Petrelis Files

S.F. Has 8,600 PWAs, The Examiner Can't Find One

Editor
San Francisco Examiner

Dear Editor:

The latest AIDS statistics from our health department show there are more than 8,600 people living with AIDS in the city. (Source: SF DPH AIDS Epi Report ; page 9, table 9.)

And yet in your June 1 story about the city's official commemoration of the first medical reports twenty-five years ago about a strange new disease, not a single person with AIDS was quoted, raising a few questions.

Were any people with AIDS invited to speak? If they did talk, why did The Examiner not quote them?

As a person with AIDS it always saddens me when San Francisco news outlets and politicians do little or nothing to include people living with AIDS in events such as Mayor Newsom's ceremony at the Herbst Theater on June 1.

While there is nothing wrong with quoting three politicians, and thank goodness we have local politicians who speak out often on AIDS matters, I do wonder why you couldn't locate one person with AIDS to include in your story.

AIDS isn't over, not all people with the disease are dead and The Examiner should do more to make sure the voices of people with AIDS are heard.

Sincerely,
Michael Petrelis
Ph: 415-621-6267