KAISER DAILY HIV/AIDS REPORT
A service of kaisernetwork.org
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/hiv
________________________________________



Wednesday, April 9, 2003

POLITICS AND POLICY
========================================
1. Conservatives Press House Committee To Draft Competing AIDS Legislation
With More Focus on Abstinence

2. Medical, Undergraduate Students Lobby Congress in Support of AIDS
Legislation

3. California Committee Passes Resolution Calling on Pension Shareholders
To Urge Drug Companies To Make AIDS Drugs Affordable, Available


GLOBAL CHALLENGES
========================================
4. UNAIDS Says Latin America, Caribbean Not Spending Enough on Epidemic at
Second HIV/AIDS Forum in Region


DRUG ACCESS
========================================
5. South Africa To Launch Initiative To Manufacture Generic Drugs For
HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria

6. Leading South African Gold Producer To Provide Antiretroviral Drugs for
Workers


OPINION
========================================
7. Formula for Federal Housing Funds for People Living With HIV/AIDS
'Fundamentally Flawed,' Editorial States

****************************************

POLITICS AND POLICY

1. Conservatives Press House Committee To Draft Competing AIDS Legislation
With More Focus on Abstinence

Access this story and related links online:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=17072

Conservative advocates and members of the House of Representatives are
encouraging the House Energy and Commerce Committee to draft an
international AIDS bill to compete with a measure (HR 1298) passed last
week by the House International Relations Committee, Roll Call reports.
Some conservative lawmakers and advocates have said that the passed bill
does not put enough emphasis on abstinence as a prevention method and
allows money to be allocated to nongovernmental organizations that also
provide abortion-related services (Wallison, Roll Call, 4/9). The
International Relations Committee last week approved 37-8 an amended
version of the bill, sponsored by committee chair Henry Hyde (R-Ill.),
which would authorize $15 billion over five years to fight global AIDS.
The bill would allocate $3 billion a year for five years for HIV/AIDS, with
up to $1 billion in fiscal year 2004 going to the Global Fund to Fight
AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Hyde, who opposes abortion rights, avoided
the abortion issue by excluding language from the bill that prohibits
federal funding from going to health and family planning groups that
perform or counsel on abortion. The so-called "Mexico City" policy -- which
was originally implemented by President Reagan at a population conference
in Mexico City in 1984, removed by President Clinton and reinstated by Bush
on the first day of his presidency -- bars U.S. money from international
groups that support abortion, even with their own money, through direct
services, counseling or lobbying activities. The Bush administration had
shown support for extending the policy to HIV/AIDS efforts (Kaiser Daily
HIV/AIDS Report, 4/3). Efforts last week in the International Relations
committee to attach language addressing birth control and family-planning
issues were defeated, according to Roll Call.

Committee Move Would Be a 'Stretch'


In order for the Energy and Commerce Committee to consider a competing
measure, it would have to substantiate a claim to jurisdiction over the
issue likely by linking the legislation to HHS, which the Bush
administration does not want to be involved in administering an
international AIDS program. An unnamed congressional aide said that
successfully gaining jurisdiction over the legislation would be a "stretch"
for the committee, and unnamed White House insiders expressed hesitation at
ceding jurisdiction to the committee for fear that the measure could become
stuck in committee. The Energy and Commerce Committee has already held
hearings on the AIDS initiative, and spokesperson Ken Johnson yesterday
said that the committee was "clearly" going to play a roll in the bill.
"Before we do anything, Chairman [Billy] Tauzin (R-La.) is going to consult
with ... Hyde," Johnson said, adding that Tauzin has "the greatest respect
and reverence" for Hyde (Roll Call, 4/9).

2. Medical, Undergraduate Students Lobby Congress in Support of AIDS
Legislation

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http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=17073

More than 200 medical and undergraduate students from more than 40 states
representing the Students Mobilizing Against the Crisis of AIDS Coalition
on Monday met with 250 members of Congress and their staff in support of
swift passage of legislation to fund President Bush's proposed AIDS
initiative. Prior to the meetings, the coalition held a press conference
during which students, flanked by several AIDS quilt panels, chanted, "Our
Future, Our Crisis, Fight Global AIDS" (Physicians for Human Rights
release, 4/7). The event was the largest gathering of its kind on Capitol
Hill, and the press conference and rally were scheduled to feature speeches
from Garth Graham, board member of Physicians for Human Rights; Minesh
Shah, medical and public health student at the University of
Illinois-Chicago and fellow of the American Medical Student Association;
Joia Stapleton Mukherjee, medical director of Partners in Health; and Cara
Henry, a member of Amnesty International's Women's Rights Steering
Committee (Physicians for Human Rights release, 4/3). AIDS "is our future
and it is our crisis. We are now all AIDS doctors. This is an
unprecedented coalition of healers committed to ending the most villainous
health crisis known to human kind," Shah said, adding, "Congressman Hyde's
AIDS comprehensive bill should be backed immediately and the Senate should
follow suit" (Physicians for Human Rights release, 4/7). The House
International Relations Committee last week approved 37-8 an amended bill
(HR 1298) that would authorize $15 billion over five years to fight global
AIDS. The bill would allocate $3 billion a year for five years for
HIV/AIDS, with up to $1 billion in fiscal year 2004 going to the Global
Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report,
4/3). Graham said that since President Bush announced his plan to fund a
global AIDS initiative, 500,000 people have died from AIDS-related
diseases, close to one million people have been infected with HIV and more
than 100,000 children have been orphaned. Irish rock star and AIDS
advocate Bono said in a statement read by Graham, "Together we will fight
this disease and we will not stop until humanity is freed from this
scourge" (Physicians for Human Rights release, 4/7).

3. California Committee Passes Resolution Calling on Pension Shareholders
To Urge Drug Companies To Make AIDS Drugs Affordable, Available

Access this story and related links online:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=17074

The California Senate Public Employee Retirement System Committee approved
3-2 a concurrent resolution (SCR 11) that would "encourage" the state's
public pension systems, including CalPERS, to use shareholder resolutions
to influence pharmaceutical companies that develop HIV/AIDS medicines, such
as GlaxoSmithKline, to "ensure their life-saving HIV/AIDS treatments are
made affordable in Africa and the developing world," according to an AIDS
Healthcare Foundation release. CalPERS is believed to hold roughly $760
million shares of GlaxoSmithKline, according to the release (AHF release,
4/7). The resolution, introduced by Sen. Nell Soto (D), would encourage
the governing bodies of public pension and retirement systems in the state
to introduce as shareholders of HIV/AIDS drug makers resolutions to develop
and implement policies, in consultation with the appropriate United Nations
agencies and independent nongovernmental organizations, to provide
antiretroviral drug treatments "in a manner that would make those
treatments affordable to the majority of those infected with HIV/AIDS in
lesser developed countries." The Senate also called for a copy of the
resolution to be given to each member of the retirement board (SCR 11 text,
4/8). Soto said, "The cost of HIV/AIDS medications is out of the reach of
many, especially in the developing world," adding that the resolution "asks
CalPERS to use its considerable clout to help put these helpful drugs
within their reach. It's about time we did something" (AHF release, 4/7).


GLOBAL CHALLENGES

4. UNAIDS Says Latin America, Caribbean Not Spending Enough on Epidemic at
Second HIV/AIDS Forum in Region

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http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=17075

The UNAIDS Second Forum on HIV/AIDS/STIs in Latin America and the
Caribbean commenced yesterday in Havana, Cuba, with speeches highlighting
the need for increased spending in the region, the AP/Nando Times reports.
Nearly two million people in Latin America and the Carribean are
HIV-positive, and about 2.3% of the Caribbean population is HIV-positive,
making the region second only to sub-Saharan Africa in terms of scope of
the epidemic (Snow, AP/Nando Times, 4/8). The conference, which was
organized by the Horizontal Technical Cooperation Group, a network of
national AIDS program coordinators from the region, focuses on various
AIDS-related issues, including AIDS and security, funding for HIV/AIDS
treatment and care and project implementation funded through the Global
Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Representatives from
participating governments, nongovernmental organizations and various
sectors of civil society will renew "their commitment and alliances to
fight HIV/AIDS and strengthen south-south cooperation," Peter Piot,
executive director of UNAIDS, said (UNAIDS release, 4/8). At the opening
of the forum, Piot said that the primary "stumbling block" to preventing
the spread of HIV in the region is the poor allocation of resources, which
often do not reach marginalized groups that are most at risk for the
disease. Economic and political crises in the region also interrupt HIV
prevention and treatment activities, he added, according to Xinhua News
Agency (Xinhua News Agency, 4/8). Current government funding "just isn't
enough," Nina Ferencic, program development adviser for UNAIDS, said,
adding that countries in the region should double the $1.2 billion they
spend each year on AIDS prevention and treatment programs (AP/Nando Times,
4/8).

Clinton Calls for Aid Exception to Embargo on Haiti


Also in the region yesterday, former President Clinton during a visit to
Haiti called for a humanitarian exception to the embargo placed on the
country as a result of the contested election of President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, the Miami Herald reports. The European Union, the Inter-American
Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund are withholding from
Haiti more than $500 million in aid and loans, according to the Herald.
"I'm not in politics anymore, so I don't want to comment on what the
government policy should be for the U.S. or for the Organization of
American States except to say this: I think there should be a humanitarian
exception to the embargo on aid," Clinton said at a gathering of about 50
doctors, nurses and government officials at the State University Hospital
(Regan, Miami Herald, 4/9). Clinton on Friday began a five-day tour of the
Caribbean with scheduled stops in the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts, the
Dominican Republic and Haiti to speak about AIDS and to meet with
not-for-profit organizations and government leaders. After leaving office
in January 2001, Clinton founded the William J. Clinton Presidential
Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative, which brings together experts to work in
the Caribbean and Africa to expand access to antiretroviral treatment and
has successfully negotiated deals with the 15-nation Caribbean Community
and pharmaceutical companies to lower the cost of antiretroviral drugs for
HIV-positive people in the region (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 4/8). The
foundation yesterday signed a "memorandum of understanding" with the
Aristide government to try to find the funds and resources necessary to
provide antiretroviral drugs to all HIV-positive Haitians (Miami Herald,
4/9).


DRUG ACCESS

5. South Africa To Launch Initiative To Manufacture Generic Drugs For
HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria

Access this story and related links online:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=17076

The South African Department of Trade and Industry has announced that it
will launch the "Initiative Pharmaceutical Technology Transfer" to provide
generic drugs for South Africa and several other African countries to treat
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, U.N. IRIN/AllAfrica.com reports. The
program will begin in May in South Africa, with the first generic
medications being distributed next year, Andre Kudlinsky, a DTI chemical
engineer, said. According to the DTI, "The IPTT will establish a publicly
controlled, transparent, sustainable system under which affordable, quality
medicines are produced in required quantities for Africa, by African
countries themselves." Details of the IPTT have not yet been released, and
it is not clear what benefit the program will have for South Africans
living with HIV/AIDS, as the government has never provided antiretroviral
drugs to the public sector, according to U.N. IRIN/AllAfrica.com. Without
increased coordination between the DTI and the health department, the
program will not have any impact, according to AIDS advocates. An earlier
initiative by South African pharmaceutical company Aspen Pharmacare to
provide generic antiretrovirals has not been productive because the South
African government has not agreed to the offer, according to Nathan Geffen,
a spokesperson for the Treatment Action Campaign. Aspen Pharmacare CEO
Linda Pretorius said that local manufacturers should continue to produce
generic antiretrovirals. "Let's not wait. We have to get them developed
so that we're in a position to supply them when the government rolls out
their program," she said (U.N. IRIN/AllAfrica.com, 4/7).

6. Leading South African Gold Producer To Provide Antiretroviral Drugs for
Workers

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http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=17077

AngloGold, South Africa's leading gold producer, on Tuesday announced that
it would offer antiretroviral drugs to all of its HIV-positive workers,
Reuters reports. The company estimates that between 25% and 30% of its
40,000 employees are HIV-positive. About 3,000 of those workers could
benefit from the drugs, the company reports, adding that it expects a third
of that number to accept the drug offer during the program's first year.
HIV testing is not mandatory in South Africa, which has more people living
with HIV/AIDS than any other country in the world, and many people choose
not to be tested for fear of being stigmatized on the basis of their HIV
status. According to CEO Bobby Godsell, the disease currently costs
AngloGold between $4 and $6 per ounce of gold mined, totaling between $24
million and $32 million each year. The company has entered into a
preferential pricing deal with drug producer GlaxoSmithKline but has
declined to give details on the arrangement. AngloGold is one of many
firms "mindful of the cost of lost production and replacing sick or dying
workers" that have introduced their own treatment programs, according to
Reuters (Chege, Reuters, 4/8). South Africa's second largest gold producer
Gold Fields last week said that it would also offer free antiretroviral
drugs to its employees (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 4/2).


OPINION

7. Formula for Federal Housing Funds for People Living With HIV/AIDS
'Fundamentally Flawed,' Editorial States

Access this story and related links online:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=17078

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's allocation formula
for its Housing Opportunities for People With AIDS program is
"fundamentally flawed," according to a New Orleans Times-Picayune editorial
(New Orleans Times-Picayune, 4/8). The program reimburses local agencies
for providing housing funding or services to people living with HIV/AIDS.
The amount of funding is based only on an area's reported number of AIDS
cases, not HIV cases. Ellen Lee, who runs the city's program, said that
the number of AIDS cases is shrinking due to treatment, while the number of
HIV-positive people continues to grow. New Orleans will receive almost
$2.2 million from the program this year, down 16% from last year's $2.6
million allocation. However, local officials this year have not yet
received authorization to spend money for the program because the measure
approving the federal money passed only last month (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS
Report, 4/8). The editorial continues, "Funding for a program as important
as this one should have come sooner. And the formulas used for that
funding should accurately reflect the number of people in need." The
editorial concludes that HUD officials should revise their funding formulas
to include HIV-positive people because "[s]erving more people with less
money just isn't possible" (New Orleans Times-Picayune, 4/8).


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