>From: "ANNE WILSON, CDC NAC" >Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 09:23:19 -0400 (EDT) AIDS Daily Summary June 29, 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 ************************************************************ "EEOC Sues Health Fund, Alleges AIDS Discrimination" "Compromise Is Proposed on AIDS Test" "AIDS Is Leading Killer of Area Black Men Age 25 to 44" "AIDS in the Workplace: Firms Urged to Set Policy" "AIDS in the Workplace" "OHA Launches HIV-Blood Test Drive" "AIDS Digest: HIV Reporting Rules Take Effect in Maryland" "Concern Over 'Invisible Problem' of HIV Blood in Developing Countries" "Bucking Jazz's Macho Myth" ************************************************************ "EEOC Sues Health Fund, Alleges AIDS Discrimination" Philadelphia Inquirer (06/29/94) P. B2 The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission yesterday filed suit against a union health fund that it says discriminated against employees with AIDS. The lawsuit charges the Laborers District Council Building and Construction Health and Welfare Fund of Philadelphia with placing a $10,000 lifetime ceiling on health insurance payments for HIV- or AIDS-related treatments, while maintaining a lifetime cap of $100,000 on payment for other catastrophic illnesses. The EEOC is seeking a halt to the practice, as well as unspecified damages for two plaintiffs. "Compromise Is Proposed on AIDS Test" New York Times (06/29/94) P. B1; Sack, Kevin As the debate in New York over testing newborns for HIV continues, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver used his clout to endorse a compromise that would oblige doctors to counsel pregnant women and new mothers to seek HIV testing. If approved, New York would become the first state to require such testing, but would effectively scuttle an alternative bill that aims to force doctors to inform parents if their baby tests HIV-positive during routine blind-testing conducted solely for research purposes. Silver tried to reach a half-way point between that proposal and a mandatory counseling bill that has already passed the state Senate. Silver's proposal would require physicians and other health care providers to counsel pregnant women and new mothers about the benefits of early diagnosis of HIV, and offer testing to them. Women receiving counseling would have to sign a form saying so. Assemblywoman Nettie Mayersohn, sponsor of the bill proposing that HIV testing results be revealed to parents, says she will not support Silver's proposal. "AIDS Is Leading Killer of Area Black Men Age 25 to 44" Washington Post (06/29/94) P. A1; Masters, Brooke A. AIDS has replaced murder as the No. 1 cause of death for African-American males between the ages of 25 and 44 in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, according to local health officials. In that same age bracket, AIDS was also identified as the leading killer of black women in Maryland, and white men in the District and in Maryland. Health officials say the local increase in AIDS deaths may reflect the national increase in AIDS deaths among all men and black women. Local health authorities have been warning for years about the increasing incidence of minority AIDS cases. Much of the increase, they say, has occurred among intravenous drug users and heterosexuals. "AIDS in the Workplace: Firms Urged to Set Policy" St. Louis Post-Dispatch (06/28/94) P. 6B; Flannery, William On Monday, the Leadership Coalition on AIDS, a group that provides technical support on employment policy concerning HIV and AIDS, released "Accommodating Employees with HIV: Case Studies of Employer Assistance." The report features 10 American firms, including Digital Equipment Corp., Levi Strauss & Co., and Bank of America, which have all developed successful personnel policies to accommodate employees with AIDS. Coalition President J.B. Stiles notes that, according to the group's best estimate, about 80 percent of infected Americans are full-time employees, yet many companies are still lagging in efforts to develop AIDS employment policies. Such firms are vulnerable to possible litigation under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal protection laws. Most executives realize that firing a worker solely because he or she is infected is illegal, says Peter Petesch, a management-labor attorney who works with the coalition. Issues such as hiring, work assignment, promotion, training, benefits, compensation, confidentiality, and the attitude of other employees, however, also need to be addressed. "AIDS in the Workplace" St. Louis Post-Dispatch (06/28/94) P. 11B Businesses that would like help in developing employee policies on AIDS can contact the National Leadership Coalition on AIDS at (202) 429-0930 to obtain a copy of "Accommodating Employees with HIV Infection and AIDS: Case Studies of Employer Assistance." The coalition also offers the "Business Response to AIDS Manager's Kit," prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Another kit, designed for labor union officials, is also available. Both kits include policy planning guides, guides for small businesses, and HIV/AIDS and health insurance. They can be obtained by calling (800) 458-5231. "OHA Launches HIV-Blood Test Drive" Toronto Globe and Mail (06/28/94) P. A2; Coutts, Jane In the first provincially coordinated effort to identify anyone who may have contracted HIV through blood transfusions in the period before screening for the virus was introduced, the Ontario Hospital Association is advising anyone who was in an area hospital between 1978 and 1985 to consider getting tested for HIV. Ontario chief medical officer Richard Schabas last July called for everyone who had received a transfusion during that time frame to undergo HIV testing. However, according to OHA officials, although many people know that they were in a hospital during those years, they may not know whether they received a transfusion. Also, since hospitals at the time were not required to maintain separate blood records, there is no easy way to determine which patients did and which did not have blood transfusions. It is estimated, however, that about 600,000 people in Ontario did receive blood transfusions during the critical period, and that about half are already dead, and more than 100,000 have already been tested. "AIDS Digest: HIV Reporting Rules Take Effect in Maryland" Washington Blade (06/24/94) Vol. 26, No. 25, P. 30; van Hertum, Aras In accordance with new regulations that took effect on June 1, Marylanders who test positive for HIV will now be reported by a "unique identifier" number. The number is made up of the last four digits of the individual's social security number, six digits indicating the person's birthdate, and two digits representing gender, race, or ethnicity. The regulations replaced proposed rules that caused public outcry last year. Those rules would have included the last six digits of the individual's social security number, and would have obliged anonymous HIV testing centers to report HIV-positive results. "Concern Over 'Invisible Problem' of HIV Blood in Developing Countries" Nature (06/09/94) Vol. 369, No. 6480, P. 429; Butler, Declan Nearly a decade after industrialized countries began testing all blood for HIV, as many as one in 10 HIV-positive individuals in developing nations are being infected this very way. This lack of screening, combined with high levels of HIV-infected donors makes blood transfusion tantamount to Russian roulette. Receiving a transfusion of HIV-contaminated blood carries about a 95 percent risk of infection, compared to a 0.1 to 1.0 percent risk through sexual transmission. Despite this, and the fact that transfusions still account for five to 10 percent of HIV infections worldwide, blood safety has not yet been given priority by the international community. Some public health officials believe money would be better used for prevention of sexual transmission of HIV and, as a result, funding for HIV screening is being phased out of WHO's Global Programme on AIDS. The agency has, however, recently approved the establishment of a new blood safety unit. The task at hand is to secure the necessary funding for the unit at a time when the United Nations is cutting back programs and positions. "Bucking Jazz's Macho Myth" Newsweek (06/20/94) Vol. 123, No. 25, P. 61; Masland, Tom Jazz ballads tell a story, and the story behind "Last Night When We Were Young: The Ballad Album" is AIDS. HIV-positive pianist Fred Hersch produced the album as a fundraiser for the disease. So far, the album--on which Hersch contributes to eight of the 13 cuts--has only been available through the charity Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS, but it may soon be distributed to record stores. With this album, Hersch sheds the macho image flaunted by jazz professionals. While most homosexual jazz musicians are closet gays, Hersch came out in the mid-1980s because "it was starting to mess with my creativity." Still, he sometimes fears that he will be "known as the jazz guy with AIDS." As long as he continues to put out quality work like "Last Night," he shouldn't have to worry.