Dr. Henry Kurahic

Pioneering HIV physician Dr. Henry Kuharic was at the forefront of the race to understand HIV and care for patients from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s.

 A dedicated internist, Henry volunteered on the first Project HOPE voyage in 1960, which provided medical care in Indonesia. Dr. Kuharic was also heavily involved in efforts to eradicate tuberculosis (TB): he provided training to the Peace Corps and volunteered in their effort to combat TB in Bolivia, and they were able to virtually eliminate the disease in those villages. He has also worked on TB eradication in the Olympic peninsula.

In the mid-1980s, Dr. Kuharic made house calls to his patients in Seattle, providing support during a time when little was known about AIDS and effective treatments had not yet been developed. Dr. Kuharic shares more about that time at: https://theamp.org/story/dr-henry-kuharic-pioneering-hiv-aids-physician/

Henry’s ability to share his own experience as a gay man with his patients helped him to educate others on preventing transmission in a non-judgmental way. He signed up as an independent investigator to be able to administer new treatments, and he was an advocate at blood centers for his patients receiving the transfusions they needed.

In a time of fear and devastation, Dr. Kuharic provided care and peace to those in need.