Date: Fri, 26 May 1995 10:13:07 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary May 26, 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 Panel Adds $9.5 Billion for Military" "Women with HIV at Greater Risk of Cervical Cancer" "Doctors Take Another Step Toward AIDS Vaccine" "It's Not 'Tuskegee' Revisited" "Roche Brings Leading Institutions Into Lawsuit Over Patent Rights" "Senator Specter Urges Administration Review of Defense Department Funding for AIDS Research" "AIDS Program to Get $16,000 Gift" "AIDS Ride Lit Up Light's Life" "Ill.: Needle Exchange" "Tuberculosis" "In a New Light: Sex Unplugged" ************************************************************ "House Panel Adds $9.5 Billion for Military" New York Times (05/26/95) P. A17 Late on Wednesday, the House National Security Committee endorsed a $267 billion military spending bill for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1--$9.5 billion more than President Clinton had requested. If enacted, the total would represent the first real increase in military spending since 1985. The bill includes a provision that would require the military to discharge HIV-infected service personnel, and would prohibit abortions at overseas military hospitals. Most of the additional funds added to the military budget would go to weapons modernization. "Women with HIV at Greater Risk of Cervical Cancer" Reuters (05/25/95); Johnson, Kate According to preliminary data in a Canadian study, HIV-infected women have a higher risk than previously thought of getting severe, invasive cervical cancer. Thus far, the Canadian Women's HIV Study Group has found that half of more than 300 women with HIV examined have human papilloma virus (HPV), which is associated with cervical cancer. One in five of the subjects has squamous dysplasia, a precancerous condition. Dr. Catherine Hankins, a principle investigator in the study, said that HPV is a common sexually transmitted disease which occurs in as much as 25 percent of women aged 25 to 35. The disease frequently has no symptoms and often disappears, though it can develop into cervical cancer. Researchers believe that the compromised immune system of HIV-infected women allows HPV to take hold more aggressively, putting them at increased risk of the cancer. "Doctors Take Another Step Toward AIDS Vaccine" Reuters (05/25/95); Fox, Maggie British researchers say they have taken a significant step toward developing an AIDS vaccine by creating one that prevents Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) in monkeys. The vaccine prevents the animals from being infected by SIV-infected cells. "I think this is another promising step, but I think it will take some time to exploit the discovery in terms of an actual human HIV vaccine," said Jim Stott of the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control in Potters Bar, central England. Stott's team attenuated, or weakened, the SIV by removing some of the genetic material. They named it C8, and used it as a vaccine for macaques. Attenuated vaccines have been used for polio and measles. HIV, however, "hides" inside cells, using a "Trojan Horse" ambush to get by the body's immune system and cause infection. None of the animals that received C8 "has developed AIDS-like disease even after two years," the researchers reported in the Lancet medical journal. "It's Not 'Tuskegee' Revisited" Washington Post (05/26/95) P. A27; Bayer, Ronald Congress is posed to consider ill-advised legislation introduced by Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) that would bar the blind HIV testing of blood samples taken from newborns, writes Ronald Bayer in the Washington Post. Ackerman's proposal would permit only screening that would make it possible to notify the mothers of the babies who test HIV-positive. Republicans and Democrats alike have signed on to the proposal, illustrating the appeal of a measure that on the surface is only trying to protect mothers and their children. But, according to Bayer, the specter of the Tuskegee syphilis study--the federal experiment that traced the course of the disease in African American men, who were not informed that they had a treatable sexually transmitted disease--surrounds the debate. Public health officials are horrified that the proposal could be enacted, depriving them of the capacity to obtain critical knowledge in the war against AIDS. If the proposal is enacted, or if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not reverse its recent decision to suspend newborn testing, babies and their mothers will not necessarily be better off. One difference will be that there will no longer be a means to track to the progression of HIV infection among childbearing women and infants, Bayer concludes. "Roche Brings Leading Institutions Into Lawsuit Over Patent Rights" Wall Street Journal (05/25/95) P. B4; Carlton, Jim The Hoffman-LaRoche unit of Roche Holding Ltd. has named about 40 U.S. universities and government laboratories that allegedly have violated LaRoche's patent on a method for amplifying DNA. After suing Promega Corp. for this offense, LaRoche presented a list of Promega's customers--including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Arthur Kornberg, professor emeritus at Stanford University and a Nobel laureate, believes that patent protection accompanied with lawsuit threats may hinder "any university [from] pursuing knowledge for its own sake." However, Gladys Monroy, a partner in the law firm Morrison & Foerster, contends that academic research on patented products and processes falls under a "very, very narrow" margin of the law, confining experiments to noncommercial purposes. The key element in polymerase chain-reaction (PCR) technology--called Taq, which has become a standard agent in research involving DNA sequencing and for diseases such as AIDS--was patented by Cetus Corp. around 1989. LaRoche acquired the PCR patents in 1991, and sued Promega when the company refused to pay more royalty payments. "Senator Specter Urges Administration Review of Defense Department Funding for AIDS Research" PR Newswire (05/25/95) In response to recent changes in Administration policy toward AIDS research funding for the Defense Department, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.)--Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee--has asked White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta to maintain such funding. On Feb. 10, Panetta wrote to Secretary of Defense William Perry, urging him on behalf of President Clinton to obligate fiscal year 1995 appropriated funds on HIV/AIDS research, saying that the President saw Army research on AIDS as "vitally important to all Americans." The administration's fiscal year 1996 budget, however, contains a 90 percent reduction in the account funding HIV and AIDS research conducted by the Department of Defense, Specter said. In his letter to Panetta, the senator said he was concerned that "potential exposure to new and more virulent strains of [HIV] abroad suggest an indirect threat to United States servicemen and servicewomen in their operational environment." "AIDS Program to Get $16,000 Gift" Boston Globe (05/25/95) P. 34 The British government has pledged $16,000 to the Children with AIDS program at the Kirk Scharfenberg House in Mattapan, Mass. Lady Jean Mayhew--wife of Sir Patrick Mayhew, Britain's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland--on Wednesday presented a letter committing the government to supply medical equipment such as wheelchairs . "AIDS Ride Lit Up Light's Life" USA Today (05/26/95) P. 2D; Yancey, Kitty Bean Actress Judith Light, of the sitcom "Who's the Boss?," recently completed a seven-day, 550-mile bike ride to benefit AIDS charities. "It looked impossible, but it was possible because of everyone's commitment," said Light. The California AIDS Ride 2, in which participants biked from San Francisco to Los Angeles, raised more than $5 million. "Ill.: Needle Exchange" American Medical News (05/15/95) Vol. 38, No. 19, P. 10 At its annual meeting, the Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS) agreed to call for legislation allowing "responsible community groups" to establish needle-exchange programs. ISMS President Dr. Raymond E. Hoffmann called needle exchange " a potentially useful tool to curb the spread of HIV when combined with educational and preventive efforts and when done in cooperation with local law enforcement authorities." Hoffmann noted that exchange programs appear to reduce the spread of HIV without increasing drug abuse. The programs provide information, drug treatment, and other preventive services to a high-risk, hard-to-reach population, he added. "Tuberculosis" Lancet (05/13/95) Vol. 345, N0. 8959, P. 1227; FitzGerald, J. Mark Lutwick et al.'s useful handbook on tuberculosis (TB) focuses on the clinical aspects, not the immunological aspects, of the disease. The authors adopt a primarily North American perspective on TB control, but reference is also made to guidelines published in the United Kingdom. Given the North American focus, however, the chapter on HIV-related TB was relatively short compared to other chapters. One chapter on the ethical and legal aspects of TB control succinctly discusses the challenge of bridging the public-health-oriented nature of TB control programs with the community-oriented approach to HIV care. Another chapter emphasizes the need for TB control programs to learn from the more community-oriented HIV programs. Despite some inaccuracies, this clinical manual offers a pragmatic approach to the management of TB. "In a New Light: Sex Unplugged", Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (5/23/95) Thursday night, June 1st from 8-9 pm ET, ABC-TV is presenting the fourth annual "IN A NEW LIGHT," a public information outreach special. This year's show is subtitled, "SEX UNPLUGGED" and will deal with the pressure that young people feel to become sexually active. The show focuses on teenagers who have chosen abstinence, decided to postpone sex, or are sexually active and are protecting themselves. Special events are being planned in communities across the country in coordination with the airing of the primetime telecast. Contact the CDC National AIDS Hotline (800) 342-2437) for additional information, receive an information packet and to register your viewing event. You may also call the CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse at (800) 458-5231 to have the packet faxed to you on NAC FAX. The CDC AIDS Daily Summary will not publish on Monday, May 29, 1995, in observance of Memorial Day. Publication will resume on Tuesday, May 30.