Susan Desmond-Hellmann

Just on the brink.

Just on the brink.

If you were in Uganda at the time, gosh, especially amongst males, but also males and females, it's so hard to give those numbers. But I would say about a third of patients who sought medical attention probably had KS, some KS.

If you were in Uganda at the time, gosh, especially amongst males, but also males and females, it's so hard to give those numbers. But I would say about a third of patients who sought medical attention probably had KS, some KS.

Depend on the population you treated. It was double digits in the country as a whole. If you were 16 years old, if you were a 16-year-old girl and you went to the STD clinic, you had a 50% chance of being HIV positive. 16, and most of those girls, it was their first and only sexual partner. It was Russian roulette to have sex in Uganda then.

Depend on the population you treated. It was double digits in the country as a whole. If you were 16 years old, if you were a 16-year-old girl and you went to the STD clinic, you had a 50% chance of being HIV positive. 16, and most of those girls, it was their first and only sexual partner. It was Russian roulette to have sex in Uganda then.

You got the bullet in one of the two chambers. Yeah, yeah. And the best business in town, Coffin Maker. We would go, we would drive back to where we stayed, and you would see, if you've ever been in an African village, like they'll prop up the coffins made of wood, and you just see them because that was so astounding.

You got the bullet in one of the two chambers. Yeah, yeah. And the best business in town, Coffin Maker. We would go, we would drive back to where we stayed, and you would see, if you've ever been in an African village, like they'll prop up the coffins made of wood, and you just see them because that was so astounding.

The feeling of being scared and sad in San Francisco in 1982, multiply that by a thousand in 1989. It was... terrifying. If we hadn't gotten ARVs, this was killing people. But, you know, the same time, the first time we went back to San Francisco from Uganda was six months after we had left.

The feeling of being scared and sad in San Francisco in 1982, multiply that by a thousand in 1989. It was... terrifying. If we hadn't gotten ARVs, this was killing people. But, you know, the same time, the first time we went back to San Francisco from Uganda was six months after we had left.

I went back to the Kaposi Sarcoma Clinic that I had led and said to the nurse, oh, yeah, ask about your patients. I had so many great guys who I cared for. All my patients were dead, all of them, six months. The sense of how bad HIV was before antiretrovirals, it's impossible to overstate it, just impossible. And when we were in Uganda,

I went back to the Kaposi Sarcoma Clinic that I had led and said to the nurse, oh, yeah, ask about your patients. I had so many great guys who I cared for. All my patients were dead, all of them, six months. The sense of how bad HIV was before antiretrovirals, it's impossible to overstate it, just impossible. And when we were in Uganda,

It was really clear that you could see someone's immune status with a good physical exam if they had Kaposi's sarcoma. I wrote a paper that I think is a good paper if you do global health and you have limited resources. It was a paper that had one observation. If you had Kaposi's sarcoma on your soft palate, on the roof of your mouth, you had HIV. 100% predictive.

It was really clear that you could see someone's immune status with a good physical exam if they had Kaposi's sarcoma. I wrote a paper that I think is a good paper if you do global health and you have limited resources. It was a paper that had one observation. If you had Kaposi's sarcoma on your soft palate, on the roof of your mouth, you had HIV. 100% predictive.

Kaposi sarcoma, there's a Mediterranean form and an African form. It happens on your skin. It can cause elephantiasis, but it doesn't go in. The mouth is just a surrogate for your GI tract. Doesn't happen unless you're immunosuppressed with HIV.

Kaposi sarcoma, there's a Mediterranean form and an African form. It happens on your skin. It can cause elephantiasis, but it doesn't go in. The mouth is just a surrogate for your GI tract. Doesn't happen unless you're immunosuppressed with HIV.

Many would die from pneumonia. There was severe cachexia, and then they were prone to pneumonia and other problems. But Kaposi's sarcoma in the lungs or the stomach can also cause bleeding, and you can die from that.

Many would die from pneumonia. There was severe cachexia, and then they were prone to pneumonia and other problems. But Kaposi's sarcoma in the lungs or the stomach can also cause bleeding, and you can die from that.

We knew most of the clinical syndromes associated with HIV.

We knew most of the clinical syndromes associated with HIV.