AIDS Daily Summary
                      October 19, 1993

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
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Copyright 1993, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD

"Four Local TV Stations Reject Clinic's Condom Ad"
Washington Post (10/19/93) P. C1 (Edwards, Ellen)
     AIDS activists are incensed by the actions of four Washington,
D.C.-area television stations, which rejected an ad from the
Whitman-Walker clinic that advocates condom use.  WRC, WJLA, and
WUSA claim to have declined the ad on the grounds that they do
not accept any condom ads at all.  The fourth station, WTTG, says
that it would consider a modified version of the ad.  The spots
feature unwrapped, but unrolled, condoms as changing voices spout
dozens of slang terms for the prophylactics.  According to
Whitman-Walker executive director Jim Graham, the clinic tried to
purchase air time on late-night TV in the hopes of reaching a
sexually active audience.  He claims that language was the
primary reason for rejection of the ad.  "I think the problem is
these stations are out of touch with just how compelling AIDS
prevention is in this city," said Graham.  The ad is airing
around the Washington area on WDCA and Newschannel 8, BET, MTV,
and A&E, and those stations say there have been no complaints.

"N.Y.U. Opens Research Laboratory for AIDS"
New York Times (10/19/93) P. B4 (Lueck, Thomas J.)
     New York University Medical Center yesterday opened a $75-million
laboratory to house scientists devoted to the search for new
treatments for cancer, AIDS, and other diseases.  As many as 80
scientists will conduct research on a full-time basis in the lab,
which is part of a new, 23-story university building.  The new
laboratory is called the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular
Medicine, and was financed primarily through philanthropic gifts.

"Photographers to Auction Work for AIDS Charity"
Reuters (10/15/93)
     London--Renowned photographers David Bailey, Annie Leibovitz, and
Lord Snowden have donated more than 100 photos for a charity sale
to benefit people with AIDS, said auctioneers on Friday.
Leibovitz's portrait of Mick Jagger is expected to raise as much
as $2,100 alone, while two 1981 pictures of the late Andy Warhol
taken by Chris Makos have an estimated value of $3,600.  The
pieces, many of which feature other celebrities, will be
auctioned off tomorrow in London.  All money raised will go to
the London Lighthouse, Europe's largest residential and support
center for men and women infected and affected by the AIDS virus.
London Lighthouse was opened in 1988, and now services 2,000
infected people each week with counseling, social activities, and
terminal care.

"AIDS Relatives Are Also Screened in Blood Supply"
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (10/18/93) P. 2D (Donohue, Paul)
     Many viruses have look-alike relatives, writes Dr. Paul Donohue
in his column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  These include the
human T-cell lymphotrophic viruses 1 and 2.  A third relative,
HTLV-3, now more commonly known as HIV, is the virus that causes
AIDS.  HTVL-1 can cause cancer of the white blood cells, cancer
of lymph nodes, or a nerve-muscle disease, but these occurrences
are rare and only affect a small number of people.  HTLV-2 has
not been linked to any distinctive illness.  The significance,
says Donohue, is that these two distant relatives are transmitted
in exactly the same way as the AIDS virus--through sexual
contact, blood-to-blood contact, contaminated needles, or blood
transfusions.  This explains why the blood supply is screened not
just for HIV, but for all three organisms, says Donohue.

"Britain-Cuba AIDS"
Associated Press (10/14/93) (Epstein, Randi Hutter)
     London--Cuba's strict AIDS program has helped the country escape
the tragic epidemic that has swept other countries with more
lenient policies, according to American researcher Dr. Nancy
Scheper-Hughes.  The Cuban government in 1985 began HIV testing
of everyone who had been out of the country since 1981.  By 1987,
testing was expanded to include pregnant women; those that tested
positive are encouraged to undergo abortions.  The government
also enforced testing of anyone with a sexually transmitted
disease as well as sexual partner notification and testing.  In
addition, a sanitarium was opened, where infected persons are
isolated and cannot come and go as they like.  Cuba's program has
been widely criticized for depriving AIDS patients of
confidentiality and freedom.  "Cuba is known for repressive
attitudes toward homosexuality and it's not a free society,"
notes Dr. Richard McDonald, a trustee of the Physicians'
Association for AIDS Care in Chicago.  "Certainly taking
Draconian action would eliminate AIDS completely.  But that
action would be worse than the disease."  Scheper-Hughes, writing
in British medical journal The Lancet, concurs that "the human
rights issue does need to be debated," but adds that "Cubans
seized the moment at the very start of the epidemic.
Consequently, the AIDS tragedy one finds in Haiti and Brazil was
averted..."  Of Cuba's 10 million-plus population, 927 Cubans
have HIV and 187 have full-blown AIDS, as of May of this year.
Only three children have the virus; a sole child has died of
AIDS.

"Indonesia Drawing Up Anti-AIDS Programme"
Reuters (10/15/93)
     Jakarta--Indonesia, with the support of the United Nations
Development Program, is formulating a strategy to combat AIDS,
announced the UNDP on Friday.  Sixty non-government organizations
met this week in the Javanese town of Cipayung to discuss methods
of working in conjunction with government and local groups to
develop an anti-AIDS program, said the UNDP.  The health ministry
has estimated that there are 20,000 persons infected with HIV,
although only 33 people have been registered as having AIDS.  The
first incidence of HIV was discovered on the island of Bali in
1987, but the rate of infection has increased sharply since 1991.
The country has a reported disdain for condoms, which are
critical to a country that has a booming commercial sex industry,
as does Indonesia.

"More Than 3,000 Cases of AIDS Registered in Honduras"
United Press International (10/14/93)
     Teguicigalpa--In September, the number of registered AIDS
patients in Honduras jumped by 179, bringing that country's total
figure to 3,182, reported the Health Ministry on Thursday.  The
ministry estimated that about 750 people have died of AIDS since
the country's first case was diagnosed in 1985.  The two cities
most affected were San Pedro Sula with 1,281 cases and
Teguicigalpa with 461 cases.  Epidemiologists predict that, by
the year 2000, close to 50,000 Hondurans may be HIV carriers.

"D.C. Federal Court Hears PWA Marijuana Case"
Washington Blade (10/08/93) Vol. 24, No. 43, P. 27
     The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently heard
arguments in a lawsuit calling for the legalization of marijuana
for medicinal purposes.  The suit was filed against the Drug
Enforcement Agency by the National Association for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws, the Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics, and the
Drug Policy Foundation.  Many individuals with AIDS smoke
marijuana to alleviate nausea and vomiting, common side effects
of AIDS drugs, including AZT.  Marijuana also helps counteract
"AIDS wasting," which is characterized by loss of appetite and
extreme weight loss.  Earlier this year, the Food and Drug
Administration approved the use of Marinol, a drug containing the
active ingredient found in marijuana.  AIDS activists, however,
have found Marinol an inadequate substitute, since it must be
ingested rather than inhaled.  The organizations bringing the
suit want marijuana moved from Schedule I, which completely
prohibits the use of the drug, to Schedule II, which allows its
use only for medicinal reasons.  A decision is expected within
the next few months.

"HIV-Infected Health Care Workers: Risk to Patients"
Journal of American Medical Association (10/06/93) Vol. 270, No.
13, P. 1545 (Mishu, Ban et al.)
     HIV was transmitted from one Florida dentist to six of his
clients although he adhered to universal precautions, write Mishu
et al.  Similarly, doctors and dentists infected with hepatitis B
have spread the virus to patients also despite universal
precautions.  Although there have been efforts to design needles
that reduce the risk of needle-stick injury, there is little
evidence to support the effectiveness of the "sharps."  While the
mechanism of viral transmission from health care worker to
patient is a mystery, recent reports have shown that they are not
caused by injury to the health care worker, violations of
infection control guidelines, or the use of hollow-bore needles.
Mishu et al. conclude that the majority of HIV-infected health
care workers do not pose a risk to clients.  Why certain workers
appear to be "super-transmitters" of hepatitis B and possibly HIV
is still unknown, but the level of viremia, host factors, type of
invasive procedure conducted, and the type of sharp used are all
factors to consider.

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