                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                       August 7, 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
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Copyright 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"Animal Advocates Protest Plans for a Primate Lab"
"DOE Said to Delay Test of Cancer 'Cure'"
"A Lesson in Blood"
"Across the USA: Georgia"
"Compensate AIDS-Stricken Hemophiliacs"
"Obituaries: Jose A. Alvarez, 34; AIDS Social Worker"
"Benefits of HIV Screening of Blood Transfusions in Zambia"
"New Roles for AZT?"
"Heaven Can Wait"
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"Animal Advocates Protest Plans for a Primate Lab"
New York Times (08/07/95) P. B5;  Revkin, Andrew C.
     Animal-welfare activists and conservationists have joined the 
staff of New York University's Laboratory for Experimental 
Medicine and Surgery in Primates (Lemsip) in protesting plans to 
shift the lab's ownership to the Coulston Foundation, which has 
violated federal animal-welfare regulations in the past.  The 
chimpanzees and monkeys at Lemsip have been involved in such 
research areas as AIDS and organ transplantation.  "If the 
Coulston Foundation can't even insure that its own facilities are
in compliance with the law," said Suzanne Roy of In Defense for 
Animals, "how can they take over another facility?"  However, the
foundation's leader, Dr. Frederick Coulston, defended his record 
and plans, and rejected reports that many of his 540 chimpanzees 
were locked in small separate cages.  "We keep most of them in 
family groups," he explained.  Dr. Jan Moor-Jankowski, director 
of Lemsip, expressed concerns that the $705,000 endowment that is
meant to be used for the care of the primates once they are no 
longer useful for research might be redirected if the Coulston 
Foundation takes over.  Although the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research 
Center had also proposed taking over Lemsip, center director Dr. 
David Ho said the deal with Coulston is "virtually a done deal."
      
"DOE Said to Delay Test of Cancer 'Cure'"
Washington Times (08/07/95) P. A6
     A new report from the Department of Energy (DOE) states that 
although U.S. researchers may soon successfully test a new cure 
for cancer, resistance may negate its potential benefits.  The 
Cincinnati Enquirer reported that cancer specialist David 
Scheinberg of New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center 
is planning human trials of a treatment involving radium-based 
medical isotopes, a process which has previously cured leukemia 
in test tubes and animals.  Scheinberg said that preliminary 
studies are being conducted to determine whether the treatment 
could help patients with cancer of the colon, lung, breast, 
liver, and ovaries, as well as people with HIV or AIDS.
      
"A Lesson in Blood"
New York Times (08/07/95) P. A13;  Herbert, Bob
     Although there were strong indications in the early 1980s that 
the nation's blood supply was contaminated with HIV, relatively 
little action was taken, writes Bob Herbert in the New York 
Times.  According to a recently released report from the 
Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, one of
the reasons for this inaction was the belief of top blood 
products officials that moving too fast might prove expensive.  
The report said that the Food and Drug Administration was too 
dependent on the counsel of the industry it was charged with 
regulating.  Now, critics of Sen. Bob Dole's (R-Kan.) regulatory 
reform bill are concerned that it is an industry-sponsored 
attempt to damage the agencies responsible for safeguarding 
Americans' health.  The bill should have been dead, writes 
Herbert, but two senators--Charles Robb (D-Va.) and Kent Conrad 
(D-N.D.)--have tried to find a compromise to save the measure 
that was developed and largely drafted by members of the 
industry.  This could be explained by the fact that Sen. Robb's 
former law firm, Hunton & Williams, helped draft the bill, which 
would be advantageous to its corporate clients, notes Herbert.  
In addition, Sen. Conrad has received nearly $400,000 from PAC's 
related to the two industry groups, Project Relief and the 
Alliance for Reasonable Regulation.  All in all, concluded 
Herbert, money should not represent the quality of our lives.
      
"Across the USA: Georgia"
USA Today (08/07/95) P. 6A
     In rural Georgia, the number of AIDS cases tripled between 1990 
and 1994, according to The Florida Times-Union.  Health 
authorities attributed the increase to unprotected sex by both 
heterosexuals and homosexuals.
      
"Compensate AIDS-Stricken Hemophiliacs"
Philadelphia Inquirer (08/05/95) P. A9;  Klein, Andrew R.
     Advocates of AIDS programs should thank Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.)
for bringing attention to the dangerous status of the Ryan White 
CARE Act, writes associate professor Andrew R. Klein of Samford 
University's Cumberland School of Law in the Philadelphia 
Inquirer.  Another worthy, though much less-publicized, bill is 
the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act of 1995, which is named 
for a Florida teenager who died of AIDS three years ago.  The 
measure represents Congress' first attempt to address the plight 
of hemophiliacs who contracted HIV from blood clotting products. 
The bill, however, does not do enough; Congress should reimburse 
claimants for all medical expenses related to their HIV 
infection, Klein contends.  In addition, pharmaceutical companies
that produced blood products should be taxed to help finance the 
compensation fund, rather than use general funds,  Although it is
not yet perfect, the Ricky Ray bill is an ideal beginning to 
solving a terrible problem, concludes Klein.
      
"Obituaries: Jose A. Alvarez, 34; AIDS Social Worker"
Philadelphia Inquirer (08/05/95) P. A10;  Wallace, Andy
     Jose A. Alvarez, a social worker who was commended for bringing 
AIDS programs to Philadelphia's Latino community, died of 
AIDS-related complications on Thursday at the age of 34.  "Jose 
Alvarez was one of the first Latinos in Philadelphia to recognize
the problem that AIDS posed to the Latino community, and to do 
something about it," said Alba Martinez, executive director of 
Congreso de Latinos Unidos.  Alvarez began his work with AIDS 
nine years ago when, as an employee of Episcopal Hospital, he 
volunteered to comfort AIDS patients and educate their families 
about the disease.  In 1988, Alvarez moved to the Congreso, where
he served as a hotline counselor, outreach worker, HIV testing 
counselor, and case manager of Programa Esfuerzo--which he helped
develop.  He is survived by his mother, father, two sisters, two 
brothers, and his maternal grandmother.
      
"Benefits of HIV Screening of Blood Transfusions in Zambia"
Lancet (07/22/95) Vol. 346, No. 8969, P. 225;  Foster, Susan;  
Buve, Anne
     Although blood transfusion continues to be a major path of HIV 
transmission in developing countries, testing for the virus is 
often expensive, and dependable donor support is hard to secure. 
Foster and Buve examined the cost and benefits of screening blood
for HIV.  They used data obtained at a district hospital in 
Zambia, where HIV seroprevalence among blood donors was nearly 16
percent.  At the Monze District Hospital in 1991, more than 1,000
transfusions were given and approximately 150 cases of 
transfusion-related HIV infection were averted.  Overall, the HIV
screening cost U.S. $4745, while the cost per case of HIV 
prevented was $31.62.  This protection for the community served 
by the hospital cost $0.03 per person.  The researchers estimate 
that 3,625 undiscounted healthy years of life were saved, of 
which nearly 70 percent were in children under six.  The cost was
$1.32 per year of life preserved.  In sum, the savings from blood
screenings exceed the costs of screening by a factor of between 
2.7 and 3.5.  Therefore, the authors feel that it is critical to 
maintain both financial and political support for the HIV 
screening of blood for transfusions.
      
"New Roles for AZT?"
Science (07/14/95) Vol. 269, No. 5221, P. 163
     Recent scientific reports have hinted at additional uses of the 
AIDS drug AZT--including for two diseases that involve an 
abnormal proliferation of cells, leukemia and psoriasis.  In an 
article in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from 
the University of Southern California reported that they tested a
combination of AZT and interferon-alpha in 19 patients who had an
extremely lethal form of adult T cell leukemia-lymphoma.  Four 
were also HIV-positive.  According to the researchers, 11 
patients had "major responses" to the treatment, including five 
total remissions.  The scientists suggested that the fast-growing
cancer cells are targeted because they absorb the most AZT.  
Another study, published in the June issue of the Journal of the 
American Academy of Dermatology, reported that AZT cleared up 
most of the psoriasis in four of 12 patients.  One researcher 
from the University of Texas at Houston theorized that AZT, which
disables a key enzyme that HIV needs to copy itself, may slow 
skin cell reproduction.  Both teams hope to further test these 
treatments in larger, controlled trials.
      
"Heaven Can Wait"
POZ (08/95-09/95) No. 9, P. 32;  Sieder, Jill Jordan
     Last October, Denise Khan became an evangelist minister.  Khan, 
43, learned she was infected with HIV four years ago, when her 
estranged husband called from the hospital to tell her that he 
was positive.  Now Khan's mission has devoted her life to 
educating her fellow ministers about HIV and convincing women to 
have safer sex.  When she speaks to a church group or group of 
ministers and sees them thinking, "It can't touch me, I'm not a 
part of this," Khan tells them, "I am one of you, and I am HIV 
positive, OK?"  Although Khan is pleased that many churches are 
developing AIDS ministries, she says many churches continue to 
resist the concept of HIV risk reduction.  "To talk about 
prevention, preachers have to talk about sex and that's where 
many draw the line," she says.
      
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