Brogan: World AIDS Day - 2019

December 1st is World AIDS Day, a day that has been set aside since 1988 to acknowledge a pandemic that is still costing the lives of many each year.

AIDS no longer grabs headlines as it once did but that does not mean it is not still a critically serious issue that impact both those infected and those affected. While it is true that many of those living with HIV/AIDS are living longer lives thanks to advances in treatment, the quality of those lives, for many, are hampered by the side-effects of the medications and treatments. It is not, as some would tout, "just the same as having Diabetes and easily managed..." Too often it means living in fear of having an opportunistic infection that may cost you your life.

In New Hampshire, there are still a number of AIDS Service Organizations (ASO's) that help clients to find resources to help them cope with what is still a possible death sentence. These organizations assist clients in finding programs that will help with housing issues, medical issues and survival issues. They also teach prevention and do considerable outreach in an effort to decrease the number of at-risk behaviors. Those who work in these organizations are passionate about their work.

In the 1980's when AIDS was a word that frightened an uninformed populace, it was thousands of volunteers who came together to help those who were infected to die with a degree of dignity. While some shied away from anyone who was infected, these tireless souls spoke up at the powers that seemed ignorant of what was happening, as well as stepping up to form support groups and mechanisms to make a difference, without any thought as to how or why the person had become infected.

When our mutual friend Rock Hudson died in October of 1985, I talked with Doris Day about the rapidly increasing numbers of infections. Sometime later, I spent an afternoon with Elizabeth Taylor at her Nimes Road home in Bel Air. Elizabeth was working exhaustively on behalf of millions suffering from HIV/AIDS. She outlined to me, the ways in which I could help.

I started by driving clients to doctor appointments and delivering meals. I also spent a goodly amount of time merely sitting with those who were dying, offering words of comfort and sometimes playing their favorite song on the keyboard I brought with me.

Later I spent more than a dozen years working for ASO's in New Hampshire. I felt I wanted to make a difference in the state I call home. I once noted that when you worked for an ASO, "...you leave your ego at the door..."

For some years I had the title of Executive Director but truth be told, I was paid $ 26,000 a year to do, among other things, clean the staff bathroom, empty the trash, answer phones, run errands and work on grants, sometimes well into the night. The title, however, helped me to open doors in raising monies and securing sponsorships and getting people to listen and possibly change their misconceptions about HIV/AIDS. I was warmly surprised and delighted by the support and encouragement I received from many people and businesses in New Hampshire.

In 2003, I stepped up, readily, when Deaconess Medical Center in Boston was seeking HIV-Negative men to participate in a clinical trial to find a vaccine for HIV. I didn't hesitate to put myself in potential jeopardy, due to possible side-effects. I rationalized that if this cause truly mattered to me as well as the lives of the hundreds of clients at the agency, then I MUST be a part of a potential change.

In a 2003 interview with James Baker, the Portsmouth Bureau Chief for Foster's Daily Democrat (Dover), he noted, "Sitting at his desk at the Offices of AIDS Response Seacoast , Paul Brogan wistfully pulled out his address book with a list of names and numbers, many of them crossed out over a period of time. 'Each one of these names represents a friend who has died from AIDS . In the past 13 years I've lost more than 50 of them. One of the primary reasons I did this was out of respect to their memory...'"

Indeed, the roster of friends in my life had been virtually obliterated by HIV/AIDS and I truly felt that I had been spared because there was work to be done. To this day I remain HIV-Negative and I do believe that I was guided by a greater force when I spent those years fighting to make a difference.

I hope on this World AIDS Day that everyone will take just a few minutes to remember a family member, a friend or a co-worker, who may have lost their battle or one who continues to struggle. As human beings, known for their compassion, it speaks volumes for each and every one of us and will offer comfort to those who lost someone who mattered. It would be time well spent.