Letter From the Editor

Dear Readers,

People often say that they feel as though their lives are an unending obstacle course. No sooner is one problem surmounted than another develops, one hurdle vaulted than another arises. When you add in the context of HIV and AIDS, the ordinary obstacles of life become all the harder to manage and entirely new obstacles come into play.

So in this issue, we have collected articles about the wide range of different types of obstacles that face many people living with the virus. In our lead features, frequent contributor Ronald Russo examines the challenge of securing housing for people living with HIV, while first-time writer Ronald Day tells us about the "crisis of the confined" facing those with HIV/AIDS in prison. A different type of obstacle is discussed by psychotherapist Jean Malpas in his article about the "epidemic within an epidemic" of crystal meth use among gay men. Tying the issue together, our Psychologically Speaking columnist Dr. Buzz von Ornsteiner offers suggestions for "navigating the obstacle course."

In this issue, we also focus on a major event of last summer, the 15th International AIDS Conference held in Bangkok, Thailand. In a first-person article, BP Community Advisory Board Member Anthony Richardson tells us about his experience at the conference. And in our Research Notebook column, we learn about the results of New York City-related research presented at Bangkok by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

We can't guarantee that, after you read this issue, the obstacles in your life will be any easier to overcome ... but we hope that you'll at least have a better road map.