Labels:text | screenshot | black and white | font | black | number OCR: Planned Parenthood Welcomes CDC's New AIDS Definition Page 80 NY, 1-1/US Newswire: The Centers for Disease Control's expanded definition of AIDS, which goes into effect today, was hailed as "a lifeline" to thousands of HIV-positive individuals by Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA). CDC's new definition adds pulmonary tuberculosis, recurrent bacterial pneumonia, and invasive cervical cancer -- diseases common among women -- to the list of AIDS-defining infections. It also allows an AIDS diagnoses based on a drop in the level of the body's master immune cells, or T-cells, to 200 cells per milliliter. It is estimated that as many as 190, 000 Americans with HIV have T-cell counts below 200, but most remain undiagnosed as having AIDS. "We are optimistic that this new policy will improve the accuracy of HIV surveillance, relieve some of the effects of past under-reporting, and increase the likelihood that HIV positive women and men will qualify for the program entitlement and other benefits necessary for their health care, " Johnson said. In a Nov. 12, 1992, letter to the CDC commenting on the proposed changes, Planned Parenthood warned that women are the fastest growing group of people with HIV and urged the CDC to broaden the AIDS definition further by adding other conditions common to women with HIV to the list of defining infections.
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