2008_66_09
Archive ID: 2008_66_09M.D. Mervyn Silverman is one of the pioneers in the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Here he talks about the shifts of topics on the International AIDS Conferences between 1985 and 2008, about the so called San Francisco Model of AIDS treatment and care, and about the consequences of the closing of the Bathhouses. He also reflects on the influences of early pioneers in the AIDS response such as Jonathan Mann and Peter Piot.
Background material
"Mervyn Silverman was one of the first persons who I filmed in San Francisco in 1988. He was the one who closed the bathhouses as the Director of Health in the city when young gay men started to die. It was very controversial to close the bathhouses in 1986. Silverman is a friend and we keep in touch. I have interviewed him several times." - Staffan Hildebrand