KAISER DAILY HIV/AIDS REPORT
A service of kaisernetwork.org
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/hiv
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Thursday, April 10, 2003

POLITICS AND POLICY
========================================
1. New Mexico Gov. Richardson Signs Bill Waiving Informed Consent for
Prenatal HIV Testing


GLOBAL CHALLENGES
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2. Increase in Injection Amphetamine Use Among Asian Youth Raising Risk of
HIV Infection, UNICEF Says

3. Religious Groups Address African HIV/AIDS Epidemic


DRUG ACCESS
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4. Coca-Cola Africa Foundation To Offer Antiretrovirals to Workers and
Their Families


PUBLIC HEALTH & EDUCATION
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5. Denver Nuggets Basketball Player To Appear in U.N. Agency PSA Campaign
on HIV/AIDS Prevention, Education

6. Midwest AIDS Prevention Project Launches New Ad Campaign Targeting Young
Men Who Have Sex With Men


MEDIA & SOCIETY
========================================
7. 'New Climate' in American Science, Government, Affects Policies on
HIV/AIDS, Abortion

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POLITICS AND POLICY

1. New Mexico Gov. Richardson Signs Bill Waiving Informed Consent for
Prenatal HIV Testing

Access this story and related links online:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=17092

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) has signed into law a bill (SB 805)
making prenatal HIV testing routine, the Associated Press reports
(Associated Press, 4/8). The bill, sponsored by Sen. Steve Komadina (R),
amends a state informed consent law and allows for a prenatal HIV test
without the informed consent of the woman. Therefore, all pregnant women
will be tested for HIV as part of regular prenatal screening unless a woman
specifically opts out of the test (SB 805 text, 4/9). Women will be able
to opt out of the bill by signing a written statement, the Associated Press
reports. The law is scheduled to go into effect on June 20 (Associated
Press, 4/8).


GLOBAL CHALLENGES

2. Increase in Injection Amphetamine Use Among Asian Youth Raising Risk of
HIV Infection, UNICEF Says

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http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=17093

An increase in injection amphetamine use in Asia is putting young people
at a higher risk of contracting HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, tuberculosis
and other diseases, Robert Bennoun, UNICEF regional adviser on HIV/AIDS,
said at a five-day conference on drug use, the Associated Press reports
(Associated Press, 4/8). UNICEF estimates that there are approximately 33
million amphetamine users in Asia and that children and young people
account for the majority of new users. Young people between the ages of 15
and 24 make up the majority of new HIV/AIDS cases worldwide, and injection
drug use accounts for many of these cases. At the conference, titled the
"International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm," Bennoun
said that programs seeking to prevent drug use among young people should
also seek to reduce the risk to those young people already using drugs
(UNICEF release, 4/8). "Incarcerating young people in detention centers or
their equivalent only serves to split families and communities with no
evidence of effective results," Bennoun said. The conference, which began
on Sunday in Chiang Mai, Thailand, concludes today (Associated Press, 4/8).

3. Religious Groups Address African HIV/AIDS Epidemic

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http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=17094

World Vision, a Christian global relief and development agency with
programs in 92 countries, this month is launching a U.S. campaign and
15-city tour to "mobilize American support -- particularly among
evangelical churches -- for those affected" by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in
Africa, the Christian Science Monitor reports. According to the Monitor,
there is a "new awakening" among churches in the United States to respond
to the African HIV/AIDS epidemic with "greater empathy, vigor and funding."
Through its tour, World Vision will urge churchgoers to contact their
member of Congress and become personally involved in the fight against the
disease. According to the Monitor, World Vision has "decided to orient all
its resources toward" HIV/AIDS in Africa. In addition to the tour, World
Vision's projects in Zambia and Uganda are currently testing methods to
train pastors and other people to talk about HIV/AIDS prevention --
including abstinence and monogamy -- in their communities, and the group
educates AIDS orphans about how to "organize their lives." World Vision
hopes to identify prevention and education methods that can be copied
elsewhere, according to the Monitor. In addition to World Vision, the
Church World Service of the National Council of Churches is also increasing
its response to AIDS in Africa. For example, CWS works with the YWCA in
Rwanda to teach children who are heads of households how to take care of
their siblings and offers them vocational training. World Vision President
Rich Stearns said that the HIV/AIDS pandemic is "perhaps the greatest
humanitarian crisis of all time," according to the Monitor. He added,
"[O]ur work could be for nothing if the incidence rates continued to climb.
I would argue that HIV/AIDS is the ultimate weapon of mass destruction at
work in the world today and the stakes are just too high" to wait to
respond (Lampman, Christian Science Monitor, 4/10).


DRUG ACCESS

4. Coca-Cola Africa Foundation To Offer Antiretrovirals to Workers and
Their Families

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http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=17095

The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation has announced that all 40 of their
independent bottling companies have enrolled in a program designed to
provide antiretroviral drugs to their employees, the Namibian reports. The
drugs, along with other HIV/AIDS testing, counseling, treatment and
prevention programs, will be available to the companies' employees and
their families, according to Robert Ahomka Lindsay, president of the board
of trustees of the foundation. The foundation will be assisting the
independent bottling companies in providing access to antiretroviral drugs
for an estimated 60,000 employees. Employees of Namibia Beverages, a
Coca-Cola bottling company, began receiving the drugs in October 2002
through the company's medical program. "We are aware of the potential
impact of HIV/AIDS on our valued employees in Namibia and we are very
pleased to be able to further enhance our current workplace HIV/AIDS
program," Frik Oosthuizen, managing director of Namibia Beverages, said
(Namibian, 4/8). The foundation, GlaxoSmithKline, PharmAccess
International and Population Services International in September 2002
announced the launch of an HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment program at 40
bottling companies in Africa. Coca-Cola will pay half of the cost of the
plan, and the bottlers will cover about 40% of the cost of the program.
Employees will contribute 10% toward the cost of any treatment provided
under the program (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 10/18/2002). Coca-Cola
made the new announcement almost a year and a half after the company
originally announced its intent to provide the drugs at a 2001 U.N. General
Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, meeting its self-imposed March 2003
deadline for enrolling all independent African bottling companies
(HealthGAP release/oneworld.net, 3/31).


PUBLIC HEALTH & EDUCATION

5. Denver Nuggets Basketball Player To Appear in U.N. Agency PSA Campaign
on HIV/AIDS Prevention, Education

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http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=17096

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on Tuesday announced that NBA
basketball player Nene Hilario is set to appear in a new public service
announcement to help increase awareness about HIV prevention and education,
according to a UNODC release. The 30-second advertisement, which is
scheduled to debut later this month and will be shown in several countries
throughout the world, will be produced by the NBA in conjunction with UNODC
and will air during NBA games and other programming. The spot features
Hilario, who plays for the Denver Nuggets and is a native of Brazil, urging
people to participate in HIV/AIDS prevention and educate themselves and
others about the disease. In both the Spanish- and Portuguese-language
versions of the PSA, Hilario says, "In life -- as in basketball -- you need
to make smart choices. Using condoms and not sharing needles are
intelligent decisions that can help you live a longer, healthier life."
The PSA is part of the agency's "Sports Against Drugs" campaign, which uses
sports to "provide youth a positive life choice and to promote a healthy
lifestyle free from drugs." UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa
said, "We need more role models, like Nene Hilario and other NBA players
and athletes that have participated in UNODC's Sports Against Drugs
campaign, who love sports and want to communicate the dangers of abusing
drugs to young people around the world" (UNODC release, 4/9)

6. Midwest AIDS Prevention Project Launches New Ad Campaign Targeting Young
Men Who Have Sex With Men

Access this story and related links online:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=17097

The Midwest AIDS Prevention Project on Tuesday launched a new multimedia
advertising campaign targeting young men who have sex with men, according
to a MAPP release. The campaign, part of the Voice of AIDS Project, is
funded by the CDC and focuses on encouraging young MSM to practice safer
sex and be tested for HIV. Solomon Friedman Advertising assisted in the
creation of a series of billboards, print advertisements, posters and other
promotional materials, including t-shirts, condoms and phone cards for the
campaign. The ads will appear throughout the Detroit metropolitan area
(MAPP release, 4/2). The ads feature pictures of condoms that say "Stop
AIDS" as well as messages such as "Think you're invincible? I'm counting
on it. -- AIDS," and "Your place or mine? -- AIDS" as well as a phone
number to contact in order to obtain free HIV testing (MAPP ads, 2/24). In
addition to the media campaign, the Voice of AIDS Project conducts
interactive community education workshops, focusing on MSM between the ages
of 15 and 25 (MAPP Web site, 4/9).


MEDIA & SOCIETY

7. 'New Climate' in American Science, Government, Affects Policies on
HIV/AIDS, Abortion

Access this story and related links online:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=17098

Recent U.S. debates over funding for international HIV/AIDS programs being
channeled through mostly "abstinence-only" groups and the supposed link
between breast cancer risk and abortion, as well as others, are "indicative
of a new climate that has emerged under the Bush administration" that is
shaped by links to big business and "just as much" by a "fiercely moral
approach to the business of science," London's Guardian reports. According
to the Guardian, these "aren't the old wars of science versus religion."
Proponents of theories with religious overtones frame their arguments as
legitimate scientific theories "no less deserving of a hearing than any
other [scientific theory]," according to the Guardian. The article
discusses several abortion- and AIDS-related examples to support its
argument (Burkeman/Jha, Guardian, 4/10). The complete article is available
online.


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