Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 01/03/97
From: "Flynn Mclean" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked]

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.