Queer Wisconsin — A living history of LGBTQ+ life in Wisconsin

A living history of LGBTQ+ life in Wisconsin

Person

Peter Havens,

Biography

"20 Giving 20" was part of the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin's commemoration of its 20th anniversary combating the AIDS epidemic. View all 20 of those honored on the ARCW "20 giving 20" page. Peter Havens, M.D. Peter Havens, M.D., is a pediatrician with a passionate commitment to kids with HIV.

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"20 Giving 20" was part of the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin's commemoration of its 20th anniversary combating the AIDS epidemic. View all 20 of those honored on the ARCW "20 giving 20" page. Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project
Peter Havens, M.D., is a pediatrician with a passionate commitment to kids with HIV. He embraced this commitment during his pediatric infectious disease residency in 1983 when he treated some of the first infants born with HIV in America. He has never let go. Dr. Havens co-founded the Wisconsin HIV Primary Care Network to assure that care and treatment would be available for women and their children with HIV and AIDS throughout all of Wisconsin. Through his work at Children�s Hospital of Wisconsin, Havens has always provided his patients with cutting edge medical therapies. As the epidemic evolved, he used these treatments to help achieve a dramatic reduction in babies born with HIV. "With so many patients sick by 1996, you can�t imagine the euphoria of suddenly being able to do something that really helped them." His commitment to AIDS extends well beyond treating patients. In 1998, Havens waited for five hours at a public hearing on the Milwaukee County budget to speak in favor of County funding for clean needle exchange to prevent new HIV infections. "A lifetime of HIV is a huge burden. The family burden is overwhelming. The most positive thing I�ve learned is the power of families to face problems and work to overcome them." Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project