Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary Date: Mon Mar 10 09:31:02 PST 1997 (201 lines) From: National AIDS Info Clearinghouse Copyright 1997, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD AIDS Daily Summary March 10, 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 ****************************************************** "Surge of New AIDS Drugs Results in Drop in Deaths" "U.N. Report: [Increase in Cases of HIV Attributed to Decline in Opium Use]" "Shalala Punts on a Crucial Call Concerning Needle Exchanges" "Patents: For the Patent-Curious, a Variety of Research Sites Make It Easier to Study the Archives" "D.C. HMO Payment Is Blocked" "Doctor With HIV Sparks Trace of Women at Risk in UK" "Development Brings Plague of Sexually Transmitted Diseases" "Cackles, Cauldrons, and Carrots" "Europe's Treatment Roulette" "Alive and Kicking" ****************************************************** "Surge of New AIDS Drugs Results in Drop in Deaths" Richmond Times-Dispatch (03/10/97) P. B4 Virginia officials report that AIDS deaths dropped 22 percent in the first half of 1996, from 443 to 345. National AIDS deaths, meanwhile, fell 13 percent to 22,000 from 24,900 a year earlier. The decrease is attributed to the advent of new AIDS drugs, including protease inhibitors. "U.N. Report: [Increase in Cases of HIV Attributed to Decline in Opium Use]" Washington Times (03/10/97) P. A14; Pisik, Betsy The United Nations International Narcotics Control Board is warning that use of all kinds of amphetamines, both legal and illegal, is on the increase. Among other findings in the board's annual report on drug use, the United States was identified as "the largest illicit drug market in the world," with use of cocaine, cannabis, and hallucinogens all rising among youth. In addition, the UN board found that opium smoking is declining in East and Southeast Asia, with people preferring to inject the drug instead. The trend has resulted in increased sharing of needles and an increase in reported cases of HIV. "Shalala Punts on a Crucial Call Concerning Needle Exchanges" Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News (03/10/97) In an editorial in the Chicago Tribune, the editors criticize Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala for failing to ask Congress to lift the ban on HHS funding of needle-exchange programs. Despite forwarding a report to Congress on Feb. 18 in which the latest research again indicates the efficacy of needle-exchange programs, Shalala fell short of asking for funding for such programs. A 1993 Yale University study showed that needle-exchange programs cut HIV infections by one-third, while a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded study found that the programs can help get a substantial number of users to seek rehabilitation treatment. Another argument in support of needle-exchange programs is financial; the average annual budget among 70 needle-exchange research projects currently operating is $169,000, which is the approximate cost of treating a single HIV-infected individual over the course of the disease. Meanwhile, HIV spreads more rapidly among intravenous drug users than any other group. The editors contend that the argument against needle-exchange program funding--that it is inappropriate for one government agency to "subsidize" drug use while others spend billions of dollars to fight it--is for the most part symbolic. Shalala, the editors claim, must "argue for sound, effective federal policies," which the evidence has long indicated would be the case for needle-exchange program funding. "Patents: For the Patent-Curious, a Variety of Research Sites Make It Easier to Study the Archives" New York Times (03/10/97) P. D2; Chartrand, Sabra The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has added information about patents issued since 1971 to its World Wide Web site, located at www.uspto.gov. The site includes the AIDS Patent Database, with the full text and drawings of AIDS-related patents issued in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Patents issued before 1971 have not yet been computerized for public use. "D.C. HMO Payment Is Blocked" Washington Post (03/10/97) P. A1; Goldstein, Amy; Loeb, Vernon The District of Columbia's chief financial officer, Anthony A. Williams, has blocked an $18.9 million Medicaid payout to an HMO with ties to D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, after auditors determined that the payment is three times more than auditors say the company deserves. The District's commissioner of healthcare finance, Paul Offner, said Michael C. Rogers told him last month to pay the money to Chartered Health Plan, even though Offner believes the city owes the company only $6.2 million. Williams said in a Friday interview, "My job is to make sure the District isn't robbed blind." Chartered, unlike other local HMOs, was created specifically to help Medicaid recipients, particularly mothers and children who also receive welfare benefits. "Doctor With HIV Sparks Trace of Women at Risk in UK" Xinhua News Agency (03/08/97) Approximately 2,000 British women are being sought to determine whether they contracted HIV from a British physician who worked as an obstetrician and gynecologist at four hospitals before discovering his infected status in January of this year. The physician followed General Medical Council guidelines by immediately informing his superiors when he discovered he had contracted the virus and then voluntarily stopped working. The hospitals released a joint statement, saying, "The authorities emphasize that their detailed check of patient records should have identified every patient who has faced any degree of risk." According to medical experts, the chances that a patient contracted HIV from the doctor are very low, with no risk at all that newborns contracted the virus from their mother's exposure to the infected care provider. "Development Brings Plague of Sexually Transmitted Diseases" African News Service (03/08/97); Hammond, Sharon HIV and sexually transmitted diseases have increased dramatically in Mpumalanga, thanks to a multi-million dollar infusion of cash to develop the area. According to Mpumalanga AIDS and STD Program head Calvin Billinghurst, the problem is that rural women and even young schoolgirls have been seduced by promises of money, food, and clothing offered by single men working on dam and other infrastructure sites. The women, notes Billinghurst, are often unaware that their construction worker husbands and lovers regularly practice unsafe sex with other women. Billinghurst adds that it is unclear how much responsibility the construction industry management should bear for the situation. "Cackles, Cauldrons, and Carrots" POZ (03/97) P. 54; Patner, Andrew Open Hand Chicago, an organization started by AIDS activist Lori Cannon in 1988 to provide food to people with HIV, has served as a national model for direct service to the HIV community. Cannon started volunteering at Chicago House, a residence for AIDS patients, following the loss of a friend to AIDS 10 years ago. Her devotion to the cause grew, leading her to help organize Open Hand, initially a meals-on-wheels service. The organization has delivered more than 1 million meals a year on a budget of almost $2 million. To help clients gain more independence, Cannon and Open Hand began opening food pantries, and now operate three full-service grocery centers in Chicago. The centers are now used by 80 percent of Open Hand's 2,000 clients, and only 200 clients continue to have meals delivered. Cannon says the grocery centers are the next step for clients who "are taking greater control of their lives--wanting to cook, wanting to shop, wanting the food and variety they choose." Next, she would like to offer a series of monthly dinners for AIDS patients to have the opportunity to meet and socialize. "Europe's Treatment Roulette" Journal of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (03/97) Vol. 3, No. 3, P. 44; Alcorn, Keith Access to new combination drug therapies for the treatment of AIDS is varied across the European Union, where some countries have agreed to reimburse patients for the costly drugs but others are reluctant to do so. The drugs are provided in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia, but not in Spain, Italy, Belgium, or the United Kingdom. "We estimate that about 11,830 deaths could be prevented in these four countries during 1997 if only they would take full advantage of these powerful treatments," Philippo von Schloesser of the European AIDS Treatment Group said at a press conference organized to highlight the need for government action. Dr. Joep Lange stressed the importance of treating HIV with the most powerful drugs available to curb drug resistance. Reimbursement for the drugs is now being negotiated in Spain, while hospitals in the United Kingdom are being told to cut costs in other areas if they want to prescribe the costly therapies. Even with a 7 percent increase in funding, however, Britain's AIDS treatment budget is inadequate to provide an updated level of care. Italian patients, meanwhile, are likely to continue to face limited treatment options due to the lack of funding for small local hospitals. At the EATG press conference, University of North Carolina researcher Kit Simpson reported that in some European countries, the impact of triple-combination therapy on morbidity and mortality could offset drug costs by 50 percent to 60 percent. "Alive and Kicking" POZ (03/97) P. 44; Wolfe, Maxine Although the AIDS activist group ACT UP, now beginning its 11th year, has experienced a decline in activity, members continue to protest the policies they see as barriers to ending the AIDS epidemic. Last October, 1,000 ACT UP members held a political funeral at the White House, demanding more effective presidential leadership against AIDS. An ACT UP demonstration against Stadtlanders Pharmacy resulted in a 20 percent price reduction in the drug Crixivan the following day. Many ACT UP chapters have closed, however, and others have seen reductions in size and funding. Like other movements, the AIDS movement has shifted toward insider politics, with former activists serving as representatives on federal committees and on panels in the pharmaceutical industry. Political action has been lacking, and most of the proposals made by the National Commission on AIDS in 1991 have not been implemented. Still, insider strategies--both in politics and industry--have not matched the impact of ACT UP's tactics of direct action.