Date: Mon, 10 Jul 1995 10:21:37 +0500 From: ghfostel{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghfostel}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary July 10, 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 ************************************************************ "AIDS Care at 5 HMOs Questioned" "New Trafficking Routes Boost SE Asian Heroin Threat" "S. Africa Fighting Uphill AIDS Battle" "Studds Assails Comments by Helms on AIDS Spending" "AIDS Groups See Fall in Giving" "Phila. AIDS Agency Gets Interim Director" "Ex-Caremark Employee Indicted--U.S. Attorney" "Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) May Predict AIDS Survival" "Gay Men Have It All Worked Out? Entering the Fray over Safer Sex Practices" "Legacy Beyond AIDS" "Notice of Public Meeting" ************************************************************ "AIDS Care at 5 HMOs Questioned" Baltimore Sun (07/10/95) P. 1B; Sugg, Diana K. After learning that five health maintenance organizations (HMOs) were making errors that AIDS specialists say could cause avoidable deaths, Maryland health officials say they plan to review the medical records of the HMOs which are being paid to care for Medicaid recipients with AIDS. Experts claim that AIDS patients enrolled in HMOs have needlessly suffered, developed avoidable complications and--as a result--ended up in the hospital. Other AIDS patients have been released from the hospital without sufficient follow-up because it took so long to get an appointment with their HMO doctor. Lawrence P. Triplett, director of Maryland's Medical Care Finance and Compliance Administration at the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene noted that tracking individual cases was difficult because of the confidentiality issues involved, but added that the state wants to determine how the patients are being cared for. HMO officials defend the quality of the care they provide, saying they have case managers and other staff to ensure that people with AIDS and HIV receive the proper care. "New Trafficking Routes Boost SE Asian Heroin Threat" Washington Post (07/10/95) P. A13; Richburg, Keith B. U.S. and international drug experts say that heroin production and trafficking in Southeast Asia are increasing, following new routes that are far more varied and less easily controlled than previous ones. The explosion of the drug trade has for the first time confronted some Southeast Asian nations with the problem of heroin addiction. The problem has become particularly urgent for these countries because of the rapid spread of HIV, which can be transmitted through needles used by intravenous drug users. According to one report, Burma--which apparently had no cases of AIDS a few years ago--now documents 200,000 HIV carriers. With an output of 2,500 tons annually, Burma is the largest producer of opium--the raw material used to make heroin--in the "Golden Triangle" region of Thailand, Burma, and Laos In addition, Riuli--located across Burma's northern border in China's Yunnan Province--now has the highest number of AIDS cases in China. U.S. officials say there is little they can do about the trafficking problem as long as Burma continues to produce such large quantities of opium. Recently, however, they praised what they termed "a new beginning" in Thailand's efforts to seriously crack down on drug traffickers. "S. Africa Fighting Uphill AIDS Battle" Chicago Tribune (07/08/95) P. 1-3 South Africa was a latecomer to the AIDS epidemic, but now Africa's most prosperous country has found that the disease has taken hold. Political isolation that limited the number of foreign visitors helped slow the arrival of most of the AIDS cases until the mid-1990s, researchers say. In 1990, there were 5,000 reported cases of HIV infection in South Africa. Now, there are 1.2 million. The figure is expected to be around 8 million--or 20 percent of the population--by the year 2000. In response to the explosion of the disease, Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma announced in June an emergency quadrupling of government funds for AIDS prevention and care to $24 million. Zuma said the government obtained 97 million male condoms and 90,000 female condoms for free distribution. In a sense, however, it is too late. Activists say that the disease will pull down the economy that many had seen as Africa's greatest hope. "Studds Assails Comments by Helms on AIDS Spending" Boston Globe (07/08/95) P. 5 Rep. Gerry Studds (D-Mass.), an openly gay member of Congress and an advocate for people with AIDS, criticized Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) for his suggestion that the federal government consider reducing funding for a disease brought on by "deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct." If Helms believes scarce public monies should not be spent on people who engage in dangerous or unhealthy behavior, "then perhaps we should stop spending government funds on people who get sick because they smoke too heavily, drive too fast, eat too much or exercise to little," Studds said. Studds, a strong supporter of the Ryan White CARE Act, said Helms' comments "tell us more about ignorance and narrow-mindedness than about this disease." "AIDS Groups See Fall in Giving" Boston Globe (07/08/95) P. 5 Some people blame the falling level of donations to AIDS organizations on an increasing number of causes fighting for the same funds. Others blame the trend on "compassion fatigue," as people tire of an issue with little positive news. As Congress threatens to cut federal AIDS funding, the prospect of fewer private contributions concerns AIDS groups across the nation. Although exact figures are not available, tales of difficult times are becoming more apparent. The American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR), for example, has reduced its budget from $20 million to $16 million. The Gay Men's Health Crisis, with a budget of about $25 million, raised $4.7 million at its annual AIDS walk in May, down from $5.1 million the previous year. Still, the New York group managed to increase its private funding by $700,000 this year. "Phila. AIDS Agency Gets Interim Director" Philadelphia Inquirer (07/08/95) P. B3; Miles, Katrina On Friday, Philadelphia Health Commissioner Estelle Richman appointed Jesse Milan Jr. as the interim director of the city's AIDS Activities Coordinating Office (AACO). The position has been vacant since last October, when Richard Scott was removed following criticism from the AIDS community. Richman, who has been running the agency herself for the last eight months, said that locating a permanent director has been difficult because no one wanted "to move into such an unstable environment." AACO manages federal, state, and local funding for AIDS services and public education programs but, because of internal problems, has not functioned effectively, Richman said. Milan, who will be AACO's sixth director in seven years, said he will try to establish a new relationship with Philadelphia's AIDS groups, and make sure that funds are distributed fairly. "I hope to develop a new sense of cooperation among the AIDS service providers in Philadelphia," he said. "Ex-Caremark Employee Indicted--U.S. Attorney" Reuters (07/07/95) As part of an ongoing probe into alleged health care fraud, a former employee of Caremark Inc. was indicted on Friday for conspiracy to solicit and accept kickbacks, the U.S. Attorney said. The indictment adds Jon Mickle--a former manager and director of Caremark's HIV program--to an earlier conspiracy charge against an Ohio physician, U.S. Attorney Edmund Sargus said. Last month, Caremark agreed to plead guilty to mail fraud and pay $161 million in fines and damages related to Medicaid kickbacks and overbilling. "Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) May Predict AIDS Survival" AIDS Treatment News (06/16/95) No. 225, P. 3; James, John S. A recent study of 75 patients found that an inexpensive, non-invasive electrical measurement, known as bioelectrical impedance, predicted three-year survival better than CD4 levels or several other measurements tested. Measurements of bioelectrical impedance consist of two numbers--electrical resistance and capacitative resistance, both of which can be measured using a simple machine in a doctor's office. Using the two numbers, it is then possible to calculate the phase angle, which the current study identified as the single best predictor of who would survive for three years. Factors that were predictive to a lesser degree were serum cholesterol, CD4 cell count, body cell mass, and serum albumin. Viral load was not measured in this study, so it could not be compared as a measure of survival. Statistical analysis indicated that the volunteers with a median phase angle had a somewhat higher than 50 percent survival during the 1,000 days of follow-up. The authors concluded that the phase angle may be a measurement of the electrical integrity of cell membranes. "Gay Men Have It All Worked Out? Entering the Fray over Safer Sex Practices" Gay Community News (Spring 1995) Vol. 20, No. 5, P. 10; Finkelstein, Ruth Recent studies of safer sex practices among gay men show an increase in unsafe sexual practices. They also reveal that the rate of HIV seroconversion is increasing. Faced with this knowledge, it is difficult to know what activists and educators should do, writes health policy advocate and activist Ruth Finkelstein in Gay Community News. Finkelstein notes that, for a long time, there has been clear epidemiological evidence that gay men were continuing to seroconvert--except they were always the "other" men--youths, hustlers, and gay men of color. Yet middle class, gay white men in the epicenters who know all about HIV and AIDS are also seroconverting. The solution, Finkelstein proposes, is to allow people to talk at the level of the individual because it is at that level that sexual meanings, practices, and desire happen. These discussions would allow gay men to confront the sexual/relational issues that have emerged as a result of the AIDS crisis, she concludes. "Legacy Beyond AIDS" Crain's New York Business (06/26/95) Vol. 11, No. 26, P. 3; Furman, Phyllis When Terry Wilke died of AIDS in February 1992 at age 36, he left behind a young menswear company that had just begun to gather momentum. Though faced with almost certain extinction, quite the opposite happened. This year, Wilke-Rodriguez will sell $45 million worth of corporate casual-style mens' clothing. And with the support of a strong Asian partner, the company is about to sign lucrative licensing agreements, while expanding abroad. Eddie Rodriguez, the co-founder of the company, succeeded by following his late partner's philosophy of making well-designed clothes that are not too expensive. Wilke-Rodriguez, one of the fastest-growing minority-owned companies in New York, was recently ranked No. 17 in a recent Crain's New York Business survey. "Notice of Public Meeting" Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (07/06/95) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will host a public meeting to discuss the implementation and evaluation of U.S. Public Health Service recommendations for counseling and testing pregnant women. The purpose of this meeting is to obtain individual comments on the following: strategies to prevent HIV infection among women and children; strategies to ensure that women and newborns who are infected are entered into a continuum of services; and the considerations involved in monitoring the epidemic in women and children in general. The meeting will be held at the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, 210 Peachtree Street, NW, Atlanta Georgia, on July 11 and 12, from 8:30 am - 5:00 pm. To make hotel reservations, please contact the Westin Peachtree Plaza at (404) 659-1400. For additional information, call Francess Page at (202) 690-6373.