Date: Fri, 16 Sep 1994 09:16:57 -0400 (EDT) From: "ANNE WILSON, CDC NAC" Subject: CDC AIDS DAILY SUMMARY 09/16/94 AIDS Daily Summary September 16, 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 ************************************************************ "Citizens Arrest Halts Distribution of Clean Needles" "Vietnam Figures Suggest AIDS Spreading" "Ottawa Too Slow with Blood Information, Provinces Say" "Inmates Show High HIV Rates" "Auction Shines Without Stars" "Widow of AIDS Activist Has Same Illness" "British Aid for Zimbabwe's Fight Against AIDS" "Gay AIDS Campaigns Underfunded--U.S. Campaigner Release at 7 p.m. EDT" "AIDS Blood Firm Used Wine to Lure Vagrants for Donations" ************************************************************ "Citizens Arrest Halts Distribution of Clean Needles" Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (09/16/94) P. B3; Daunt, Tina Three volunteers of the Los Angeles group Clean Needles Now were booked and released Wednesday night after being placed under citizens arrest by neighborhood activists for violating state needle distribution laws. The action comes just one week after L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan declared a state of emergency to allow needle exchange programs bypass state laws in an effort to reduce the rate of AIDS transmission through contaminated syringes. The police said they had no choice but to arrest the volunteers because state laws supersedes any action taken at the local level. The volunteers said they will continue to distribute clean needles even if it means risking arrest again because needle exchange programs have a significant impact on the lives of people who are at a high-risk of being infected with HIV. "Vietnam Figures Suggest AIDS Spreading" Reuters (09/16/94) According to data released today, HIV in Vietnam--which used to be found mainly in prostitutes and drug addicts--has begun to spread to the general population. The National AIDS Committee reported the cases of two female government employees and one of their children--groups previously thought to be at low risk. The Vietnam government says that is has a plan that will detect HIV in pregnant women, educate children about HIV and AIDS, and fight venereal diseases. "Ottawa Too Slow with Blood Information, Provinces Say" Toronto Globe and Mail (09/15/94) P. A5; Coutts, Jane Canadian provincial and territorial health ministers attending a meeting Wednesday demanded to be kept better informed on the problems of the Canadian blood system. The health ministers were as surprised as the citizens when they heard that last week the United States had barred some Canadian blood products from entering the country because of violations of U.S. Food and Drug Administration safety regulations at a Toronto blood bank--including potentially HIV-tainted blood. They asked that the government and Red Cross realize that the blood system must be run as an alliance with the various provinces. Federal Health Minister Diane Marleau said that while she would like to communicate as much as possible, she cannot promise to keep the provinces more informed until she receives recommendations from a study of information-sharing and confidentiality issues. "Inmates Show High HIV Rates" Toronto Globe and Mail (09/15/94) P. A4; Taylor, Paul British Columbia researchers have found that at least 1 percent of men and 3.3 percent of women in the province's prisons are infected with HIV. If the pattern is the same throughout Canada, as the researchers believe, then the HIV-infected concentration is unique to the prisons, as only 0.1 percent of the general Canadian population is HIV-positive. Dr. Diane Rothon, head of the research team, says that immediate action is necessary to reduce the spread of AIDS within prisons. Inmates are only in provincial prisons just under two years maximum, she notes, and when they leave, the risk for spreading the disease can increase. Provincial Canadian prisons already provide condoms, and bleach for cleaning infected needles, but providing these items does not guarantee their use. "Auction Shines Without Stars" Washington Times (09/15/94) P. C14; Staggs, Jeffrey Although only a few stars appeared at a celebrity auction to benefit AIDSWalk '94, the auction was considered a success. Organizers of the auction, which took place Tuesday night at the Hard Rock Cafe in Washington, D.C., hoped to equal the $25,000 raised through ticket sales. Both the sold-out auction and AIDSWalk will donate the proceeds of their events to the Whitman-Walker Clinic and 23 other AIDS organizations. "Widow of AIDS Activist Has Same Illness" Toronto Globe and Mail (09/15/94) P. A6 Janet Conners, widow of activist Randy Conners, announced Wednesday that she has full-blown AIDS. Mr. Conners, who died Tuesday, convinced the Canadian government to compensate people who contracted AIDS through tainted blood transfusions and their families. At the announcement, Mrs. Conners spoke of her happy times with her husband and said that after seeing how he died--peacefully, in her arms, she is not afraid anymore. "British Aid for Zimbabwe's Fight Against AIDS" Reuters (09/15/94) Britain gave Zimbabwe a grant of $13.8 million Thursday to help it fight the spread of AIDS. Local health officials say that approximately 600,000 to 800,000 of the 10 million inhabitants of Zimbabwe are infected with HIV. Zimbabwe says that $90 million is needed to fund a five-year program that focuses on the care and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. "Gay AIDS Campaigns Underfunded--U.S. Campaigner Release at 7 p.m. EDT" Reuters (09/15/94) Money used to promote safe sex education by less vulnerable groups than gay men is endangering the war against AIDS, says Ron Stall, associate professor at California University's Center for AIDS Prevention Studies. In California during the early 1990s, while the gay male population accounted for almost 85 percent of AIDS deaths, homosexuals received only about 8 percent of state prevention funding. Sustained preventative actions must be taken within gay male communities so that previous education is continued and the AIDS caseload does not increase, Stall says. "AIDS Blood Firm Used Wine to Lure Vagrants for Donations" Reuters (09/13/94) A former laboratory assistant has testified that UB Plasma, a German company accused of selling HIV-tainted blood products, used wine to entice the homeless to donate blood. The employee claims that two executives drank with candidate donors to reassure them and to ensure that they returned frequently to donate blood. UB Plasma, which was closed in October 1993, is charged with pooling blood plasma since 1986, deliberately not testing blood donations carefully for HIV, and knowingly selling tainted products.