Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary for 
Date: Thu May 25 06:31:01 PDT 2000 (152 lines)
From: National AIDS Info Clearinghouse
Copyright 2000, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update  
Thursday, May 25, 2000

The CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention provides
the following information as a public service only.  Providing
synopses of key scientific articles and lay media reports on 
HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis
does not constitute CDC endorsement.  This daily update also 
includes information from CDC and other government agencies,
such as background on Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
(MMWR) articles, fact sheets, press releases, and announcements.
Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not
be sold, and the CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update should be
cited as the source of the information.  Contact the sources of
the articles abstracted below for full texts of the articles.

HEADLINES

GENERAL MEDIA
"Hutchinson Center to Provide Pivotal Role in AIDS Vaccine 
Development"
"Canadian AIDS Activists Push Drug Access"
"Black Leaders Gather for AIDS Plans"
"Ghana: WHO Official for Re-Examination of HIV Surveillance 
Systems"
"SA Prisoners to Be Supplied With Condoms"
"Disease Rates Above Average"
"Swazi Women Cry for Free Female Condoms"
"Filling the Cup"

 
****************************************************************
                         GENERAL MEDIA
****************************************************************

"Hutchinson Center to Provide Pivotal Role in AIDS Vaccine 
Development"
Seattle Times Online (www.seattletimes.com) (05/25/00); King, 
Warren
     Seattle's Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center is expected 
to coordinate an international effort to create an AIDS vaccine, 
working with 10 medical centers ranging from Seattle to Africa to
South America.  Dr. Julie McElrath, director of the vaccine 
research center at the Hutchinson Center and University of 
Washington, said funding for the project will come from the U.S. 
National Institutes of Health.  Some centers and research links 
involved in the new HIV Vaccine Trials Network include: Johns 
Hopkins University, the University of Rochester, the University 
of Maryland, Harvard University, and the San Francisco public 
health department.  McElrath noted that because it is not known 
whether an HIV vaccine based on strains of the virus found in the
United States will protect people in other parts of the world, 
"we really need to begin to look at populations where the 
epidemic is moving along, get them involved at the grass-roots 
level from the beginning, and test vaccines there, as well as 
here."
 
"Canadian AIDS Activists Push Drug Access"
Reuters Health Information Services (www.reutershealth.com) 
(05/24/00); Bussey, Eliza
     Canadian AIDS activists have asked their government to reduce the
country's drug approval time, which is almost double that of the 
United States for some medicines.  Dr. Mark Wainberg, president 
of the International AIDS Society, noted at a drug summit in 
Ottawa that nevirapine was approved in Canada 28 months after it 
was available in the United States.  Many participants at the 
meeting agreed that funding shortages are to blame.  Conference 
attendees also suggested using the U.S. Food and Drug 
Administration's methods of streamlining the drug evaluation 
process, which have reduced approval time from two years to one 
year for regular drugs, and to six months for fast-track 
treatments.
 
"Black Leaders Gather for AIDS Plans"
Las Vegas Sun Online (www.lasvegassun.com) (05/24/00)
     Nearly 350 African-American clergy members are meeting in 
Tuskegee, Alabama, this week to address the issue of AIDS.  
Participants at the meeting, located in the same town where the 
infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study took place, noted that the 
decades-long study resulted in a deep distrust of healthcare 
workers by some African Americans.  However, the Rev. Debra 
Hickman, an associate minister at City Temple of Baltimore 
Baptist Church, said that church officials can help their members
by teaching them to ask questions.  A recent study conducted at 
the University of Alabama at Birmingham revealed that poor 
African-American males' concerns about healthcare providers, 
particularly white male physicians, play a role in the high rate 
of AIDS in African-American communities.
 
"Ghana: WHO Official for Re-Examination of HIV Surveillance 
Systems"
PANA Wire Service (www.africanews.org/PANA) (05/24/00)
     The World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Ghana, 
Dr. Martin Mandara, has called for a re-examination of data to form a
cost-effective HIV surveillance program.  At the opening of a 
five-day workshop on second generation HIV surveillance in Accra,
Mandara noted that surveillance systems should be customized to 
the epidemic's patterns in each country.  "Consequently, we have 
to concentrate data collection in populations most at risk of 
becoming newly infected with HIV, that is, [the] population with 
high levels of risk behavior or young people at the start of 
their sexual lives," Mandara said.  Second-generation 
surveillance takes into account previous surveillance efforts, 
examines its limitations, and expands on the strengths 
identified.
 
"SA Prisoners to Be Supplied With Condoms"
Australian Associated Press (aap.com.au) (05/24/00)
     Southern Australia's prisoners will be given condoms in an effort
to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, according
to the state government.  "The prison system has a low rate of 
HIV/AIDS, and they want to keep it low," a spokeswoman for 
Correctional Services Minister Robert Brokenshire explained.  
Prisoners in New South Wales, Western Australia, and the 
Australian Capital Territory already receive the prophylactics.
 
"Disease Rates Above Average"
New Zealand Press Online (www.press.co.nz) (05/25/00); Clausen, 
Victoria
     Canterbury, New Zealand, has an above average number of 
infectious disease cases, according to the medical officer of 
health, Dr. Mel Brieseman.  Canterbury has high rates of 
campylobacter, salmonellosis, and tuberculosis.  Brieseman said 
better water supplies, sanitary cooking practices, and 
hand-washing can help stem the spread of some of the infections. 
In addition, he noted that "although some people would question 
the value of immunization, there is no doubt at all in the minds 
of medical organizations and individuals around the world that 
it's one of the most effective ways of preventing the spread of 
infectious diseases."
 
"Swazi Women Cry for Free Female Condoms"
Africa News Service (www.africanews.org) (05/24/00)
     Women in Swaziland have voiced complaints about the high cost 
of female condoms, particularly while male condoms are often given 
out for free.  The women have called on Health Minister Phetsile 
Dlamini to explain the price disparity, and they have asked the 
government to either lower the cost of female condoms or provide 
them free of charge.  The women noted that they have to ask their
husbands for money to buy condoms; however, sometimes the men 
refused to give them any money.

"Filling the Cup"
Newsweek (www.newsweek.com) (05/15/00) Vol. 135, No. 20, P. 4
     San Francisco's Cat Club is host to a new testing program for 
sexually transmitted diseases.  The city's health department is 
now offering a $10 Tower Records gift certificate and a coupon 
for condoms for patrons who volunteer for a urine test for 
gonorrhea and chlamydia.  Results of the tests are available 
after a week.