Mervyn Silverman

Mervyn F. Silverman is an American physician and public health supervisor. He is best known for serving as director of health in San Francisco from 1977 to 1985, overseeing the city's initial response to AIDS. Currently, he serves as Secretary of the Board of Trustees for amfAR. He has also been director of health for Wichita, Kansas; medical director of Planned Parenthood of Kansas; director of the Robert Wood Johnson AIDS Health Services Program; director of the Office of Consumer Affairs for the Food and Drug Administration; and director of the East Asia and Pacific Regional Medical Office of the Peace Corps.[1]

Mervyn Silverman
San Francisco Director of Health
In office
1977–1985
Personal details
Born
Mervyn Frank Silverman
Spouse(s)Deborah
Children3
EducationWashington and Lee University, Harvard School of Public Health, Tulane University School of Medicine

Education

Silverman received his B.S. from Washington and Lee University, his M.D. from Tulane University School of Medicine, and his M.P.H. from Harvard School of Public Health.[1]

Response to AIDS while San Francisco Health Director

The proposal to close San Francisco's bathhouses was first floated by SF Chronicle columnist Herb Caen in May, 1983. Interviewed by Randy Shilts on May 27, Silverman said "There has been some pressure on me to close the bathhouses ...certainly, promiscuous and anonymous sex appears to be linked with AIDS in the gay male community." Later in August he said "closing the baths is not the answer, even though it might make me look good to a lot of people in the straight community. History shows that government generally has not been very influential in changing people's sexual habits." In 1984, San Francisco considered a ballot initiative to close the baths, and during the July Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, "Silverman suffered a powerful bout of health policy schizophrenia.".[2] The result guaranteed "the bathhouse controversy would be an oft-repeated feature of in the reportage during the Democrats' convention. That was partly because the major media from the Northeast were on the lookout for the most offbeat stories." In hindsight, Silverman's policy appears to be a political dirty trick.[3]

On October 9, 1984, he ordered the immediate closure of fourteen bathhouses and sex clubs, arguing that their permissive attitude to on-site sexual contact was "fostering disease and death" because of the potential to spread AIDS.[4][5] Leaders of the gay community, such as Cleve Jones, were unable or unwilling to back him in this effort because of potential backlash. That backlash did happen, with heated debate over public health concerns versus the civil rights of homosexuals.[6][7] Indeed, Silverman received death threats as a result, ultimately leading to his resignation. Two months later, a "superior court ordered reopening on the condition that sexual activities be policed by the bathhouse management."[6]

At the same time, Silverman was using organizations like the RWJ Foundations to fund grants for community-based programs to meet local needs.[8]

While testifying on behalf of the Ryan White CARE Act, he advocated funding for early interventions: “The importance of early medical intervention has dramatically increased the number of Americans urgently in need of HIV-related care—up to 1 million Americans are in imminent risk of developing very serious and costly AIDS-related illnesses unless this early intervention is available to slow the progression of their HIV infection. Early intervention is but a cruel myth if the treatments are available and people cannot afford them. Medicaid funding for early intervention is essential.”[9]

Honors and awards
  • Honorary Doctor of Science from Washington and Lee University
  • Public Health Heroes Award from the University of California, Berkeley
  • Hero in Medicine Award from the Association of Physicians in AIDS Care
  • Award for Courageous Leadership from the San Francisco Foundation
  • amfAR's Award of Courage.
  • Silverman played an important role in both the book and film versions of And The Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts.
  • Featured in CNN's series on The 80s and HBO's documentary on amfAR.
  • Interviewed in the film "The Other Side of AIDS"

Private life

He and his wife have three daughters.[1]

References
  1. "amfAR :: Mervyn F. Silverman, M.D., M.P.H. :: The Foundation for AIDS Research :: HIV / AIDS Research". www.amfar.org.
  2. Kinsella, James (1989). Covering the Plague: AIDS in the American Media. Rutgers University Press. p. 177.
  3. . p. 178. |first1= missing |last1= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. "14 San Francisco Sex Clubs Told to Close to Curb Aids". October 10, 1984 – via NYTimes.com.
  5. "Cruise Control". Archived from the original on October 17, 2014.
  6. "None" (PDF).
  7. "Interviews - Mervyn Silverman | The Age Of Aids | FRONTLINE | PBS". www.pbs.org.
  8. "The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program - A Living History". hab.hrsa.gov.
  9. "The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program - A Living History - Legislation - Enactment". hab.hrsa.gov.
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