Date: Fri, 07 Oct 1994 10:13:32 -0400 (EDT) From: "JOHN FANNING, CDC NAC" AIDS Daily Summary October 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 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD *********************************************************** "Survey Finds Most Adults Sexually Staid" "HIV Father with Lover Gets Limited Visitation" "Jury Chosen in AIDS Suit by Lawyer" "Across the USA: Tennessee" "Alarming Spread of AIDS Adds to Honduras' Woes" "AIDS Activist, Near Death, to See Family from Cuba" "Surgimetrics to Market HIV (AIDS) Testing Kits in South America; Signs Letter of Intent with Laboratory Phoenix, Based in Argentina" "AIDS: Case: Edwards v. Kuruvilla" "Preparing for the Day an Employee Says 'I Have AIDS'" "APHA Members Suggest Policy Statements to the Association: Syringe and Needle Exchange and HIV Disease" ************************************************************ "Survey Finds Most Adults Sexually Staid" Washington Post (10/07/94) P. A1; Vobejda, Barbara A new study of sexual habits indicates that Americans are less sexually active than previously thought and, as a result, AIDS is not likely to become epidemic in the general population. The study's authors predict that AIDS will stay confined to high risk-groups, which include gay men and intravenous drug users. The conclusion is based upon the finding that most Americans tend to have sex with partners from similar educational, religious, and economic backgrounds. Some AIDS experts criticize the researchers' prediction because it "could lull people into a very dangerous sense of security," states June Osborn, professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan and former chair of the National Commission on AIDS. Related Stories: New York Times (10/07) P. A1; Wall Street Journal (10/07) P. B4; Philadelphia Inquirer (10/07) P. A12 "HIV Father with Lover Gets Limited Visitation" Philadelphia Inquirer (10/07/94) P. A12; Stuckey, Tom David North, an HIV-positive gay man living with his lover, has been granted only limited visitation rights to his three daughters because the judge does not believe that North can be trusted to hide his homosexuality. This is the first time Maryland's Court of Special Appeals has decided whether homosexuality is a reason to limit the rights of an otherwise good parent. Kathryn North, North's ex-wife, believes that homosexuality is a sin and is worried that her children might become HIV-infected from their father--even though medial testimony has stated that infection is not possible through casual contact. Her lawyer says that the father's sexual preference is not the real issue, which is that North has not proven trustworthy because he continued to have sex with his former wife after he learned that he was HIV-infected. The judge agreed with the lawyer saying "the court finds that the defendant is not candid, is not responsible and is deceitful. The court will therefore not trust defendant's promise not to display his homosexual lifestyle to the children." "Jury Chosen in AIDS Suit by Lawyer" Philadelphia Inquirer (10/07/94) P. B3; Slobodzian, Joseph A. A jury has been selected in the discrimination case of a lawyer who said he was fired by his law firm after his supervisors discovered he was HIV-positive. The jury is made up of 11 women and one man, with two female alternates. Ten of the jurors told the court that they or someone close to them had experienced discrimination on the job or elsewhere. Two jurors, both nurses, said they had worked with HIV or AIDS patients. Six of the jurors selected have seen the movie "Philadelphia," which parallels many of the facts in the suit. They said they could separate film fiction from fact and would decide the case impartially. "Across the USA: Tennessee" USA Today (10/07/94) P. 4A Gwen McLaughlin must permit her daughters to visit their father, who lives with his HIV-positive brother. A federal appeals court said that McLaughlin could not prove that the two girls are at risk of contracting AIDS. "Alarming Spread of AIDS Adds to Honduras' Woes" Reuters (10/06/94) The swift spread of AIDS in Honduras, the second-poorest nation in the Western hemisphere, is threatening to develop into an epidemic which could obstruct development of the poor Central American country. A total of 5,825 Hondurans are reported to be HIV-infected--which accounts for 60 percent of HIV cases in Central America. Government figures show that 920 Hondurans have died from AIDS-related illness, but some experts say that as many as 70,000 Hondurans may be HIV-positive and that more than 3,000 have already died. "By not controlling the epidemic, Honduras is following in the tracks of Africa, where productivity and labor have been greatly reduced by deaths from this illness," says Jorge Fernandez, head of the Honduran health ministry's division of sexually transmitted diseases. Health experts say that the increasing number of HIV-infected Hondurans is beginning to overwhelm the government. "AIDS Activist, Near Death, to See Family from Cuba" Reuters (10/06/94) Pedro Zamora, a Cuban-American AIDS activist, is nearing a meeting with family members he has not seen for 14 years. Zamora, 22, was featured on the MTV series "The Real World" and has testified before Congress about AIDS. He was reported near death on Thursday, due to AIDS-related complications. Zamora, who immigrated to Florida from Cuba 14 years ago, received help from Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who arranged for Zamora's family members to be admitted to the United States. President Clinton called Zamora last Friday to thank him for alerting America's young people to the danger of AIDS. "Surgimetrics to Market HIV (AIDS) Testing Kits in South America; Signs Letter of Intent with Laboratory Phoenix, Based in Argentina" Business Wire (10/06/94) Surgimetrics International Ltd. announced that it signed a letter of intent with Laboratory Phoenix to distribute Surgimetrics' HIV (AIDS) home screening test kits in South America. The Surgimetrics HIV 1-2 test kit is an inexpensive test that uses whole blood, serum, or plasma and provides a 99.2 percent accurate result in only six minutes. Hugh Cooper, president and chief executive officer of Surgimetrics, estimated that 500,000 HIV test kits will be sold during the first year. Cooper also stated that Surgimetrics is negotiating similar marketing agreements in Asia, Eastern Europe, and other locations around the world. "AIDS: Case: Edwards v. Kuruvilla" National Law Journal (09/26/94) Vol. 17, No. 4, P. C3 The parents of a newborn boy in Arizona, who was infected with HIV in an after-birth blood transfusion and died six years later, were awarded $28.7 million in June. The hospital to which the boy was transferred after his birth in 1985, the blood bank that supplied the plasma for the transfusion, and the doctor who ordered the transfusion were all charged with an unnecessary and unauthorized plasma transfusion. The hospital and the blood bank settled before the trial, while the doctor's insurance carriers settled during post-trial motions. "Preparing for the Day an Employee Says 'I Have AIDS'" Washington Business Journal (09/23/94-09/29/94) Vol. 13, No. 19, P. 21; Hurwitz, Mark The workplace is one of the best places to spread the AIDS prevention message because it provides access to both genders and a cross-section of ages, cultures, ethnicities, and economic positions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has developed a public/private partnership called Business Responds to AIDS. Some of BRTA's principles include establishing a workplace HIV/AIDS policy, training managers and labor leaders, and educating employees and their families. AIDS education in the workplace has proven so effective in the fight against the disease that a year ago President Clinton ordered HIV/AIDS training for almost 3 million federal government employees. "APHA Members Suggest Policy Statements to the Association: Syringe and Needle Exchange and HIV Disease" Nation's Health (09/94) Vol. 24, No. 8, P. 26 Four groups of policy statements have been proposed by constituents and units of the American Public Health Association for the APHA to consider for adoption as part of its official public policy base. The fourth group includes a statement on the relationship of needle exchanges and HIV, which notes the high rate of HIV transmission among drug addicts and acknowledges that the two are linked as epidemics which confront society. Other sections of the statement reflect the constituents' belief that needle-exchange programs reduce unsafe needle practices and that the programs do not encourage drug use. It is recommended that the federal government end its ban on funding needle-exchange programs, that state and local governments take steps to improve addicts' access to clean injection equipment, and that syringe and needle-exchange programs be evaluated.