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24 | Out in the Mountains [September 2000

= health & wellbeing =

Ten Vermonters Attend National Gay Men’s Health Summit

 

BY TOM Atorsr

Ten Vermonters were
among more than 400 people
who met in Boulder, Colorado,
in July to tackle gay men’s
health issues ranging from
prostate cancer and chronic
depression to HIV and sub-
stance abuse.

The Vermont contingent,
which included both gay men
and health care providers, was
active on a variety of issues at
the second National Gay
Men’s Health Summit.

Dan Berns of Colchester
attended many of the work-
shops on safety in the circuit
party scene. “I wanted to find
out nationally what was hap-
pening with recreational drug
use and harm reduction,” he
said. “I have been disappointed
with the lack of information
about drug use in the party
scene in the past.”

Bems said he was pleased to
learn that there are some grass-
roots organizations starting to
investigate use of “party
drugs” and the effects of these
drugs when combined with
alcohol. Surveys indicate, said
Bems, that “78 percent of
health emergencies at circuit
parties have been related to
alcohol being combined with
party’ drugs.”

Dr. Michael Horn of South
Burlington, who coordinates a
hepatitis A’ and B program in
Vermont, attended many of the
workshops on issues related to
the disease.

Horn said he hoped to
increase the number of pro-
gram participants in the
Vermont community. Because
sexually active men who have
sex with men are at ‘increased.
risk for hepatitis A and B,
some providers recommend
that they be immunized.
Unfortunately, funding for the

 
  
 

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vaccine in Vermont is limited
to children, and the vaccina-
tion series currently costs
patients about $100.

Other hot topics at the con-
ference were in research and
public health areas.

Summit participants heard
about new microbicide
research that is looking at ways
to lower the risk of HIV infec-
tion during sex. In the future,
microbicides may be used in
gels or lubricants to kill HIV
during sexual contact.

The gathering also dis-
cussed the new Healthy People
2010 objectives, which for the
first time have included GLBT
health issues. The Gay and
Lesbian Medical Association
is writing a companion docu-
ment to strengthen the 2010
objectives. This companion
document should be released
in early 2001, and will be
made available to Vermonters
concerned with the health
issues of the GLBT communi-
ty. It is also hoped that the
national 2010 objectives for
the GLBT community will be
presented in Vennont this fall.

There will be no national
Gay Men’s Health Summit in
2001. Instead, the year will be
devoted to local/regional orga-
nizing of day-long or week-
end-long gay men’s health
summits. More than a dozen
regional summits have already
been planned for next year,
including a New England sum-
mit in Hartford, CT, in
September, 2001.

For more information about
the New England Summit or
the Boulder Summit contact
Tom Aloisi at
tomdloisi@aol.com. For infor-
mation about the September
hepatitis A and B vaccination
clinic, call Amy at 863-2437.
V

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front row: Tom Aloisi, Michael Horn, Carey Johnson
back row: Lawrence Garrett, David Morrill, Arthur Rublinger

not pictured:
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