Date: Thu, 22 Feb 1996 10:14:51 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 02/22/96 AIDS Daily Summary February 22, 1996 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 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ************************************************************ "Approval of DaunoXome Set by European Countries" "Patients' Groups Jump Into the Battle Over Proposals to Restructure the FDA" "Genentech to Spin Off AIDS Research Unit" "FDA Chief Warns Against Some Parts of Overhaul Legislation" "Culture, et Cetera: Excuse Me" "Singapore HIV Infection Rises 29 Percent in 1995" "Teens Flush with Cash in Toilet Giveaway" "HIV Antiviral Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy" "NIH Agrees to Temporary By-Pass of AIDS Office in Allocation of Grants" "Continued Sexual Risk Behavior Among HIV Seropositive, Drug-Using Men: Atlanta, Washington D.C., San Juan, Puerto Rico" ************************************************************ "Approval of DaunoXome Set by European Countries" Wall Street Journal (02/22/96) P. B4 NeXstar Pharmaceuticals Inc. has announced that 10 European Community countries including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Portugal will allow the marketing of DaunoXome, a new drug used to treat Kaposi's sarcoma in AIDS patients. Sweden and the United Kingdom had earlier approved the drug. Food and Drug Administration approval for DaunoXome is currently pending in the United States. "Patients' Groups Jump Into the Battle Over Proposals to Restructure the FDA" Wall Street Journal (02/22/96) P. B5; McGinley, Laurie Patients' groups are now joining the debate on reforming the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) but are taking positions on both sides of the issue. Defending the FDA is the Patients' Coalition, made up of more than 50 national nonprofit groups, including the American Cancer Society, the Arthritis Foundation, the National Hemophilia Foundation, AIDS Action Council, and Gay Men's Health Crisis. While this group says reform proposals would weaken the agency and put consumers at risk, other patient groups are pushing for change. Derek Link, a spokesman for the Patients' Coalition, objects to proposals that would place tight deadlines on drug approvals, which could require the FDA to use outside, private reviewers. But Ellen Stovall, of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivors, said the legislation is needed to require the agency to speed drug approvals and to allow companies to publish information on alternative, unapproved uses of approved drugs. The Patients' Coalition was formed after a number of nonprofit health groups disagreed with proposals that industry groups described as good for consumers. However, some AIDS groups--including the National AIDS Treatment Advocacy Project--claim that the coalition is too cautious. "Genentech to Spin Off AIDS Research Unit" Journal of Commerce (02/22/96) P. 5B Genentech Inc. plans to create a new company, Genenvax Inc., to further develop a potential AIDS vaccine. Genentech has already spent $100 million and 10 years on its gp120 vaccine. Donald Francis, who supervised early AIDS research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will head the new company. "FDA Chief Warns Against Some Parts of Overhaul Legislation" Washington Post (02/22/96) P. A23; Schwartz, John FDA Commissioner David A. Kessler told members of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee on Wednesday that the agency was successfully reforming itself and that certain provisions of Sen. Nancy Kassebaum's (R-Kan.) reform bill could adversely affect public health. Under consideration was a portion of the bill that would require the FDA to take action within four months on applications for new drugs to treat life-threatening diseases or other conditions for which no treatment exists, and within six months for all other products. Kessler said that the agency is already approving new drugs for AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses in less time than the Kassebaum bill stipulates. The session scheduled for Thursday will consider another portion of the bill that would permit drug manufactures to distribute to physicians peer-reviewed studies of unapproved uses of approved drugs. Related Story: Washington Times (02/22) P. B6 "Culture, et Cetera: Excuse Me" Washington Times (02/22/96) P. A2; Barnicle, Mike In a letter to the editor, reprinted in the Washington Times from the Boston Globe, columnist Mike Barnicle objects to President's Clinton's attempt to restore disability, retirement, and health benefits to HIV-infected military personnel who will be discharged under a new law. Barnicle argues that Clinton wants the protections because, although he signed the bill, "he can't stand the thought of a single person not liking him." Furthermore, he writes that, in light of current AIDS education efforts, "if you get the disease today due to sexual behavior or drug use, then you are either a complete moron or a degenerate junkie," and that taxpayers should not have to pay for benefits for such individuals. "Singapore HIV Infection Rises 29 Percent in 1995" Reuters (02/22/96) Singapore reported that 111 new cases of HIV were reported in 1995, a 29 percent increase over 1994's figures. According to the Ministry of Health, 419 cases of HIV have been reported in Singapore since 1985, the year that statistics were first gathered. To date, 179 of these people have developed AIDS and 124 have died. All but one of the HIV-infections reported in 1995 were transmitted through sexual contact, 76 percent of which occurred through heterosexual transmission. Males accounted for 91 percent of the cases. "Teens Flush with Cash in Toilet Giveaway" Chicago Tribune (02/18/96) P. 16-5E; Horowitz, Donna In Larkspur, Calif., teenage volunteers have raised $7,050 for the Marin AIDS Project by giving away water-conserving toilets. The AIDS group provides services to people with AIDS and offers AIDS prevention education. To encourage people to conserve water, the Marin Municipal Water District underwrote the cost of the toilets, which reduce water bills and keep the costs down for importing water, while the teens organized and advertised the giveaways and collected the old toilets, which will be crushed and used for road construction. The teens received $15 for each new toilet they distributed. "HIV Antiviral Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy" Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (01/96-02/96) Vol.7, No.1, P. 43; Reillo, Michelle R.; Altieri, Raymond J. Researchers have theorized that hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy inhibits HIV. To test this theory, Reillo and Altieri conducted laboratory tests with HIV-infected plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), comparing the viral load before and after treatment. The viral load was lower after the treatment, and few viruses entered the uninfected PBMCs that were exposed to HBO. The therapy was also tested in patients and appeared to eliminate traceable HIV virus in their plasma. The therapy was found to relieve the fatigue associated with HIV infection without the toxic side effects brought on by antiviral drugs. The preliminary results offer evidence of HBO's potential to fight HIV in the laboratory and the body. Additional research is necessary to study the mechanism of the treatment. "NIH Agrees to Temporary By-Pass of AIDS Office in Allocation of Grants" Nature (02/08/96) Vol.379, No.6565, P. 475; Wadman, Meredith In an effort to get AIDS research funding back on schedule after two government shutdowns, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has made a preliminary decision to take away budget control held by the Office of AIDS Research (OAR). If the decision is made final, AIDS funding would go directly to the individual institutes. Officials from the Clinton Administration, which has supported the OAR, note that the decision is not final. A spokesman from the White House National AIDS Policy Office said the president is "absolutely and firmly" committed to keeping the OAR's budgetary role. AIDS activists claim that the decision would take away all the OAR's authority and would make the results of a forthcoming evaluation of the NIH's AIDS research efforts meaningless. The House voted in August to remove the OAR's budgetary authority, but the Senate voted to keep it. A temporary funding provision is unclear about the AIDS office's current role. Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services, NIH's parent agency, say they are still trying to reach a final decision. A spokesman for Rep. John Porter (R-Ill.), who chairs the appropriation subcommittee in charge of the NIH budget, says the committee thinks that "science, not politics, should make all judgments about scientific research." "Continued Sexual Risk Behavior Among HIV Seropositive, Drug- Using Men: Atlanta, Washington D.C., San Juan, Puerto Rico" Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (02/23/96) Vol. 45, No. 7; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention A new study looking at sexual practices of male drug-users who are infected with HIV underscores the need for intensified prevention efforts for this risk group. Previous research reveals that a number of infected men who use drugs continue to practice high-risk sexual behaviors. To look at factors that may contribute to these behaviors, this report compares two groups of HIV-positive, drug-using men--those who report unprotected sex and those who abstain or practice safer sex. The study found no significant differences in demographic characteristics, health status, or drug use behavior, but did identify an opportunity for improved prevention. Most of these men are linked to ongoing community programs which provide drug treatment, mental services, health care, and psychological support. The challenge is to ensure that these programs also address the critical need for these individuals to reduce risky sexual behaviors. This article will be available tomorrow, February 23, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National AIDS Clearinghouse World Wide Web page, http://cdcnac.aspensys.com:86, the CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse listserv, and CDC NAC ONLINE.