Date: Wed, 12 Jul 1995 09:40:50 +0500 From: ghfostel{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghfostel}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 07/12/95 AIDS Daily Summary July 12, 1995 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 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ************************************************************ "House Republicans Move on Spending Bills" "U.S. Judge Seizes Control of D.C. Jail Medical Care" "Rise in Sexual Disease Worries UN Body" "Chronicle: Hugh Grant" "...But Why Is There So Much for AIDS?" "AIDS Patient Fights Disease with Fervor" "HIV Clearance in an Infant?" "AIDS Orphans" "Archaic Leprosy Law Under Attack" "Notice of Public Meeting" ************************************************************ "House Republicans Move on Spending Bills" New York Times (07/12/95) P. A12; Gray, Jerry House Republicans moved quickly on Tuesday to complete committee work on next year's appropriations bills. Several of the cuts are the same ones found in a reductions package for current-year spending that prompted President Clinton to use the first veto of his administration, including elimination of a youth employment program and major cuts to Head Start and other assistance to the poor. The Republican plan would give the National Institutes of Health $11.9 billion, a $642 million increase over its present budget and $200 million more than the Administration requested. The subcommittee also kept spending at current levels, or $632 million, for the Ryan White AIDS program. White House Chief of Staff Leon E. Panetta, however, said that if the series of appropriations bills for 1996 that the 13 subcommittees of the House Appropriations Committee have approved during the last month reach President Clinton in their current form, "he will veto them." Related Story: Wall Street Journal (07/12) P. A3 "U.S. Judge Seizes Control of D.C. Jail Medical Care" Washington Post (07/12/95) P. B1; Locy, Toni A federal judge took control of medical and mental health services at the Washington, D.C., jail on Tuesday, saying that some District corrections officials "don't give a damn" about the inmates. Senior U.S. District Judge William B. Bryant rejected the city's request for additional time to comply with a court order to improve filthy and hazardous conditions at the jail. The receiver, Bryant said, will have the power to hire, fire, and spend money for medical and mental health services at the jail for up to five years. His announcement came as public outrage increased over the death of Richard C. Johnson, an inmate with AIDS who died while tied to a wheelchair with a urine-soaked sheet. Soon after Bryant's decision, several AIDS and human rights advocates gathered in front of the courthouse to praise the judge's decision. Related Story: USA Today (07/12) P. 9A "Rise in Sexual Disease Worries UN Body" Financial Times (07/12/95) P. 4; Harding, James According to the United Nations (UN) Population Fund, the incidence of sexually transmitted disease (STD) is increasing globally as people marry later and have more casual premarital sex. In its annual report, the UN emphasizes and analyzes the importance of reproductive health care provision, but also argues that equal attention should be paid to the problems of STDs and the quality of contraception and abortion. The report notes that "young women today are marrying later than in the past...as the interval between the onset of sexual maturity and marriage increases so does the risk that young people will engage in premarital sexual relations and be exposed to unwanted pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and other STDs." In addition, the report focuses on "the AIDS pandemic," estimating that although figures for 1994 show that 1 million people were reported to have AIDS, the actual number--which includes undiagnosed cases--was likely 4.5 million. "Chronicle: Hugh Grant" New York Times (07/12/95) P. A15; Brozan, Nadine Actor Hugh Grant pleaded no contest on Tuesday to charges of lewd conduct in public with a prostitute. Grant must pay $1,180 in fines and court costs and was placed on two years' unsupervised probation. Under his probation, Grant must complete an AIDS education program by mid-November, a spokesman for the city of Los Angeles' attorney's office said. Related Story: Washington Post (07/12) P. D3 "...But Why Is There So Much for AIDS?" Boston Globe (07/11/95) P. 13; Jacoby, Jeff Sen. Jesse Helms' (R-N.C.) execration of homosexuals obscured his real point--that government spends too much on AIDS, writes columnist Jeff Jacoby in the Boston Globe. The federal debt is enormous, Jacoby notes, and it is difficult to see justification in raising AIDS to a privileged status, as though it is more dangerous than diseases that kill far more people. Helms is focusing on the reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act, a measure that would provide $3.6 billion for the treatment of AIDS over the next five years. Medicare and Medicaid take care of sick people who are elderly or poor, Jacoby asserts, while Ryan White funds are reserved only for AIDS patients. What Helms should have said, Jacoby concludes, is that AIDS patients deserve compassion and help, then added that those who claim that AIDS patients are entitled to special compassion help bear the burden of explaining why. "AIDS Patient Fights Disease with Fervor" Washington Times (07/10/95) P. A5 AIDS activist Jeff Getty hopes to become the first human to be injected with a baboon's bone marrow. He believes he is still alive because of an aggressive style of negotiating he learned at the Mexican border seven years ago when U.S. border guards caught him coming from Tijuana with a pinata filled with illegal AIDS drugs. At the time, U.S. residents were allowed to import drugs that lacked federal approval if they were for personal use. The guards were aware of the uses of isoprinosine and ribavirin, but insisted Getty explain himself anyway. "Because I have AIDS," he shouted. Since then, Getty has successfully fought the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and drug companies for the opportunity to use experimental AIDS drugs, which doctors say have kept him alive for 15 years. Now, however, his immune system is so ravaged that they estimate he has only one year more to live, and Dr. Suzanne Ildstad of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center believes the bone marrow transplant is his last chance. A successful transplant could boost Getty's immune system, as well as indicate progress toward cross-species transplants for a variety of diseases. "HIV Clearance in an Infant?" Nature (06/22/95) Vol. 375, No. 6533, P. 637; Bryson, Yvonne; Chen, Irvin S.Y. In response to a letter to the editor published in the Lancet, Bryson and Chen disagree with McClure et al.'s interpretation of their recent paper on the clearance of HIV infection in a perinatally infected infant, citing that McClure et al's criteria for the diagnosis of such infection are not typical of those used for most pediatric diagnoses. Bryson and Chen note that their HIV diagnosis was based on the presence of cultured virus from the baby on two separate occasions. This procedure, they insist, is consistent with guidelines established by the NIH AIDS Clinical Trials Group Virology Committee and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "AIDS Orphans" Journal of the American Medical Association (06/28/95) Vol. 273, No. 24, P. 1960; Callan, Monnie B. "AIDS and the New Orphans: Coping With Death," edited by Barbara O. Dane and Carol Levine, offers a new perspective on the issue of children orphaned by AIDS. The book is a compilation of works by several authors who examine the different developmental stages in relation to coping with death. They include step-by-step recommendations on how to prepare children for parental loss, with particular understanding of the additional burdens of AIDS-related secrecy and stigma. Each chapter offers Latino and African-American cultural coping mechanisms, as well as the spiritual side of childhood loss. Both this publication and its predecessor--"A Death in the Family: Orphans of the HIV Epidemic," also edited by Levine--sensitize the reader the challenges of the children and families orphaned by AIDS, and open the door to policies and programs that might alleviate the full impact of these problems. "Archaic Leprosy Law Under Attack" Nature Medicine (07/95) Vol. 1, No. 7, P. 617; Nathan, Richard Japan is considering whether to repeal its Leprosy Prevention Law, which was introduced in 1907. Many people feel that the law, which now confines more than 5,800 people to a life of isolation, could mark a turning point for patients rights in Japan--particularly among groups that have experienced discrimination, such as people with AIDS. The renewed interest in abolishing the law came in part from the media and human rights groups, following a debate in the late 1980s on how to deal with AIDS in Japan. At that time, some people called for all HIV or AIDS patients to be isolated. In April, the Japanese Leprosy Society made a public apology for failing to act sooner, and called for an immediate repeal of the law. A recent editorial in the Mainichi Shimbun, one of Japan' leading newspapers, cautioned, "Our harsh and ignominious experience with lepers in our midst should not be repeated as we address the rising challenge of AIDS." A senior government official says the government is creating a special committee to consider if and how the leprosy law should be changed. "Notice of Public Meeting" Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (07/06/95) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will host a public meeting to discuss the implementation and evaluation of U.S. Public Health Service recommendations for counseling and testing pregnant women. The purpose of this meeting is to obtain individual comments on the following: strategies to prevent HIV infection among women and children; strategies to ensure that women and newborns who are infected are entered into a continuum of services; and the considerations involved in monitoring the epidemic in women and children in general. The meeting will be held at the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, 210 Peachtree Street, NW, Atlanta Georgia, on July 11 and 12, from 8:30 am - 5:00 pm. To make hotel reservations, please contact the Westin Peachtree Plaza at (404) 659-1400. For additional information, call Francess Page at (202) 690-6373.