Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 09:35:27 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 10/10/95 AIDS Daily Summary October 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 ************************************************************ "Mothers to Get AIDS Test Data in Albany Rule" "Taking a New Slant to Combat AIDS" "Across the USA: Indiana" "Montagnier Says HIV Drug Mix Could Prolong Life" "Quick Uptakes: Voices with a Message" "Rx for Rural AIDS: More Funds, Community Support" "Magic Johnson's Blockbuster Weekend" "An AIDS Vaccine: It's Possible. So Why Isn't It Being Done?" ************************************************************ "Mothers to Get AIDS Test Data in Albany Rule" New York Times (10/10/95) P. A1; Dao, James Mothers in New York will now be able to learn the results of HIV tests given to their infants. The new policy is the result of a court settlement between New York and the Association to Benefit Children, a nonprofit group that sued the state earlier this year, demanding that it act on the controversial issue. Currently, all New York infants are anonymously tested for HIV as part of a state-government program, but the tests are used for statistical reasons only and the results are not disclosed to parents. Under the proposed policy, physicians will be compelled to advise new mothers that they can learn the HIV status of their child. The mothers will then be given consent forms and counseled to sign them so they can obtain the results. The issue has been controversial nationwide: civil libertarians and others claim that informing a mother of her child's HIV status is an invasion of her privacy, while proponents of disclosing test results argue that many newborns are not receiving sufficient medical care because their parents are not aware that they are infected. The proposed New York regulation must now undergo a public review that may take more than six months to conclude. "Taking a New Slant to Combat AIDS" Philadelphia Inquirer (10/10/95) P. B1; Collins, Huntly Jesse Milan, the new director of Philadelphia's AIDS Activities Coordinating Office (AACO), is the sixth person to hold the position in just eight years. As AACO head, Milan--an openly gay and HIV-infected graduate of Princeton University and New York University Law School--manages the city's contracts with more than 60 AIDS agencies in the region. Milan will probably be the city's first AIDS director to deal with a shrinking budget, and he is set to oversee the first in-depth restructuring of the decision-making process that determines priorities for spending millions of federal AIDS dollars. For the first time, the agency will establish procedures to assess the quality of AIDS services supported by taxpayers' funds. The appointment of Milan has been applauded by many in the AIDS services community. Milan's appointment as director of AACO was "the best thing that could have happened," said Tyrone Smith of Unity Inc., which runs an AIDS education program for African American gay men. "He has given us an open door and we can dialogue with him." "Across the USA: Indiana" USA Today (10/10/95) P. 6A The fifth annual Indiana AIDS Walk and Festival drew 7,000 participants and raised $215,000. Organizers of the five-kilometer walk estimate that late pledges will account for another $15,000 to $20,000. "Montagnier Says HIV Drug Mix Could Prolong Life" Reuters (10/09/95); Winton, Neil Luc Montagnier considers AIDS drug combinations "promising," noting that "these combinations are likely to stabilise the virus load and would significantly extend life expectancy." Montagnier, a researcher at the Pasteur Institute in Paris and head of the World Foundation of AIDS Research, is credited with isolating HIV. Researchers in the recent "Delta" trial concluded that drug mixtures were better than individual medicines in controlling AIDS. According to Pasteur, several drugs are required to prevent the development of resistance, as is the case with tuberculosis. However, he noted, "Combinations are necessary but not sufficient. You need other components to restore the immune system, to finish the work started by anti-biotics." "Quick Uptakes: Voices with a Message" Journal of the American Medical Association (09/27/95) Vol. 274, No. 12, P. 934; Voelker, Rebecca Women Alive, a California-based advocacy group for HIV-infected women, has launched a hot line that offers peer support and medical information for women with HIV and AIDS. The toll-free hot line operates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. PST, and 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. EST. The number is (800) 554-4876. "Rx for Rural AIDS: More Funds, Community Support" AIDS Alert (10/95) Vol. 10, No. 10, P. 127 Rural HIV programs in the United States are as varied as the epidemic's effects on the individual states. Two years ago, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) conducted four case studies to determine the environmental factors that influence HIV services in rural communities. In Southeast Idaho, a lack of knowledgeable and willing service providers forces many residents with HIV or AIDS to travel outside the region to obtain medical care. The region's harsh climate, rugged terrain, and dispersed population also create significant obstacles to obtaining HIV services. Meanwhile, in Southeast New Mexico, state institutions have initiated services for infected residents, and state funds are used to back HIV early-intervention programs in county health departments. Florida's Treasure Coast has the most supportive funding environment of the four areas studied, but AIDS services were rare at home health, mental health, housing, and substance-abuse agencies, the report found. Finally, the rural community of Edisto, S.C., is a model of how a rural area can overcome resource and attitudinal barriers such as Idaho's and establish an HIV clinic in cooperation with local doctors. One solution to reducing the isolation in rural communities, proposes HRSA's Martha McKinney, is to establish patient and provider support groups. A telephone conference call support group is a second solution--one which deals with both confidentiality concerns and geographical barriers. "Magic Johnson's Blockbuster Weekend" Advertising Age (09/11/95) Vol. 66, No. 36, P. 20 Magic Johnson's Blockbuster Weekend in Minneapolis will combine basketball, food, and entertainment to raise funds for local HIV/AIDS groups. The event--which is scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 13 and 14--is sponsored by Minnesota Blockbuster Video, Coca-Cola Co., and the University of Minnesota. "An AIDS Vaccine: It's Possible. So Why Isn't It Being Done?" Village Voice (09/12/95) Vol. 40, No. 37, P. 20; Schoofs, Mark Although the best chance of stopping the AIDS epidemic is a vaccine, the effort to develop one has been largely abandoned by industry, ignored by activists, and neglected by government, writes Mark Schoofs in the Village Voice. There are several potential problems involved in creating a HIV vaccine, such as the fact that scientists do not know what part of the immune system to target for enhancement. However, there has been some cause for optimism. The strongest evidence is in humans' powerful immune counterattack to HIV infection, even though they do not fully recover from the infection. But the task of developing a vaccine has proven difficult for many biotechnology firms, and after many years of little success, several have substantially reduced their AIDS vaccine funding. A recent report from the Rockefeller Foundation notes that the private sector accounts for 40 percent of general medical research, but just 15 percent of research into an AIDS vaccine. "AIDS vaccines have lost their appeal on Wall Street," notes Therion Biologics president Dennis Panicali. Some experts believe that the government should guarantee to buy a licensed AIDS vaccine at a cost that ensures a worthy profit or create a public-private consortium that would share research and development expenses. Other options for the government include offering large tax incentives for vaccine development, extending the patent life of a successful product, and exempting an AIDS vaccine from liability lawsuits.