July 2003

AIDS Treatment Initiatives (ATI): A Holistic Approach

by Bruce Garner

ATI began a little over 10 years ago as the Atlanta Buyers Club. This AIDS service organization was founded in response to the needs of those living with AIDS to obtain medications that were available in other countries but had not yet been approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). ATI imported medications for its members and sold them at a reasonable cost.

As the FDA’s processes became more streamlined and efficient, the need to import medications from other countries gradually became unnecessary for the HIV/AIDS community. ATI began to focus on another part of its mission: complementary regimens, dietary supplements, and related issues, including finding ways to counteract the side effects of some of the more potent AIDS medications. Over the years it became a recognized source for information and products that would address these needs, which were often not well managed by the traditional medical community.

Guy Pujol, director of AIDS Treatment Initiatives, explains the ATI program.

Guy Pujol, director of AIDS Treatment Initiatives, explains the ATI program.

Today ATI continues to provide alternative, complementary, and supplemental therapies for those infected with HIV. It has added to its repertoire of services nutritional counseling, dietary advice, and analysis of body mass/fat to help improve general health and fitness. ATI employs one of only three registered dietitians serving the HIV community and the only one whose services are available to those not necessarily already in the system.

ATI’s only other paid employee is its executive director, Gary Pujol, who devotes his time to administrative duties, fund-raising, and serving the community. The organization uses volunteers from a variety of sources, particularly a Jesuit intern program that places young people in year-long assignments with service organizations.

ATI manages to provide a wide range of services on a shoe-string budget of less than $150,000 a year. The organization is governed by a seven-member board of directors. It is truly community-based and community-supported, working collaboratively with all the other AIDS service providers in Atlanta to meet the needs of their common clients.