Letter: Charles Farthing helped deliver Aids out of the shadows

Charles Farthing’s crew at St Stephen’s hospital, Chelsea, handled folks with Aids as human beings

My pal Alastair MacInnes was 1 of the people taken care of by Charles Farthing in the early 1980s, in what was rightly described as a climate of fear about this mysterious illness that was killing previously wholesome, predominately gay youthful males.

Alastair was initially taken care of at a hospital where food on paper plates was pushed by means of a slot into his isolation space. No 1 knew what was incorrect with him and couple of men and women came near him. This contrasted with his following expertise as an inpatient at St Stephen’s hospital. Alastair and his companion had absolute faith in Dr Farthing and his team. On one particular memorable evening many of the inpatients held a Bet Lynch earrings party on their ward. Against a backdrop of media hysteria about the “gay plague”, folks with Aids were handled as human beings there, not lepers. I believe that this was down to Charles Farthing.

Alastair ultimately succumbed to the opportunistic HIV virus but in his last months he was able to turn out to be involved with the campaign to raise money for research into the ailment. He was specifically enthused about being a VIP guest at a fundraising musical gala. Large credit goes to Charles Farthing for bringing Aids out of the shadows and enriching the lives of so numerous youthful guys, their partners, family members and pals.

Letter: Charles Farthing helped deliver Aids out of the shadows

Charles Farthing obituary

Charles Farthing treating a patient in Los Angeles in 1997. Photograph: Axel Koester/Sygma/Corbis

In the early 1980s, Charles Farthing, who has died aged 60 of a heart attack, was studying dermatology at St Stephen’s hospital in Chelsea, south-west London (now Chelsea and Westminster hospital), when he saw his first patient with HIV infection. He began to see a pattern of rare skin conditions and soon realised that the underlying cause for all of them was the condition that would soon be known as Aids. He devoted the rest of his life to the care of those with HIV and Aids.

The first few years of the epidemic were very frightening for those of us involved in providing medical treatment and care, as we did not know how the infection spread; and all those infected died. In the Guardian in 1985, Charles wrote of the alarm within the medical profession – at that point St Stephen’s was treating a dozen Aids patients, but two years later the number stood at 1,000. With a steely, determined, inquiring mind and a pleasing and precise public face, he was in a pivotal position in persuading the Conservative government of the time to recognise the severity of the problem, and the need for public information and money for both research and care of the infected patients.

Thirty-three years later, the epidemic has been partly controlled and smaller than many feared. Draconian laws were not necessary and indeed the epidemic gave impetus to a set of liberal anti-discriminatory measures, which have helped to reduce the stigma attached to HIV. By 1989, Charles was able to point to “the acceptance of it as a disease, as something needing compassion. In the early days I was always having to defend Aids patients against all sorts of cruelty, but I seldom have to do that now. It isn’t over yet, by a long way, but the difference is colossal”.

This outcome is a tribute to the ministers of health at the time, who recognised the scale of the problem, activists, who used reasoned arguments to produce a supportive plan for care, and the pharmaceutical industry, which developed the drugs which have transformed the prospects of patients. Charles, who was chair of the all-party parliamentary committee on Aids and founder of the campaigning and fundraising UK Aids Foundation, proved to be a catalyst for many of these early developments.

He was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, to Ngaire, a piano teacher, and Jack, an accountant, and was educated at Christ’s college, Christchurch. He was considering the ministry but chose medical school instead, at the University of Otago, Dunedin. He practised medicine in Christchurch for five years before travelling to Britain to continue his studies.

At St Stephen’s, he designed the first purpose-built Aids clinic and outpatient day-care clinic in the UK and carried out a great deal of research. He described many of the symptoms of this new disease and how t(AGFo ameliorate them. Between 1985 and 1988, he and I carried out early clinical trials on medications including Thymosin, AZT and foscarnet.

In 1988 Charles was awarded a fellowship to study HIV at Bellevue hospital in New York, eventually becoming director of its Aids programme. In 1994, he joined the Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) in Los Angeles as principal investigator, and in 1997, keen to see the development of a vaccine, was among a group of researchers who volunteered to inject themselves with a weakened strain of the virus.

In 2001 he became medical director at AHF and helped to set up clinics providing excellent care throughout the world, including in Honduras, Uganda and South Africa. Charles was the AHF medical director at the time the “triple therapy” mixture of drugs – which revolutionised the management of Aids – first became available.

In 2007, he joined the pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp & Dohme as the HIV medical director in the Asian and Pacific region. The company had developed a new and potent drug for HIV infection and Charles was instrumental in making it widely available in the developing world. He was one of the first western specialists invited to teach and advise medical professionals in China, and taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and at Fudan University, Shanghai. He was an inspiring teacher and an influential advocate for HIV-infected patients, an excellent organiser and a charming companion.

Charles is survived by his partner, Dougie Lui, his brother, Bruce, and four nieces, Kathryn, Elizabeth, Sonja and Helaina.

• Charles Frank Farthing, doctor, born 22 April 1953; died 6 April 2014

Charles Farthing obituary

Charles Farthing obituary

Charles Farthing treating a patient in Los Angeles in 1997. Photograph: Axel Koester/Sygma/Corbis

In the early 1980s, Charles Farthing, who has died aged 60 of a heart attack, was studying dermatology at St Stephen’s hospital in Chelsea, south-west London (now Chelsea and Westminster hospital), when he saw his first patient with HIV infection. He began to see a pattern of rare skin conditions and soon realised that the underlying cause for all of them was the condition that would soon be known as Aids. He devoted the rest of his life to the care of those with HIV and Aids.

The first few years of the epidemic were very frightening for those of us involved in providing medical treatment and care, as we did not know how the infection spread; and all those infected died. In the Guardian in 1985, Charles wrote of the alarm within the medical profession – at that point St Stephen’s was treating a dozen Aids patients, but two years later the number stood at 1,000. With a steely, determined, inquiring mind and a pleasing and precise public face, he was in a pivotal position in persuading the Conservative government of the time to recognise the severity of the problem, and the need for public information and money for both research and care of the infected patients.

Thirty-three years later, the epidemic has been partly controlled and smaller than many feared. Draconian laws were not necessary and indeed the epidemic gave impetus to a set of liberal anti-discriminatory measures, which have helped to reduce the stigma attached to HIV. By 1989, Charles was able to point to “the acceptance of it as a disease, as something needing compassion. In the early days I was always having to defend Aids patients against all sorts of cruelty, but I seldom have to do that now. It isn’t over yet, by a long way, but the difference is colossal”.

This outcome is a tribute to the ministers of health at the time, who recognised the scale of the problem, activists, who used reasoned arguments to produce a supportive plan for care, and the pharmaceutical industry, which developed the drugs which have transformed the prospects of patients. Charles, who was chair of the all-party parliamentary committee on Aids and founder of the campaigning and fundraising UK Aids Foundation, proved to be a catalyst for many of these early developments.

He was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, to Ngaire, a piano teacher, and Jack, an accountant, and was educated at Christ’s college, Christchurch. He was considering the ministry but chose medical school instead, at the University of Otago, Dunedin. He practised medicine in Christchurch for five years before travelling to Britain to continue his studies.

At St Stephen’s, he designed the first purpose-built Aids clinic and outpatient day-care clinic in the UK and carried out a great deal of research. He described many of the symptoms of this new disease and how t(AGFo ameliorate them. Between 1985 and 1988, he and I carried out early clinical trials on medications including Thymosin, AZT and foscarnet.

In 1988 Charles was awarded a fellowship to study HIV at Bellevue hospital in New York, eventually becoming director of its Aids programme. In 1994, he joined the Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) in Los Angeles as principal investigator, and in 1997, keen to see the development of a vaccine, was among a group of researchers who volunteered to inject themselves with a weakened strain of the virus.

In 2001 he became medical director at AHF and helped to set up clinics providing excellent care throughout the world, including in Honduras, Uganda and South Africa. Charles was the AHF medical director at the time the “triple therapy” mixture of drugs – which revolutionised the management of Aids – first became available.

In 2007, he joined the pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp & Dohme as the HIV medical director in the Asian and Pacific region. The company had developed a new and potent drug for HIV infection and Charles was instrumental in making it widely available in the developing world. He was one of the first western specialists invited to teach and advise medical professionals in China, and taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and at Fudan University, Shanghai. He was an inspiring teacher and an influential advocate for HIV-infected patients, an excellent organiser and a charming companion.

Charles is survived by his partner, Dougie Lui, his brother, Bruce, and four nieces, Kathryn, Elizabeth, Sonja and Helaina.

• Charles Frank Farthing, doctor, born 22 April 1953; died 6 April 2014

Charles Farthing obituary