Date: Thu, 16 Nov 1995 09:49:47 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 11/16/95 AIDS Daily Summary November 16, 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 ************************************************************ "At Uncle Sam's, No One Answers" "Across the USA: South Carolina" "What Have We Learned If We Can't Share?" "Blue Cross Announces $2.8 Million in Grants for Health Programs" "Playboy TV Preempts Prime-time Line-up with Evening of Programming to Support World AIDS Day; Includes Live Show with Suzi Landolphi" "Applied Immune Science Reports Third Quarter Results" "Infectious Disease Testing for Blood Transfusions" "AIDS: Why Let the Courtroom Become Your Classroom?" ************************************************************ "At Uncle Sam's, No One Answers" Washington Post (11/16/95) P. A1; Barr, Stephen; Montgomery, David Although the federal government shutdown does not affect all government offices, the closure has already taken its toll. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has halted its disease surveillance, including monitoring current AIDS cases and the 1995 flu season. In addition, surveys on public health and training and prevention efforts have been canceled. "Across the USA: South Carolina" USA Today (11/16/95) P. 13A Conway, S.C., television station WBTW will broadcast a retraction and pay a settlement to Erin Kirby, a student at Coastal Carolina University who was wrongly identified in 1993 as being HIV-infected. "What Have We Learned If We Can't Share?" Toronto Globe and Mail (11/15/95) P. A20; Graydon, Michael During the past 12 years, gay men grew in the face of AIDS, yet blinded themselves to the world beyond their own community, contends writer and activist Michael Graydon in the Toronto Globe and Mail. Within the epidemic, women are now at particular risk for the disease--as gay men were and are--and the necessary steps to prevent that devastation are those that gay men either learned or developed in AIDS service organizations in the past 10 years. However, according to Graydon, a gay man himself, even though gay men's voices are stronger than many, this time--which could be marked by sharing a decade of knowledge--is instead a period of "unrelenting selfishness." Furthermore, some gay men even claim, "No one suffers more than we do." Graydon notes that the perspective of these men remains completely on themselves. Considering the many individuals who have already been hit by the AIDS epidemic, gay men cannot permit such factors as sexism, racism, or classism to prevent them from sharing all that is possible, Graydon concludes. "Blue Cross Announces $2.8 Million in Grants for Health Programs" Business Wire (11/15/95) Blue Cross of California has awarded 15 health-related programs grants totaling nearly $2.8 million. Of those programs, Los Angeles' AIDS Healthcare Foundation received $150,000 to increase its prevention services. Additionally, Gay & Lesbian Adolescent Social Services, Inc., West Hollywood, was given $153,402 for its Mobile Health Outreach Project, which offers primary health care and HIV/AIDS prevention and screening for youths on the streets of Hollywood. "Playboy TV Preempts Prime-time Line-up with Evening of Programming to Support World AIDS Day; Includes Live Show with Suzi Landolphi" Business Wire (11/15/95) In recognition of World AIDS Day, Playboy Television will devote four hours of programming to AIDS awareness and the issue of safer sex. The nation's third largest pay-per-view service will offer a special lineup, including a live call-in show featuring AIDS educator, comedienne, and entertainer Suzi Landolphi. The cable station has challenged other cable affiliates to provide Landolphi's show free of charge as a public service, but has suggested that those systems charging subscribers for the program should consider donating their proceeds to an AIDS organization. Landolphi has attracted national acclaim for her lecture program "Hot, Sexy & Safer." "Applied Immune Science Reports Third Quarter Results" Business Wire (11/14/95) Applied Immune Sciences reported revenues of $166,000 for the third quarter, which ended September 30th, compared to $263,000 in revenues for the same period last year. Net loss was $6,568,000 compared to $6,396,000 in 1994. Applied Immune Sciences entered into a strategic alliance with Rhone-Poulenc Rorer in 1993 and is currently affiliated with the newly created division RPR Gencell, which provides it access to institutions in the biotechnology field. Products now in clinical trials include treatments for bone marrow transplants, cancer, and AIDS. "Infectious Disease Testing for Blood Transfusions" Journal of the American Medical Association (11/01/95) Vol. 274, No. 17, P. 1374 The National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Panel on Infectious Disease Testing for Blood Transfusions composed a statement on infectious disease testing for blood transfusions following its recent conference. Among its recommendations, the nonfederal, nonadvocate, 12-member panel of experts said that antibody to hepatitis B core antigen testing should be continued because it may help eliminate some instances of posttransfusion hepatitis B. In addition, it may serve as a surrogate marker for HIV-infection in donors and may stop some cases of transfusion-related HIV infection. According to the panel, public health surveillance and collaboration between public health and transfusion specialists is essential for responding to emerging risks of infectious disease in the blood supply. "AIDS: Why Let the Courtroom Become Your Classroom?" American Management Association (11/95) Vol. 84, No. 11, P. 62; Breuer, Nancy L. Just because an employee is infected with HIV does not mean that the courtroom must be involved, writes Nancy A. Breuer in the American Management Association. Overall, AIDS is a business issue--and thus a productivity and a market issue--that requires strategic planning. Some suggestions for planning include creating an internal task force to assess the impact of HIV/AIDS on the workforce and on the market, training managers and supervisors how to handle disclosure and medical confidentiality, providing education for employees and their families, and treating any HIV-infected worker as you would want to be treated if you faced a terminal illness in the prime of your life.