Date: Fri, 15 Nov 1996 11:31:56 -0500 From: "Flynn Mclean" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 11/15/96 AIDS Daily Summary November 15, 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 ****************************************************** "Lack of Assurance: Able to Work Again, AIDS Patients Worry About Disability Pay" "In the Line for AIDS Drugs, Children Are Last" "New Year's Resolution: Fleming Leaving AIDS Policy Office" "Resistance to HIV Discovered in Group of Kenyan Prostitutes" "AIDS Book OK'D" "Pioneering AIDS Group Is Sinking" "AIDS Meeting to Focus on Blacks" "Brown Opposes Licensing Sex Clubs" "Human Rights and the HIV Paradox" "International Treatment Access and Research, How You Can Help--Interview With Dr. Peter Piot of UNAIDS" ****************************************************** "Lack of Assurance: Able to Work Again, AIDS Patients Worry About Disability Pay" Wall Street Journal (11/15/96) P. A1; Anders, George Jeff Bloom, like other AIDS patients who have seen their health improve with new drug therapies, is facing a dilemma about the prospect of returning to work and losing his disability benefits. Moreover, disability insurers had become accustomed to paying benefits to AIDS patients, not expecting them to survive the disease for very long. However, patients are surviving longer, and insurers are uncertain of the impact on disability benefits. Together, private insurance companies and Social Security pay more than $1.5 billion a year in benefits to about 100,000 people with AIDS and other HIV-related diseases in the United States. Ken Nibali, of the Social Security Administration, said the agency may tighten its disability criteria for AIDS patients if new drugs continue to show such promising results. Private insurers say they expect to see AIDS patients returning to work, and they may offer ways to help policyholders re-enter the work force. "In the Line for AIDS Drugs, Children Are Last" Wall Street Journal (11/15/96) P. B1; McGinley, Laurie Because the new HIV drugs known as protease inhibitors have not been tested widely in children, most doctors will not prescribe the drugs for pediatric use, citing a lack of safety data. Legally, doctors are allowed to prescribe a drug to children if it has been approved for adults, but concerns about how to administer the drugs prevent most physicians from prescribing them for young patients. Preliminary results from small-scale clinical trials of protease inhibitors suggest that the drugs may be very beneficial for children, but so far, the only AIDS drugs approved for pediatric use are AZT, ddI, and 3TC. Drug companies have been criticized for not testing the drugs more widely in children because children make up a small portion of the infected population. "New Year's Resolution: Fleming Leaving AIDS Policy Office" Washington Post (11/15/96) P. A29; Kamen, Al Patricia S. Fleming, the U.S. AIDS policy director, says she will quit the post early next year. Fleming, who replaced the office's first director, Kristine M. Gebbie, is credited with helping to boost funding for research, treatment, and HIV prevention programs. "Resistance to HIV Discovered in Group of Kenyan Prostitutes" Washington Times (11/15/96) P. A18 A group of prostitutes in Nairobi appears to be resistant to HIV infection, Kenyan and Canadian doctors report in the journal The Lancet. The women did not appear to have the same genetic mutation that protects some Caucasians from infection, however. Francis Plummer and colleagues at the University of Manitoba reported that, of the 424 prostitutes participating in the study, all were found to be free of HIV infection when the study began in 1985. During the 10-year study, 239 of the women seroconverted and most of the others became infected to some degree. However, despite repeated exposures, 43 of the women never became infected. "AIDS Book OK'D" USA Today (11/15/96) P. 3A The autobiography of teenage AIDS patient and activist Ryan White will be returned to the library of Stroudsburg Middle School in Pennsylvania, officials said. The book was removed last week because it contains references to sodomy, condom use, and smoking. White died six years ago at age 18, after contracting HIV through a blood transfusion. Students will be allowed access to the book with permission from their parents. "Pioneering AIDS Group Is Sinking" Miami Herald (11/14/96) P. 1B; Rogers, Peggy The League Against AIDS, a Miami-based AIDS organization that serves the Hispanic community, was once a thriving center but is now threatened by a financial crisis. Founded in 1987, the League previously provided social services and counseling at two locations, employed 40 workers, supported more than 1,200 patients, and received hundreds of dollars a year in public support. The center now has one employee and depends on volunteers. The League's decline is attributed to management problems, and insufficient federal and county funding. "AIDS Meeting to Focus on Blacks" United Press International (11/14/96) The first western regional conference on the impact of AIDS on African-Americans will begin today in California. "AIDS is No Laughing Matter: The African-American Community Faces the Challenge of HIV/AIDS" is sponsored by the African American AIDS Coalition. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that, between 1981 and 1995, 26 percent of the 513,486 U.S. AIDS cases were among blacks. "Brown Opposes Licensing Sex Clubs" United Press International (11/14/96) Under a new proposal, sex clubs in San Francisco would be monitored by the city's health department to make sure that safer sex guidelines are being followed, rather than being licensed, an official said Thursday. Mayor Willie Brown said on Wednesday that he felt licensing, which was widely supported in the health community, was not necessary and that the health department "can handle whatever is needed to be done to help combat the spread of AIDS." "Human Rights and the HIV Paradox" Lancet (11/02/96) Vol. 348, No. 9036, P. 1217; Kirby, Michael Government efforts to reduce the spread of HIV should aim to protect the rights of those at risk rather than enact laws against activities that increase risk, contends Michael Kirby, a justice of the High Court of Australia, in the Lancet. Kirby says that social sanctions against HIV risk behaviors, including drug use, prostitution, and adultery, rarely result in behavior modification. While more attention is being devoted to behavioral and social HIV prevention strategies, developing countries face cultural obstacles to many of these changes, he notes. Sexual education is often prohibited, for example, and women there are powerless to protect themselves. In addition, homosexuality, injection drug use, and prostitution are illegal or socially unacceptable; condoms are not available or affordable; and governments are reluctant to take the radical measures needed to help fight the disease. Kirby claims that protecting the rights of individuals at high risk is the right thing to do because it protects basic human rights. He adds that laws against risky behaviors have little positive impact and can actually undermine beneficial programs. "International Treatment Access and Research, How You Can Help--Interview With Dr. Peter Piot of UNAIDS" AIDS Treatment News (11/01/96) No. 258, P. 6; James, John S. AIDS activists in the United States are increasingly interested in improving AIDS care worldwide, both because 90 percent of people with the disease live in developing countries and because scientific study of traditional and accidentally discovered treatments is needed to assess the efficacy of potential therapies. In an interview with AIDS Treatment News, Dr. Peter Piot, executive director of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, said the agency is now putting more emphasis on AIDS treatment in developing countries, rather than prevention only. While he noted that most developing countries cannot afford the latest antiviral drugs, he said the agency is helping governments negotiate lower prices and is promoting wider access to affordable drugs for the prevention or treatment of opportunistic infections. UNAIDS is also investigating promising traditional, or natural, therapies. Piot said that U.S. activists can help the international AIDS effort by raising awareness in the domestic community of the global impact of AIDS and by forming partnerships with AIDS groups in other countries.