AIDS Daily Summary April 20, 1994 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 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD "AIDS Mothers' Undying Hope" New York Times (04/20/94) P. C1; Dullea, Georgia Since it first began meeting in 1986, Mothers' Voices--an advocacy group for women with adult children dying from AIDS--nearly 300 women have passed through the support group. "We range in age from 40 to over 80. We are working-class, white-collar, business, and professional women. We are widowed, divorced, and married. We are black, white, Hispanic, Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant. Our sons and daughters, gay and straight, have AIDS, and that is all that matters," wrote one member in the newsletter of the People With AIDS Coalition of New York, which sponsors Mothers' Voices. Traveling in small groups, the AIDS mothers lobby in the state and national capitals, march, and engage in other forms of protest. Their current project is a Mother's Day card campaign in which they hope to collect one million signatures on special greeting cards, which they will then deliver to members of Congress. Their message is that "Mother's Day can never be the same until there is a cure for AIDS." "Activism provides an outlet for some of the anxiety and loss of control they feel," says social worker Susan Katz. "It allows them to do something constructive about a process that is deconstructing." "British Condom Maker LIG Forced to Restructure" Reuters (04/19/94) Great Britain's London International Group (LIG), the world's leading condom manufacturer, has been forced to restructure in a move that will cut thousands of jobs. LIG, which markets Ramses, Sheik, Protex, and Durex brand condoms, will shut down manufacturing plants in Britain, resulting in a loss of 1,000 jobs. An additional 1,000 jobs will also be eliminated this year in LIG's worldwide operations. The company's chief executive, Nick Hodges, remained optimistic about the future. Condom sales are climbing by 2 to 3 percent a year, and LIG raised its market share by 3 percent last year, according to Hodges. The CEO also noted that, with a market share now at 22 percent, LIG is the leader in the branded condom arena. "I believe we have a bright future," Hodges said, acknowledging that the company has benefited from fears over the spread of HIV. The company is currently targeting a fresh wave of demand in the Asian market. "Safe Blood Supply a National Issue, Krever Told" Toronto Globe and Mail (04/19/94) P. A10 Canada's national Red Cross and provincial health officials shared with the federal government information concerning the safety of Canada's blood supply during the 1980s, but the ultimate responsibility for ensuring a safe blood supply rested with national agencies, the Krever inquiry was told during hearings in Alberta. "I think the issue of providing a safe blood supply is not a local issue," testified Dr. John Waters, Alberta's chief epidemiologist. "It is a national and international issue." Under close interrogation from Justice Horace Krever, however, Waters could not say precisely who was responsible for protecting the safety of blood and blood products at that time. "Did it fall between the stools and nobody was responsible for monitoring the safety of blood?" Krever asked. Blood did not officially become a federally regulated product until 1988, when it was registered under the Food and Drug Act. "HemaCare AIDS Research Results Reviewed and Phase III Plans Presented at the XIVth Community-Based Clinical Trials Network Meeting of the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR)" Business Wire (04/18/94) Dr. Joshua Levy, medical director of HemaCare, a leading blood services provider, reported the results of Phase I/II clinical trials of Immupath and presented plans to initiate Phase III studies. Immupath is a bio-pharmaceutical product which uses the principle of passive hyperimmune therapy as a potential AIDS therapy. Phase I/II clinical trials completed in July 1992 demonstrated that Immupath was non-toxic, and effectively improved immune competency and survival in certain groups of patients. The proposed Phase III study will seek to confirm the Phase I/II findings in a group of 600 patients enrolled in a national clinical trial. Levy presented the data at the XIVth Community-Based Clinical Trials Network Meeting of AmFar, America's largest nonprofit public foundation for HIV/AIDS research. The conference took place Apr. 16-18 in Chicago. "Clinical Trials of the First Oral AIDS Vaccine Set to Begin" Business Wire (04/18/94) United Biomedical Inc., of Hauppage, N.Y., in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), is prepared to begin clinical trials of the first orally administered AIDS vaccine. The UBI Multicomponent Global AIDS vaccine is specifically designed to protect against sexual transmission of HIV by stimulating protective immune responses at the local mucosal sites--specifically the rectum and genital tract--where HIV transmission occurs. The Phase I safety and immunogenicity trial, which will enroll 32 healthy, adult volunteers who are not infected with HIV-1, will be conducted by the NIAID AIDS Vaccine Clinical Trials Network at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Rochester AIDS Vaccine Evaluation Units. "GospelAID '94 Unites Philadelphia Gospel Community With Tony and Grammy Award-Winning Celebrities in Gospel Concert of the Decade" Business Wire (04/15/94) GospelAID '94, a musical extravaganza featuring some of the finest local and national gospel choirs, as well as some of the country's most popular secular voices, will take place April 30 in Philadelphia. Sponsored by Philadelphia's Gospel Music Preservation Alliance, in conjunction with ActionAIDS--Pennsylvania's largest AIDS service organization--the event will be hosted by Tony Award-winning actor James Earl Jones. It will showcase not only approximately 355 rich voices from nearly a dozen choirs, but will also spotlight such celebrities as musician Grover Washington Jr., singer Rachelle Ferrell, and rhythm-and-blues group Boyz II Men. Proceeds from the gala will benefit the GMPA and ActionAIDS. "Experts Warn Asia Not to Ignore AIDS" United Press International (04/14/94); Stewart, Ian If the spread of AIDS in Asia continues to go unchecked, the region's dynamic economic and political progress will be canceled out by an estimated $32 to $52 billion that will be spent by the year 2000 on treating the disease, according to AIDS experts and business leaders. Those figures represent a reduction in regional gross domestic product by as much as 2.5 percent, report an economist and public health expert. "The global AIDS epidemic is now spreading in Asia faster than in any other region of the world," said Dr. Michael Merson of the World Health Organization. "Are we going to sit back and wait for it to happen like it did in Africa, or are we going to do something about it?" If unchecked, Asia will see as many as 10 million new cases of AIDS by the end of the decade, according to WHO projections. Some parts of Asia which have not yet felt the brunt of the disease, however, can prevent the epidemic if they act now, said Merson. For example, Thailand has 400,000 documented HIV cases, while Hong Kong has only 500. "What Hong Kong has to remember is that seven years ago, Thailand had just about that same number of cases," warned Aetna insurance Asia Managing Director Dennis Pedini. Aetna and WHO are uniting to motivate businesses in Asia to act collectively against AIDS. Despite proof that the disease will invade all societies, many Asian businesses are still reluctant to admit to the problem. "There's still the mindset that this is somebody else's problem," said Pedini. "This is Africa's problem, this is Thailand's problem, this isn't our problem." "A Real-Life Philadelphia Case" Money (04/94) Vol. 23, No. 4, P. 134; Fenner, Elizabeth Andrew Hickman, like the fictional Andrew Beckett of "Philadelphia" movie fame, confronted AIDS discrimination at work and launched a lawsuit against his employer. In June 1992, Dr. Stephen Goodman, regional flight surgeon of the Federal Aviation Administration, disqualified Hickman from his $38,000 job as an air-traffic controller in Palmdale, Calif., because he had AIDS. Goodman said Hickman, 30, could suddenly develop dementia and that he was a danger to the flying public. Denying medical clearance to air-traffic controllers with AIDS has been FAA policy since 1987. "People with AIDS have a very high instance of central nervous system disease," explained Dr. William Hark, the FAA's deputy federal air surgeon. "The risks to public safety are too great." With that argument, Hickman was reassigned to a menial, isolated position. He was persistently harassed by colleagues for more than a year until, finally, he filed for disability retirement last September. Hickman's suit demands reinstatement of his air-traffic controller job and unspecified monetary damages. "Just because he has AIDS doesn't mean he can't do his job," says Jon Davidson, senior staff counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, with whom Hickman's attorneys conferred. "It's illegal to disqualify people because they might develop a problem." "AIDS Care: Does Race Matter?" Advocate (04/19/94) No. 653, P. 22 Two studies released in mid-March support long-held claims by AIDS activists that racial minorities, while particularly hard hit by the epidemic, have less access to treatment. A survey by the Florida Department of Health found that 70 percent of new mothers who test positive for HIV infection are black, although only 20 percent of all new mothers in the state are black. "There's no doubt that HIV has hit Florida's black community a lot harder than it has the white community," said Dr. Charles Martin, the state's health officer. A second study, conducted at Johns Hopkins University and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that 48 percent of blacks polled were likely to receive medication to slow the onset of AIDS, while 63 percent of whites were likely to receive them. The study also reported that 82 percent of eligible white patients received treatments for the prevention of AIDS-related pneumonia, whereas only 58 percent of blacks received such prophylaxis. "HIV Vaccine Trials for Uganda?" Lancet (04/09/94) No. 343, No. 8902,; Epstein, Helen The high prevalence of HIV in Uganda, combined with the government's past eight years of stability, makes it an ideal locale for HIV vaccine trials. But do the people welcome the idea of participation? Of 201 HIV-negative people visiting an STD clinic, 95 percent said they would be willing to participate in an HIV vaccine trial, according to a survey conducted by Makerere University and the University of California at San Francisco. But 20 percent of the same group, said they would use condoms less frequently if they were enrolled in a trial. The findings stress the importance of making study participants understand the nature of a random, placebo-controlled trial.