Date: Mon, 07 Feb 1994 10:07:25 -0500 (EST) From: "ANNE WILSON, CDC NAC" Subject: CDC AIDS DAILY SUMMARY 02/07/94 AIDS Daily Summary February 07, 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 1993, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD "Administration Names 18-Member Panel to Speed Search for AIDS Treatments" Washington Post (02/07/94) P. A15 The Clinton administration has appointed an 18-member committee of scientists, physicians, and AIDS activists to accelerate the search for novel drugs to fight the HIV virus. Panel members include drug industry leaders as well as the chiefs of the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration. Several people on the committee have the virus themselves, such as Peter Staley, who founded Treatment Action Group, and Moises Agosto of the National Minority AIDS Council. Philip R. Lee, assistant secretary for health, will be the chief of the committee. Ben Cheng of Project Inform, a group that works on treatment and AIDS-related public policy issues, said he hopes the task force will aid in the discovery of new drugs and suggest improvements in clinical trials. Cheng noted that current drugs are mediocre and scientists still don't know the most effective way to use them. AIDS kills about 92 Americans daily because the current drugs merely treat the disease instead of curing it. "Ban on Funds to Distribute Condoms Urged" Philadelphia Inquirer (02/05/94) P. A6 (Feldman, Carole) Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) on Friday called for the Senate to oppose the use of federal money for the distribution of contraceptives to minors without parental permission. Students, said Helms, "can't pray in school, but you can hand out condoms to them. What kind of message does this send to them?" While Helms discussed distribution of condoms in schools, his amendment would cover all federal money administered by the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) contends that the Helms amendment is too broad. "It applies to every setting in which reproductive health services are offered. ... It applies in every instance that the use of contraceptives is even indirectly promoted." According to Kennedy, the amendment would ban even activities such as classes on the biology of reproduction and brochures cautioning against unprotected sex. Kennedy suggested instead the promotion of contraceptive programs that "encourage, to the extent practical, family participation in such programs." The Senate is slated to vote Tuesday on the contraceptive amendments. "AIDS Lawsuit" Associated Press (02/04/94) New York--James A. Fielding of the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) is suing the organization on the grounds that it failed to promote him because he has AIDS. Fielding contends that until he complained to the New York Human Rights Commission, he was denied an interview for the position of training coordinator. Fielding reported that after his interview, he was told it went well and that he was the second-best candidate. However, when the leading candidate turned down the job, GMHC sought new candidates rather than hiring Fielding, according to the lawsuit. When Fielding filed a grievance with the organization, he said, he was moved to a new position in which he "primarily stuffs envelopes and photocopies." Fielding is seeking $1.75 million in damages from GMHC. "AIDS Digest: Bristol-Myers Seeks Approval for d4T" Washington Blade (01/28/94) Vol. 25, No. 4, P. 25 Bristol-Myers Squibb has applied to the Food and Drug Administration for approval of its anti-HIV drug d4T for the treatment of adult HIV patients who have taken AZT before. Known as stavudine or Zerit, d4T belongs to the same class of drugs as AZT, ddC, and ddI--the only three drugs already approved by the FDA to treat HIV. More than 4,400 patients have participated in clinical trials of d4T, including a current study that compares the drug with AZT. Since 1992, some 11,000 HIV patients who could not tolerate AZT or ddI received d4T at no cost through the FDA's "parallel track" program, which will continue to run until d4T is approved. "Vitamin Megadoses May Slow Onset of AIDS, Researchers Find" Nation's Health (01/94) Vol. 24, No. 1, P. 27 Moderate to large doses of certain vitamins may delay full-blown AIDS in HIV-positive men, reports a new study at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. Researchers studied 281 HIV-positive men for up to 6.8 years and found that, when taken in doses greater than the recommended daily amount, vitamins A, C, and B1 as well as niacin may stave off full-blown disease. In fact, the study provides the first epidemiological evidence to "clearly link nutrient intake and the progression of HIV-1 infection to AIDS, even after taking into account any other factors that might influence HIV disease progression." The result of the study was a 40 to 48 percent drop in the number of new AIDS cases among the study sample, says lead author Alice M. Tang. "If these results are confirmed," she says, "we may have a useful intervention for HIV-positive patients." While vitamins A, C, and B1 and niacin appeared to slow progression to AIDS, the researchers discovered a link between high doses of dietary zinc and an elevated risk of developing full-blown disease. The "data suggest that micronutrient intake needs to be sustained for at least two years and started early in HIV infection to be most effective," concludes Dr. Neil M. H. Graham, senior author of the paper. "Prevention Seen as Best AIDS Hope" American Medical News (01/24/94-01/31/94) Vol. 37, No. 4, P. 3 (Jones, Laurie) With the AIDS epidemic in its 12th year, and major research and treatment breakthroughs years away, prevention is increasingly perceived as a valuable weapon in curbing transmission of the virus. Activists and health professionals are calling on the Clinton administration for bold, decisive action in the matter. Activists argue that prevention efforts in the past have lagged because the Reagan and Bush administrations shrank from any prevention strategy aside from abstinence. "HIV prevention involves thinking about sex and drugs, and many political leaders would rather not think about sex and drugs," says Don Des Jarlais, director of research at the Chemical Dependency Institute at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. "We are way behind the curve regarding prevention," agrees Paul Kawata, executive director of the Minority AIDS Council. "We have a long way to go just to catch up." In response, the Clinton administration has revamped the federal prevention approach. The Centers for Disease Control has launched an ad campaign which, for the first time, endorses condom use as a means of HIV prevention. Communities will exert greater control over federally funded education programs. Financial support for AIDS prevention, however, has been less dramatic. "They're moving in the right direction, but there is no question that we need more funding for prevention," says Jeffrey Levi, director of public policy for the AIDS Action Council. "Report on Farm Workers, AIDS Released" Nation's Health (01/94) Vol. 24, No. 1, P. 13 American farm workers are contracting HIV in significant numbers and the rates appear to be on the rise--especially among women and children, finds a new report titled "HIV/AIDS: A Growing Crisis Among Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Families." The National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality found that nearly all of farm worker service providers interviewed by researchers reported cases of HIV and AIDS, and two-thirds said that women in these communities were "unaware" of their partners' risks. As a result, the report concludes, farm workers--one of the poorest sectors of society--are at a high risk for HIV exposure and often do not know about the disease until they are diagnosed in the final stages. The authors recommend that funding for HIV/AIDS data collection and research be increased, and that more attention be given to the prevention and treatment of farm worker women and children. "New Surveillance Program to Monitor Household Transmissions" AIDS Alert (01/94) Vol. 9, No. 1, P. 1 Following two recent reports of household transmission of HIV, health officials assured the public that such cases are rare and unlikely, and that there was no need for alarm. Nevertheless, the National Hemophiliac Foundation has expanded its seroconversion surveillance system to include individuals who live with infected hemophiliacs. Supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the system closely monitors more than 12,000 hemophiliacs, and allows health officials to react quickly if a transmission is the result of contaminated blood products, says foundation spokesperson Ann King. In response to the two recent cases, the surveillance program now surveys household members living with HIV-positive hemophiliacs. "We will be asking them to be tested so we can log and identify any possible household transmission cases and actually demonstrate how extremely rare they are," says King. "Association Forming to Reduce AIDS Costs" AIDS Alert (01/94) Vol. 9, No. 1, P. 15 The Physicians Association for AIDS Care (PAAC) in Chicago is establishing an individual practice association (IPA) for treating HIV patients to lower lifetime treatment costs between $25,000 and $35,000 per patient. Led by Dr. Victor Beer of the Kraus-Beer Medical Group in Los Angeles, the effort will include development of a new clinical trials network, new community service projects, and an IPA approach to managed care for AIDS patients. "The algorithms will be designed to provide an aggressive approach to HIV management, but will also reduce costs through greater reliance on ambulatory and transitional care in lieu of hospitalization, as well as more cost-efficient home care and other medical service contracts," Beer elaborated.