Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 09:58:15 -0400 From: "Flynn Mclean" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 07/30/96 AIDS Daily Summary July 30, 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 National AIDS Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information. Copyright 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ****************************************************** "Recalculating Death-Benefit Math" "Protect the Innocent" "Digest: Johnson & Johnson" "Across the USA: Rhode Island" "For Gay Men, A Cultural Change?" "32 Women With HIV Virus Offered A Setting With Support, Stability" "AIDS Cases on the Rise for African-Americans" "No Country Immune to AIDS" "Behind the Statistics" "ACT-UP vs. PETA: Clash of the Titans" ****************************************************** "Recalculating Death-Benefit Math" New York Times (07/30/96) P. D1; Dunlap, David W. With the advent of promising new drugs that could extend the lives of AIDS patients, companies that buy these individuals' life insurance policies and collect their death benefits are looking to other terminally ill patients. One such company, Dignity Partners, has stopped taking new applications from AIDS patients altogether. Other firms say they are reducing their dependence on AIDS patients and trying to attract people with other terminal illnesses. AIDS patients will still be able to sell their policies, say company executives, but they may not receive as high a price as they would have a year ago. "Protect the Innocent" New York Times (07/30/96) P. A17; Murphy, Patrick T. Women who are infected with HIV and who become pregnant should be held responsible child abuse, claims Patrick T. Murphy, the Public Guardian of Cook County, Ill., in a New York Times commentary. Murphy says he has seen cases of women who repeatedly give birth to children with HIV or cocaine in their systems. He suggests that a woman who has two children born with drugs in their body or one with HIV should be ordered to appear before a judge. Medical or drug therapy or psychological counseling could be ordered, including birth control counseling. Women who refuse counseling or give birth to another child with the same problems should be prosecuted, the author says, for child abuse or assault. Murphy suggests that with the threat of going to prison and losing their children, many women might take such measures seriously. "Digest: Johnson & Johnson" Washington Post (07/30/96) P. C2 Johnson & Johnson has filed suit to challenge an arbitrator's order that the company must turn its home HIV testing business over to the executive who developed it. Elliot Millenson sold his Confide test to Johnson & Johnson in 1993 and was later fired by the company. "Across the USA: Rhode Island" USA Today (07/30/96) P. 8A Citing privacy rights and confidentiality, AIDS researchers in Rhode Island urged Gov. Almond to veto a bill that would give state prison guards the names of HIV-positive inmates. Almond has not indicated whether he will sign the bill. "For Gay Men, A Cultural Change?" New York Times (07/30/96) P. A16; Masters, Troy In a letter to the editor of the New York Times, Troy Masters, publisher of LGNY, a newspaper for lesbians and gay men, objects to the suggestion in a previous Times article that gay men may not be capable of the cultural changes needed to reduce the spread of HIV. Masters points out that HIV education in the gay community focusing on harm reduction has been successful. He notes that more efforts are needed to advocate change in the gay community's sexual attitudes and culture, where multi-partner sex continues to be a problem. "32 Women With HIV Virus Offered A Setting With Support, Stability" Houston Chronicle (07/29/96) P. 14A; Binette, Chad Friendly Haven, a housing center for women with HIV, offers discounted rent, emotional support, substance abuse counseling, education, and job training for 32 Houston women and their children. The project, coordinated by AIDS Foundation Houston, may expand this year if the City Council allows Friendly Haven to use $1.3 million, about one-third of a federal grant for Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS. About 75 percent of the women are recovering drug or alcohol addicts, but some women who enter the program drop out because they cannot live drug-free. "AIDS Cases on the Rise for African-Americans" Houston Chronicle (07/29/96) P. 1A; SoRelle, Ruth Last year marked the first time more new AIDS cases were reported among African Americans in Harris County, TX, than among whites, health officials said. Targeted HIV education is therefore needed, noted local experts. In 1995, there were 416 new AIDS cases in whites and 460 in African Americans, according to the Houston Health and Human Services Department. African Americans accounted for 9 percent of all AIDS cases in Houston in 1985, compared to 44.3 percent in 1995. The Texas Department of Health recently reported that Harris County had the state's highest rate of HIV-positive mothers, and a disproportionate number of them are African American. Dr. Joseph Gathe Jr., a community AIDS physician, says leaders in the African American community are reluctant to speak out about the threat of AIDS. "No Country Immune to AIDS" Houston Chronicle (07/29/96) P. 6E; SoRelle, Ruth Of the 7,500 adults and 1,000 children who are infected with HIV every day, 94 percent live in developing countries. Peter Piot, director of the Joint United Nations Program on AIDS, said that most of those infected are between the ages of 15 and 44 and that sexual exposure is the most common mode of transmission. Three-fifths of all adults with HIV and four-fifths of all HIV-positive women live in sub-Saharan Africa. In some countries, AIDS has even become a threat to economic development. Although AIDS had barely touched Asia 10 years ago, an estimated 2 million to 5 million people in India and 750,000 people in Thailand are now infected with the virus that causes AIDS. Moreover, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and China also have growing AIDS epidemics. In the United States, about 750,000 people have HIV, including 12,000 children. The rate of new infections in this country is decreasing, but more women, blacks, and Hispanics are becoming infected. "Behind the Statistics" Maclean's (07/15/96) Vol. 109, No. 29, P. 43; Goulding, Warren Native Canadians claim that Health Canada's poor reporting of AIDS cases in their population reflects the larger problem of monitoring conditions in the isolated aboriginal communities. As of January this year, the national agency had documented only 176 AIDS cases among native Canadians. The figure accounts for less than 2 percent of the country's total reported cases in a group that makes up 3 percent of the population. The conditions among native Canadians--including poor medical care, poor nutrition, and lack of attention to infections--are conducive to the spread of HIV. In addition, a disproportionate number of natives are at higher risk for HIV infection because they work in the sex trade, use injection drugs, or are prison inmates. These factors are compounded by the native community's homophobia and denial in terms of AIDS. Darcy Albert, leader of a support group for gays, said he would be uncomfortable telling other Native Canadians that he is gay and HIV-positive. "ACT-UP vs. PETA: Clash of the Titans" Weekly Standard (07/08/96-07/15/96) Vol. 1, No. 42, P. 28; Labash, Matt Although animal rights activists are seldom challenged, this year's Animal Awareness Week in Washington in June was marked by protests from the biomedical research community and AIDS activists. The Foundation for Biomedical Research held press conferences to argue that animal research is necessary for medical advances, citing examples like the polio vaccine and antibiotics. The biomedical community was aided by the Washington chapter of ACT-UP, an AIDS activist group not usually aligned with the medical establishment. Animal rights groups claim that animal testing is not necessary for AIDS research, presenting a conflict for celebrities who say they support both causes. At the "Animal Congress" held at the U.S. Air Arena in Landover, Md., ACT-UP Washington held a protest, exchanging jeers with gay animal activists before being arrested.