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



Tuesday, July 1, 2003

POLITICS AND POLICY
========================================
1. 151 AIDS Organizations, Advocacy Groups Ask Bush To Increase Domestic
AIDS Funding, Suspend Potential Regulatory 'Censorship'


GLOBAL CHALLENGES
========================================
2. HIV/AIDS Epidemic Hindering Agricultural Output, Threatening Millions
With Hunger, Poverty, FAO/UNAIDS Report Says

3. Southern African Development Community To Create Plan To Fight AIDS in
Region


ACROSS THE NATION
========================================
4. African-American, Hispanic Men Who Have Sex With Men Spreading HIV To
Minority Heterosexual Women, Study Shows

5. Philadelphia Inquirer Examines Increase in Number of HIV/AIDS Cases
Among Women


SCIENCE & MEDICINE
========================================
6. Irish Researcher Identifies Previously Undiscovered Strain of HIV


OPINION
========================================
7. Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report Summarizes Editorials on Bush's Upcoming
Trip to Africa

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

POLITICS AND POLICY


1. 151 AIDS Organizations, Advocacy Groups Ask Bush To Increase Domestic
AIDS Funding, Suspend Potential Regulatory 'Censorship'

Access this story and related links online:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=18561

A group of 151 AIDS organizations and other advocacy groups yesterday sent
a letter to President Bush outlining their concerns about the Bush
administration's policies concerning domestic HIV funding levels and the
potential "censorship" of prevention programs and federally funded
research, as well as the CDC's new HIV prevention initiative. The group
also sent the letter to members of Congress and the 2004 Democratic
presidential candidates. Several recent events, including the CDC's request
that the STOP AIDS Project to discontinue some of its HIV prevention
workshops, "appear to prioritize political ideology over sound science and
public health practices," the groups say in the letter (Letter text, 6/20).
The CDC on June 13 informed STOP AIDS in a letter that some of the group's
HIV prevention workshops violate a Public Health Service Act ban on
encouraging sexual activity and asked the group to discontinue the
workshops, four months after an agency review found that the workshops were
acceptable (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 6/16). Such "regressive policies
of censorship and intimidation -- both regulatory and informal -- ... put
American lives at risk" and will increase the number of new HIV cases, the
groups say. The groups continue, "This trend is not acceptable and works
against not just the health and safety of at-risk groups, but the health
and safety of all citizens. We need your leadership on this issue." The
groups ask that the administration:

* Increase funding for domestic HIV/AIDS programs;

* Ensure that new CDC HIV prevention guidelines allow "comprehensive
prevention strategies" for those most at risk;

* Allow local groups to continue to operate "culturally relevant"
prevention programs without the "relentless and intrusive" scrutiny of the
CDC;

* Allow comprehensive sex education programs that address the use and
efficacy of condoms; and

* Protect science from the "clear censorship of potentially life-saving
information."

The groups conclude, "Mr. President, your administration has the
responsibility to support sound public health and science-based HIV
prevention models and programs that allow all Americans to benefit from
research and public health policy without regard to the divisive politics
of a few politicians" (Letter text, 6/20).

GLOBAL CHALLENGES


2. HIV/AIDS Epidemic Hindering Agricultural Output, Threatening Millions
With Hunger, Poverty, FAO/UNAIDS Report Says

Access this story and related links online:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=18562

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa is affecting agricultural output and
threatening millions of people with poverty and hunger, according to a
joint report released yesterday by UNAIDS and the U.N. Food and Agriculture
Organization. The report, titled "Addressing the Impact of HIV/AIDS on
Ministries of Agriculture: Focus on Eastern and Southern Africa," calls
for agricultural institutions to scale up their efforts to combat HIV/AIDS.
FAO Director-General Dr. Jacques Diouf and UNAIDS Executive Director Dr.
Peter Piot presented the report during the U.N. Economic and Social
Council's 2003 session, which ends July 25 (FAO/UNAIDS release, 6/30).
According to the report, approximately 30 million of the 42 million people
living with HIV/AIDS are in sub-Saharan Africa, and more than 50% of them
are in rural areas. In addition, up to 80% of the population in Southern
Africa depends on small-scale agriculture for food and livelihood, Agence
France-Presse reports. Many countries in the region are likely to see 25%
of their farmers affected by HIV/AIDS, according to the report (Agence
France-Presse, 6/30). Piot said, "The majority of African countries
worst-hit by HIV/AIDS are also those heavily reliant on agriculture. For
many rural households in these countries, AIDS has turned what used to be a
food shortage into a food crisis." Diouf said, "Hunger and poverty,
aggravated by HIV/AIDS, create a vicious spiral," adding, "Where farmers
and their families fall sick, they cultivate less land and shift to less
labor-intensive and less nutritious crops, agricultural productivity
decreases and hunger and malnutrition are on the rise. Many children are
losing their parents before learning how to farm, to prepare food and to
fend for themselves. Severe malnutrition among orphans is already reported
in the worst affected areas" (FAO/UNAIDS release, 6/30).

3. Southern African Development Community To Create Plan To Fight AIDS in
Region

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http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=18563

The 14 member nations of the Southern African Development Community are
scheduled to meet on Friday in Lesotho to develop a joint plan to combat
AIDS in the region, officials announced last week, Reuters reports. The
region, where about 1% of the world's population lives, has an estimated
40% of the world's HIV-positive people, according to the United Nations
Development Programme. "Despite all our efforts, the disease is not
abating. By sharing our experiences in care, treatment and education about
HIV/AIDS, we might be able to come up with a successful common strategy,"
Esther Kanaimba, SADC spokesperson, said. The SADC member nations include
Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius,
Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia
and Zimbabwe (Reuters, 6/27).

ACROSS THE NATION


4. African-American, Hispanic Men Who Have Sex With Men Spreading HIV To
Minority Heterosexual Women, Study Shows

Access this story and related links online:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=18564

Although HIV-positive African-American and Hispanic men are more likely
than their white counterparts to have sex with both men and women,
African-American and Hispanic women are less likely than white women to
know that their partners have sex with both men and women, according to
results from a study that is scheduled to be published later this year, the
Detroit News reports. The study, conducted by the Michigan Department of
Community Health and the CDC, used data from state health departments in
Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, New
Mexico, South Carolina and Washington, as well as data from the Los Angeles
County Health Department. According to the study, 34% of HIV-positive
African-American men said that they had engaged in sex with both women and
men, compared with 26% of HIV-positive Hispanic men and 13% of HIV-positive
white men. However, among HIV-positive women, 14% of white women said that
they knew their partners had also had sex with men, compared with 6% of
African-American and Hispanic women. The disparity in awareness is partly
responsible for the rapid spread of HIV in minority communities, according
to the AIDS CARE study. In 2001, 12% of the U.S. population was African
American, but African Americans represented 50% of the new HIV cases
reported in that year, according to the News. In addition, HIV/AIDS is the
leading cause of death for African-American women ages 25 to 34, and the
disease is among the top three leading causes of death for African-American
women ages 35 to 44 and black men ages 25 to 54, according to the News.

Reaction


The study "confirms what people have been saying and what they knew
anecdotally," Loretta Davis Satterla, director of the division of
HIV/AIDS-STDs at the Michigan Department of Community Health, said. "This
is not a myth," Eve Mokotoff, chief of HIV/AIDS epidemiology at the
Michigan Department of Community Health and lead author of the study, said,
adding, "We interviewed these men and this is very real. What underlies
this problem is our unacceptance of homosexuality." Rosalind
Andrews-Worthy, executive director of Detroit-based Gospel Against AIDS,
agreed, saying, "The stigma we have put on homosexuality is causing people
to make the decisions they are making. It's devastating African-American
men. These men are living a suppressed life." Andrews-Worthy added, "We
have to start embracing everyone. Until we do, we will have men who have
sex with men and go back to women." Phill Wilson, executive director of
the Black AIDS Institute, said that in order to combat the problem, black
women must stop "knowingly sharing" men, educate themselves about how to
prevent HIV infection and build their self-esteem, according to the News
(Hayes Taylor, Detroit News, 6/27).

5. Philadelphia Inquirer Examines Increase in Number of HIV/AIDS Cases
Among Women

Access this story and related links online:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=18565

The Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday examined the nationwide increase in
the number of HIV/AIDS cases among women, noting that black and Hispanic
women have been particularly hard hit by the disease. Many of the women do
not engage in traditional high-risk behaviors, such as having multiple sex
partners and injecting drugs, but instead contract HIV through heterosexual
sex without a condom and often with men who also have sex with men. In
2001, about 30% of Philadelphia's new HIV/AIDS cases were among women,
compared with 12% in 1990. The trend, which is occuring nationwide,
presents a challenge to public health workers, who are trying to develop
outreach and education strategies to reach women. However, women without
obvious risk factors for HIV/AIDS tend to delay testing and are difficult
to reach because they do not have well-defined hangouts and habits,
according to the Inquirer. Prevention workers in the city plan to begin a
federal pilot project later this year in which they will go into
neighborhoods to talk to people about the disease. "We'll probably hang
out on certain street corners and ask people to sit down for an interview
in the neighborhood pizza parlor or doughnut shop," Kathleen Brady, an HIV
epidemiologist for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, said. "We
reimburse them for their time. We're trying to reach high-risk
heterosexuals to define who they are and where to find them," Brady added
(McCullough, Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/30).

SCIENCE & MEDICINE


6. Irish Researcher Identifies Previously Undiscovered Strain of HIV

Access this story and related links online:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=18566

An Irish researcher has uncovered a previously unknown strain of HIV that
could aid in the development of an HIV vaccine, Reuters/Fort Lauderdale
Sun-Sentinel reports. The findings were published in the International
Retrovirology Association's journal AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses
and were made public yesterday by the National University of
Ireland-Maynooth (Reuters/Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, 6/30). Dr. Grace
McCormack of the university's biology department found the strain in blood
samples from Malawi during research on the molecular evolution of HIV
(Holland, Irish Times, 6/30). Some of the samples in McCormack's study,
which she has been working on for three years, are from the early 1980s
when the AIDS epidemic was first recognized, according to
Reuters/Sun-Sentinel. McCormack said, "It is very interesting because
while we have found people infected with it in the 1980s, we haven't found
any examples of it in the 1990s yet." She added, "As a result, it might be
a strain of the virus that has failed. Because of that it may give us
information on how to defeat the virus." Researchers said that they hope
the findings could lead to new prevention and control tools to fight
HIV/AIDS, including an HIV vaccine, Reuters/Sun-Sentinel reports.
McCormack said that she has applied for additional funding and hopes to
finish her research within the next three years (Reuters/Fort Lauderdale
Sun-Sentinel, 6/30).

OPINION


7. Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report Summarizes Editorials on Bush's Upcoming
Trip to Africa

Access this story and related links online:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=18567

Several newspapers have recently featured editorials discussing Bush's
global AIDS initiative and his upcoming trip to Africa. Bush is scheduled
to visit five African nations -- Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda
and Nigeria -- from July 7 to July 12 to promote economic development and
the fight against HIV/AIDS. During the trip, Bush is expected to discuss
several initiatives that focus on Africa, including the five-year, $15
billion AIDS initiative (HR 1298), which he signed into law in May, and the
Millennium Challenge Account, which calls for increasing aid to developing
countries in exchange for a range of political and economic reforms (Kaiser
Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 6/27). Summaries of the editorials are as follows:

* Toronto Globe and Mail: According to some AIDS advocates, Bush's trip to
Africa is a "premature victory lap" celebrating the passage of his global
AIDS initiative, a Globe and Mail editorial says. The amount of money
allocated to the initiative is "nothing to be proud of" in the fight
against "diseases that are laying waste to parts of Africa, and areas
beyond," the editorial says. The Globe and Mail concludes that Bush was
right in his insistence that the international community build its policies
in Africa based on a moral duty to stop suffering, but "he should follow
through on his commitments and other nations ... should do more too" (Globe
and Mail, 6/30).

* Long Island Newsday: Bush is "using his international bully pulpit to
focus needed attention on Africa" to draw attention to the continent's
"grievous crises [of] ... ferocious civil wars, pervasive official
corruption and the scourge of AIDS, malaria and famine," a Newsday
editorial says. While Bush's "ambitious agenda" seems to lack the
necessary "money or muscle" to back it up, the international attention that
this plan will garner is "not a bad thing," the editorial concludes (Long
Island Newsday, 6/30).

* New York Times: While Africa's problems may "seem remote to some
Americans, Mr. Bush recognizes that they are not," and his trip to Africa,
promises of increased aid to the region and the global AIDS initiative
"symboliz[e] that concern," a Times editorial says. The AIDS initiative is
especially "welcome" because it can "save hundreds of thousands of lives"
and is also "remarkably cost effective," compared with the costs of war or
farm subsidies, the editorial concludes (New York Times, 6/28).

* Salt Lake Tribune: If Bush's trip to Africa and commitment of funding
for the global AIDS initiative is "truly a new American commitment to
dealing with Africa, then it is good news indeed," a Tribune editorial
says. "It is a hopeful sign indeed that the president ... seems to realize
that the problems of Africa impose upon America both the moral duty and the
security necessity to do all we can, with long-term, committed policies, to
help that sad continent overcome its ... burdens and rise to full
membership in the family of nations," the editorial concludes (Salt Lake
Tribune, 6/30).

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