                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      October 18, 1994

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 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"Man Settles Suit with Maryland Over Forced AIDS Test"
"Across the USA: South Carolina"
"Gene Therapy Experiments Already Approved by the Government"
"'An Opportunity Was Missed'"
"City AIDS Director Alleged to Have Violated Confidentiality of 
Three People with HIV/AIDS; Community Reps Demand Richard Scott's
Resignation"
"NC Researcher to Help Stem AIDS in Haiti"
"Congress Hears African-American Concerns About Spread of AIDS"
"Mixed Pair"
"7th ANAC Conference"
"One in a Million"
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"Man Settles Suit with Maryland Over Forced AIDS Test"
Washington Post (10/18/94) P. D3
     The state of Maryland must pay $75,000 to a unidentified Maryland
man who was forced to submit to an HIV test after officials 
accused him of knowingly spreading the virus.  The state has also
agreed not to test people for HIV without their consent.  The man
was tested while being held in jail in August 1992.  Frederick 
County officials claimed their actions were permissible under a 
state law that forbids people infected with HIV from knowingly 
transferring or attempting to transfer the virus to others.  
Related Stories: Washington Times (10/18) P. A2; Baltimore Sun 
(10/18) P. 1B
      
"Across the USA: South Carolina"
USA Today (10/18/94) P. 9A
     The number of people in South Carolina who have contracted AIDS 
during the past two years is greater than the total of all 
previous years combined.  There have been 4,641 AIDS deaths there
since 1981.
      
"Gene Therapy Experiments Already Approved by the Government"
Washington Post (Health) (10/18/94) P. 14;  Weiss, Rick
     Four HIV-1-infected patients have been treated with genes that 
make HIV proteins.  The objective of the treatment is to 
stimulate a stronger immune response against HIV.  Although the 
safety of gene therapy was the focus of the tests--not the 
efficacy--one of the patients now tests negative for HIV.  
Another approach to gene therapy, involving the infusion of genes
programmed to interfere with HIV's capacity to replicate, has 
been approved by the National Institutes of Health's Recombinant 
DNA Advisory Committee--which reviews all human gene therapy 
proposals--but it still awaiting final government approval.
      
"'An Opportunity Was Missed'"
Houston Chronicle (10/17/94) P. 9A;  SoRelle, Ruth
     Dr. Subhash K. Hira, a professor at the University of Texas 
School of Public Health who directs an AIDS program in Bombay and
New Bombay, claims that international and Indian health 
organizations missed an opportunity to stop the spread of AIDS 
six years ago.  Hira says that until 1990, AIDS was a rare 
phenomenon and, because it carried the stigma of illicit sex, 
authorities did little to control it.  Two million people in 
India were HIV-infected by June of this year, in comparison to an
estimated 1 million HIV-positive Americans.  The University of 
Texas has created an AIDS Research and Control Center in 
cooperation with the state of Maharashtra that, for example, will
study the natural course that AIDS will take in India.  Hira has 
also worked with state officials to train health care workers to 
cope with the disease and with local health authorities to 
improve AIDS case reporting.  India's officials still classify 
AIDS as a low priority--below diseases that kill children, 
malaria, and road and traffic accidents.
      
"City AIDS Director Alleged to Have Violated Confidentiality of 
Three People with HIV/AIDS; Community Reps Demand Richard Scott's
Resignation"
PR Newswire (10/17/94)
     An emergency meeting with the city's HIV Community Prevention 
Planning Group has been scheduled by Philadelphia's Health 
Commissioner, Estelle Richman, to respond to calls for the 
resignation of Richard Scott, director of the city health 
department's AIDS Activities Coordinating Office (AACO).  Two 
weeks ago, Scott revealed at least three names of people with 
HIV/AIDS who had requested anonymity.  Their names and 
HIV-positive status are on the city's federal application for 
AIDS education funding--copies of which were also distributed at 
a public meeting.  The individuals are planning legal action 
against the city of Philadelphia and against Scott for violation 
of the Pennsylvania Confidentiality of HIV-Related Information 
Act.  The three people had joined AACO on the condition that 
their HIV status remain confidential.  The by-laws of the 
committee state that any member who violates the HIV 
confidentiality to another member will be automatically removed 
from the committee.
      
"NC Researcher to Help Stem AIDS in Haiti"
Reuters (10/14/94)
     University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill research instructor 
Frieda Behets is focusing on controlling the spread of AIDS in 
Haiti.  "If we can reduce the transmission of other sexually 
transmitted diseases, AIDS transmission also will significantly 
decrease," said Behets.  The UNC School of Medicine--as part of a
regional AIDS prevention program--was chosen to provide technical
support to the endeavors in Haiti by the USAID-funded AIDS 
Control and Prevention Program of Family Health International in 
North Carolina.  As technical adviser for STD control, Behets has
spent the last two-and-a-half years in Haiti.  She has identified
drugs to effectively treat the gonococcal strains there, which 
are now--along with other drugs for the treatment of STDs--being 
distributed by the Pan American Health Organization.
      
"Congress Hears African-American Concerns About Spread of AIDS"
AIDS Alert (10/94) Vol. 9, No. 10, P. 146
     The House Subcommittee on Human Resources and Intergovernmental 
Relations heard testimony concerning claims that more federal 
funds are desperately needed to support education and prevention 
efforts specific to the African-American population.  AIDS 
experts agreed that more funding should be targeted for the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's community planning 
initiatives and other efforts that are based in local health 
communities.  "We have to diagnose HIV infection on a more 
routine basis in the black community," said Joyce Hughes, deputy 
director of the division of HIV prevention at the New York State 
Department of Health AIDS Institute.  The growing number of AIDS 
cases in young people was also a topic of discussion at the 
meeting.  Raquel B. Whiting, a policy analyst for the National 
Pediatric HIV Resource Center, advocated methods such as 
providing home saliva kits in neighborhoods that have many 
hard-to-reach teens who are unwittingly infecting others because 
their infection has not been diagnosed.  Other issues included 
needle exchange programs, programs to assist the orphans of 
parents who die from AIDS, and funds for clinical and behavioral 
HIV and AIDS research in African-Americans.
      
"Mixed Pair"
Advocate (Tom Duane, an HIV-positive homosexual man, lost his 
candidacy for the eighth congressional district seat in New York 
City, one of the most liberal districts in the country.  His 
campaign focused on his sexuality and HIV-infected status which, 
he said, made him better qualified to represent gays, lesbians, 
and people with AIDS than his opponent Jerold Nadler.) No. 666, 
P. 27;  Morales, Jorge
     
      
"7th ANAC Conference"
Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (9/94-10/94) 
Vol. 5, No. 5, P. 47
     "HIV Nursing on the Cutting Edge: Sharing Our Stories, Honing Our
Skills" is the theme of the Seventh Annual Conference of the 
Association of Nurses in AIDS Care.  Nationally-known experts, 
staff nurses, and HIV educators--such as Patricia Benner and Ron 
Bayer--will speak about the latest in HIV infection and nurse 
caring.  The conference will be held in Nashville, Tenn. from 
Nov. 10-12, 1994.
      
"One in a Million"
Successful Meetings (10/94) Vol. 43, No. 11, P. 21;  Carey, 
Robert
     The Doral Arrowwood Resort Conference Center in Rye Brook, N.Y., 
is offering its clientele an opportunity to win $1 million.  On 
November 7, each group that has booked a meeting scheduled before
Dec. 9 will be able to send one member to try to score a $1 
million hole-in-one.  Many professional athletes and celebrities 
will attend the competition trying to win the prize for the 
Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS.  An 18-hole 
tournament and awards luncheon will follow the hole-in-one 
competition.
      
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