Date: Mon, 14 Mar 1994 09:20:19 -0500 (EST) From: "ANNE WILSON, CDC NAC" Subject: CDC AIDS DAILY SUMMARY 03/14/94 AIDS Daily Summary March 14, 1994 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a public service only. Providing this information does not constitute endorsement by the CDC, the CDC Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information. Copyright 1993, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD "Cambodia Faces AIDS Crisis With No Money to Fight" Reuters (03/14/94); Patrick, Aaron Cambodia is teetering on the edge of an AIDS epidemic, but does not have the resources needed to fend off the disease, warned Dr. Tia Phalla, manager of the country's AIDS program. "In a few years AIDS will destroy the most productive age group in our society, the 20 to 40-year-olds," said Phalla. "Our HIV infections will double next year. In 10 years, this age group will be wiped out and the old people and the young people who rely on them will die and there will be no Cambodia." He noted that Cambodians were especially vulnerable to AIDS because of their embarrassment about discussing sex and their lack of HIV education. There are an estimated 4,000 people in Cambodia who have AIDS, but Cambodian hospitals have no drug treatment for them and the government spends only about $400,000 a year on AIDS-related programs. That amount falls far short of the World Health Organization's recommendation of $9 million--$1 per person. But, as Phalla points out, "Thailand got $100 million to fight AIDS for one year--Cambodia did not even get half a million dollars." "HIV Prostitute" Associated Press (03/14/94) An HIV-positive commercial sex worker in Harrisburg, Pa., was arrested on Friday on charges of prostitution and reckless endangerment of another person. Lisa Star Mallery, 24, was on parole when she approached an undercover police officer and offered to perform various sex acts in exchange for money. She had been sentenced to 23 months in prison in September 1992, after she was arrested and informed police that she was having sex with 50 men a week even though she was infected with the deadly virus. Following Friday's arrest, Mallery was being held on $10,000 bail. "$1.5 Million Lawsuit Filed Over AIDS Test" Baltimore Sun (03/12/94) P. 1A; James, Michael Attorneys for a Frederick County, Md., man have a filed a $1.5 million lawsuit on behalf of their client, who claims that he was arrested, jailed, and coerced into taking an HIV test after local health officials targeted him as a potential carrier of the virus. According to health officials, the man's male companion was diagnosed with the virus two months earlier, and advised the plaintiff, identified as John Doe in the lawsuit, that he probably was infected as well and should seek testing. The lawsuit contends that health officials became impatient after Doe failed to respond to calls requesting him to undergo testing, so they obtained a search warrant for his blood. "The only thing I can say is that the health department was concerned about the spread of AIDS by this individual," said Frederick County Sheriff Carl Harbaugh. "There is a law that prohibits the intentional spreading of AIDS." While there is, in fact, such a law, there is no provision requiring a person to take a blood test to determine HIV status. "The fact is the people who are, or may become, HIV positive are entitled to the same constitutional protections as everyone else," declared Mark Martin, one of Doe's lawyers. The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiff was subjected to illegal search and seizure and wrongly denied counseling before the AIDS test, which left him "emotionally unprepared to cope with the results of his [HIV] test," which were positive. "AIDS Program May Fall Victim to NYC Budget Deficit" United Press International (03/11/94); Byron, Peg New York City's $2.3 billion budget deficit has forced the city to take actions to trim, or even eliminate, the Division of AIDS Services, which helps infected people cut through bureaucracies and paperwork to obtain critical public services. Cutting or dismantling the program, said one of the unit's members, means that the city's AIDS population will have to wait longer for housing, food stamps, home care, and other benefits. The unit is being targeted by budget cutters because its services are not required by law, and because it has a large budget of $69 million and a staff of nearly 700, according to Karen Crowe, a spokesperson for Mayor Giuliani. At the very least, cutbacks would increase the caseloads of counselors who assist AIDS patients. "It may be a shortsighted move," said Gina Quattrochi, director of the non-profit AIDS Resource Center, which receives many referrals through DAS. She pointed out that the amount of money awarded in federal AIDS funds--about $100 million this year--depends on the city's ability to deliver services. "HIV Fear" Associated Press (03/11/94); Daubenmier, Judy A woman who contracted HIV from a blood transfusion cannot sue a hospital over the fear that she could infect her husband, ruled the Michigan Court of Appeals. The decision found that state law does not allow damages based on emotional distress--such as fear--unless there is injury. The woman's husband was not infected. "A plaintiff must allege that his emotional distress has manifested itself in a definitive and objective physical injury," said the ruling. "This standard was not met here." Cheryl Coleman was infected in 1984, but did not learn of her condition until 1988. She claims that the University of Michigan Medical Center was negligent in failing to notify her sooner. Her husband, Gerry, fears that he may have contracted the virus from his wife. The court said in its ruling that when the hospital realized in 1986 that it had given Coleman contaminated blood, it tried to notify her, but she had moved. It was two years before the hospital could contact the Colemans. The couple also continued to have unprotected sex even after Coleman learned her HIV status, said the court. "AIDS Vaccine Research at Dead End--Montagnier" Reuters (03/11/94); Yanowitch, Lee Scientists have come to a standstill in their efforts to produce an effective anti-AIDS vaccine and must now look to new ways of making one work, said Professor Luc Montagnier, the French researcher who discovered HIV. "This is the time to rethink the vaccine because the first avenues we explored are wrong," Montagnier conceded. "They have reached a dead end." He said that the vaccines tested so far have succeeded only in triggering the production of antibodies against only one strain of HIV, but not against hundreds of others that exist and more that have not even been identified. "We made vaccines that only protect against one strain, not the others, therefore they are useless," said Montagnier. He stressed, however, that the first vaccines have helped advance research efforts and will contribute to the development of a successful vaccine. "I'm not saying there won't be a vaccine," he said. "In any case it will take a long time and it won't solve every problem. We have to foresee living with the virus for a long time to come." "Helms Hits Condom Distribution" Advocate (03/08/94) No. 650, P. 27; Bull, Chris Last month, Senator Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) introduced a measure that would prohibit federal funding for condom distribution to minors at public schools without parental consent. An amendment to a Department of Education funding and reauthorization bill, gay activists say the proposal will probably be approved. But, since most school condom-distribution programs are funded through state, local, or private sources, passage of the measure would have little effect on such programs. "Motivated By Funding, Centers Increase Testing" AIDS Alert (02/94) Vol. 9, No. 2, P. 20 The counseling, testing, referral, and partner notification program (CTRPN) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has given too much attention to testing at the expense of counseling and other proven prevention efforts, reports a subcommittee which evaluated the CDC's largest prevention program. Although funding in 1992 remained stable, the number of people tested for HIV at more than 8,000 sites nearly doubled. "You have twice as many coming in and getting counseled and tested with no extra funds to do it, so how could it not suffer in quality?" asks Dr. Neil Schram, an AIDS physician who chaired the CTRPN subcommittee. Much of the increased demand was brought on by the centers themselves, since their funds are tied to the quantity of tests they conduct. "They knew that in order to keep funded, they had to keep the number of tests up," adds Schram. Additionally, much of the increased demand for testing has come from people who are not at great risk for infection, or people who had already been tested, and the same quality and quantity of counseling was given them as was provided to high-risk clients. This over-demand helped perpetuate abbreviated counseling sessions that failed to meet CDC guidelines. Among other recommendations, the subcommittee suggested that the CDC should retrain its staff immediately. "C'est la Mort" Time (03/14/94) Vol. 143, No. 11, P. 103; Corliss, Richard Paris and Philadelphia are cities at opposite ends of the world, and the two AIDS films set in them couldn't be farther apart. The blockbuster American film "Philadelphia" treats the subject of AIDS gently. The hero is a saint and a near monogamist. Cyril Collard's French film "Savage Nights," however, takes a rebellious and politically incorrect approach to the disease. The protagonist is a bisexual man who continues to have unprotected sex with both his girlfriend and his male lover even though he has been diagnosed as HIV-positive. Collard's sensationalized movie is an antidote to Hollywood's cautious portrayal of AIDS stories. Filmmaker Collard, who died of AIDS last year just days before his film won the French equivalent of an Oscar, also stars in "Savage Nights." "Connections: AIDS and HIV" Governing (02/94) Vol. 7, No. 5, P. 11 HIV infection and AIDS have prompted more litigation than any other disease in U.S. legal history, according to the American Bar Association. "AIDS and Governmental Liability," a book from the ABA, addresses the issues with which state and local governments are now confronted. It describes the court decisions and legislative foundations that define the legal atmosphere, and recommends guidelines for avoiding liability in the areas of HIV testing, confidentiality, discrimination, and transmission. The 188-page book is $49.95.