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The Arsenal Files Collection #8 (Arsenal Computer) (1996).ISO
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ad961029.txt
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1996-11-11
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AIDS Daily Summary
Tuesday, October 29, 1996
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS
Clearinghouse makes available the following information 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, and the CDC
Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information.
Copyright 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD
******************************************************
"Across the USA: Florida, New Jersey"
"Three GOP Freshmen Advance Agenda, Even as Revolution Falters"
"Brazil to Offer Patients Free AIDS Drug 'Cocktail'"
"All-Gay Rugby Club Accepted in Britain"
"Chemical Cleanup Under Way at Lab"
"Morrison Pleads Guilty to Firearm Charge"
"One Man's Race Against AIDS"
"Banned Works Up Ante for ARTcetera"
"Prevention of HIV Infection in Developing Countries"
"Medical Marijuana: The State of Research"
******************************************************
"Across the USA: Florida, New Jersey"
USA Today (10/29/96) P. 7A
Beginning next year, students starting seventh grade in Florida
schools will be required to receive shots for measles, tetanus-diptheria,
and hepatitis B, health officials announced. In Camden, New Jersey,
meanwhile, free AIDS tests are being offered by the Area Health Education
Center. New Jersey has the fifth-highest rate of AIDS among the states,
and Camden's rate is higher than both the state and national average,
officials said.
"Three GOP Freshmen Advance Agenda, Even as Revolution Falters"
Wall Street Journal (10/28/96) P. A1; Farney, Dennis
Tom Coburn, a doctor from Oklahoma, was one of three Republican
freshmen congressmen, all Christian conservatives, who shared a
townhouse in Washington, D.C., and banded together to advance
conservative social legislation. Coburn claims that the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention is suppressing an "invisible
epidemic" of human papilloma virus (HPV), a sexually transmitted
disease that can lead to cervical cancer. The CDC, however,
says, it discourages sexual promiscuity and is supporting HPV
research. Coburn has also criticized the federal government's
AIDS policies, charging that federal programs favor the expensive
treatment of late-stage disease rather than prevention. He was
the prime sponsor of a controversial bill to require HIV testing
of newborns unless their mothers had been tested during
pregnancy. Coburn argued that the bill would encourage pregnant
women to get tested and that HIV-positive women could then
receive treatment to reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to
their children. A Senate version of the bill recommended
counseling of pregnant women and voluntary testing. A compromise
measure was passed, in which mandatory testing would be
implemented if counseling and voluntary testing failed to meet
set goals. This past summer, Coburn started to push another
controversial AIDS policy measure, one in which Congress would
urge states to make it a felony to by knowingly HIV-infected and
not inform one's partner. State health agencies would also be
required to try to locate those partners and informed that they
might be infected, though they would not be given the name of the
carrier. The congressional session ended earlier this month
before Rep. Coburn's bill reached a final vote.
"Brazil to Offer Patients Free AIDS Drug 'Cocktail'"
Miami Herald (10/28/96) P. 1A; Ellison, Katherine
AIDS patients in Brazil will be able to receive, starting in
November, combination drug treatments including the expensive new
protease inhibitors. Officials say they will buy the drugs,
which can cost up to $12,000 per patient per year, directly from
the U.S. manufacturers Abbott Labs, Merck, and Hoffmann-La Roche.
Brazil has the second-highest number of AIDS cases in the
hemisphere, next to the United States. While several European
countries are already offering the drugs free of charge, the
number of AIDS cases in Brazil is far higher. The Health
Ministry's estimate of 39,000 cases is believed to be very low,
due to underreporting. In 1994, the World Health Organization
estimated the actual number at 550,000.
"All-Gay Rugby Club Accepted in Britain"
Washington Post (10/29/96) P. D2
Britain's first all-gay rugby team, the King's Cross Steelers,
has been accepted by the Surrey Rugby Football Union. Rob
Hayward, club chairman, said that despite suggestions that other
teams would be reluctant to oppose the club for fear of
contracting HIV, opponents have not been hard to find. "Some of
the people we have played against have admitted they raised the
question among themselves and came to the conclusion there was
not a problem," he said.
"Chemical Cleanup Under Way at Lab"
Richmond Times-Dispatch (10/29/96) P. B5; Springston, Rex
While checking out a break-in in early October, police found that
the deserted site of Applied Science Laboratories in Richmond,
Va., contained hazardous chemicals, low-level radioactive waste,
and blood that may be infected with HIV. Now, the Environmental
Protection Agency is overseeing the site's cleanup, which started
Oct. 16. Funds for the $200,000 project will come from the
federal Superfund toxic-waste-cleanup program. The lab contained
about 1,800 gallons of waste in about 3,000 containers. Blood
found at the lab was assumed to be contaminated with HIV, a
standard assumption when the safety of the blood is unknown,
officials said.
"Morrison Pleads Guilty to Firearm Charge"
New York Times (10/29/96) P. B8
HIV-positive heavyweight Tommy Morrison was fined $100, given a
six-month suspended sentence, and ordered to spend 30 hours
talking to students about AIDS after he pleaded guilty to
transporting a loaded firearm in Jay, Okla. Morrison could have
faced a six-month jail sentence. Earlier this year, a loaded .22
caliber pistol was found in Morrison's car, left behind when he
was taken to a hospital after suffering a medication-induced
seizure at a traffic light.
"One Man's Race Against AIDS"
New York Times (10/27/96) P. 5; Longman, Jere
Although Jim Howley, 35, was diagnosed with AIDS at the age of
28, he has become an intense athlete, and has completed 36
triathlons and several marathons. Howley takes a drug cocktail
that includes AZT and a protease inhibitor, and, over the past
year, has seen his HIV level become undetectable. He and his
doctor believe that intense physical activity is important to
maintaining his health because exercise helps the body convert
nutrients into lean body mass and prevents AIDS-related wasting.
When Howley contracted HIV he expected to die quickly and had
poor health habits. But when he was later diagnosed with AIDS,
he set a goal to complete a triathlon before he died. Experts
say the evidence is inconclusive on the benefit or harm of
intense exercise for AIDS patients, but Howley's doctor, Dr. Gary
Cohen, said he was convinced by a study that linked protein loss
to dying.
"Banned Works Up Ante for ARTcetera"
Boston Globe (10/28/96) P. C5; Temin, Christine
The ARTcetera auction held Saturday night at Boston's
International Place raised $400,000 for the AIDS Action Committee
of Massachusetts, breaking the record of $260,000 set for the
biannual event in 1994. More than 300 works were on display in a
public preview, but eight artworks were temporarily censored last
week, a move that may have actually helped the cause. The two
photographs depicting male couples, left covered until the
auction night, brought a total of $4,500, well above their retail
value.
"Prevention of HIV Infection in Developing Countries"
Lancet (10/19/96) Vol. 348, No. 9034, P. 1071; d'Cruz-Grote,
Doris
Programs aimed at curbing the spread of HIV through heterosexual
contact in developing countries are increasingly important,
because such transmissions account for 70 percent to 80 percent
of all HIV cases in the developing world, notes German researcher
Doris d'Cruz-Grote in the Lancet. Current prevention strategies
have been effective at targeting specific groups, she notes, but
they have not led to sustained changes in behavior in the general
population. In many developing countries, national AIDS
awareness campaigns have been formed but have not been
well-planned or critically reviewed. Although some evidence has
been found of increased awareness, little proof of behavior
change exists. These programs advocate three
strategies--increased condom use, fewer sexual partners, and
control of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)--to curb the
spread of HIV. However, these strategies are not useful for
married women and others who are economically and socially
powerless to negotiate safer sex, says d'Cruz-Grote. To help
remedy this situation, she suggests that women should be informed
about sexual health and reproduction, and that students receive
comprehensive sexual health education before becoming sexually
active. In addition, d'Cruz-Grote recommends community-wide
education and accessible STD services.
"Medical Marijuana: The State of Research"
AIDS Treatment News (10/28/96) No. 257, P. 1; Mirken, Bruce
The recent controversy over the medical use of marijuana in
California has sparked renewed interest in research about the
drug's benefits and risks for patients with AIDS and other
conditions. For years, the U.S. government has classified
marijuana as a drug with much potential for abuse and no medical
benefit, and doctors are prohibited from prescribing it.
President Clinton's drug czar, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, reinforced
this position recently, saying "there is not a shred of
scientific evidence that shows that smoked marijuana is useful or
needed." However, medical journals, including The Lancet and the
Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), have
published articles that both tout the medical benefits of
marijuana and appeal for more research and loosened government
restrictions. For example, Dr. Lester Grinspoon and James
Bakalar wrote in JAMA last year that marijuana was found to be
more beneficial than the synthetic alternative, Delta-9-THC, or
Marinol, for relieving nausea and vomiting that resulted from
chemotherapy. They noted that "one of marijuana's greatest
advantages as a medicine is its remarkable safety."