Date: Tue, 19 Nov 1996 10:00:38 -0500 From: "Flynn Mclean" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 11/19/96 AIDS Daily Summary November 19, 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 ****************************************************** "Md. AIDS Institute Opens With Great Fanfare, Expectations" "Water Filters Available for D.C. AIDS Patients" "Plan to Test Drug's Effectiveness in Bureaucratic Limbo" "Condoms Available" "Alexandria Mulls Gay 'Marriages'" "Team in Search of the Ebola Virus" "Windfall Prophets" "Home Access Express HIV-1 Test System Available at Walgreens" "Experts Say AIDS Pain 'Dramatically Undertreated'" "Blackt Up!" ****************************************************** "Md. AIDS Institute Opens With Great Fanfare, Expectations" Washington Post (11/19/96) P. B3; Goldstein, Amy At the opening of the Institute of Human Virology in Baltimore on Monday, politicians and academics heralded the center's promise of combining the scientific study of AIDS and other viral diseases with clinical treatment. Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening said, "The work that is going on here is ... of the most noble measure--saving lives and restoring hope." The center's director, renowned AIDS researcher Robert C. Gallo, left a 30-year career at the National Institutes of Health to create his own institute. Plans are also in the works for a related biotechnology company that will translate research results into commercial products. "Water Filters Available for D.C. AIDS Patients" Washington Post (11/19/96) P. B5 AIDS patients in Washington, D.C. are being supplied with water filters to protect them from the excessive levels of bacteria found in the city's water supply. Made available by federal and city funding, the carbon water filters will be provided to as many as 600 city residents with AIDS. The nonprofit AIDS group Food & Friends is distributing most of the filters, which were recommended by U.S. and city health officials for AIDS patients. City officials are also trying to obtain approval to use Medicaid funds to purchase filters for qualified AIDS patients. "Plan to Test Drug's Effectiveness in Bureaucratic Limbo" Washington Post--Health (11/19/96) P. 7; Okie, Susan One prominent AIDS researcher has failed to obtain federal approval to conduct a study on the benefits and risks associated with the medical use of marijuana, despite the fact that experts say such research is needed to resolve the issue. Donald I. Abrams, of the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, received approval by his state's government and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to study the use of marijuana as a treatment for weight-loss in HIV-infected patients. His study was rejected by the Drug Enforcement Administration, however, which would have had to issue a license for the study. Abrams has been unable to obtain a legal source of the drug. Abrams designed a study to compare the use of a drug containing marijuana's active ingredient with smoked marijuana for treating AIDS-related weight loss. Reviewers at the National Institutes of Health questioned the study of a toxic substance, and voiced concerns that the participants would increase their cholesterol levels. "It's been frustrating," Abrams said. "People are saying there's no scientific evidence that marijuana has any benefit. In the meantime, we're not being allowed to do a study." "Condoms Available" Washington Times (11/18/96) P. A14 Although food, water, and medicine may not be available to the refugees in eastern Zaire, condoms and reproductive health kits will be provided. "This is the first time that reproductive-health services have been planned at the beginning of a crisis," said Hirofumi Ando, deputy executive director of the United Nations Food Program Association. The agency noted that women are being raped, and said that refugees should have the same access to health care that other women have. "Alexandria Mulls Gay 'Marriages'" Washington Times--Metropolitan Times (11/19/96) P. C5; Cain, Andrew Lonnie C. Rich (D), a member of Alexandria, Va.'s City Council, is advocating that the state consider legalizing same sex marriages. Rich would like to see his proposal included in the city's wish list to state legislators, although he said he would be "shocked" if it passed. He explained that the measure might "promote stable families," reduce promiscuity, and possibly slow the spread of HIV. "Team in Search of the Ebola Virus" Houston Chronicle (11/18/96) P. 8D; Susman, Tina In the Tai Forest of Cote d'Ivoire, a small group of researchers are working to track the source of the Ebola virus. They catch and test rodents, searching for signs of Ebola or other diseases. "The diseases emerging today in Cote d'Ivoire may be the diseases emerging tomorrow in China or Colombia," said Pierre Formenty, the leader of the project, sponsored by the World Health Organization. The threat of new or re-emerging diseases has been brought into focus by the spread of AIDS and the re-emergence of tuberculosis, yellow fever, and malaria. "Windfall Prophets" Washington Post Magazine (11/17/96) P. 17 Due to a life insurance promotion by the federal government in 1993, employees of the federal government and the District of Columbia were able to buy large life insurance policies for relatively little money. Many employees with preexisting medical conditions, even the terminally ill, were able to take advantage of the sale and later sell their policies at considerable profits. One HIV-positive federal employee, identified only as John, bought a $620,000 policy during the promotion and, after paying about $2,000 in premiums over three years, sold the policy for $340,000. Although John's doctor had estimated that he would live less than five years, his health has since improved with new antiviral drugs. "The feeling of freedom I get from all this money is really something," John said, adding that "none of this is coming at the taxpayers' expense. I retired without even taking disability." "Home Access Express HIV-1 Test System Available at Walgreens" HealthWire (11/18/96) Walgreens, the country's largest retail drug store chain, is now selling the Home Access Express HIV-1 Test System, made by Home Access Health. The test instructs users to collect a blood sample, send it to a lab for testing, and receive results in three business days. Walgreens has nearly 2,200 stores in 34 states. "Experts Say AIDS Pain 'Dramatically Undertreated'" Journal of the American Medical Association (11/06/96) Vol. 276, No. 17, P. 1369; Stephenson, Joan Although AIDS and cancer patients experience comparable levels of pain, pain is "dramatically undertreated" in AIDS patients, according to Dr. William Breitbart of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The problem may be partly attributed to the rise in managed care, since many primary care physicians have little training or experience treating chronic pain. In addition, doctors treating AIDS patients--as well as the patients themselves--may be more focused on other problems, like opportunistic infections. AIDS-related pain is much more common and often more severe than doctors realize, affecting even patients in the early stages of disease. Many doctors do not prescribe effective remedies for HIV-related pain, and Breitbart's study found that only 15 percent of patients with AIDS-related pain receive adequate analgesia. Pain experts say this may be due to fears that strong pain medications could be addictive. Moreover, neuropathic pain syndromes, often caused by antiretroviral drugs, are responsible for the pain and must be treated with more sophisticated strategies than other pain. Current guidelines for treating AIDS-related pain are published in the "Clinical Practice Guidelines: Management of Cancer Pain" and a booklet called "Pain in HIV/AIDS." "Blackt Up!" Village Voice (11/05/96) Vol. 41, No. 45, P. 45; Schoofs, Mark At a recent meeting of African-American leaders convened to address the growing threat of AIDS in the black community, the absence of many leaders was noted. No members of the Congressional Black Caucus attended, for example, and the leaders of the NAACP and the National Urban League were also absent. If HIV continues to infect African Americans at the current rate, in 2001, more than half of all Americans with AIDS will be African American. Norm Nickens, chair of the National Minority AIDS Council, said the community tends to pay more attention to immediate threats, like violence, even though AIDS now kills twice as many young African American men as homicide. Intravenous drug use is the leading mode of HIV transmission among African Americans, followed by sex between men. Moreover, within the African American community, prejudice against both drug users and homosexuals makes the fight against AIDS more difficult. African American churches have been especially reluctant to address the AIDS threat, but many are becoming more accepting and active. Most AIDS agencies led by African Americans across the country are relatively young, have difficulty raising money, and are not supported by the mainstream African American community.