When I was 8, I decided that I would become a doctor. At 13, I read Michener’s “Hawaii” and, in so doing, became aware of Father (Saint) Damien’s selfless work among people afflicted with leprosy, now called Hansen’s disease. In 1975, I stopped in Hawaii on my post-medical school round-the-world trek and, on Sept. 1, 1977, returned to the islands for good.
Damien deserves to be a saint, but during his life on Oahu and Molokai, he was far from saintly. Seeing the way people were mistreated, Damien set out to minister to both the spirits and the bodies of people who had been discarded on Molokai. He raged against the government. He ignored the directions of his bishop. He built a church and built up the self-respect of the people he served. He dedicated his life to the cause during his lifetime and, ultimately, gave his own life in its entirety.
Little did I know when I relocated here that I would soon be encountering a disorder that was even more deadly than Hansen’s disease and one that sadly mirrored in all respects the public reaction to leprosy a century earlier. Of course, I’m talking about AIDS.
When AIDS arrived in Hawaii, I found myself treating the first cases, long before the disease was named. In fact, I served on the committee that agreed to call the disease Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in August of 1982, a year after Dr. Michael Gottlieb published the article that established June 5, 1981, as the unholy birthday of a disease that continues to take the lives of people in Hawaii and around the world.
At that time, there was no known treatment and, until 1984, little understanding of what was the triggering agent for a broad range of infectious diseases.
Knowing we had to prepare for what would surely come, I gathered people together who shared my concerns and we established the Life Foundation, one of the first AIDS organizations, with the intent to do whatever we could to intercept the disease and teach people how to avoid infection. The organizational meeting of Life Foundation was at the dining room table of Jack Law, owner of Hula’s Bar and Lei Stand. If I recall correctly, as we struggled to draft a mission statement, Jack — always one to come to the point — said, “We will do what saves lives!”
Even though there was no effective treatment and very little information, Life Foundation did not stand idle. I am proud to say that it was the first organization to take education on HIV — the human immunodeficiency virus — into schools (Punahou) and the first, in 1984, to urge everyone to get tested for HIV, an unpopular stance in those days.
On the 35th anniversary of AIDS, despite the massive progress made over those three-plus decades, I would be remiss if I did not remind everyone that AIDS is 100 percent preventable, but only if we continue to be vigilant.
Don’t be complacent. Know your status — get tested.
Life Foundation can be reached at (808) 521-AIDS (521-2437) or online at lifefoundation.org.
