Submitted on: June 30, 1993

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DON'T LET THE CDC ISSUE ITS LATEST CIN GUIDELINES!!!

The CDC's care guidelines serve as the basis for which medical tests and 
treatments are covered by most public and many private health insurance 
plans (esp. Medicare).  

Cervical cancer is one of the major killers of women with HIV.

Pap smears, like TB skin tests, are not generally reliable indicators of 
abnormality or infection for people with suppressed immune systems.  A 
procedure known as coposcopy (sp?), which takes more tissue, is a much 
more reliable gauge of whether a woman has cervical cancer.  In a recent 
study 60% of HIV+ women with negative pap smears were found to have 
positive results when coposcopy was performed.

The latest CIN Care Guidelines (which stands for Cervical... - i.e. 
women's gynecological health issues)only require pap smears, which means 
these women will not be diagnosed until it is too late to treat them.  
Almost no women in America die of cervical cancer EXCEPT those that are 
HIV+.

WHAT TO DO

Call or fax James Curran, head of HIV Surveillance for CDC in Atlanta and 
insist upon the following:

- Don't release the latest CIN Care Guidelines until public hearings have 
been held to get input from

 (1) women w/ HIV, and 
 (2) researchers and doctors who treat HIV+ women.

Telephone (404)639-0900
Fax       (404)639-0910