Fred Hollows - Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Conference March 1992

Fred Hollows
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frederick Cossom (Fred) Hollows, (April 9, 1929 – February 10, 1993) was born in Dunedin, New Zealand and became a world famous ophthalmologist, particularly for his work in restoring eyesight for countless thousands of Aborigines in Australia and people in many other countries.

Not everyone in the Australian community regarded Hollows as a hero. Most notably, he antagonised a vocal section of the gay community with his comments on the Government’s national AIDS strategy. The controversy unfolded in March 1992, when Hollows spoke at the Alice Springs National Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Conference. His approach to this topic was straight to the point. Hollows argued that some areas of the AIDS campaign were being inadequately dealt with. According to The Australian’s Martin Thomas, Hollows stated that some homosexuals were “recklessly spreading the virus”.27 Therefore, the safe sex campaign was an inadequate way of dealing with the issue. To contain the disease, Hollows argued that promiscuity needed to be addressed.28 Hollows observed the spread of AIDS in contemporary African communities and he was concerned that AIDS would spread as vehemently through Aboriginal communities. Clearly Hollows infuriated some sections of the community with his comments, but it was apparent that his participation did not cause widespread condemnation.
hollows.org
27 M Thomas, “AIDS—Who Really Is At Risk?”,
The Australian, 7–8/03/92, p 21.
28 F Hollows, “In Defence of Containment”,
The Australian, 7–8/03/92, p 21.