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Lectureship to evaluate ethics, AIDS policies Twenty years have passed since AIDS was first recognized as an illness. Organizers of the Eighth Annual Thomas A. Pitts Memorial Lectureship, set for Jan. 11 and 12, say it’s a good time to take a look at the issues surrounding the disease and to evaluate the ethics and policies intended to address them. “HIV/AIDS as an Epidemic: Ethical Issues at the 20th Anniversary” is presented by the MUSC Institute of Human Values in Health Care and the College of Medicine’s Office of Continuing Medical Education, with support from the Health Sciences Foundation.   “Because it’s the 20th anniversary,  we want to see where we have come, from that point, and discuss the ethical and policy issues as they stand in 2001,” said lectureship planning committee chair Robert M. Sade, M.D.  Sade, whose Institute of Human Values in Health Care is in its second year of presenting the lectureship, said the program will include background issues on the characteristics of epidemics from historical, ethical and sociological perspectives.  Also to be presented will be a discussion of the changing demographics of the AIDS epidemic. “We’ve seen a shift from AIDS being a mostly gay and drug abuse lifestyle disease to one that is spreading in minority populations, including heterosexuals,” Sade said.  “And we want to examine the problems this disease presents and search out answers to questions about public obligations to provide care for AIDS patients, both domestically and internationally. And we’ll ask what obligations sex partners and health care workers have to disclose their own HIV positivity.”  The diversity and expertise of lectureship faculty pleases Sade, who said the lectureship benefits from experts who have differing opinions and honest disagreements about ethical issues. He predicts lively discussion with plenty of time built into the program for audience participation.  “This is a world-class group of lecturers,” Sade said. “In most of the sessions they will have contrasting views.”  He said that the speakers are experts in the fields of medicine, history, philosophy, sociology, public health and law from institutions in the U.S. and Canada. Several have written numerous journal articles and books on the AIDS epidemic. The conference, which will be in session all day on Friday, Jan. 11, will conclude with audience discussion and questions for all the speakers the following morning. Continuing Medical Education (CME) credit (up to 10 hours) for physicians and Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for others are offered. Registration is required, and there is no charge to MUSC faculty and students.  Those who are interested are urged to contact Sade or Sharon Kest at (843) 792-5278 for full details, or visit the Lectureship’s Web site <http://www.values.musc.edu>. Editor's note: Due to the Sept. 11 tragedy, the Pitts Lectureship, which was originally scheduled for Sept. 14 and 15,  had to be rescheduled. The new date is Jan. 11 and 12.