BABOON BONE MARROW RECIPIENT CALLS FOR ALL-OUT WAR ON AIDS.

Byline: David Tirrell-Wysocki Associated Press 

Jeff Getty, the AIDS patient who became the first human to receive a baboon bone marrow transplant to fight the killer disease, says more bold steps must be taken or AIDS will keep on killing.

``The war's been a losing battle because they wouldn't let us fight,'' Getty of Oakland said in New Hampshire on Saturday. ``A lot of us were willing to risk our lives to try to find answers, but the cautious system and timid government and scientists weren't going to do it. So we had to force them to let us do something bold.''

Getty was in New Hampshire to visit his sister Kim, who helped force the government to allow the experimental baboon transplant five months ago. He also helped dedicate a home for low-income AIDS patients and challenged the state and its residents to do more to fight the disease.

``The only way we are going to cure this disease is to get it right out front, put it on the table and say, OK, your cousin's got it, my uncle's got it, let's get to work, find housing, find medicine, find answers,'' Getty said.

He was tanned and looked fit and healthy, a big improvement over over the past several years, when he often landed in the emergency room.

``I've got my life back now. I got lucky. It could have killed me,'' he said of the transplant.

Doctors have said the transplant has not taken, and Getty, 38, said there is a chance his improved health might be due to chemotherapy he had beforehand.