Date: Tue, 04 Oct 1994 09:16:41 -0400 (EDT) From: "JOHN FANNING, CDC NAC" AIDS Daily Summary October 04, 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 ************************************************************ "Act Up Agitates Outside GOP Fete" "In Performance: Male Prostitute With AIDS Is a Stand-In for Jesus" "Red Cross Demands Funding Change" "Experimental AIDS Treatment Prolongs Life--Studies" "Henry Ford Hospital Receives Major AIDS Research Grant" "Local Agencies Band Together on Effort for AIDS Benefit Concert" "The AIDS Establishment's Conspiracy of Silence" "Ivory Coast Launches Five-Year AIDS Plan" "More Concerns Emerge Over D.C. AIDS Funding" "First Condom for Women Brings Reality to Drugstores" *********************************************************** "Act Up Agitates Outside GOP Fete" Philadelphia Inquirer (10/04/94) P. B1; Landry, Peter; Bustos, Sergio R. Outside a fund-raising event for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rick Santorum Monday night, about 400 members of the Philadelphia chapter of Act Up lay down in the street to protest Santorum's lack of support for legislation that would advance gay and lesbian causes. Philadelphia Act Up spokesman Paul Davis said that the GOP event had been targeted because of the "far-right politicians" that were invited to host it. Act Up, a group known for its confrontational style in advocating gay rights, began distributing fliers last week under the heading "Evil Jerks Coming to Philadelphia." Santorum, a two-term congressman from Pittsburgh, received a zero rating in the 1993-1994 Congress from the Human Rights Campaign Fund, the largest gay-lesbian political organization in the United States. Santorum's opponent, Democratic Sen. Harris Wofford, received an 80 percent rating from the group on similar bills in the Senate. "In Performance: Male Prostitute With AIDS Is a Stand-In for Jesus" New York Times (10/04/94) P. C16; Hampton, Wilborn "Mother and Child," a new play by Matthew Lombardo, is the story about the confessions of the two characters, Mother and Child. Child is dying in a hospital room from AIDS and confesses to his mother all the intimate details of his life as a male prostitute before asking her to assist in his euthanasia. At the same time, Mother wants Child to know that he never had a father--except for at the time of conception in the back seat of a car, which her own mother justified by calling it an Immaculate Conception. "Red Cross Demands Funding Change" Toronto Globe and Mail (10/03/94) P. A6 The Canadian Red Cross Society said that unless the provinces agree to a major renovation of the country's blood supply system, it will not continue to be a part of the blood-donation business. If introduced, the new system would resemble the U.S. blood distribution system. "We need to move away from a system where we're funded up front by the provinces as part of the healthcare system to a situation where we will arrange all the financing...but we will bill for the product on the basis of product actually used," said Doug Lindores, secretary-general of the CRC. The idea was suggested in an effort by the CRC to be less dependent on the provinces, from whom they must get financing and permission before implementing new procedures. Lindores called the current system clumsy and slow to approve new procedures. "Experimental AIDS Treatment Prolongs Life--Studies" Reuters (10/03/94); Baker, Sue Researchers announced Monday that there was conclusive evidence that Passive Immune Therapy--an experimental AIDS treatment that uses plasma transfusions--delays the onset of AIDS in HIV-infected patients and extends the lives of people with AIDS. Dr. Abraham Karpas, from the University of Cambridge's hematology department, said that PIT was a "breakthrough" and has no known side effects, but should not be considered a cure. Under PIT, monthly transfusions are given of approximately a pint of plasma from healthy HIV-positive individuals. The blood has the red and white cells removed and is free from HIV, but contains high levels of neutralizing antibodies that kill the virus. The study was conducted by Hemacare Corporation and two hospitals in Paris. It is the "first conclusive evidence that PIT is an effective AIDS treatment," said Karpas. "Henry Ford Hospital Receives Major AIDS Research Grant" PR Newswire (10/03/94) The federal government has awarded $5.2 million to the Henry Ford Hospital in support of clinical trials in people with HIV and AIDS. The Division of Infectious Diseases, headed by Dr. Louis Saravolatz, received the grant. This award is the third largest of 16 awards given by the Terry Beirn Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS, which is one of four HIV clinical trial programs supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Beirn was a former manager of the American Foundation of AIDS Research and was also a health policy consultant to Sen. Edward Kennedy. The CPCRA's goal is to identify the most effective antiretroviral treatments for patients at various stages of HIV-infection. The Henry Ford Hospital treats more patients with AIDS than any other facility in Michigan, with a network of more than 20 community doctors. "Local Agencies Band Together on Effort for AIDS Benefit Concert" Richmond-Times Dispatch (10/03/94) P. D14; Middleton, Otesa The Richmond, Va., advertising community has come together to help people with AIDS. A piano concert will be held Friday to benefit the Persons with AIDS Assistance Fund at the Fan Free Clinic/Richmond AIDS Information Network. The money raised will be used to help people with AIDS pay their bills and buy groceries--something they cannot always do if they are unable to work. "The AIDS Establishment's Conspiracy of Silence" Washington Post (10/01/94) P. A23; Hentoff, Nat During the 1980s, Dr. Stephen Joseph, then New York City's commissioner of health, insisted that AIDS was a health problem--not a political one. Joseph was attacked when he exposed the tourist-attracting baths as polluted, when he advocated contact tracing, and when he advocated widespread testing. Posters around New York City called him an enemy of privacy. He was spat upon and otherwise harassed--ultimately, Joseph was forced to leave his job. At the same time, ACT-UP, an enemy of Joseph, was posting signs around the city calling for more AIDS research, bearing the message Silence=Death. They did not realize that, by being against partner notification, they were supporting the silence. State Health Commissioner David Axelrod refused to classify AIDS as a sexually transmitted disease, thus the testing and notification that applied to syphilis and gonorrhea did not apply to HIV. In September, Dr. Sanford Kuvin, an infectious diseases specialist, stated on "60 Minutes" that "it's the first time in the history of public health or medicine that a disease has been treated as a secret disease." His statement, in such an influential public forum, will help to de-politicize AIDS. "Ivory Coast Launches Five-Year AIDS Plan" Reuters (10/03/94) Ivory Coast has won pledges of $2.25 million in initial funding for its program to fight the spread of AIDS. The five-year, $4.8 million plan was designed to prevent transmission of HIV, care for AIDS patients, and control other sexually transmitted diseases that facilitate the transmission of HIV. Daniel Kablan Duncan, prime minister of Ivory Coast, said Friday that the economic impact of AIDS in terms of loss of workforce and the cost of caring for patients threatened to negate efforts to revitalize the economy. A health ministry statement said that the $2.25 million will cover the expenses of the first year of the plan. The money will come from the Ivory Coast government, other donor governments, and aid organizations. Ivory Coast has the highest rate of HIV-infection in West Africa and has reported more than 18,000 cases of AIDS since it was first reported in the country in 1985. "More Concerns Emerge Over D.C. AIDS Funding" Washington Blade (09/23/94) Vol. 25, No. 39, P. 32; Chibbaro Jr., Lou Hank Carde, a former advisor to the Washington, D.C. Agency for HIV/AIDS, is threatening to sue the D.C. government for allegedly using federal AIDS funds to pay overdue bills for services not related to AIDS. Carde says that local AIDS service groups are approaching financial insolvency because the District is taking so long to repay them for services performed under contracts. Almost all contract funds come from the federal government's Ryan White CARE Act, a comprehensive AIDS measure passed in 1989. In a letter to D.C. Councilmember Linda Cropp--who is also chair of the Council's Committee of Human Services, which oversees the city's AIDS programs--Carde wrote that if the committee cannot determine why federal AIDS funds are not reaching their destinations on time, then he would have to look to Congress and the Clinton administration for a federal audit of all Washington, D.C., AIDS programs. "First Condom for Women Brings Reality to Drugstores" American Medical News (09/26/94) Vol. 37, No. 36, P. 13 Reality, the first condom for women, is the first product that enables women to protect themselves from AIDS and unwanted pregnancy. The road ahead for its manufacturer, Wisconsin Pharmacal Co., will be difficult because of complex usage instructions required by the Food and Drug Administration, a price nearly three times that of male condoms, and the fact that Reality looks "funny". Wisconsin Pharmacal Co. attempts to address the issue that many men do not want to wear condoms by including an explanatory pamphlet with the female condom. Reality is made of polyurethane--making it thinner, more heat sensitive, and more natural-feeling, says the pamphlet. Amid doubts of whether Reality would sell well, Mona Doyle--president of Consumer Network, a market-research firm--remarked that Reality "fits in with the way a great many women are trying to live their lives."