Mon 7 Apr 2014 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Dr Charles Farthing New Zealander and global HIV/AIDS pioneer Charles Farthing has died. “It is with profound sadness that I inform you of the death of Charles Farthing, a renowned pioneer in HIV medicine, who served for many years as the AHF Chief of Medicine,” President of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation Michael Weinstein has told Frontiers LA. “During Charles tenure AHF's medical program grew tremendously in size and stature. He helped to build a medical structure that continues to this day and now covers the globe,” he says. “Charles presided over the introduction at AHF of the ‘cocktail’ that turned AIDS into a manageable disease. It is difficult to express the shock that is felt across AHF at his untimely death. “Our heartfelt sympathies to Doug Louie his spouse, as well as his family. We will never forget the invaluable contribution Charles made to the organization that AHF is today. However, we will most of all remember a man with boundless compassion for his patients and an intense interest in advancing HIV medicine.” Dr Farthing grew up in Christchurch, attended Catholic school and thought he’d be a priest someday. Instead he turned to medicine, first as a dermatologist. When HIV/AIDS arrived he was working in England and began treating patients. He later organized one of the first AIDS clinics in the UK lectured throughout the country and became a government advisor on HIV/AIDS, even chairing a parliamentary committee. After earning a fellowship to study HIV at Bellevue Hospital in New York in 1988, Dr Farthing later became Director of the hospital's AIDS Programme. In 1994, he moved to Los Angeles to engage in research, and in 2001 joined the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Dr Farthing, who at one time volunteered to undergo human testing of new HIV drugs -a request denied because it was considered too dangerous - remained outspoken about the state of attention to HIV/AIDS, particularly about the lack of focus on prevention. Up until his death he was the Asia Pacific Director of Medical Affairs for HIV and anti-infectives at Merck Sharp
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 7th April 2014 - 8:48am