Graeme (editor). Managing HIV. Sydney: Australasian Medical Publishing Company, 1997.

A series of articles appearing in the Medical Journal of Australia, republished in association with the Australian Society for HIV Medicine, as part of the National HIV Education Program for Doctors.

Both these titles were distributed free to registered medical practitioners - the first to all 43,000 and the second to those who asked for it.

44. Rayner, Claire, (1931- ) Safe sex. (London : Sphere Books, 1987)

A typical popular account.

45. Proud Pete: flip me back to front.

(North Seattle, Washington, Population Dynamics, [n.d.])

Demonstrates the use of the condom.

46. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and other Sexually Transmissible Diseases: a project kit for schools, produced by the AIDS/STD Unit, Health Department Victoria. (Melbourne, Health Department, 1991)

The amount of material made available for the education of school children is impressive, and contrasts with the relative silence of past generations. One story, probably apocryphal, has a young boy visiting his friend and overhearing the mother tell her husband that she'd just found a condom on the patio. "What's a patio?", asked the boy.

47. AIDS education [kit] : issues and perspectives for Catholic schools K-12. (Sydney : Catholic Education Offices, 1987)

43 slides, 1 sound cassette, 48 overhead transparency masters, 9 printed sections (213 p.)

Packaged in ring binder. Cassette and slides title: Helping Robbie. Contents:- Information for the school community -- Teacher's handbook -- Teaching about AIDS across the curriculum of the Catholic school -- Skills development and values clarification activities -- Reviews of video resources -- First aid and health procedures --Support documents and readings.

48. Flux, Angela. Working around AIDS together : resources for sexuality education in a Christian framework. (Melbourne : AIDS Ministry of Education, within the Division of Community Services, Diocese of Melbourne, 1988)

The established Churches adopted the view, from the start, that HIV infection should be treated with compassion and that the best preventative is education - hence these comprehensive guides. The Catholic one does not mention the use of condoms.

49. Tatchell, Peter, 1952- Safer sexy : the guide to gay sex safely / Peter Tatchell; photographs by Robert Taylor. (London ; New York : Freedom Editions, 1994)

A beautifully-photographed guide whose explicit nature caused much controversy on publication.

50. Carbery, Graham, 1947- A history of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. (Parkville, Vic. : Australian Lesbian & Gay Archives Inc., 1995)

This mentions the reaction to the arrival of HIV in Sydney and its effect on public attitudes to the gay community.

51. Garfield, Simon. The end of innocence : Britain in the time of AIDS. (London : Faber & Faber, 1994)

52. Grmek, Mirko Drazen. History of AIDS : emergence and origin of a modern pandemic / Mirko D. Grmek ; translated by Russell C. Maulitz and Jacalyn Duffin. (Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 1990)

Translation of: Histoire du SIDA.

53. Shilts, Randy. And the band played on : politics, people, and the AIDS epidemic. (New York : St. Martin's Press, 1987)

An authoritative first-hand account of the day-to-day unfolding of the epidemic in the USA.

54. Lewis, Milton. Thorns on the rose. The history of sexually transmitted diseases in Australia in international perspective. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1998.

Chapter 9 (p. 407-463) deals with HIV/AIDS.

55. Connor, Steve.

The search for the virus / Steve Connor and Sharon Kingman. 2nd ed. (London, England ; New York, N.Y., USA : Penguin, 1989)

The story of the discovery of the virus, the second edition setting the record straight (see below).

56. SIDA : les faits, l'espoir /sous la direction du Pr. Luc Montagnier. 8th ed., rev., (Paris :Med-edition, 1993)

This copy was obtained from Le Bus Transeuropéen contre le SIDA, which R Travers encountered in Florence in 1995. It was staffed by Paris students and funded by the Mairie de Paris, via le Kiosque, an AIDS organisation.

57. Gallo, Robert C.,

Virus hunting : AIDS, cancer, and the human retrovirus : a story of scientific discovery. (New York, NY : Basic Books, 1991)

Robert Gallo and his team have been at the forefront of retrovirus research. In 1983 Luc Montagnier isolated a virus from AIDS material, which he called Lymphadenopathy-Associated Virus. He sent samples to Robert Gallo for his information. Later that year, Gallo announced the discovery of Human T Lymphocyte Virus III as the cause of AIDS. It was later shown that LAV and HTLV III were identical and that Gallo's specimens had probably been contaminated with Montagnier's virus. It took some time for Montagnier's priority in the discovery to be acknowledged - the dispute involved not only scientific kudos but the royalties on patented serological tests. An amicable settlement was eventually reached between the two parties. The virus was renamed Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in 1986.

58. Garrett, Laurie.

The coming plague : newly emerging diseases in a world out of balance. (London: Virago Press, 1994)

A popular account of the epidemics that might occur if exotic viruses become established in the human population.

59. French, Robert.

Mossies could spread AIDS : an annotated list of Australian media references on AIDS, 1981-1985 / Robert French & Ross Duffin. (Sydney : Gay History Project, 1986)

References to AIDS in the majority of Australia's major newspapers. The entries are arranged chronologically and list the headline only.

Parenthetically, mosquitos cannot spread AIDS. To act as a vector there must be a reproductive cycle of the parasite within the mosquito and this doesn't happen with HIV, nor is the amount of virus on the proboscis of the mosquito enough to transmit the infection.[8]

60. "AIDS `hysteria' hits gays", Sun, 27 June 1983. "AIDS kills tourist", Sun, 28 June 1983.

[Press Cuttings Book, Goller Collection.]

The story of 27 June 1983 begins, "There had been only one confirmed case of AIDS in Australia, a health expert said yesterday. And there were another five suspected cases, the Chairman of the Health Department's AIDS committee, Dr. Allan Crawford said." It continues, "Sydney Hospital registrar Dr. Chris Vickers believes reports of up to 19 suspected cases were the result of hysteria surrounding AIDS."

The next day the Sun carried the story of the first Australian to die of AIDS. "The lethal disease AIDS has claimed its first Australian life. A Sydney homosexual has died from the incurable disease that has claimed hundreds of lives in the U.S. Sydney specialist Dr. Harry Mitchelmore said yesterday that the man died three weeks after arriving in Canada for a holiday. Dr. Mitchelmore, a Kings Cross venerologist, had been treating the man for suspected AIDS symptoms for six months. Nine months ago the man came down with night sweats and diarrhoea. Dr. Mitchelmore said he did not know if the man was infected with the disease in Australia or Canada."

61. Goddard, Martyn.

The HIV/AIDS media hand book : contacts and information for journalists and others reporting on HIV/AIDS / written by Martyn Goddard & Hernan Pinto-Lopez. (Canberra : ANCA, 1992)

Press reports, in the early days, were often sensational and did not readily distinguish between HIV infection and the syndrome of AIDS. In addition, scores of organisations appeared which dealt with the problems of AIDS research, information, patient support and so forth, on a Federal, State or local level. A representative of the People Living With Aids organisation told the present writer that PLWA actually stood for People Living With Acronyms.

62. Grimshaw, Michelle.

An anthology of mourning rituals utilised by gay men in response to AIDs related deaths / Michelle Grimshaw. (Herston, Qld : National Centre for HIV Social Research, 1993?)

63. Lyssiotis, Peter.

The harmed circle. (Melbourne : Masterthief Enterprises, [1992]) Edition of 10 copies only, each signed by the author.

Peter Lyssiotis is a Melbourne artist and poet. He specialises in surrealistic photography and "livres d'artistes". Images from this limited edition book were displayed in "Don't leave me this way: art in the age of AIDS", an exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra in 1994.

64. Jones, Mathew.

Silence = death, or, The lifecycle of the contemporary homosexual / actual photos by Mathew Jones. (Melbourne : 200 Gertrude Street ; Brisbane : Institute of Modern Art, 1991)

Catalogue of an exhibition held at 200 Gertrude Street, 3-25 May ; Institute of Modern Art, 4-27 July 1991.

65. AIDS : images of the epidemic. (Geneva : World Health Organisation, 1994)

A global survey of the disease and its effects.

66. Gott, Ted (editor).

Don't leave me this way. Art in the age of AIDS. (Canberra: National Gallery of Australia, 1994)

The first such exhibition to be held in any national gallery in the world.

67. Yang, William.

Sadness (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1996).

A professional photographer, Yang presents a photo-essay about his family and friends, some of whom have been photographed in various stages of their illness. The AIDS pamphlets feature attractive, healthy-looking models. The posters are designed to be catchy and often funny. Armchair theorists may have their opinions of AIDS, but for those who have had first-hand experience there is no doubt that this is a terrible disease. There is nothing glamorous about it.

68. Day, Lorraine, M.D.

AIDS--what the government isn't telling you / (Palm Desert, Calif. : Rockford Press, 1991)

In this book, an orthopaedic trauma surgeon maintains that, in her investigation of the AIDS epidemic in the USA, "virtually every medical and governmental agency I dealt with had a hidden agenda, mainly political, that kept them from handling the AIDS epidemic according to well-established public health guidelines".

69. West, John E.

Important facts you should know about AIDS : diseases and diets the authorities fail to tell you : Pasteur, Beauchamp & AIDS. (Bundaberg, Qld. :AIDS Biological Research Centre, 1987)

The AIDS Biological Research Centre operates from a G.P.O. Box in Bundaberg, Qld. West claims that orthomolecular medicine (including megadose Vitamin C) can cure AIDS.

70. Fry, T. C.

The great AIDS hoax. (Manchaca, Texas : Health Excellence Systems, 1989)

Fry maintains that AIDS is simply a re-naming of many old immunodeficiency diseases, specifically syphilis. He also tends to believe in a conspiracy theory - the Centre for Disease Control was in danger of budget cuts, needed new research areas, invented the AIDS story (an atrociously conceived scam) etc.

71. Adams, Jad.

AIDS : the HIV myth. (London : Macmillan, 1989)

This book argues that HIV does not cause AIDS but is a harmless passenger virus, and that there has been built up an empire of HIV research with no funding for research into the real (but unspecified) cause.

72. Brighthope, Ian, M.D., 1946-

You can knock out AIDS with vitamin C & immune nutrients / by Ian Brighthope with Peter Fitzgerald. (Elsternwick, Vic. : Biocentres, 1987)

Gives details of treatment with megadose vitamin C (1000-30,000 mg. per day).

"We have to date not had a single death amongst our patients with full-blown AIDS who have continued on the Vitamin C and Nutrition Program".

73. West, John E.

The AIDS time bomb. (Bundaberg, Qld. : Veritas Press, 1988)

Identifies "modern medicine's most fundamental weakness - the treatment of disease without addressing its basic cause at the molecular and spiritual levels". The book traces the probable roots of the AIDS epidemic to the contamination of human vaccines with AIDS-like viruses.

74. Bearden, T. E. Lt. Col. (Retd.)

AIDS Biological Warfare. (Greenville, Texas, Tesla Book Co., 1988)

"God willing, the new electromagnetic medicine so long suppressed will flower, and save the millions otherwise yet to die". This remarkable book asserts that the US made the AIDS virus at Fort Detrick, in Maryland and that the Soviet agents stole it and contaminated WHO vaccines with it. With their knowledge of electromagnetic medicine - specifically the Kaznacheyev effect ("death photons" and their phase-conjugated "healing photons") the Soviets are able to guide and stimulate the progress of a disease such as AIDS, once it is introduced into a target population.

75. Williams, Andre.

God heals, AIDS kills : God healed me of the AIDS virus : testimony of Andre Williams / by Gus Stevenson. (Gary, IN : Taliaferro Pub. Co., 1993)

One of several accounts of apparent divine healing.

76. Tenney, Louise

AIDS, a nutritional approach. (USA, Woodland Books, 1986)

Ms. Tenney recommends herbs to build the immune system, in particular Dr. Christopher's "anti-plague" formula. The old-fashioned version of this preparation was known as "Four Thieves Vinegar".

(a) Posters.

Don't be a fool, cover your tool. (Streetwize Comics)

You can not get AIDS from.... (Streetwize Comics)

Be smart, practise safe sex art. (Streetwize Comics)

No! Never! Never share needles (Streetwize Comics)

Knock out AIDS test today. (Streetwize Comics)

Condoman (Commonwealth Dept. of Community Services & Health)

Europe against AIDS

Do you think your partner could be having sex with men?

So when do we stop using condoms?

(b) Pamphlets

Streetwize Comics #15. Special AIDS issue

Streetwize Comics. Over 18.

Safe sex!

HIV-AIDS services in the ACT

Safe sex and AIDS

2x2x2 (in Macedonian)

Preventing STD's and HIV: everybody needs to know

Safe. What's safe and what's not

Safe sex comic series.
Jason "on the prowl"
Jason "no balloons, no party"
Jason "playing it safe"

AIDS Comix. Getting on.

Virgin condoms

Is your sex life putting you at risk?

Help stop AIDS

Community action in response to HIV/AIDS

Homosexuality: a pamphlet series for teachers and youth workers. [Tasmanian AIDS Council]

Homosexuality?
What is a homosexual?
Gay youth: young person's perspective. Parent's perspective.
Health and gay youth
Coming out.
Homophobia
Needs of gay and lesbian students
Lesson plans
Resources for teachers

Learning about safer sex. [Intellectual Disability Program]

Talking about safer sex. [Intellectual Disability Program]

Love is not enough

Big picture, little stories

Charlie and the boys learn about AIDS

"Lighten up". Use a condom [drink coaster]

Speed wise speed safe

Blasting?

men having sex [postcard]

shoot clean - fuck safe [postcard]

HIV positive or negative. Choose safe sex.

Prevention of AIDS. Everybody's business [postcard]

Wanna get on without getting AIDS?

What is safe sex? [adhesive sticker]

The Andrew Shaw memorial fund

Confused? Want to know more?

Sex can be safe if...

Not guilty

The Disability Discrimination Act

So what can one person do about HIV-AIDS?

AIDS. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

Are you at risk for STDs [Serbian version]

Tonight's the night

The safer sex condom guide

December 1, World AIDS Day [adhesive sticker]

Danila Dilba Medical Service [adhesive sticker]

If it's not on it's not on [adhesive sticker]

You can catch me! [adhesive sticker]

Cover yourself against AIDS [adhesive sticker]

Exhibition catalogue prepared by Dr. Richard Travers, with assistance from Richard Overell, Rare Books Librarian.

[1] This is the Old Testament view and contrasts with the theory of demonic possession found in the New Testament.

[2] Note that the Italian word for island, isola, gave us the term 'isolation'.

[3] In medieval times the Lazar houses had bins of rags at their entrances for the lepers to use to wipe their sores clean, prior to admission. The French word for rags is loques, and its homophone became the English word for the hospital, used for patients with syphilis after leprosy died out.

[4] information from Dr. James Smibert.

[5] National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research. HIV/AIDS and related diseases in Australia: annual surveillance report 1997.

[6] Hooper, E. Sailors and star-bursts, and the arrival of HIV. British Medical Journal 315:1689-1691, (20-27 December) 1997.

[7] Gerrard JG, McGahan SI, Millikan JS et al. Medical Journal of Australia 160: 247-250 (7 March) 1994.

[8] see Doherty, Richard. Letters in the Medical Journal of Australia, 150: 665-666 (1989) and 151: 339 (1990)