Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary for Date: Fri Jun 30 07:01:00 PDT 2000 (175 lines) From: National AIDS Info Clearinghouse Copyright 2000, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update Friday, June 30, 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 "AIDS, Wars Take Toll on Quality of Life in Africa, Report Says" "D.C. Jail's Medical Costs Under GAO, Hill Scrutiny" "Lawmakers Introduce Ryan White AIDS Reauthorization" "Medicines on the Way" "French Teen Pregnancy Campaign Reflects Openness About Sex" "WHO Regional Director Urges Faster Response to HIV/AIDS" "US Grants Indonesia $27 Million in Health Aid" "ACOG: Routine Prenatal Care Should Include HIV Screening" **************************************************************** GENERAL MEDIA **************************************************************** "AIDS, Wars Take Toll on Quality of Life in Africa, Report Says" USA Today (www.usatoday.com) (06/30/00) P. 16A; Moulson, Geir A new quality-of-life report from the United Nations places Canada first and Sierra Leone last. Twenty-four African nations remain at the bottom of the 174-country Human Development Index due to the AIDS epidemic and constant wars. The United States was ranked No. 3; however, the report noted that the United States has the highest level of "human poverty"--which factors in such conditions as life expectancy, illiteracy, and unemployment--than any other industrialized nation. Twenty-two countries--mainly those in African and East Europe--have seen their human-development ratings decline in the past decade, primarily as the result of AIDS and economic problems. The report is intended help governments decide how to eradicate poverty and improve human rights. "D.C. Jail's Medical Costs Under GAO, Hill Scrutiny" Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (06/30/00) P. B1; Fehr, Stephen C. The District of Columbia's jail has improved its conditions immensely in the past five years, according to Odie Washington, the city's corrections director. While the D.C. jail used to be plagued with high rates of suicide, AIDS, and tuberculosis, and at times inmates lacked eating utensils and toilet paper, Washington claims the jail's medical care can be matched "against any program in the country." However, the General Accounting Office is now looking into the program, which spends $11 million a year for 1,670 inmates. Medical receiver Ronald Shansky spent $56.3 million in funds for five years to improve the prison's health conditions and other faults. The District has among the nation's highest incidences of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, drug abuse, suicide, heart disease, diabetes, and other diseases. Shansky started a clinic at the jail to screen and treat inmates for these diseases, noting that "this is a public health opportunity for the District to identify and treat its highest-risk patients in a manner that will ultimately benefit the entire community." "Lawmakers Introduce Ryan White AIDS Reauthorization" Reuters Health Information Services (www.reutershealth.com) (06/29/00) Legislation proposed in the House Thursday by Reps. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) would emphasize prevention of HIV rather than treatment under the Ryan White AIDS Care program. Rep. Waxman said the House bill helps more of the HIV-infected population, not just those with AIDS. Both the House and Senate versions of the reauthorization bill would reduce the amount of funding for San Francisco, which was hardest hit by AIDS when the program was launched; the Senate version would limit the city's funding decreases to 2 percent annually, while the House version would reduce the sum by 25 percent over five years. Another difference between the two bills is that the House version includes two new grant programs that would provide funds for states that have partner notification programs and for programs that test newborns for HIV. "Medicines on the Way" Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (06/30/00) P. A30; Spilker, Bert In a letter to the editor, Bert Spilker, senior vice president of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, takes issue with a recent article about the World Health Organization's (WHO's) call to fight drug resistance. WHO official David Heymann was quoted as saying, "There are no new drugs or vaccines ready to quickly emerge from the research and development pipeline." In fact, Spilker says, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved three antibiotics last year, as well as drugs for hepatitis, AIDS, and influenza. And this year the FDA has approved a vaccine against pneumococcal disease. According to Spilker, there are a variety of drugs and vaccines in the pipeline, including those for the treatment of pneumonia, tuberculosis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, herpes, cholera, and other infectious diseases. "French Teen Pregnancy Campaign Reflects Openness About Sex" Reuters Health Information Services (www.reutershealth.com) (06/29/00); Rostler, Suzanne The French government's decision to allow nurses to give emergency contraception in high schools has sparked discussion in the United States, which has a significantly higher teenage pregnancy rate than France. According to Heather Boonstra, a senior public policy analyst with the Alan Guttmacher Institute, the United States does not have the same openness in talking about sexuality as in France. Boonstra said American parents try to believe kids do not have sex, or that by not providing them with information they will not become sexually active. For the French campaign against teen pregnancy, nurses who provide high dose oral contraceptives for students within 72 hours of sex must counsel students, screen them for health risks, and also discuss sexually transmitted diseases. "WHO Regional Director Urges Faster Response to HIV/AIDS" PANA Wire Service (www.africanews.org/PANA) (06/29/00); Masebu, Peter The African regional director of the World Health Organization, Dr. Ebrahim Malik Samba, has called for better response of health systems to the AIDS epidemic. Samba, who spoke Thursday, two days after the release of UNAIDS' annual report, said there is a need for quicker response to AIDS and more resources to slow the spread of HIV. Samba also noted that "the diversity in vulnerability of communities and countries to the spread of HIV partly explains the differences we see in the evolution of the epidemic in different sub-regions of the [African] continent." The United Nations official also voiced his support for UNAIDS head Dr. Peter Piot's call for debt forgiveness for African nations so they can increase their spending on AIDS programs. "US Grants Indonesia $27 Million in Health Aid" Agence France Presse (www.afp.com) (06/29/00) The United States has given Indonesia a grant of $27 million to improve reproductive health care, focusing on reducing infant and mortality death rates. The grant also aims to fight malnutrition and reduce the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Part of a $70 million, four-year effort, the new funds will be directed through the U.S. Agency for International Development and Indonesia's health and women's empowerment ministries. "ACOG: Routine Prenatal Care Should Include HIV Screening" American Medical News (amednews.com) (06/19/00) Vol. 43, No. 23, P. 19; Elliott, Victoria Stagg The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has started a campaign to convince its 40,000 members to perform HIV testing during standard prenatal tests. The initiative, funded with $204,000 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, plans to offer HIV tests along with tests for other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), instead of a single test for HIV. Doctors believe the group testing will make it easier and more acceptable to pregnant women. Dr. Howard Minkoff, chair of obstetrics at Maimonides Medical Center in New York, notes that doing the tests together means "you don't have to treat it as something unique or different from other STD tests." The CDC recommends universal testing with informed consent and counseling; however, many women still are not being tested, according to an Institute of Medicine study, with testing rates ranging from 90 percent in large urban areas to virtually nothing in more rural regions. Some critics of the new policy have noted the continued need for counseling about HIV prevention, while others have voiced concerns about access to treatment for women who test HIV-positive, particularly those who have no insurance.