From: "Flynn Mclean" To: aidsnews@aspensys.com, DAlexis@smtpinet.aspensys.com, MKarasik@smtpinet.aspensys.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 01/03/97 AIDS Daily Summary January 3, 1997 The CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention makes available the following information as a public service only. Providing this information does not constitute endorsement by the CDC. 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 ****************************************************** "Asides: Immigrant Man of the Year" "Is Marijuana Good Medicine?" "Across the USA: Vermont" "Law Eases Use of Life Cover for Medical Bills" "HHS Reviews 1996 Achievements" "High Heterogeneity of HIV-1 Subtypes in Russia" "U.S. Court of Appeals Foils S.E.C. Bid to Regulate Viaticals" "Prostitution in Ethiopia" "Turning the Tide" "AMA: Mandatory HIV Testing in Pregnancy" ****************************************************** "Asides: Immigrant Man of the Year" Wall Street Journal (01/03/97) P. A8 AIDS researcher Dr. David Dai-i Ho is cited by the editors of the Wall Street Journal as an example of the benefits that immigrants bring to the United States. Ho, who immigrated with his family from Taiwan in 1956, was named Time magazine's 1996 Man of the Year for his contribution to new AIDS treatments. The editors suggest that such an example be considered in future debates about the value of immigration. "Is Marijuana Good Medicine?" USA Today (01/03/97) P. 8D USA Today sought answers from the experts on the issue of whether the medical use of marijuana can alleviate AIDS-related wasting, nausea for those undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, and symptoms of glaucoma. Paul Consroe of the University of Arizona has studied the medical benefits of marijuana for 24 years. He advocates the drug for certain uses, including epilepsy patients who cannot be treated with other drugs, and for certain kinds of pain that are otherwise untreatable. Another researcher, Reese T. Jones, says research on medical marijuana declined in the early 1980s because the drug was not proving beneficial. While he says the drug is not a good choice for treatment because it impacts a variety of systems in the body, Jones concludes that it should be available for those it can help. "Across the USA: Vermont" USA Today (01/03/97) P. 9A Vermont officials report that requests for condoms by inmates total fewer than 10 a month, even in larger prisons. Only Vermont and Mississippi provide condoms to inmates as part of an effort to curb the spread of HIV. "Law Eases Use of Life Cover for Medical Bills" Journal of Commerce (01/03/97) P. 8A A new federal tax law allows people with chronic or terminal illnesses to sell their life insurance to cover medical bills, without paying income tax on the benefits. Payments made after Dec. 31, 1996, through "accelerated benefits" from an insurance company or a payment by a viatical settlement company, are not subject to income tax. "Taxing the benefits substantially reduced the amount of money available to the insured. The new law will help allow the individual to die with dignity," said Mandell Winter Jr. of the College for Financial Planning. "HHS Reviews 1996 Achievements" U.S. Newswire (01/02/97) Among the achievements reported by the Department of Health and Human Services for 1996 are the approval of the anti-HIV protease inhibitor drugs by the Food and Drug Administration. The agency also approved the first home HIV test kit. HHS reported that the death rate from AIDS did not increase for the first time in 1995, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the number of infants born with HIV declined 27 percent between 1992 and 1995. The CDC attributed this drop to the increased use of AZT therapy by pregnant women with HIV. Funding for the Ryan White CARE Act has increased 158 percent since President Clinton took office, and a five-year reauthorization of the act was passed in 1996. Last year also saw the award by HHS of $7.1 million to community-based AIDS service programs. Moreover, the agency worked with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to award grants totaling $227.7 million to 20 states to provide assistance to people with HIV or AIDS and to award $3.35 million in grants to support the continuation of nine projects in six states that provide health care and services for HIV-infected and at-risk adolescents. A commitment to the development of HIV-fighting microbicides was also announced in 1996. "High Heterogeneity of HIV-1 Subtypes in Russia" Reuters (01/02/97) Six subtypes of HIV-1 have been found in infected individuals in Russia, researchers report in the current issue of AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. Aleksei Bobkov of the D.I. Ivanosky Institute of Virology and colleagues evaluated the viral subtype in 130 patients and identified subtypes A, B, C, D, G, and H. Strain B was most common among homosexual men, while A was found most often in intravenous drug users. Overall, subtypes B and G are most common in Russia. "U.S. Court of Appeals Foils S.E.C. Bid to Regulate Viaticals" HealthWire (01/02/97) The Securities and Exchange Commission's request for an appeal of its case against the viatical settlement company Life Partners was denied in late December by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The court had earlier upheld Life Partners' claim that its business was not subject to SEC regulation. Life Partners' chairman Brian D. Pardo called the decision "a victory for the terminally ill, for small, individual investors, and for private enterprise, and for taxpayers and consumers." The SEC may not seek an appeal from the Supreme Court, according to Life Partners' attorneys. "Prostitution in Ethiopia" Africa News Service (01/02/97) In the Ethiopian city of Addis Ababa, prostitution is growing rapidly, and is impacting both society and the participating individuals. While the number of prostitutes is growing, the age of girls joining the business is declining. Among the effects of the increase are the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, and rising drug use. "Turning the Tide" Time (12/30/96-1/06/97) Vol. 148, No. 29, P. 54; Elmer-DeWitt, Philip During 1996, a glimmer of hope was revealed for the first time in the 15-year-old fight against AIDS. Clinical trials led by Dr. David Ho of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center showed that a new combination of anti-HIV drugs could effectively keep viral levels down. The treatment is too costly for most HIV patients, however, and is most beneficial in the newly infected. Ho's work stands out among that of many AIDS researchers who have advanced knowledge of the disease. He was among those who first recognized AIDS as an infectious disease, and was influential in shifting the focus of treatment to the early stages of infection. "AMA: Mandatory HIV Testing in Pregnancy" American Medical News (12/23/96-12/30/96) Vol. 39, No. 48, P. 6; Kent, Christina While members of the American Medical Association agreed by a close vote in June to support mandatory HIV testing for pregnant women, the group reaffirmed the decision by a wider margin at a recent meeting. A committee of the AMA wanted to reverse the decision, on the grounds that the group's general policy holds that a patient is entitled to consider a doctor's recommended care, but that "patients may accept or refuse any recommended treatment." Voluntary HIV testing of pregnant women continues to be supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and other medical groups. Dr. William R. Jones pointed out that the AMA also supports mandatory testing for people who donate blood, breast milk, organs, semen and ova, as well as for immigrants and military personnel, noting that HIV should be "depoliticized" and treated like other infectious diseases.