Date: Tue, 18 Oct 1994 09:13:23 -0400 (EDT) From: "JOHN FANNING, CDC NAC" AIDS Daily Summary October 18, 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 ************************************************************ "Man Settles Suit with Maryland Over Forced AIDS Test" "Across the USA: South Carolina" "Gene Therapy Experiments Already Approved by the Government" "'An Opportunity Was Missed'" "City AIDS Director Alleged to Have Violated Confidentiality of Three People with HIV/AIDS; Community Reps Demand Richard Scott's Resignation" "NC Researcher to Help Stem AIDS in Haiti" "Congress Hears African-American Concerns About Spread of AIDS" "Mixed Pair" "7th ANAC Conference" "One in a Million" ************************************************************ "Man Settles Suit with Maryland Over Forced AIDS Test" Washington Post (10/18/94) P. D3 The state of Maryland must pay $75,000 to a unidentified Maryland man who was forced to submit to an HIV test after officials accused him of knowingly spreading the virus. The state has also agreed not to test people for HIV without their consent. The man was tested while being held in jail in August 1992. Frederick County officials claimed their actions were permissible under a state law that forbids people infected with HIV from knowingly transferring or attempting to transfer the virus to others. Related Stories: Washington Times (10/18) P. A2; Baltimore Sun (10/18) P. 1B "Across the USA: South Carolina" USA Today (10/18/94) P. 9A The number of people in South Carolina who have contracted AIDS during the past two years is greater than the total of all previous years combined. There have been 4,641 AIDS deaths there since 1981. "Gene Therapy Experiments Already Approved by the Government" Washington Post (Health) (10/18/94) P. 14; Weiss, Rick Four HIV-1-infected patients have been treated with genes that make HIV proteins. The objective of the treatment is to stimulate a stronger immune response against HIV. Although the safety of gene therapy was the focus of the tests--not the efficacy--one of the patients now tests negative for HIV. Another approach to gene therapy, involving the infusion of genes programmed to interfere with HIV's capacity to replicate, has been approved by the National Institutes of Health's Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee--which reviews all human gene therapy proposals--but it still awaiting final government approval. "'An Opportunity Was Missed'" Houston Chronicle (10/17/94) P. 9A; SoRelle, Ruth Dr. Subhash K. Hira, a professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health who directs an AIDS program in Bombay and New Bombay, claims that international and Indian health organizations missed an opportunity to stop the spread of AIDS six years ago. Hira says that until 1990, AIDS was a rare phenomenon and, because it carried the stigma of illicit sex, authorities did little to control it. Two million people in India were HIV-infected by June of this year, in comparison to an estimated 1 million HIV-positive Americans. The University of Texas has created an AIDS Research and Control Center in cooperation with the state of Maharashtra that, for example, will study the natural course that AIDS will take in India. Hira has also worked with state officials to train health care workers to cope with the disease and with local health authorities to improve AIDS case reporting. India's officials still classify AIDS as a low priority--below diseases that kill children, malaria, and road and traffic accidents. "City AIDS Director Alleged to Have Violated Confidentiality of Three People with HIV/AIDS; Community Reps Demand Richard Scott's Resignation" PR Newswire (10/17/94) An emergency meeting with the city's HIV Community Prevention Planning Group has been scheduled by Philadelphia's Health Commissioner, Estelle Richman, to respond to calls for the resignation of Richard Scott, director of the city health department's AIDS Activities Coordinating Office (AACO). Two weeks ago, Scott revealed at least three names of people with HIV/AIDS who had requested anonymity. Their names and HIV-positive status are on the city's federal application for AIDS education funding--copies of which were also distributed at a public meeting. The individuals are planning legal action against the city of Philadelphia and against Scott for violation of the Pennsylvania Confidentiality of HIV-Related Information Act. The three people had joined AACO on the condition that their HIV status remain confidential. The by-laws of the committee state that any member who violates the HIV confidentiality to another member will be automatically removed from the committee. "NC Researcher to Help Stem AIDS in Haiti" Reuters (10/14/94) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill research instructor Frieda Behets is focusing on controlling the spread of AIDS in Haiti. "If we can reduce the transmission of other sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS transmission also will significantly decrease," said Behets. The UNC School of Medicine--as part of a regional AIDS prevention program--was chosen to provide technical support to the endeavors in Haiti by the USAID-funded AIDS Control and Prevention Program of Family Health International in North Carolina. As technical adviser for STD control, Behets has spent the last two-and-a-half years in Haiti. She has identified drugs to effectively treat the gonococcal strains there, which are now--along with other drugs for the treatment of STDs--being distributed by the Pan American Health Organization. "Congress Hears African-American Concerns About Spread of AIDS" AIDS Alert (10/94) Vol. 9, No. 10, P. 146 The House Subcommittee on Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations heard testimony concerning claims that more federal funds are desperately needed to support education and prevention efforts specific to the African-American population. AIDS experts agreed that more funding should be targeted for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's community planning initiatives and other efforts that are based in local health communities. "We have to diagnose HIV infection on a more routine basis in the black community," said Joyce Hughes, deputy director of the division of HIV prevention at the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute. The growing number of AIDS cases in young people was also a topic of discussion at the meeting. Raquel B. Whiting, a policy analyst for the National Pediatric HIV Resource Center, advocated methods such as providing home saliva kits in neighborhoods that have many hard-to-reach teens who are unwittingly infecting others because their infection has not been diagnosed. Other issues included needle exchange programs, programs to assist the orphans of parents who die from AIDS, and funds for clinical and behavioral HIV and AIDS research in African-Americans. "Mixed Pair" Advocate (Tom Duane, an HIV-positive homosexual man, lost his candidacy for the eighth congressional district seat in New York City, one of the most liberal districts in the country. His campaign focused on his sexuality and HIV-infected status which, he said, made him better qualified to represent gays, lesbians, and people with AIDS than his opponent Jerold Nadler.) No. 666, P. 27; Morales, Jorge "7th ANAC Conference" Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (9/94-10/94) Vol. 5, No. 5, P. 47 "HIV Nursing on the Cutting Edge: Sharing Our Stories, Honing Our Skills" is the theme of the Seventh Annual Conference of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. Nationally-known experts, staff nurses, and HIV educators--such as Patricia Benner and Ron Bayer--will speak about the latest in HIV infection and nurse caring. The conference will be held in Nashville, Tenn. from Nov. 10-12, 1994. "One in a Million" Successful Meetings (10/94) Vol. 43, No. 11, P. 21; Carey, Robert The Doral Arrowwood Resort Conference Center in Rye Brook, N.Y., is offering its clientele an opportunity to win $1 million. On November 7, each group that has booked a meeting scheduled before Dec. 9 will be able to send one member to try to score a $1 million hole-in-one. Many professional athletes and celebrities will attend the competition trying to win the prize for the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS. An 18-hole tournament and awards luncheon will follow the hole-in-one competition.