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     Pope, in Uganda, Urges Chastity as AIDS Defense *
     New York Times (02.08.93), P. A5
     Cowell, Alan

Pope John Paul II visited AIDS patients at the Roman Catholic-
operated Nsambya Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, on Sunday,
preaching chastity as the only defense against what he
considers the scourge of Africa. At the hospital, about 60
percent of the 400 patients are HIV-positive or have full-blown
AIDS. The Pope's five-day visit brought him to a country whose
population is about 17 million, 44 percent Catholic, and
includes 1.5 million believed to be infected with HIV. There
are nearly 35,000 Ugandans with full-blown AIDS, according to
government statistics. The epidemic has left 1.5 million
Ugandan children orphaned since it first emerged in the country
a decade ago. The Pope said to a rally of about 30,000 young
people in Nakivubo Stadium in Kampala on Saturday, "The sexual
restraint of chastity is the only safe and virtuous way to put
an end to the tragic plague of AIDS which has claimed so many
young victims." Vatican officials said the Pope's comment
excluded all other forms of protection against HIV infection,
including condoms. The comment also contradicts an American-
funded government effort in Kampala that promotes the use of
condoms to thwart the spread of HIV. Several church leaders
contend that the use of condoms will promote the very
heterosexual promiscuity that has spread the disease in African
countries. Rev. Steve Collins, a Scottish missionary who runs a
self-help program for about 600 HIV-positive Ugandan widows,
said, "We don't encourage the use of condoms. But we tell
people that condoms lessen the risk of AIDS."

     To Battle AIDS, Scots Offer Oral Drugs to Addicts *
     New York Times (02.08.93), P. A3
     Schmidt, William E.

A broad-based community effort in Edinburgh, Scotland, has not
only decreased the number of addicts injecting drugs, but it
has also effectively curbed the spread of HIV through
contaminated needles. In 1985, more than 50 percent of blood
samples taken from drug addicts in Edinburgh's poorest
neighborhoods tested positive for HIV. Eight years later the
program has reduced the number of IV-drug users from thousands
to only a few hundred. The drastic reductions in infection
rates and numbers of addicts are due to a decision to permit
local doctors to prescribe, free and on demand, oral versions
of nearly any drug craved by addicts, on the condition that
they avoid the use of needles and agree to routine drug and
medical counseling. The policy has been so effective that even
street-front centers for dispensing free syringes to addicts,
established in 1987 to reduce needle sharing, report that their
business has been virtually depleted as drug users have
switched to oral alternatives. The overall reported rate of
AIDS cases in Britain is 2 per 100,000 people, which is lower
than the rest of Europe. Officials at the World Health
Organization say that the lower rate of AIDS cases reflects
ambitious and early government programs to intervene, including
providing clean needles for IV-drug users. In the mid-1980s,
Scottish health officials were finding an average of 120 new
HIV infections a year linked to tainted needles. However, the
spread of the virus among addicts in the Edinburgh area quickly
began to decrease as government programs were established. By
1987, only 47 new cases were reported due to IV-drug use; in
1990, there were 10, and last year only eight.

     Seeking AIDS Vaccine, Using People in Tests *
     Philadelphia Inquirer (02.08.93), P. A1
     Collins, Huntly

The Johns Hopkins University is currently testing an AIDS
vaccine on HIV-negative people. A total of 330 volunteers
nationwide, including 60 in Baltimore, Md., are being recruited
by the federal government to try out its AIDS vaccine. Some of
the participants will receive experimental vaccines, while
others will receive a placebo. The volunteers are part of what
is expected to become a very large-scale effort. In two to
three years, it could involve thousands of people, both in the
United States and abroad, who are at high risk of contracting
HIV. The government is recruiting IV-drug users at Hopkins
because they are among the most likely to become infected with
HIV. However, problems accompany this at-risk population,
including the fact that some are illiterate, some have no
phone, and several rarely see a doctor. What is worse is that
they might decide that the trial vaccine has protected them
from HIV, and become even more reckless about their drug and
sexual behavior. The trial volunteers, many of them low-income
minorities, are being paid $20 per visit to cover their
expenses. Each receives an initial inoculation, followed by two
boosters. They will be tested regularly for 18 months to
determine whether the vaccine has increased their antibodies to
HIV. The researchers regularly tell the volunteers that the
vaccine is still unproven and warn them to avoid risky
behavior.

     Public More Accepting of Health Workers With AIDS *
     United Press International (02.08.93)
     Wasowicz, Lidia

(San Francisco) More Americans are convinced that they can
contract HIV from their health-care providers, even though
fewer fear HIV-positive health-care workers in 1991 than in
1988, according to a study published today in the Archives of
Internal Medicine. The University of California--San Francisco
survey discovered that only 5 percent of the 1,350 adults
questioned nationwide thought doctors with HIV should quit
their jobs. The report showed that 37 percent would change
physicians if they knew theirs was HIV-positive. In a similar
poll conducted in 1988, 56 percent said they would change
doctors. Although only 19 percent were concerned about HIV
transmission in health care settings in 1988, 38 percent said
they were worried about it in late 1991. Also, the number of
those who thought they could be infected by a doctor rose from
33 percent to 46 percent in the four years. This rise could be
attributed to the news of Kimberly Bergalis, a Florida woman,
who contracted HIV from her AIDS-infected dentist. In the new
poll, a total of 92 percent said health-care workers should be
tested for HIV, and 93 percent thought infected workers should
be required to reveal their status to their patients. Most
respondents, 89 percent, said health care providers have a
right to know their patient's HIV status. The number of those
who stated that infected doctors should not be permitted to
work dropped from 45 percent in 1988 to 39 percent in 1991.
Moreover, those who personally knew an AIDS patient were less
concerned about HIV transmission and more supportive of
infected workers' rights to their jobs.

     Arthur Ashe, Tennis Star, is Dead at 49 *
     New York Times (02.08.93), P. B9
     Finn, Robin

Arthur Ashe, former tennis champion, died of AIDS-related
pneumonia on Saturday at the age of 49. Ashe was the only black
man to win Wimbledon and the United States and Australian
Opens. He spent most of his tennis career fighting
discrimination in the sport, and the last year of his life was
spent fighting for AIDS-related causes. He announced his AIDS
condition on April 8, 1992, after being forced by USA Today,
which threatened to publish an article about his illness as
soon as it could confirm it. Ashe, who said he believed he
became infected with HIV through a transfusion of contaminated
blood during his second round of heart-bypass surgery in 1983,
first learned of his infection after he entered New York
Hospital for emergency brain surgery in September 1988. The
surgery and a biopsy revealed the presence of toxoplasmosis, a
parasitic AIDS-related condition. Ashe had been hospitalized in
recent weeks with pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, according to
an AIDS researcher. Last September, Ashe formed a foundation to
benefit AIDS causes at the United States Open, using top tennis
pros to start his 15-month, $5- million fund-raising effort. He
said, "The foundation was something I always knew I wanted to
do, long before I went public on April 8." He referred to the
date as the start of his life as an AIDS activist.

     After Years of AIDS, Ashe Stricken Suddenly *
     New York Times (02.08.93), P. C1
     Altman, Lawrence K.

Arthur Ashe's physician said yesterday that the tennis player's
death on Saturday came as a surprise. He added that what was
also surprising was how Ashe had remained healthy for more than
four years after AIDS was diagnosed. Ashe died from AIDS-
related pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP). He had recovered
from an earlier occurrence of PCP in January but became ill
again last Wednesday and was admitted to New York Hospital on
Friday. His doctors believed, even a few hours before his
death, that Ashe would make it. Dr. Henry W. Murray, Ashe's
doctor, said yesterday, "I don't believe he actually knew it
was the end." The doctor maintained that Ashe "knew he was very
ill" and that "he knew what the implication of" being on a
mechanical respirator was. Ashe's condition improved Friday
night and Saturday morning before his medical team was
surprised by a sudden turn for the worse, Murray said. "For
reasons that are unexplained but that are typical of
respiratory failure, something came along and went wrong," he
explained. While Ashe was unable to speak in his last hours, he
was alert and wrote notes about the results of his tests and
President Clinton's possible nominees for Attorney General,
said Murray. To most observers, Ashe appeared healthy in recent
months. However, Murray said that Ashe had been in declining
health over the last seven months, frequently suffering pain
from his continuing heart condition. He experienced a mild
heart attack last September. Ashe had been taking AZT since
last summer, Murray said. He also took ddI, in part because he
felt his health was deteriorating.
Related Story: Washington Post (02.08) P. A1

     PRI--AIDS-Grand Moms *
     Associated Press (02.04.93)
     Neergaard, Lauran

(Atlanta) A government-funded group designed to help poor black
HIV-positive mothers cope with their condition has been
operating out of Atlanta, Ga., since last year. The group, MOMS
Hands, short for Mothers Offering Mothers Support, was founded
by Sandra McDonald with a $400,000 grant for three years from
the federal Health Resources and Service Administration. Only
recently has the public recognized the AIDS problem among
women. McDonald said, "In the black community, folks say people
with AIDS deserve to die; they're targets of violence. There is
no support for women, mothers." She added that because everyone
loves and respects grandmothers, "we pair these young mothers
with grandmothers and automatically somebody loves them." The
federal government hopes that other programs like MOMS Hands
will form to give young, black mothers with HIV/AIDS the
support they need. MOMS Hands is an offshoot of Outreach Inc.,
also founded by McDonald. Outreach was launched in 1986 in
Atlanta, and was among the first AIDS groups in the South to
provide for the needs of minorities there. Of the 242,146 AIDS
cases reported in the country since 1981, women account for 11
percent. About 53 percent of those women are black, according
to the Centers for Disease Control. MOMS Hands has already
paired about 80 Little Moms with 22 Big Moms. The Big Moms
serve as volunteers, but their training and public education is
paid for by the program. The Big Moms help the Little Moms
disclose their HIV-infected status to children. They also offer
comfort and help when the infected women become ill or are
tempted by drugs.

     Your Health: Education Plus Testing Boosts
     AIDS Awareness *
     United Press International (02.06.93)
     Klinger, Karen

(Boston) While anti-AIDS efforts have largely concentrated on
education, a study of heterosexual college students found that
this technique was only effective when coupled with blood
tests. Researchers at the University of California--Los Angeles
conducted a study over a six-month period, comparing the
practices of 136 students who went through a multi-media
education program on AIDS in conjunction with blood tests with
the practices of 144 students who only went through the
education program. Another 90 students who were observed did
not receive education or testing. The number of participants
who received education and testing and who asked about
partners' HIV status went from 31 percent before the testing to
56 percent afterward. But those who only received the education
program had a much smaller increase in partner questioning--
from 34 percent at the start to 41 percent afterward. The study
discovered that partner questioning among students who received
neither education nor testing did not change at all. Although
education and blood tests made the students more apt to
question their partners about HIV, it did not change their
behavior in other respects. In all three groups, less than two-
thirds of the students reported regularly using condoms. Also,
the number of sexual partners was not affected by testing or
education, said the researchers. Dr. Neil Wenger, lead author
of the study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, said
the findings "in no way support the concept of mandatory
testing in any population, but they do suggest that voluntary
HIV testing, in association with education, should be central
to our public health intervention to stop the spread of HIV
infection."

     Clarithromycin has Short-Term Benefits
     for Treatment of MAC *
     AIDS Alert (01.93) Vol. 8, No. 1, P. 7

Children with AIDS who have Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC)
infection can receive some clinical benefit from taking
clarithromycin, which appears to be well-tolerated, according
to researchers at the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. But
when clarithromycin is used alone, it becomes resistant in six
to 12 weeks, and clinical benefits seem to be somewhat
temporary. A total of 24 children with MAC who were receiving
antiretroviral therapy with AZT, ddI, or ddC also received
3.75, 7.5, or 16 mg/kg of clarithromycin for 12 weeks. Dr.
Clark Inderlied, associate professor of pathology and director
of clinical microbiology at Children's Hospital, said that
among 18 patients who completed the study, clarithromycin has
been well-tolerated in all dose levels. No serious side effects
have been reported. In addition, there appears to be no effect
of clarithromycin on the pharmacokinetics of the antiretroviral
drugs. There was also clinical improvement in the children
studied, such as a decrease in the number of fevers and night
sweats and an increase in their activity levels. Inderlied said
that quantitative mycobacterial cultures indicated that there
were consistent decreases in mycobacteremia only in children
receiving the highest dose of the drug after six and 12 weeks,
and most patients experienced a recurrence of MAC symptoms
within six to 12 weeks. He also said that in order for
clarithromycin to be effective in the long-term, it should be
administered with other antimicrobials, such as ethambutol.

     News in Brief: North Carolina *
     Advocate (02.09.93) No. 622, P. 26

Anonymous HIV testing must be resumed in North Carolina at
least temporarily under terms of a preliminary injunction
issued in Raleigh, N.C., Jan. 4 by Wake County superior court
judge Orlando F. Hudson. The ruling followed a civil lawsuit
filed by ACT-UP against the state health commission, which
proposed in 1991 that anonymous testing be discontinued in 83
North Carolina counties. The lawsuit argued that the plan
infringed upon the civil rights of people in the 83 counties,
since people in other counties would still have access to
anonymous testing. Hudson upheld an administrative law judge's
decision that the selection of the 83 counties was "arbitrary
and capricious."

     Clinton to Lift Ban on H.I.V.-Infected Aliens *
     New York Times (02.09.93), P. A17
     Hilts, Philip J.

The Clinton administration announced yesterday that it would
soon eliminate HIV-infection as one of the conditions
prohibiting people from entering the United States. Officials
at the Department of Health and Human Services said they are
reducing the number of diseases on the list of conditions to
one--infectious tuberculosis. The others, including AIDS,
syphilis, and leprosy, will be removed because they are not
spread casually and people who have them are not a threat to
public health. The administration said Sunday night that
President Clinton had already told the Department to remove the
restriction, which would fulfill a campaign promise, but that
no date was set for the action. HHS officials said yesterday
that they are prepared to change the rule soon by publishing it
in the Federal Register. Since 1987, when the restriction was
imposed, AIDS activists have opposed it, saying the policy is
discriminatory, a violation of visitors' privacy, an affront to
their dignity, and an international embarrassment. The policy
also prompted outrage among public health officials, who
claimed there was little reason to fear allowing HIV-positive
people into the country. Aside from South Africa, no
industrialized nations restrict the entry of HIV-positive
people, although about 50 countries, including China and some
Arab nations, restrict or prohibit entry. Since the policy was
implemented, about 600 people a year have been denied entry
into the U.S., some of whom did not previously realize they
were infected.
Related Story: USA Today (02.09) P. 9A

     New York State Overturns Rule on AIDS Study *
     New York Times (02.09.93), P. A1
     Dao, James

New York State's leading education official has decided that
the New York City Board of Education overstepped its authority
and violated teachers' rights by mandating that all AIDS
education emphasize abstinence as the best means to prevent HIV
infection. Thomas Sobol, the State Commissioner of Education,
said yesterday that he overturned a board resolution that he
claimed instituted a "stopwatch approach to education" by
prescribing how and when teachers should instruct about AIDS.
Sobol wrote that the resolution "reaches beyond the city
board's legitimate interest in setting policy and approving
curriculum and intrudes impermissibly upon the teacher's
latitude to teach the curriculum in the most effective manner."
He added that his ruling would be issued today. In May, the
resolution was passed by a 4-to-3 vote and was opposed strongly
by Schools Chancellor Joseph A. Fernandez. The vote signified
the first time the board publicly rejected Fernandez and
prompted a quarrel between the Chancellor and the board
majority that has left his future employment in question. The
Chancellor's supporters sought to portray the ruling as a
significant demonstration of support for Fernandez on the eve
of a crucial board vote on whether to negotiate with him for a
new contract. However, it was undetermined whether the action
would pressure the board majority to reconsider its opposition
to Fernandez. Yesterday a group of civil libertarians,
teachers, elected officials, and AIDS educators who requested
that Sobol overturn the resolution considered his ruling a
victory for free speech and what they called "balanced AIDS
education."

     Life Sciences: AIDS Vaccine Test Begins in Sweden *
     Baltimore Sun (02.09.93), P. 12C
     Bowie, Liz

The first large-scale test of an AIDS vaccine began on HIV-
positive patients in Sweden late last week. The experimental
vaccine, gp-160, has been through initial tests on 100
volunteers at the University of Maryland Medical Center. The
vaccine, made by MicroGeneSys Inc. of Meriden, Conn., has been
at the center of the debate over which AIDS vaccines the U.S.
federal government should test. It is expected that gp-160 will
be the first vaccine to be tested by the U.S.--at a cost to the
government of $20 million. The vaccine was chosen after an
aggressive lobbying effort by the MicroGeneSys, which convinced
Congress to divert the money from the Department of Defense
budget. The vaccine is a genetically-engineered version of a
piece of the outer shell of HIV, and is intended to inhibit the
disease's progression. It would not be initially used to
protect the general public from the virus. The MicroGeneSys
vaccine will be tested on 1,000 patients, first in Sweden and
subsequently in Denmark, Norway, and Finland. Preliminary tests
over the last five years have shown that the vaccine has the
ability to boost the immune system in some patients.
Separately, Viral Technologies, Inc. of Bethesda, Md., has been
given a European patent for its AIDS vaccine, which is a copy
of part of the core of the virus.

     AIDS Research Funding Changes Proposed in Bill *
     Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (02.09.93), P. A6
     Cimons, Marlene

The federal AIDS research program would undergo significant
changes under a bill pending in Congress, which pleases AIDS
activists. The provision is part of the Senate version of the
National Institutes of Health reauthorization bill. The
legislation would drastically reorganize the federal AIDS
program by establishing a single office with the power to
determine how AIDS research funds are spent. The bill would set
up a new office of AIDS research whose director would report
directly to the secretary of health and human services, instead
of to the director of the NIH. The new AIDS office would have
sole budgetary authority over the entire AIDS federal research
program. The new AIDS research budget would be given to
Congress for its approval as one complete package, instead of
part of the NIH's overall budget, which includes research
funding for various diseases. The NIH officials would still
have input in determining which research projects would be
funded, but the process would be under the jurisdiction of the
new office and part of an overall plan, instead of the province
of the individual institutes. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of
the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases, is often the government's spokesman for AIDS
research, and has considerable influence. But advocates of the
change contend that his dual role poses a conflict of interest.
He oversees the total AIDS research program and competes for
research funding of his own programs. The NIH officials object
to allowing all budgetary authority to rest within this single
new office, and warn that a slowdown in the execution of
research projects could result.

     Study Finds Latinos' Risk for AIDS Higher
     Than That of Others in Mass. *
     Boston Globe (02.08.93), P. 22
     Kong, Dolores

Although Latinos comprise only 5 percent of Massachusett's
population, they account for 12 percent of AIDS cases and 28
percent of IV-drug-related cases, according to a new report by
the Latino AIDS Consortium of Massachusetts. Nicholas Parkhurst
Carballeira, one of the authors of the report, says reasons for
the discrepancy include poverty, too few anti-AIDS programs
that consider cultural and linguistic differences, and too
little state AIDS funding targeted for the Latino community.
The situation for Latinos in Massachusetts appears to be worse
than that for Latinos nationwide. Latinos and Hispanics account
for 17 percent of all reported AIDS cases across the nation,
but constitute only 9 percent of the population. The proportion
of Latino AIDS cases in Massachusetts is 2.4 times the
proportion of Latinos in the population. Carballeira said, "I
think it has a lot to do with the fact that the Latino
community in Massachusetts is the poorest in the nation,"
referring to 1990 Census data that was issued last year. He
mentioned a lack of political clout for Latinos in
Massachusetts as another factor for the disparity, resulting in
less influence in funding for public health and other programs.
Late last week, representatives of the Latino AIDS Consortium
met with state public health officials to discuss the draft
report. Carballeira said the officials "agreed in principle" to
possibly direct AIDS funding to the Latino community, increase
Latino representation at the AIDS bureau, and add a position to
provide technical assistance to some Latino social agencies.

     Recent Advances Combat Two Deadly Infections *
     Washington Post (Health) (02.09.93), P. 13
     Boodman, Sandra G.

Arthur Ashe, the former tennis champion who died of AIDS on
Saturday, experienced pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) and
toxoplasmosis at various times during his last 4.5 years. These
two infections are among the most common causes of death in
AIDS patients. AIDS experts and Ashe's personal physician
attribute both his longevity and the quality of his life to
recent advances in preventing and treating these opportunistic
infections. What was surprising is that Ashe, who had lived
with toxoplasmosis for an abnormally long time, died soon after
developing PCP. Few people live longer than three years after
developing toxoplasmosis--several sufferers are dead a year
after diagnosis. Ashe first was diagnosed with the infection in
1988. Toxoplasmosis is a common parasite that lies dormant in
the bodies of healthy people. However, in HIV-positive
patients, the organism is activated because of the depleted
immune system. Peter Hawley, medical director of Washington,
D.C.'s Whitman-Walker Clinic, said, "A lot of people with toxo
are dead within six months. A year is a long time; 4.5 years is
extraordinary." He added that once a person has it, that person
must be treated for life. Henry W. Murray, Ashe's doctor at New
York Hospital, said regarding Ashe, "... I'm 99 percent certain
he lived longer than almost anyone in the world with toxo."
Ashe's death was a result of overwhelming respiratory
insufficiency that may have been caused by PCP. Once a person
develops PCP, the disease is difficult to treat. Although Ashe
recovered from PCP in January, the disease recurred two weeks
later and resulted in his death.

     Selling Condom Sense *
     Baltimore Sun (02.09.93), P. D1
     Shapiro, Stephanie

Although condoms are more readily available, they are not being
used to completely protect against sexually transmitted
diseases and HIV infection, according to a statistician with
the National Center for Health Statistics. In 1986, after
former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop said that condom
use was essential to prevent HIV infection, sales rose sharply.
But more recently, the condom market has been "pretty flat,"
says Sharyn Sullivan, sales-administration manager for Ansell
Inc., a New Jersey-based condom manufacturer. Health statistics
show that condoms are not used nearly as often as they should
be. The Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health
reported in 1990 that about 6 million condoms are being used
each year worldwide. However, it said that "more than twice as
many--13 million condoms--should be used to protect the health
and lives of men and women." A study on American sexual
behavior demonstrated that about 66 percent of heterosexuals
with more than one partner do not use condoms regularly. The
same report discovered that 70 percent of heterosexuals with
partners in high-risk groups never use condoms. Dr. Michael
Johnson, assistant professor of international health at
Hopkins' School of Hygiene, said that for condoms to have a
major effect on society, there must be behavioral change as
well. He said, "Integrated, comprehensive intervention is a
time-consuming and expensive thing to do; but in the long run
... HIV is much more expensive than the cost of giving the
education."

     Official's Ruling Backs Insurance for AIDS Patients *
     Wall Street Journal (02.08.93), P. B5
     Salwen, Kevin G.

Spencer Lewis Jr., the New York district director of the Equal
Employment Opportunities Commission, ruled that a union's
denial of benefits for people with AIDS or HIV "appears, on its
face, to violate" the Americans With Disabilities Act and that
the union "has no viable defense to the charge of
discrimination." In July 1991, the Mason Tenders District
Council of New York revised its health benefits plan to exclude
payments for patients with AIDS or related diseases. In
November, Terrence Donaghey filed a complaint with the EEOC.
His lawyer says Donaghey "wants the policy to be changed for
himself and for others who may be affected. He also wants to be
compensated for the loss that he's experienced." The union has
not commented on the ruling but it can appeal Lewis' decision
in front of the whole commission as well as the court.

     The Nation: As AIDS Money is Parceled Out,
     Political Questions *
     New York Times (02.07.93), P. 3
     Pear, Robert

Although President Clinton promised to increase spending on
AIDS research, members of Congress who write appropriations
bills do not expect much of an increase in the near future. But
scientists will hold Clinton to his word, and claim that more
money would drastically increase the likelihood of producing a
vaccine to prevent HIV infection or drugs to inhibit the virus
from spreading. AIDS experts say the $1.3 billion the
government spent on AIDS research last year is far less than
could profitably be spent on the problem. AIDS-related research
comprises almost 10 percent of the National Institutes of
Health budget: $858 million of $9.2 billion this year. The
Public Health Service, of which the NIH is a part, spent more
on AIDS-related research than on any other disease except
cancer last year. However, it should be emphasized that there
was no such thing as AIDS research before 1982. In addition, it
should be noted that the proportion of AIDS research proposals
that get NIH funding--26 percent--is about the same as the
proportion of all NIH applications that succeed. The rate of
AIDS cases is increasing by more than 50,000 a year. However,
the NIH budget for work on AIDS increased by only one-third,
from $627 million in 1989 to $838 million in 1992. The budget
this year increased just 2.4 percent to $858 million, which is
$15 million less than President Bush requested. Although
Congress is considering instituting a powerful Office of AIDS
Research, some scientists and congressional Republicans express
concern. "Decision-making authority would be taken away from
scientists and put in the hands of a new all-powerful
bureaucracy," said Rep. Thomas J. Bliley Jr. (R-Va.).

     It's a Family Affair, Again *
     Newsweek (02.08.93) Vol. 121, No. 6, P. 61
     Seligmann, Jean

A concert benefiting the Pediatric AIDS Foundation is scheduled
for simultaneous debut on Feb. 16 through CD, audio and video
cassette, and The Disney Channel. "For Our Children: The
Concert" is Disney's follow-up to the highly successful "For
Our Children," released in 1991. That studio album featured
Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Barbra Streisand, and
James Taylor. With a total of 900,000 copies sold so far, the
first "For Our Children," has raised $3 million for the
Pediatric AIDS Foundation. The new album and video features
celebrities Paula Abdul, Salt-N-Pepa, Kriss Kross, Michael
Bolton and Bobby McFerrin. The newer version is targeted at
younger children as well as their older siblings. All of the
artists and executive producers donated their time to "For Our
Children: The Concert." Elizabeth Glaser, the HIV-positive
mother of two infected children who co-founded the Pediatric
AIDS Foundation and conceived the first album, said, "As a
creative endeavor, this concert should stand alone. We hope it
will bring a lot of people joy and raise a lot of money for
AIDS." While the success of the earlier Disney production will
be hard to follow, stores across the country have already
ordered half a million copies of the new one.

     Va. To Probe Alexandria's AIDS-Notification Effort *
     Washington Post (02.10.93), P. D5
     Bates, Steve

Virginia health officials announced last night that they will
conduct a major investigation of the Alexandria, Va., Health
Department because they have discovered an alarming lack of
evidence that people who tested HIV-positive were ever told of
their status. State officials said in a report released at a
City Council meeting that they plan to inspect all of the city
department's functions and audit at least 300 randomly selected
case records of various diseases compiled by the agency in the
last five years. All of the 278 Alexandrians known to have
tested HIV-positive are expected to be interviewed by
investigators to ensure that they know of their infections. The
report on a recent probe of 59 cases targeted by a city Health
Department employee confirmed allegations that notification
attempts were minimal or documents were missing in about two-
thirds of the cases. Consequently, city officials said that
some agency workers could eventually be disciplined or fired.
Michael Snoddy, the employee with the Alexandria Health
Department, told the City Council that the few dozen cases he
presented to investigators signify "the veritable tip of the
iceberg," and that the city health department had damaged the
health and well-being of uncounted city residents. State
officials claim that clinic workers are supposed to tell people
who test positive for HIV to return to the testing location in
about two weeks to find out the results. If patients do not
return, health workers are expected to pursue them aggressively
in person.
Related Story: Richmond Times-Dispatch (02.09) P. B1

     Report Links AIDS Spread to Culture of Hispanics *
     Boston Globe (02.09.93), P. 17
     Kong, Dolores

The high rate of HIV infection among Latinos in Massachusetts
is due to the cultural factors that help spread the epidemic in
the community, according to providers of social and health care
services to the Latino and Hispanic community in Massachusetts.
"The husband goes out, the wife is still at home with the
children. She doesn't complain. It's the culture," said Monica
Marchisio, coordinator of the Hispanic AIDS Resource Center
Project at Lowell House Inc., a substance abuse and treatment
agency in Lowell, Mass. On Monday, officials from social and
health care agencies for the Latino community met to explain
findings of a new report on Latinos and AIDS. The report refers
only to Latinos, from Latin America, because they represent the
predominant Hispanic, or Spanish-speaking, population in
Massachusetts. Although Latinos comprise only 5 percent of the
state's population, they account for 12 percent of AIDS cases
and 28 percent of IV-drug related cases, according to the
report by the Latino AIDS Consortium of Massachusetts. Of all
AIDS cases reported among Latina women, 28 percent resulted
from heterosexual sex with an IV-drug user, the report found.
Factors like cultural and linguistic barriers, poverty, and
minimal funding specifically for services to Latinos account
for the disproportional effect on the population, the report
said. State public health officials have not yet announced any
new anti-AIDS efforts targeted at Latinos, but yesterday some
cited ongoing programs to address the problem, including an
increase in the percentage of Hispanics being admitted for drug
treatment in the state. These programs also provide HIV risk
reduction services.

     The Pop Life: Disney for AIDS *
     New York Times (02.10.93), P. C14
     Rule, Sheila

Walt Disney Records is expected to release on Tuesday an album
benefiting the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. "For Our Children:
The Concert," involves pop and children's recording artists
performing classic and original children's songs. It was
recorded live in Los Angeles in September. The album features
Paula Abdul singing "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" and Salt-N-Pepa singing
"This Old Man", as well as artists like Michael Bolton, Sheila
E., and Bobby McFerrin. George Duke, a producer, recording
artist, and musician, was the musical director for the concert
and the album. He said the most difficult part in organizing
the concert, which had to be done in two weeks, was getting the
artists to choose their songs. The release of "For Our
Children: The Concert," is in conjunction with the broadcast of
the concert on the Disney Channel, as well as a live telethon
and the release of a home video. The concert was inspired by
Disney Records' first album to benefit the Pediatric AIDS
Foundation, "For Our Children," which was issued in 1991 and
has raised approximately $3 million.

     Attacker Wears Condom After Victim Claims AIDS *
     United Press International (02.09.93)

(Milwaukee) A woman who was being raped told the suspect she
had AIDS, but instead of ending the attack, the man put on a
condom and proceeded, police said Tuesday. The woman alleged
that a man in his early thirties approached her as she walked
to the grocery store. He pulled out a handgun, demanded money,
and forced the woman to walk to a nearby parking lot. He then
pushed the woman and demanded that she take off her clothes.
Inspector Vincent Partipilo said, "When it became evident that
he was going to rape her, the woman told him she had AIDS."
Partipilo added that instead of stopping the attack, the man
pulled out a condom, put it on, and continued to rape the
woman. It remained undetermined whether the woman actually has
AIDS or if she just said she did to frighten the attacker and
make him stop raping her.

     Japan Wants More Condom Vending Machines *
     Reuters (02.09.93)

(Tokyo) The Japanese health ministry encouraged local
governments on Tuesday to allow for the installation of more
condom vending machines to help thwart the spread of HIV
infection. A ministry spokesman said, "We should create an
environment where anyone can buy condoms without
embarrassment." He added that there are 47 prefectural
governments in Japan, and 38 of them had restrictions on condom
vending machines. By the end of 1992, 543 Japanese had AIDS and
2,551 were infected with HIV, according to the most recent
government statistics. The number of deaths from AIDS stood at
298.

     Free AIDS Tests in Japan for Valentine's Day *
     Reuters (02.09.93)

(Tokyo) Free HIV tests will be offered to young Japanese
couples as Valentine's Day gifts by a local authority. The
prefectural government in Saitama, near Tokyo, is scheduled to
provide tickets to the first 200 couples who ask to be tested
for HIV. A spokesman said Tuesday that the number of HIV cases
among young heterosexuals in the country has risen
significantly. He added, "We hope the program will help young
people increase their awareness of the disease." Even though
the program is targeted at young couples, older couples and
homosexuals will not be refused an HIV test if they request
one, the Saitama spokesman said.

     French AIDS Victim Plans Lawsuit in Blood Scandal *
     Reuters (02.08.93)

(Paris) A French hemophiliac who was infected with HIV via a
contaminated blood transfusion said on Monday that he planned
to file a lawsuit against three health officials. The man was
one of the nearly 1,200 hemophiliacs who contracted HIV in the
last half of 1985 before an available heating process to
eliminate the virus from blood products was introduced. Edmond
Herve, former health and social affairs minister, said he wants
justice in the scandal and he believed a trial would emphasize
the responsibility of the Health Ministry. Herve accused Gaston
Rimarieux and Charles-Henri Filippi, former chiefs of staff for
the health and social affairs ministers, himself and Georgina
Dufoix. He also named Claude Wiesselberg, an adviser who Herve
said knew about the dangers of contamination through blood in
1983 or 1984 but did not reveal it at ministerial experts'
meetings. Herve said they all were responsible for the national
blood stocks having been tainted from July 1985 to the end of
that year. Last Friday, a panel of judges ruled that it was too
late to try Herve and Dufoix and former prime minister Laurent
Fabius by a special parliamentary High Court for neglecting to
help persons in danger. The case against the three former
ministers has returned to parliament, which would have to
indict them with manslaughter--carrying a time limit of 10
years--for a trial to occur. Three former health officials were
convicted of fraud and negligence last year. The infected
hemophiliacs and their families have demanded that more senior
officials be tried.

     HIV Tropism *
     Nature (01.28.93) Vol. 361, No. 6410, P. 309
     Moore, John and Ho, David

The neutralization resistance of primary viruses might have
dire consequences for the chances of successful therapeutic
intervention by the administration of neutralizing antibodies,
write John Moore and David Ho of the Aaron Diamond AIDS
Research Center in New York, N.Y. In a recent issue of Nature,
Nara et al. state that cell surface factors other than CD4
influence HIV-1 tropism in vitro, but it has been known for
some years that HIV-1 isolates that vary in genetic composition
replicate at different rates in transformed CD4 cell lines and
in primary cells. The underlying reasons for the apparent link
between the sensitivity of HIV-1 isolates to neutralization by
soluble CD4 (sCD4) and the ability of these isolates to
replicate in transformed T cells are imperfectly understood.
Nara et al. stress the effect of the target cell on the sCD4-
sensitivity of HIV-1, but neglect to mention reports that
document the importance of viral factors. The data of Nara et
al. are derived from studies using HIV-1 IIIB, which is a
highly adapted virus; thus it is potentially misleading to draw
general inferences from studies with this virus. Cell line-
adapted HIV isolates such as IIIB or RF are up to 1,000 times
more sensitive to sCD4 neutralization than primary viruses,
irrespective of whether peripheral blood mononuclear cells or
cell lines are used to monitor their replication. HIV-1 did not
evolve to resist neutralization by sCD4, but it may well have
done so to counter neutralizing antibodies in general, and
those directed at its CD4-binding site in particular. The
requirement of HIV-1 for protection against neutralization may
be lost when the virus is grown in tissue culture and more
rapidly growing strains are selected.

     HIV Detected in Babies as Young as One Month of Age *
     AIDS Alert (01.93) Vol. 8, No. 1, P. 9

Recent studies show that infant diagnosis of perinatal HIV
infection can be performed successfully as early as four weeks.
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can identify HIV infection
in children as young as one month old, reports Dr. Nathan
Shaffer, a medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease
Control. Those findings are "comparable" to the detection rate
for HIV culture, and other new approaches are being developed
as well, Shaffer said. Of the HIV-exposed children enrolled at
birth who were followed prospectively at two-to-three month
intervals for at least 15 months, 56 percent tested HIV-
positive at younger than one week of age by the PCR method. By
one to three weeks of age, 55 percent tested positive, and by
one to three months, 95 percent tested positive. At four to six
months of age, 95 percent of the infants tested HIV-positive.
When the infants were older than six months of age, 100 percent
tested positive using the PCR method. However, only 20-72
percent of infants tested during the same time intervals were
shown to be HIV-positive using the HIV-IgA (HIV-specific IgA)
test. According to Shaffer, additional studies at the CDC using
the PCR method demonstrate that HIV is detected in
approximately 50 percent of the infants tested during the first
week of life. Approximately 70 percent of infants tested
positive at one to three weeks of age. Also according to the
studies, HIV is detected in about 80 percent of infants tested
at one to two months of age. The studies found that at three
months and older, 95-100 percent of infants tested positive for
HIV.

     Children's AIDS Program is a Model
     for Keeping Families Intact *
     AIDS Alert (01.93) Vol. 8, No. 1, P. 10

An AIDS program in Boston, Mass., is aims to assist families
affected by the disease by providing free day care, residential
respite care, and in-home services to strengthen family unity.
The Children's AIDS Program (CAP) respite service provides care
for children when parents temporarily cannot do so. Thelma
Hyatt, director of the CAP, said typical situations include a
parent's own hospitalization or just needing a break from the
strain of raising children while ill. The residential program
can accommodate up to 12 children in CAP's new houselike
setting, located on the grounds of Boston Specialty and
Rehabilitation Hospital in the Mattapan Neighborhood. Children
up to the age of 11 are eligible for the residential respite
program, even though exceptions are made occasionally in times
of crisis. CAP's day care program can take up to 20 children
between the ages of one month to six years and allows parents
to attend to their specific needs. Sylvia Fohlin, CAP's family
services director, said that because all children in the day
care program are infected with HIV, CAP provides a safe haven
from the discrimination they often experience from the public.
The in-home component service enables a parent with AIDS to
receive up to 20 hours of help each week from a personal care
attendant offering housekeeping, child care, and basic medical
care. The proposed drop-in program would help parents who do
not need full-time child care, but could benefit from having a
secure place to leave their children for a few hours. The
program receives most its funding from the city of Boston, and
has a budget of more than $900,000 a year, said Hyatt.

     Effective Test is Developed to Find AIDS in Newborns *
     New York Times (02.04.93), P. B8
     Hilts, Philip J.

A new technique developed by researchers at the University of
California--Los Angeles (UCLA) can determine whether infants
are infected with HIV. The method is faster than current tests
and can detect more than 80 percent of the infants who are not
infected. The new test uses the conventional approach for
finding HIV, but precedes it with another overnight test that
separates the mother's and infant's antibodies. The study is
featured in today's issue of The New England Journal of
Medicine, and was led by Dr. Yvonne Bryson. The researchers
reported on 29 babies born to HIV-positive mothers, and the new
method was found to be accurate in detecting infection in all
of the babies. The report mentioned that about half of the
infected infants contracted the virus in the womb and half
during birth. Dr. Bryson said that is significant because it
may be possible to take special precautions in delivery to
prevent fetuses from swallowing blood or secretions from the
mother and to prevent cuts or abrasions that may provide an
opening for infection. She added that infants who might be
infected get tested at birth, when it would be possible to
detect infections that took place in the womb, and then
retested four to six weeks later to detect infections that
occurred at birth. But the test is still awaiting Food and Drug
Administration approval, which is expected to be relatively
quick. The new technique is relatively simple and costs only
about $80, in contrast to the hundreds of dollars and difficult
laboratory work needed for previous tests. This enables infants
to be tested earlier, and allows more infants to be tested in
developing countries that lack the resources for more complex
tests.
Related Story: Philadelphia Inquirer (02.04) P. A16

     Effective Test is Developed to Find AIDS
     in Newborns: Work on Vaccines *
     New York Times (02.04.93), P. B8
     Hilts, Philip J.

The Swedish government is expected to announce today that it
will launch a trial in which 1,000 patients will be used to
determine whether vaccines may be used to treat AIDS instead of
merely prevent infection with HIV. The experiment is the first
large-scale, rigorous scientific test of whether vaccines can
boost the immune system even after a person contracts HIV
infection. If it proves successful, it is hoped that injections
will postpone by months or years the onset of opportunistic
infections. Vacsyn, the drug made by MicroGeneSys Inc. of
Meriden, Conn., will be used in the trial in an experiment on
HIV-positive people who are asymptomatic. The trial will be
double-blind, which means neither the patients nor the doctors
will know who is given the vaccine and who is getting the
placebo. Dr. Britta Wahren of the Karolinska Institute in
Sweden, one of the researchers in the trial, said the findings
from the experiments are not expected until 1995. The trial is
significant because tests of Vacsyn have been debated at the
National Institutes of Health and are now being scheduled in
the United States. Those tests will use other vaccines, in
addition to Vacsyn. Early experiments at the Walter Reed Army
Institute of Research in Washington, D.C., and in small trials
in Canada and Sweden showed that patients who received Vacsyn
did not show signs of depletion of their immune systems.
Although the results were positive, they were not dramatic in
the small pool of patients.

     Setting Goals for AIDS Policy *
     Washington Post (02.04.93), P. D.C. 3

Washington, D.C.-area AIDS activists, service providers, and
HIV-positive individuals will convene at the District Building
on Saturday in a daylong session designed to formulate input
for a federal agenda on the needs of HIV-positive people. The
Clinton administration requested the recommendations from
affected communities across the country. The meeting is one of
25 nationwide and is open to anyone who is interested. Later
this month, representatives from the 25 meetings will gather in
Washington to develop a document to give to the Clinton
administration. Alina Patton of the D.C. CARE Consortium of
local AIDS advocacy organizations said, "This is the first time
in the 11-year history of AIDS that a president has actually
turned to us and asked for our input." The issues expected to
be addressed are federal leadership in prevention, research,
care, and anti-discrimination efforts. The session was
organized by several AIDS education and service organizations,
including the Inner City AIDS Network, Northern Virginia AIDS
Ministry, Whitman Walker Clinic, Carl Vogel Foundation, and the
D.C. CARE Consortium.

     Midwest Report: Michigan Guards Want
     HIV Inmates Isolated *
     Chicago Tribune (02.03.93), P. 1-3

On Tuesday, after a bloody fight at a maximum-security prison
in Jackson, Mich., a group representing prison guards requested
the isolation of HIV-infected inmates. Two guards were cut in
the arm and hand as they attempted to break up a fight between
two inmates, one of whom had a knife. One prisoner was HIV-
positive, said Corrections spokesman Warren Williams. "There's
at least the possibility that the inmate's blood may have been
on that knife, and that knife did cut the officer," said
Williams. Fred Parks, president of the Michigan Corrections
Organization, which represents the state's 7,300 prison guards,
demanded the seclusions of HIV inmates. He projected that about
10 percent of the state's 35,000 inmates are HIV-positive.

     An Activist Is Appointed to Head City AIDS Office *
     Philadelphia Inquirer (02.04.93), P. B2
     Collins, Huntly

Richard Scott, a Philadelphia AIDS activist and union agent for
white collar workers, has been appointed the new director of
the city's AIDS Activities Coordinating Office. Dr. Robert K.
Ross, the city's health commissioner, is expected to announce
the appointment of Scott today. Ross said that Scott's past
experience working in the city health department would be
"enormously useful" in improving the city's anti-AIDS efforts.
Within the last year, some AIDS organizations have criticized
the city's AIDS office for its lack of direction and
leadership. The agency has a staff of about 40 people and a
budget of about $18 million in federal, state, and local funds.
Scott, who worked as a union agent for District Council 47 of
AFSCME for the past eight years, will take over as the director
in the AIDS office on Feb. 16. He mentioned yesterday that he
would concentrate on boosting AIDS funding at all levels of
government, improving clinical care of HIV-positive people
being treated at city health clinics, and also improve the
city's attempts to track the course of the AIDS epidemic. He
said the city's AIDS efforts should not neglect certain groups
such as HIV-positive women, the minority poor, and gay and
bisexual men who may not be using condoms. He is currently
chairman of the AIDS Advocacy Coalition, which represents local
AIDS service groups, and serves on the board of the
Philadelphia AIDS Consortium. Scott was one of 14 people
nationwide last year to win a congressional award for his work
on promoting AIDS education with union workers.

     Safety Group Draws Up Its '93 Wish List *
     Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (02.04.93), P. A5
     Loew, Karen

The Coalition for Consumer Health and Safety is expected to
present proposals to the Clinton administration, including two
on AIDS-related issues, that it hopes will receive serious
consideration. The coalition, which represents 35 consumer,
health, and insurance organizations, has prepared the
legislative proposals and regulatory changes to give to the
president. Among the proposals is a recommendation that the
White House establish a "federal interagency mechanism" to
coordinate the federal response to AIDS, as the National
Commission on AIDS has advised, along with a hastened
implementation of the commission's other recommendations. It
also requests that legislation be formed to establish penalties
for violence against "vulnerable" adults, including HIV-
positive people.

     AIDS Children Get Better Dental Care
     in Foster Than Birth Homes *
     United Press International (02.04.93)
     Wasowicz, Lidia

(San Francisco) Children with AIDS who live in foster homes
receive much better dental care than those who live with their
birth parents, according to a researcher who spoke at the four-
day International Workshop on the Oral Manifestations of HIV
Infection. Fred Ferguson, associate professor at the School of
Dental Medicine, State University of New York--Stony Brook,
said, "My findings suggest there is a great difference in the
risk for plaque, gingivitis, and caries in infected children
depending upon their place of residence." Ferguson said all of
these conditions are easily prevented and recommended early
dental counseling. He said that health-care workers should be
trained to teach the basics of good dental health to the
parents of HIV-positive children. These involve avoiding
unrestricted bottle nursing, cleaning the child's mouth and
teeth, minimizing use of pacifiers coated with honey or other
sugary substances, and limiting foods high in sucrose. Ferguson
studied 32 boys and 26 girls between six months and 15 years
old infected with HIV. Among the 58 children, 23 were living
with their birth families and 35 with foster parents. All of
the children living with their natural families were allowed
continuous use of a juice or milk bottle, and 100 percent
suffered from plaque and caries. But none of the adopted
youngsters showed any symptom of these problems.

     Truth and Consequences: Teen Sex *
     American Enterprise (01-02.93) Vol. 4, No. 1, P. 52
     Besharov, Douglas J. and Gardiner, Karen N.

The sexual revolution that began thirty years ago progressed
well into the late 1980s. A total of ten million teenagers will
partake in about 126 million acts of sexual intercourse this
year. Also, about three million teenagers will contract a
sexually transmitted disease such as chlamydia, syphilis,
gonorrhea, pelvic inflammatory disease, and even HIV infection.
More than half of all unmarried teenage girls report that they
have had sex at least once. In addition, sexual activity is
starting at even younger ages. The National Study of Family
Growth found in 1988 that the percentage of 18-year-olds who
reported being sexually active increased about 75 percent
between 1970 and 1988, from about 40 percent to about 70
percent. In 1990, 32 percent of ninth-grade girls (aged 14 and
15) reported ever having had sex, compared to 49 percent of the
males in the same grade. The National Study of Adolescent Males
conducted in 1988 and 1991 found that the average number of
partners reported by males in the 12 months preceding the
survey grew from 2.0 in 1988 to 2.6 in 1991. Nearly 7 percent
of ninth-grade females told the Youth Risk Behavior Survey in
1990 that they had had intercourse with four or more different
partners, while 19 percent of males the same age had reported
doing so. Although the AIDS epidemic has not reached the
adolescent population in huge proportions, the Centers for
Disease Control reports that most of the current AIDS cases
among people in their 20s were probably contracted in the
teenage years. In order for this trend not to continue, public
policy must try to lower the rate of sexual activity and raise
the level of condom use.

     More AIDS Drugs Needed, AZT Study Concludes *
     Advocate (02.09.93) No. 622, P. 22
     Coward, Cheryl

The recent study which found that AZT-resistant strains of HIV
can be transmitted from person to person left few public health
experts surprised, but they warned the study emphasizes the
need for more new AIDS drugs. Dr. Wendell T.W. Ching, assistant
clinical professor of medicine at the University of California-
-Los Angeles (UCLA), conducted the study at the Aaron Diamond
AIDS Research Center in New York City with three researchers
form the medical school at New York University (NYU). The
study's findings were reported in the Jan. 1 issue of the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Ching said,
"People are usually infected with various strains of HIV. Once
people start taking AZT, the resistant strains are the ones
that survive." He said it is these strains that are transmitted
through high-risk behavior. "We were able to find AZT
resistance in patients who never had any exposure to AZT," he
said. Earlier research found AZT resistance developing in
people who had taken the drug over a long period, but studies
had not shown the existence of AZT-resistant strains of HIV in
people who had never taken AZT. Although the Food and Drug
Administration accelerated its approval process for
experimental anti-AIDS drugs and other treatments for life-
threatening conditions, it is not expected to drastically
increase the number of AIDS drugs under development, according
to insiders. Ching said the study showed "it is probably quite
easy for the virus to have a resistant strain propagate itself.
This implies that future medications will have to be tested for
resistance after the virus is exposed to the medication."

     News in Brief: Michigan *
     Advocate (02.09.93) No. 622, P. 25

Nearly 18 percent of the Michigan residents who responded to a
survey conducted by the state health department said that a
five-year-old state-funded anti-AIDS advertising effort helped
convince them to stop practicing high-risk sexual behavior,
said state public health director Vernice Davis Anthony.
Approximately 60 percent of the participants said the campaign
informed them of the state AIDS hotline, said Anthony. She
added that the number of calls answered by the hotline has
grown by 64 percent since the campaign began in 1988. In
addition to the anti-AIDS program, the state also funds anti-
smoking, anti-violence, and cancer prevention ad campaigns. A
total of $1.7 million has been used to fund all of the
campaigns.

     Puzzling AIDS-Like Illness Not Believed to Be New Virus *
     Washington Post (02.11.93), P. A3

The mysterious AIDS-like condition that was reported at last
July's Eighth International Conference on AIDS in Amsterdam
probably has many different causes and almost definitely does
not result from a single new virus, according to conclusions
from several studies. Many researchers at the conference told
of patients who had many classic symptoms of AIDS but were not
HIV-positive. The main sign was significantly low levels of T-
cells. The cases prompted controversy and raised the
possibility that some unidentified virus was on the loose,
causing a new form of AIDS. The condition was subsequently
named idiopathic CD4 T-lymphocytopenia, or ICL. Researchers
published six reports on the condition, featured in Thursday's
New England Journal of Medicine, and determined that ICL is
rare. A total of 111 U.S. cases have been reported, but the
Centers for Disease Control discovered only two when it
reviewed 230,179 cases in its AIDS files. The syndrome is not
contagious because spouses and acquaintances of victims have
not contracted it, and it does not appear to be spread through
blood transfusions. Several of the cases may have resulted from
bacteria, fungi, and other parasites. The illness has been
present at least since 1983 and probably much longer, but was
not identified because tests for T-cells have only been
available for a few years. The researchers said there is no
reason to believe that a single virus is responsible for most
cases. Scott D. Holmberg of the CDC, co-author of one of the
studies, said, "The cases represent a hodgepodge of different
clinical and immunological entities," rather than one disease.
Related Story: New York Times (02.11) P. A23; Los Angeles
Times--Washington Edition (02.11) P. A1; Baltimore Sun (02.11)
P. 17A

     Haitians Hope Strike Will Open Safe Haven *
     Washington Post (02.11.93), P. A4
     Duke, Lynne

The more than 200 Haitian refugees held at the Guantanamo Bay
Naval Base in Cuba were yesterday in their 13th day of a hunger
strike, which is expected to continue until the Clinton
administration considers lifting an immigration ban against
HIV-positive individuals. The Haitians are protesting against
the ban and the prison-like conditions that have kept them at
the base for months. Many refugees said they feel they have no
choice but to strike to make themselves heard. Although they
are unsure whether such extreme measures will be effective,
they said they are willing to die trying. Among the 267
refugees, 215 are HIV-positive, including one child and 15 of
the 19 pregnant women. The refugees feel that President Clinton
must eliminate the ban because he promised to do so in his
campaign and through spokesmen this week. American immigration
authorities decided early last year that these refugees had
plausible claims of political asylum from persecution at home.
More than 10,000 of their compatriots who tested HIV-negative
were allowed to enter the United States in the months following
the September 1991 coup that toppled the democratically elected
presidency of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. A trial is scheduled for
March 8 at U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y., to determine
whether the refugees have the right to legal counsel and
whether the ban should be lifted. If the trial occurs before
the ban is lifted, the Clinton administration could be left
defending a Bush administration policy with which it claims to
disagree.
Related Story: Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (02.11) P.
A2

     Hong Kong Says China AIDS Screening Ineffective *
     Reuters (02.10.93)

(Hong Kong) The policy of random HIV testing in China is
ineffective, said Hong Kong health chief Elizabeth Wong on
Wednesday. The colony will confer about the spot-checks with
Chinese officials. For several years China required long-term
foreign residents to be tested for HIV. However, late last year
the country announced it was extending the screening to include
frequent visitors. Authorities in the southern Chinese city of
Guangzhou claim that any visitor who has arrived from overseas
and has been to the mainland more than 12 times in a year can
be forced to provide a blood sample on the spot. Hong Kong AIDS
welfare workers consider the policy a violation of human
rights, and legislators in the colony on Wednesday urged Wong
to make a formal protest to China. Wong said discussions would
be held, but provided few details. When asked whether Hong Kong
would press for all of its residents to be exempted from the
tests, Wong said, "All ideas will be offered for discussion."
Hong Kong residents, several of whom have relatives or
businesses in southern China, are the most abundant visitors to
the mainland. More than 900 people are HIV-positive in China,
and more than 300 have been identified in Hong Kong.

     AIDS Surgery *
     Associated Press (02.09.93)
     Antczak, John

(Los Angeles) A technician who was cut by a scalpel that came
in contact with HIV-positive blood was awarded $102,500 on
Thursday in a lawsuit against an HIV-positive patient who did
not disclose her condition before the operation. A Superior
Court jury ruled that patient Jan Lustig committed fraud and
negligent infliction of emotional distress on surgical
technician Diane Boulais. Even though Boulais has tested HIV-
negative thus far, her attorney told jurors that she lives in
fear of the disease developing in later months. Boulais said,
"I am thrilled. It is a message that will help all health care
workers." Lustig's attorney, Evan Wolfson, said the decision
would be appealed. Boulais alleged that Lustig, a clinical
psychologist from Vancouver, Wash., concealed her HIV-positive
status because she knew no surgeon would perform breast
reduction surgery on her as a result. The lawsuit says Lustig
arranged for a breast reduction operation at The Breast Center
in suburban Van Nuys, Calif., in 1991. She signed papers
claiming she had no medical problems and wasn't being treated
or observed for any illness. Boulais was helping remove
stitches from Lustig when a scalpel nicked her finger, cutting
it deeply. Subsequently, Lustig admitted she was HIV-positive,
said Boulais' lawyer, Rex Beaber. Lustig said she had
approached other physicians for the surgery but was rejected
when they learned she was infected. "I was withholding
information that was personal and private. I don't consider
withholding information a lie. To me a lie is done with evil
intent," she said in her testimony.

     AIDS Activists Protest at Hoffman-La Roche
     U.S. Headquarters *
     Reuters (02.09.93)

(Nutley, NJ) AIDS activists protested against Swiss
pharmaceutical company Hoffman-La Roche's reluctance to provide
an experimental medicine for AIDS patients by chaining
themselves to the gates of the company's U.S. headquarters,
police said. Approximately 75 activists from ACT-UP/New York
and Treatment Action Group secured themselves to the gates of
the facility, said Ann Marie Nicolette of the office of
emergency management in Nutley. A spokesman for the
demonstrators said they were fighting against Hoffman-La
Roche's failure to sufficiently test its experimental therapy
TAT inhibitor. The spokesman said that Hoffman-La Roche has
"dragged its feet" on testing the experimental agent and that
after five years and $2.8 million in government subsidies,
there is still no data on the effect of the medicine in humans.
The activists explained that the TAT inhibitor prevents
replication of already-infected cells, instead of protecting
completely against HIV infection. Hoffman-La Roche said in a
statement that its researchers feel the criteria for safety and
efficacy have not been met for either of its two AIDS
compounds--a TAT antagonist and an HIV-proteinase inhibitor--to
allow them to be available on a widespread basis. Police said
some of the activists were arrested, but did not elaborate on
how many.

     Inhibition of HIV-1 Infectivity by Zinc-Ejecting
     Aromatic C-Nitroso Compounds *
     Nature (02.04.93) Vol. 361, No. 6411, P. 473
     Rice, William G. et al.

The design of zinc-ejecting compounds that target retroviral
zinc fingers signifies a new technique in the chemotherapy of
AIDS, write William G. Rice et al. of the National Cancer
Institute--Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center in
Frederick, Md. Retroviral nucleocapsid and gag-precursor
proteins from all known strains of retroviruses contain one or
two copies of an invariant sequence that is populated with zinc
in mature particles. Modification of cysteine or histidine
residues results in defective packaging of genomic viral RNA
and formation of non-infectious particles, making these
structures potentially attractive targets for antiviral
therapy. The researchers recently reported that aromatic C-
nitroso ligands of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase preferentially
destabilize one of the two zinc-fingers with concomitant loss
of enzymatic activity, coincidental with selective cytocidal
action of the C-nitroso substituted ligands on cancer cells.
Based on the occurrence of (3Cys, 1His) zinc-binding sites in
both retroviral nucleocapsid and gag proteins and in poly (ADP-
ribose) polymerase, the researchers concluded that the C-
nitroso compounds may also have antiretroviral effects. The
researchers demonstrated that two such compounds, 3-
nitrosobenzamide and 6-nitroso-1,2 benzopyrone, inhibit
infection of HIV-1 in human lymphocytes and also eject zinc
from isolated HIV-1 nucleocapsid zinc fingers and from intact
HIV-1 virions.

     Sulfadiazine Shortage: Buyers' Club Has Drug *
     AIDS Treatment News (02.05.93) No. 168, P. 1
     James, John S.

Because the drug sulfadiazine's only U.S. manufacturer was
forced to shut down production, an acute shortage of the drug
has emerged in New York, Boston, and many other areas of the
country. Sulfadiazine is part of the first-line treatment for
toxoplasmosis, often experienced in AIDS patients, and a
shortage could become life-threatening to such individuals. The
Centers for Disease Control has acquired a small supply (enough
for fewer than 70 patients), and is rationing it for emergency
use, especially for infants with congenital toxoplasmosis. The
CDC is requesting Food and Drug Administration approval to
import more from Canada. However, even when an adequate
emergency supply is obtained, issuance of the drug will entail
considerable paperwork for each patient, which is usually an
impossibility for public clinics. Moreover, it could take up to
a year for commercial supplies to be restored. Nevertheless,
the drug is plentiful and inexpensive abroad. The products
available in other countries have not been explicitly approved
by the FDA for U.S. sale, and there is no available procedure
to give emergency permission for their importation. Both
doctors and patients should be aware that sulfadiazine from
Europe is available through the PWA Health Group, a New York
"buyers' club" which has helped people import personal-use
quantities of AIDS drugs not available in the United States.
The group will ship the drug, but requires a prescription and
the use of its own order form. The PWA Health Group is also
attempting to find a way for the CDC to directly provide bulk
supplies of the drug for hospitals and clinics.

     TP-5: Thymus Hormone Trial Suggests Benefit *
     AIDS Treatment News (02.05.93) No. 168, P. 2
     Gilden, Dave

Proof that the thymus gland is severely damaged during HIV
infection has led to research on using thymus hormone
replacement therapy as a way to compensate for the damage.
Thymus hormones are proteins that influence the development of
immune system T-cells in the thymus gland. In addition, they
strengthen immune function in mature T-cells in the blood and
lymph. Although the exact role of the hormones in AIDS
treatment is undetermined, several experiments suggest that
injecting thymus hormones can increase the numbers of various
T-cell subpopulations. By improving the activity of the immune
system's killer cells, they may increase these cells' ability
to target and destroy cells infected with HIV. Three injectable
thymus hormone derivatives are now in formal trials as AIDS
therapies--TP-5 (thymopentin), THF (thymic humoral factor) and
thymosin. No side effects have been cited for any of them. A
study by AIDS physician Dr. Marcus Conant and his colleagues
compared TP-5 against a placebo for 48 weeks in 354
asymptomatic HIV-infected subjects. The study was double blind.
All of the study participants took AZT, and they started out
with T-cell counts of between 200 and 500. For the study
volunteers who had been taking AZT longer than six months,
protection against early symptoms of HIV infection was
apparent, though hard to quantify exactly. In this 235-person
subgroup, 14 volunteers on placebo developed symptoms versus
only four of those on TP-5. TP-5's sponsor, Johnson & Johnson,
is currently preparing an expanded access program, but it will
be at least two years before TP-5 will be federally approved.

     HIV, AIDS, and Africa *
     Lancet (02.06.93) Vol. 341, No. 8841, P. 366
     Ramsay, Sarah

A change in emphasis has been noted in the World Bank, which
recently issued a report recommending that prevention efforts
for sexually transmitted diseases in African nations should not
just focus on HIV infection. This is significant because the
World Bank has limited its lending to areas where AIDS is most
prevalent on the continent. The authors of the report have re-
evaluated and updated the Bank's 1988 Africa region agenda for
action and request greater coordination of work on HIV and AIDS
through existing programs, such as those encouraging safe
motherhood and population control. In addition, the Bank's
attention to AIDS must not result in a drain on resources from
other curable diseases and from much needed long-term efforts
to build health systems. AIDS programs supported by donors, for
example, tend to offer higher salaries, and this diverts the
already scarce help from other essential health-care
activities. For African countries where the infection rate is
already endemic, the authors stress that governments should
develop approaches now to deal with the economic and social
impact of the surge in adult mortality during the next 10-15
years. This means that an increasing number of African doctors
treating HIV-positive patients will soon have to cope with a
growing number of AIDS patients. The World Health Organization
has issued a book that describes current guidelines on
management and diagnosis of the disease, and calls for
inexpensive laboratory tests. However, the authors mention that
introduction of widespread testing would require outpatient
facilities and follow-up procedures for asymptomatic HIV-
positive people, which could be expensive.

     Business Leaders in Bangkok Join to Fight AIDS *
     Wall Street Journal (02.12.93), P. B4H
     Owens, Cynthia

Due to the rampant spread of HIV infection in Thailand, a
situation which could lead to economic disaster, leading
business executives are joining forces to fight the spread of
the disease. Their actions are somewhat belated; until recently
the business community let the government take charge of the
anti-AIDS efforts. But now the AIDS situation is dire, and
businesses are racing against the clock. James P. Reinnoldt,
regional general manager of Northwest Airlines, a unit of Wings
Holdings Inc., said, "It's going to affect every business. You
either pay now, or you pay later in a much bigger way."
Reinnoldt and a dozen other foreign and local executives have
established AIDS awareness programs in their companies, in
addition to drafting policies to deal with workers who contract
HIV. Now, they are seeking to recruit other businesses. These
businesses have been spurred into action by government data
indicating that Thailand stands to be devastated socially and
economically if the spread of HIV in the country isn't
controlled. But even the most optimistic projections state that
two million Thais, or 3.5 percent of the population, will be
infected with HIV by the year 2000, even though the government
has officially reported only 620 AIDS-related deaths so far.
About 500,000 Thais are already infected, giving the nation one
of the highest infection rates in the world. According to
experts, by the year 2000, as much as 10 percent of Thailand's
population could have AIDS, with many of the patients in their
prime working years. This would result in doubled health-care
costs, and engulf as much as 10 percent of the country's gross
domestic product.

     Metro Firms: Rockville Firm Arranges Tests
     of AIDS Treatment *
     Washington Times (02.12.93), P. C3

Advanced Biotherapy Concepts Inc. of Rockville, Md., has
announced that it has agreed to conduct clinical trials of its
patented AIDS drug with the University of Nebraska Medical
Center.

     T Policy Abstains *
     Boston Globe (02.11.93), P. 44
     Palmer, Thomas C.

The Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority (MBTA), also known as
the 'T,' decided Wednesday not to display any advertisements
promoting safe sex or condom use in its public transportation
vehicles. The ambiguous policy that existed on T advertising
was being pulled together into a specific policy last
September, when controversy emerged over some public service
advertisements proposed by the AIDS Action Committee, according
to Loring A. Barnes, the T's assistant general manager for
marketing. The new policy said that "messages or graphic
representations pertaining to sexual conduct" would be allowed
if they contained "serious literary, artistic, political, or
scientific" value. However, the policy was rejected. The new
policy now states that such depictions "will not be accepted."
Barnes said, "It's our job to represent everybody," and the new
policy is an attempt to appeal to as many riders as possible
while trying not to offend any. The AIDS Action Committee of
Boston had provided seven ads regarding safe sex and condoms,
two of which were found potentially objectionable by T
officials. The ads ran for a month and prompted a great deal of
criticism, including a petition signed by 800 people. Barnes
said the T plans to continue displaying ads produced by the
committee. However, the ads will be less explicit, in keeping
with the new policy.

     Researchers Plan AIDS Vaccine Trials *
     United Press International (02.11.93)
     Klinger, Karen

(Boston) A vaccine designed to protect infants born to HIV-
positive mothers from becoming infected themselves will be
tested later this year, according to a pediatric AIDS
researcher who spoke at the annual meeting of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science. A trial of two
kinds of genetically engineered vaccine will involve about 100
newborns, said Dr. John Sullivan of the University of
Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester. Sullivan said he
could not say whether the vaccine will keep babies from
contracting HIV, but added, "I think it is very likely you
could get some protection." He said the study will be the first
to inhibit mother-to-child HIV transmission. About 6,000 HIV-
positive women give birth in the United States every year, and
about 1,500 babies contract HIV from them. Sullivan said recent
research suggests that 50 percent to 75 percent of the babies
are infected in the birth canal, rather than in the womb. The
trial will involve giving the infants one dose of the vaccine
shortly after birth and two more doses within their first eight
weeks. The AIDS vaccines that will be used in the trial are
made by two California companies--Chiron Corp. of Emeryville
and Genentech Inc. of San Francisco--and use gp120, the outer
coat of HIV. The scientists hope that by vaccinating the babies
with gp120, they can incite antibody production in the
newborns, causing the babies' immune systems to block the viral
infections from the mothers, said Sullivan. He added that the
main goal of the study will be to test the safety of the
vaccine and see if it causes any toxic side effects.

     $100,000 Payment to an AIDS Shelter *
     New York Times (02.12.93), P. B4

The village of Waterford, N.Y., has agreed in a settlement to
pay $100,000 in mortgage payments and legal fees to an AIDS
shelter. Support Ministries for Persons With AIDS, the group
that expects to open a 15-bedroom AIDS shelter this spring,
sued the village for attempting to prevent the shelter for
homeless AIDS patients from opening. In December, Federal
Magistrate Ralph W. Smith Jr. ruled that the village had
illegally changed zoning laws to prevent the AIDS group from
establishing the shelter, thus violating the Federal Fair
Housing Act. The magistrate awarded Support Ministries $25,000
in mortgage payments and lawyers' fees, and directed attorneys
for the village, Support Ministries, and the state of New York-
-which joined Support Ministries in the case--to negotiate
other settlements.

     Magic Johnson to Visit Tokyo for AIDS Forum *
     Reuters (02.10.93)

(Tokyo) Former basketball star Magic Johnson is planning to
attend an international forum on AIDS in Tokyo, Japan,
organizers revealed Thursday. The March 25 symposium will
feature Johnson speaking as a special guest. He will discuss
his own experience with the disease and say that the AIDS
epidemic is everyone's problem. Johnson retired from the Los
Angeles Lakers last year after learning he tested HIV-positive.
He also quit the president's National Commission on AIDS in
September, claiming that the Bush administration had "dropped
the ball" on the AIDS epidemic.

     One in Five Irish Single Men Had Sex Without Condom *
     Reuters (02.12.93)

(Dublin) Among men in Ireland who had sex with a new partner in
the last year, one in five did not use a condom, according to a
survey released today. A leading condom manufacturer conducted
the survey, which discovered that the men knew of the threat of
AIDS but were still putting themselves at risk by not using
condoms. The survey said that six out of 10 people had sex at
least once a week and the condom, now more readily available in
Roman Catholic Ireland due to a more liberal family planning
policy, was considered the most popular contraceptive.

     Cologne Hands Out Free Condoms for Safer Carnival *
     Reuters (02.11.93)

(Cologne, Germany) The city of Cologne has decided to provide
free condoms when crowds pack the streets next week for
Germany's wildest annual carnival. A city health spokeswoman
said on Thursday that taxi drivers would hand out free packs of
colorful condoms and booklets on preventing infection with HIV.
The predominantly Catholic city is making the move because in
recent years its AIDS hotline has been overwhelmed with calls
from hung-over partiers concerned about the potential of
infection from carnival romancing.

     NIH Panics Over AIDS 'Manhattan Project' *
     Science (01.29.93) Vol. 259, No. 5095, P. 587
     Stone, Richard

Officials from the National Institutes of Health are concerned
about how Congress intends to organize the "Manhattan Project
for AIDS" that President Clinton promised in his campaign. NIH
directors first learned of the trouble last month when Sen. Ted
Kennedy (D-Mass.) proposed a bill that would shift control of
AIDS research from the individual institutes of NIH to a
powerful Office of AIDS Research (OAR) within NIH. The bill
would move OAR to a sort of "AIDS central" with the authority
to distribute the NIH AIDS budget. NIH officials see this as a
$1-billion power shift, with activists obtaining more influence
than NIH research and NIH's management becoming less powerful.
But a weekend meeting with Senate staff and AIDS activists
resulted in a compromise. The most recent version of the bill
now requires the OAR to control only new and competing NIH
grants, which will phase in its control of the AIDS budget over
several years. NIH officials would prefer that nothing be
changed, but they at least have a chance to make a better
compromise when the House considers the bill later this year.

     Hidden AIDS: A New Test May Help Doctors Uncover Cases
     of Infection in Babies *
     Time (02.15.93) Vol. 141, No. 7, P. 20

Infants of HIV-positive mothers have a 30 percent chance of
contracting the virus themselves. Standard tests that detect
antibodies to HIV cannot determine which babies are infected
and need immediate treatment. This occurs because the mother's
own antibodies cross the placenta, causing the newborn to test
HIV-positive even if not infected. However, researchers at UCLA
published a study in the New England Journal of Medicine that
explains a possible solution. In their study, they used a new
test that separates the maternal antibodies from infant blood
samples, making the virus easier to detect.

     New CDC Definition Now in Effect, But
     Confidentiality Questions Remain *
     AIDS Treatment News (02.05.93) No. 168, P. 6
     Solomon, Nancy

Although the new federal definition of AIDS gives a more
accurate representation of those with the disease,
confidentiality may be undermined. The new definition added
pulmonary tuberculosis, recurrent pneumonia, and invasive
cervical cancer to the list of opportunistic infections that
define AIDS. It also considers those with a T-cell count lower
than 200 to have the disease. The new criteria for what
constitutes AIDS are expected to send some state public health
officials searching through patient records to increase their
caseload statistics, so that their states can receive more
federal funds. Legal advocates claim this process will weaken
confidentiality rules, leading to fewer people seeking testing
and an erosion of HIV confidentiality standards. The AIDS Legal
Referral Panel in San Francisco, Calif., said in a memorandum,
"Despite extensive advocacy directed at the CDC requesting a
bar on name-based lab reporting of low [T-cell] counts, we find
that we are forced to fight this battle on a state-by-state
basis." Legal advocates recommend that activists fight name-
based reporting of T-cell counts at the local level. Also, the
new AIDS definition brings into question the access to T-cell
testing, which can cost $100-$200, exceeding the amount most
people without health insurance can afford. Therefore, lack of
access to testing will lead to the underreporting of the
epidemic and a lack of HIV services for women, minorities, and
the poor. Legal advocates also suggest that activists urge
local government agencies to provide anonymous T-cell testing
to all who request it.


NOTE:  Compilation by Michael Tidmus : AIDSwire. All rights
reserved. Permission is granted to republish on electronic
media for which no fee is charged, provided the complete text
of this notice is attached to any republished portion or
portions.

* From the AIDS Daily Summary. The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS Clearinghouse has made this
information available as a public service only. Providing this
information does not constitute endorsement by the CDC, the CDC
Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction of this
text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold. Copyright
1992, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD.

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