Date: Mon, 7 Aug 1995 09:51:22 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary August 7, 1995 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 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ************************************************************ "Animal Advocates Protest Plans for a Primate Lab" "DOE Said to Delay Test of Cancer 'Cure'" "A Lesson in Blood" "Across the USA: Georgia" "Compensate AIDS-Stricken Hemophiliacs" "Obituaries: Jose A. Alvarez, 34; AIDS Social Worker" "Benefits of HIV Screening of Blood Transfusions in Zambia" "New Roles for AZT?" "Heaven Can Wait" ************************************************************ "Animal Advocates Protest Plans for a Primate Lab" New York Times (08/07/95) P. B5; Revkin, Andrew C. Animal-welfare activists and conservationists have joined the staff of New York University's Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (Lemsip) in protesting plans to shift the lab's ownership to the Coulston Foundation, which has violated federal animal-welfare regulations in the past. The chimpanzees and monkeys at Lemsip have been involved in such research areas as AIDS and organ transplantation. "If the Coulston Foundation can't even insure that its own facilities are in compliance with the law," said Suzanne Roy of In Defense for Animals, "how can they take over another facility?" However, the foundation's leader, Dr. Frederick Coulston, defended his record and plans, and rejected reports that many of his 540 chimpanzees were locked in small separate cages. "We keep most of them in family groups," he explained. Dr. Jan Moor-Jankowski, director of Lemsip, expressed concerns that the $705,000 endowment that is meant to be used for the care of the primates once they are no longer useful for research might be redirected if the Coulston Foundation takes over. Although the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center had also proposed taking over Lemsip, center director Dr. David Ho said the deal with Coulston is "virtually a done deal." "DOE Said to Delay Test of Cancer 'Cure'" Washington Times (08/07/95) P. A6 A new report from the Department of Energy (DOE) states that although U.S. researchers may soon successfully test a new cure for cancer, resistance may negate its potential benefits. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that cancer specialist David Scheinberg of New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is planning human trials of a treatment involving radium-based medical isotopes, a process which has previously cured leukemia in test tubes and animals. Scheinberg said that preliminary studies are being conducted to determine whether the treatment could help patients with cancer of the colon, lung, breast, liver, and ovaries, as well as people with HIV or AIDS. "A Lesson in Blood" New York Times (08/07/95) P. A13; Herbert, Bob Although there were strong indications in the early 1980s that the nation's blood supply was contaminated with HIV, relatively little action was taken, writes Bob Herbert in the New York Times. According to a recently released report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the reasons for this inaction was the belief of top blood products officials that moving too fast might prove expensive. The report said that the Food and Drug Administration was too dependent on the counsel of the industry it was charged with regulating. Now, critics of Sen. Bob Dole's (R-Kan.) regulatory reform bill are concerned that it is an industry-sponsored attempt to damage the agencies responsible for safeguarding Americans' health. The bill should have been dead, writes Herbert, but two senators--Charles Robb (D-Va.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.)--have tried to find a compromise to save the measure that was developed and largely drafted by members of the industry. This could be explained by the fact that Sen. Robb's former law firm, Hunton & Williams, helped draft the bill, which would be advantageous to its corporate clients, notes Herbert. In addition, Sen. Conrad has received nearly $400,000 from PAC's related to the two industry groups, Project Relief and the Alliance for Reasonable Regulation. All in all, concluded Herbert, money should not represent the quality of our lives. "Across the USA: Georgia" USA Today (08/07/95) P. 6A In rural Georgia, the number of AIDS cases tripled between 1990 and 1994, according to The Florida Times-Union. Health authorities attributed the increase to unprotected sex by both heterosexuals and homosexuals. "Compensate AIDS-Stricken Hemophiliacs" Philadelphia Inquirer (08/05/95) P. A9; Klein, Andrew R. Advocates of AIDS programs should thank Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) for bringing attention to the dangerous status of the Ryan White CARE Act, writes associate professor Andrew R. Klein of Samford University's Cumberland School of Law in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Another worthy, though much less-publicized, bill is the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act of 1995, which is named for a Florida teenager who died of AIDS three years ago. The measure represents Congress' first attempt to address the plight of hemophiliacs who contracted HIV from blood clotting products. The bill, however, does not do enough; Congress should reimburse claimants for all medical expenses related to their HIV infection, Klein contends. In addition, pharmaceutical companies that produced blood products should be taxed to help finance the compensation fund, rather than use general funds, Although it is not yet perfect, the Ricky Ray bill is an ideal beginning to solving a terrible problem, concludes Klein. "Obituaries: Jose A. Alvarez, 34; AIDS Social Worker" Philadelphia Inquirer (08/05/95) P. A10; Wallace, Andy Jose A. Alvarez, a social worker who was commended for bringing AIDS programs to Philadelphia's Latino community, died of AIDS-related complications on Thursday at the age of 34. "Jose Alvarez was one of the first Latinos in Philadelphia to recognize the problem that AIDS posed to the Latino community, and to do something about it," said Alba Martinez, executive director of Congreso de Latinos Unidos. Alvarez began his work with AIDS nine years ago when, as an employee of Episcopal Hospital, he volunteered to comfort AIDS patients and educate their families about the disease. In 1988, Alvarez moved to the Congreso, where he served as a hotline counselor, outreach worker, HIV testing counselor, and case manager of Programa Esfuerzo--which he helped develop. He is survived by his mother, father, two sisters, two brothers, and his maternal grandmother. "Benefits of HIV Screening of Blood Transfusions in Zambia" Lancet (07/22/95) Vol. 346, No. 8969, P. 225; Foster, Susan; Buve, Anne Although blood transfusion continues to be a major path of HIV transmission in developing countries, testing for the virus is often expensive, and dependable donor support is hard to secure. Foster and Buve examined the cost and benefits of screening blood for HIV. They used data obtained at a district hospital in Zambia, where HIV seroprevalence among blood donors was nearly 16 percent. At the Monze District Hospital in 1991, more than 1,000 transfusions were given and approximately 150 cases of transfusion-related HIV infection were averted. Overall, the HIV screening cost U.S. $4745, while the cost per case of HIV prevented was $31.62. This protection for the community served by the hospital cost $0.03 per person. The researchers estimate that 3,625 undiscounted healthy years of life were saved, of which nearly 70 percent were in children under six. The cost was $1.32 per year of life preserved. In sum, the savings from blood screenings exceed the costs of screening by a factor of between 2.7 and 3.5. Therefore, the authors feel that it is critical to maintain both financial and political support for the HIV screening of blood for transfusions. "New Roles for AZT?" Science (07/14/95) Vol. 269, No. 5221, P. 163 Recent scientific reports have hinted at additional uses of the AIDS drug AZT--including for two diseases that involve an abnormal proliferation of cells, leukemia and psoriasis. In an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from the University of Southern California reported that they tested a combination of AZT and interferon-alpha in 19 patients who had an extremely lethal form of adult T cell leukemia-lymphoma. Four were also HIV-positive. According to the researchers, 11 patients had "major responses" to the treatment, including five total remissions. The scientists suggested that the fast-growing cancer cells are targeted because they absorb the most AZT. Another study, published in the June issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, reported that AZT cleared up most of the psoriasis in four of 12 patients. One researcher from the University of Texas at Houston theorized that AZT, which disables a key enzyme that HIV needs to copy itself, may slow skin cell reproduction. Both teams hope to further test these treatments in larger, controlled trials. "Heaven Can Wait" POZ (08/95-09/95) No. 9, P. 32; Sieder, Jill Jordan Last October, Denise Khan became an evangelist minister. Khan, 43, learned she was infected with HIV four years ago, when her estranged husband called from the hospital to tell her that he was positive. Now Khan's mission has devoted her life to educating her fellow ministers about HIV and convincing women to have safer sex. When she speaks to a church group or group of ministers and sees them thinking, "It can't touch me, I'm not a part of this," Khan tells them, "I am one of you, and I am HIV positive, OK?" Although Khan is pleased that many churches are developing AIDS ministries, she says many churches continue to resist the concept of HIV risk reduction. "To talk about prevention, preachers have to talk about sex and that's where many draw the line," she says.