Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 11/13/96

From: "Flynn Mclean" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 13 Nov 1996 10:51:06 -0500

AIDS Daily Summary 
                     November 13, 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

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"Chronic Illnesses Cost U.S. $425 Billion a Year" 
"Deformity Drug Thalidomide to Make Comeback in U.S." 
"Clinton Administration Asks Supreme Court to Rule Against 
Assisted Suicide"
"Pro-Gay Opinions Drive Rights Panel, Fined Dentist Says" 
"Feminists Allied With AIDS Activists"
"Welfare Body Moves to Help AIDS Orphans in Zimbabwe" 
"Food-Health: Impact of AIDS on Food Security"
"HIV Infection on Surge in Ukraine Penitentiaries"
"HIV Test-Seeking Before and After the Restriction of Anonymous 
Testing in North Carolina"
"One World, One Hope...One Gender?"
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"Chronic Illnesses Cost U.S. $425 Billion a Year" 
Washington Post (11/13/96) P. A6
     About 100 million Americans are affected by chronic
illnesses, costing the country about $425 billion a year in 
health care, a new study has found.  Researchers from the 
University of California, San Francisco, report in today's issue 
of the Journal of the American Medical Association that most 
people with chronic conditions, such as arthritis or diabetes, 
are not disabled but are continually threatened by relapses that 
could cause them to miss work and incur higher health costs. 
Chronic illnesses, defined as those which require medical 
attention and cause persistent and recurring health consequences 
for years, cost Americans $425 billion in treatment and 
medication each year.  The number of people with chronic 
illnesses is expected to increase to 148 million by 2030.
     
"Deformity Drug Thalidomide to Make Comeback in U.S." 
Washington Times (11/13/96) P. A3
     Celgene announced on Monday that it will seek FDA approval
of thalidomide for the treatment of inflamed leprosy.  The 
company later plans to seek clearance to sell the drug to AIDS 
patients who experience wasting.  Andrulis, meanwhile, plans to 
seek approval of thalidomide for the treatment of painful mouth, 
throat, and rectal ulcers that affect AIDS patients.  The FDA, 
which is expected to decide those requests next year, is said to 
be taking steps to ensure that women taking the drug do not become pregnant to 
avoid severe birth defects. 
     
"Clinton Administration Asks Supreme Court to Rule Against 
Assisted Suicide"
New York Times (11/13/96) P. A18; Greenhouse, Linda
     The Clinton administration told the Supreme Court on Tuesday
that it opposed physician-assisted suicide, urging the court to 
rule that the right to a doctor's aid in hastening death is not 
guaranteed by the Constitution.  Solicitor General Walter 
Dellinger filed two briefs in which the Administration supported 
efforts by the states of New York and Washington to defend their 
laws against physician-assisted suicide.  The Administration 
noted that all nursing homes and medical centers operated by the 
Department of Veterans Affairs have a policy that allows patients 
to request the withdrawal or withholding of life-support, but 
prohibits "the active hastening of the moment of death."  This 
distinction was rejected by two lower courts in the cases now 
being considered.
     
"Pro-Gay Opinions Drive Rights Panel, Fined Dentist Says" 
Washington Times (11/13/96) P. A6; Trotta, Liz
     In New York, a dentist who was found guilty of
discriminating against a man exposed to HIV has claimed that the 
ruling, made by the New York Human Rights Commission, shows that 
the group is led by agenda-driven fanatics who want to promote 
homosexual causes.  Dr. Dennis W. Cahill was fined $10,000 for 
refusing to treat Roy Grabowski, who had revealed that he had 
been treated by a dentist who died of AIDS.  He was then denied 
care until he could produce an HIV test result.  Grabowski filed 
a complaint with the Human Rights Commission. The Commission ruled that 
Cahill had discriminated under the state law that prohibits 
discrimination in employment, housing and places of "public 
accommodation."
     
"Feminists Allied With AIDS Activists"
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (11/12/96) P. 13B; Charen, Mona
     The National Organization of Women is more interested in 
educating women about rape than supporting laws to help rape 
victims, claims Mona Charen in a commentary in the St. Louis 
Post-Dispatch.  Charen notes that NOW has joined AIDS activists 
in opposing mandatory HIV testing, even for accused rapists, and 
in protecting the privacy of those who test HIV-positive, even if 
they are sex offenders.  Charen also points out that NOW has 
opposed the HIV Prevention Act of 1996, which would allow rape 
victims to know the HIV status of their assailants and would hold 
rapists responsible for transmitting the virus.
     
"Welfare Body Moves to Help AIDS Orphans in Zimbabwe" 
All Africa Press Service (11/12/96)
     Welfare groups in Zimbabwe have estimated that 45 percent of
the country's children will be orphaned by AIDS within the next 
decade.  Policy-makers are responding by trying to devise a 
national welfare system to support the orphans.  Worldwide, the 
number of people orphaned by AIDS is greater than the number of 
people with the disease.  In Zimbabwe, welfare organizations are 
especially concerned about the children of farm workers, and the 
Farm Orphan Support Trust has begun to create a foster care 
program for such children.
     
"Food-Health: Impact of AIDS on Food Security" 
IPS Wire (11/12/96)
     In some countries where communities depend on food
production for survival, AIDS has disproportionately affected 
those regions by claiming the lives of workers.  As HIV spread in 
Uganda, for example, crop production declined dramatically, pests 
became more prevalent, and death and illness hurt many households 
and left many children orphaned.  Studies have found that the 
impact of AIDS will depend on how the disease is spread in a 
particular area and how policies are implemented.
     
"HIV Infection on Surge in Ukraine Penitentiaries" 
Itar Wire Service (11/11/96)
     In the Ukraine, 10,800 people are infected with HIV, the 
Committee for AIDS Control reported Monday.  The rate of HIV is 
highest in the Odessa, Nikilayev, Donetsk, and Lugansk regions, 
the capital Kiev, and the Crimea enclave.  There is also concern 
about the spread of HIV in prisons, and screening of convicts is 
thus being considered.
     
"HIV Test-Seeking Before and After the Restriction of Anonymous 
Testing in North Carolina"
American Journal of Public Health (10/96) Vol. 86, No. 10, P. 
1446; Hertz-Picciotto, Irva; Lee, Lester W.; Hoyo, Cathrine
     In North Carolina, state health officials have attempted to 
discontinue anonymous HIV testing because reporting would allow 
state agencies to contact both HIV-positive individuals and 
people that may have been exposed to the virus.  A proposal to 
end anonymous testing in 1991 met with public opposition, and as 
a compromise, such testing was discontinued in 82 of the state's 
100 counties on Sept. 1, 1991.  On January 1, 1993, however, 
anonymous testing was re-implemented in all 100 counties by court 
order.  The elimination of anonymous testing was again proposed 
in 1996, but lawsuits have prevented the proposal from moving 
forward.  Researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel 
Hill, evaluated the impact of the restriction on anonymous 
testing in 1991 and 1992.  They found that HIV testing increased 
throughout the state during the period, but that it increased 64 
percent in counties where anonymous testing was maintained, 
compared to 44 percent where it was discontinued.  Adolescents, 
African-Americans, and other non-Whites were reportedly 
especially affected by the restriction.  The findings agree with 
other reports that eliminating anonymous testing has a 
detrimental impact on testing rates.
     
"One World, One Hope...One Gender?"
Journal of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS 
Care (10/96) Vol. 2, No. 10, P. 28; Gorma, Robin
     Amid the promising news of powerful new HIV drugs presented
at this year's International AIDS Conference, little data was 
released about how the new treatments work for women.  However, 
among the issues pertaining to women that were discussed was the 
link between human pappilloma virus (HPV) and HIV.  Research 
presented at the conference confirmed that, compared to others 
with HPV, HIV-infected patients have a higher prevalence of 
neoplasias and squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL).  
Furthermore, Dr. Louise Kuhn, of Columbia University, showed that 
women infected with HIV were four to five times more likely than 
uninfected women to have persistent HPV infection.  A higher 
incidence of cervical precancer and invasive cervical cancer 
(ICC) was also found in HIV-positive women, though no research 
was presented on how to treat HIV-positive women with the 
condition.  Other topics discussed at the conference included the 
link between violence against women and HIV risk, the acceptance 
of female condoms by women, the need for microbicides against 
HIV, the need for more research into the sexual transmission of 
HIV, and the prevention of perinatal HIV transmission.