                       AIDS Daily Summary 
                         July 3, 1995

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

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"AIDS Group Seeks Official in Forgery"
"AIDS Group Urges a Plan on Medicines"
"Hopkins Doctors Look for Clues to AIDS in Africa"
"France Pursues Global Leadership in Gene Therapy"
"Condom Controversy in a Park"
"Across the USA: Nebraska"
"Nixon Nephew Says He Is Cleared to Leave Cuba"
"Homosexual Partners Now Insurable"
"Under Surveillance: Rubber Rooms"
"Tougher on Tattoos"
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"AIDS Group Seeks Official in Forgery"
Washington Times (07/03/95) P. C7
     The Tidewater AIDS Crisis Task Force in Virginia wants its 
ex-director David Gillooly extradited from Florida.  Gillooly is 
being held in Melbourne, Fla., on check-forgery charges, after 
being detained upon returning from a cruise when a routine check 
by U.S. Customs turned up four outstanding warrants.  In 1993, 
Norfolk, Va., police charged him with signing the names of 
trustee members of the nonprofit group to checks totaling $6,500.
Gillooly later disappeared, but confessed in a letter that he had
mismanaged the nonprofit's funds.  Related Story: USA Today 
(07/03) P. 6A
      
"AIDS Group Urges a Plan on Medicines"
New York Times (07/03/95) P. 6
     The National Task Force on AIDS Drug Development is urging the 
federal government to give drug manufacturers tax credits and 
protection against competition to speed development of new AIDS 
therapies.  According to the advisory group, the pharmaceutical 
industry expects such limited profits that it is quickly 
abandoning research on new AIDS drugs.  Peter Staley of the 
Treatment Action Group says the problem involves both 
cash-strapped smaller firms and larger companies that "simply are
dropping AIDS when they do economic calculations of what research
to pursue."  The panel's recommendations to the Clinton 
Administration include offering a 50 percent tax credit for all 
clinical research into potential AIDS and HIV drugs, giving 
several years of market exclusivity to all AIDS and HIV 
treatments, and offering a 50 percent tax credit for studying 
other uses of approved AIDS drugs.
      
"Hopkins Doctors Look for Clues to AIDS in Africa"
Baltimore Sun (07/02/95) P. 1A;  Hill, Michael
     Researchers from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public 
Health are trying to do something about AIDS in Malawi.  The 
Hopkins Malawi project, which has been funded for the past six 
years by the National Institutes of Health, has focused on 
maternal-infant HIV transmission.  Dr. Taha E. Taha, a native of 
Sudan who received his doctorate from Hopkins four years ago, has
found a 30 percent HIV infection rate among the thousands of 
pre-natal patients at one hospital in Blantyre, Malawi, who are 
participating in the Hopkins study.  The Hopkins team studied the
effects of cleansing the birth canal just prior to delivery.  
Preliminary data, however, indicates that the cleansing had 
little or no effect on HIV transmission.  A new study will 
examine the effects of vitamin A supplements in pregnant women.  
The data being gathered by Hopkins and other researchers are 
starting to explain why AIDS is essentially a heterosexual 
problem in Africa and not concentrated among gay men and 
injection drug users as it initially was in the United States and
Europe.  Some of the reasons for the rapid spread of the disease 
in Africa include polygamy, the large number of other untreated 
sexually transmitted diseases, and conflicts with the Roman 
Catholic church over the distribution of condoms.
      
"France Pursues Global Leadership in Gene Therapy"
Wall Street Journal (07/03/95) P. B4;  Moore, Stephen D.
     The French government, together with French pharmaceutical 
manufacturers, is striving for global leadership in gene therapy 
for the treatment of such diseases as AIDS and cancer.  The 
government is encouraging academic scientists and private 
industries to create strong alliances in order to accomplish this
medical endeavor.  In a partnership with Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, 
Genopoietic SA has initiated its first clinical trial of gene 
therapy for the treatment of brain cancers and the skin cancer 
melanoma.  Until the year 2000, the French government intends to 
spend at least $206 million on fledgling companies in order to 
increase gene-therapy efforts.
      
"Condom Controversy in a Park"
New York Times (07/03/95) P. 25;  Toy, Vivian S.
     On Sunday, the All Saints Lutheran Parish in the South Bronx 
distributed about 300 condoms at its annual basketball 
tournament--compared with about 1,500 in the previous year.  The 
significantly lower distribution rate this year is due to a 
dispute with the city, which does not want condoms given away in 
parks.  The controversy centers on the issue of what is 
considered acceptable in the city's parks.  The city says that 
condoms should not be distributed so freely in a location where 
there are many young children, but the church considers a park 
the ideal place to reach the young people who most need to learn 
about AIDS prevention.  The church distributes condoms at the 
basketball tournament because it attracts large numbers of 
teenagers.  In June, the City Parks and Recreation Department 
rejected the parish's request to distribute condoms, noting that 
it was prohibited in all city parks and recreation sites.  Last 
week, however, the New York Civil Liberties Union sued the city 
on the church's behalf, gaining limited approval to distribute 
condoms to anyone over the age of 16 who specifically requested 
one.
      
"Across the USA: Nebraska"
USA Today (07/03/95) P. 6A
     During the first half of 1995, the state of Nebraska recorded 59 
cases of AIDS.  That total is seven higher than for the same 
period in 1994, statistics show.
      
"Nixon Nephew Says He Is Cleared to Leave Cuba"
Reuters (07/01/95)
     The nephew of former U.S. president Richard M. Nixon announced on
Saturday that he was allowed to leave Cuba, where he was being 
detained pending questioning over his relationship with fugitive 
financier Robert Vesco.  Donald Nixon was Vesco's houseguest when
Vesco was arrested in Havana one month ago on suspicion of being 
a "provacateur and agent for foreign special services."  Last 
week, Nixon told reporters that he had been in Cuba for a project
to develop a drug that he says helps the immune system fight 
illnesses such as AIDS and cancer.  Vesco was the one who 
coordinated the project with Cuban officials, he said.  Nixon 
said Saturday that he hoped the project would continue, but that 
he did not know what Cuba's view of it was.
      
"Homosexual Partners Now Insurable"
Crain's New York Business (06/19/95) Vol. 11, No. 25, P. 40;  
Barge, Jeff
     Earlier this year, seven of New York's largest and most powerful 
corporate law firms announced they were extending health coverage
to the domestic partners of their homosexual employees.  Such 
coverage has flourished in the past year as many perceptions 
about it have been proven false.  For example, contrary to 
insurance industry fears, recent studies show that domestic 
partners are not at a higher risk for AIDS than heterosexual 
spouses.  A 1991 Bureau of National Affairs study of 17 companies
with domestic partner coverage found that none of the companies 
had even one AIDS-related domestic partner claim.  Some New York 
employers--such as Time Warner, HBO, and the city of New 
York--have offered the benefits for years.  New York Gov. George 
Pataki extended the coverage to 250,000 state workers this year. 
Firms adding the coverage have found a surprisingly low annual 
cost, which is primarily the result of low enrollment.  Many gay 
partners already have their own health coverage.  Another reason 
for the low participation is that some gay employees are still 
worried about making their relationships public, though 
enrollment in the program is generally kept confidential.
      
"Under Surveillance: Rubber Rooms"
Advocate (07/11/95) No. 685, P. 14
     A new bill sponsored by three members of the New York city 
council would require any place offering public sleeping 
accommodations--including hotels, motels, and homeless 
shelters--to install condom dispensers in its bathrooms.  The 
measure is "an important step" in fighting AIDS, said bill 
co-sponsor Thomas Duane.  Mayor Rudy Giuliani's administration 
supports the proposal.  "In the age of AIDS and other sexually 
transmitted diseases, we must make condom availability and usage 
a part of our everyday lives," noted Ron Johnson, Giuliani's AIDS
policy coordinator.  The Hotel Association of New York City Inc.,
however, rejected the idea, claiming that "some hotels and many 
of their clients find the public dispensing of condoms 
offensive."
      
"Tougher on Tattoos"
Journal of the American Medical Association (06/28/95) Vol. 273, 
No. 24, P. 1894
     As a result of the AIDS crisis, several state legislatures have 
increased their regulations on tattooing.  A new study reported 
in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology shows that 
in 17 states where tattooing laws have changed in the last 15 
years, 10 went from having no statute at all to issuing 
comprehensive regulations that include provisions for infection 
control and artist training verification.  "The increased 
vigilance of legislators may be due to a perceived threat of 
potentially fatal infections arising from a benign procedure," 
speculates dermatologist Whitney Tope, who notes that while there
have been no documented cases of HIV transmission from tattooing,
hepatitis B has been transmitted with needles used for tattoos.  
Tope suggests that certain elements, such as mandatory inspection
of tattoo parlors by state officials and required apprenticeship 
and licensing for cosmetic and artistic tattoo providers, be 
included in state legislation to reduce tattoo-related 
infections.
      
** The AIDS Daily Summary will not be published on Tuesday, July 4, 1995.
Publication will resume on Wednesday, July 5.
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