                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      September 5, 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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"Roche Unit Seeks Approval of AIDS Drug"
"Roche Suing Akzo over HIV Test Technology"
"WHO Chief Warns of Women's Vulnerability to HIV"
"Time to Legalize Syringe Sales?"
"No Cover-Up Intended, Blood Official Says"
"Lesbians Slip Through Health System Cracks--Expert"
"Laos Launches AIDS Prevention Drive"
"Bombay Blood Scandal Raises Question of Safety"
"Smear Campaign"
"AIDS Drugs by Mail"
"FDA Announces Public Workshop and Advisory Subcommittee Meeting 
on Current Issues in AIDS Clinical Trials"
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"Roche Unit Seeks Approval of AIDS Drug"
Wall Street Journal (09/05/95) P. B2;  Langreth, Robert
     Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., a division of the Swiss drug and chemical
maker Roche Holding Ltd., has filed an application with the U.S. 
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its protease 
inhibitor Invirase.  In clinical tests, most patients taking 
Invirase in conjunction with other drugs did not develop viral 
resistance to the drug for at least one year.  FDA officials have
pledged to review Roche's submission within six months, an 
extremely rapid review.  Other pharmaceutical companies, such as 
Merck & Co. and Abbott Laboratories, are in the early stages of 
testing their own protease therapies.
      
"Roche Suing Akzo over HIV Test Technology"
Investor's Business Daily (09/05/95) P. A30
     Switzerland's Roche Holding AG has announced that it is suing 
Organon Teknika NV, a division of Dutch drug maker Akzo Nobel NV,
because a diagnostic technology used for HIV detection allegedly 
violates an existing Roche patent.  A company spokesman said that
Organon Teknika's NASBA technology is "very similar" to Roche's 
PCR, or polymerase chain reaction.  "We want the court to order 
them no longer to produce NASBA until questions are settled," the
spokesman added.  Akzo Nobel, however, claims that Roche's 
product is "essentially different" from the NASBA disease 
detection system.
      
"WHO Chief Warns of Women's Vulnerability to HIV"
Reuters (09/05/95);  O'Neill, Mark
     According to the World Health Organization (WHO), women face the 
disheartening reality of being infected with HIV more rapidly 
than men, in part because of their economic dependence on males. 
"The bleak reality is that the sexual and economic subordination 
of women fuels the HIV/AIDS pandemic," WHO stated in its position
paper at the Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women in 
Beijing.  WHO said that by the year 2000, there will be 14 
million HIV-infected women and about 4 million women will have 
died from the disease.  "The number of infected women with HIV is
increasing more rapidly than men in Africa, in southern Asia," 
noted WHO director-general Hiroshi Nakajima.  It is essential, 
therefore, to provide women--particularly young women--with the 
skills and confidence to reject sex when they do not want it.  
Women at a grassroots forum near Beijing, however, said WHO was 
following the wrong methods to fight the disease.  These women 
advocated the rapid development of microbicides that women could 
use to fight HIV, rather than relying on men to use condoms.
      
"Time to Legalize Syringe Sales?"
New York Times (09/05/95) P. A16
     Encouraging evidence in the war against AIDS comes from a 
Connecticut study which shows that a small change in drug laws 
may significantly reduce the spread of HIV among injection drug 
users, write the editors of the New York Times.  In 1992, 
Connecticut adopted laws which allowed pharmacists to sell and 
individuals to possess as many as 10 non-prescription needles at 
a time.  New studies from the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention and the Connecticut Department of Health show that by 
1993, more than 80 percent of the state's pharmacies were selling
needles over the counter and more drug addicts were obtaining 
their needles from pharmacies than on the streets.  In addition, 
the users report a nearly 40 drop in needle-sharing.  These 
findings suggest, the editors say, that other states should 
consider changing their needle-selling and possession laws, which
were originally designed to prevent drug abuse.  Changing these 
laws appears to be a relatively cheap and effective way to fight 
AIDS, the editors conclude.
      
"No Cover-Up Intended, Blood Official Says"
Toronto Globe and Mail (09/01/95) P. A1;  Nasrulla, Amber
     A senior member of the Canadian Blood Committee said on  Thursday
that the committee destroyed tapes and documents related to the 
country's blood supply as a matter of housekeeping, not because 
it was trying to cover up something.  At the inquiry into 
Canada's tainted blood scandal--in which thousands of Canadians 
became infected with HIV and hepatitis C--Dr. Wayne Sullivan, the
committee's former Nova Scotia representative, said the audio 
tapes were used only to accurately transcribe the minutes of the 
meetings, and that once they were approved, they were erased.  
However, Mr. Justice Horace Krever press asked Sullivan and two 
other former committee members to clarify their explanation.  
"You want me to believe that there is no connection between the 
decision to destroy this information and the realization that if 
you didn't destroy it, it might be available to someone who might
resort to the freedom of information act?" he asked.
      
"Lesbians Slip Through Health System Cracks--Expert"
Reuters (09/01/95);  O'Donnell, Lynne
     Western health care systems are missing lesbians, a U.S. expert 
said on Friday.  "Lesbians are slipping through the cracks," said
Ellie Emanuel of the University of Wisconsin at Stout's School of
Education and Human Services.  "Women think that if they don't 
have sex with men they don't have to worry about annual check-ups
that would detect disease."  At the Non-Governmental 
Organizations women's forum in a Beijing suburb, participants 
heard that lesbians often do not believe they are at risk for 
sexually transmitted diseases.  "There is a growing recognition 
that women and lesbians are at risk of getting AIDS through 
sexual behavior and needle-sharing," said one Swedish 
participant.  She estimated that more than 20 percent of lesbians
in the United States had sex with a high-risk partner, and that 
between 1 and 2 percent of all women with AIDS were lesbians.  
Emanuel urged lesbians to be identified in the community and 
instructed about issues related to their personal health.
      
"Laos Launches AIDS Prevention Drive"
Reuters (09/01/95)
     Laos has launched a campaign to stem the spread of HIV in the 
Southeast Asian country, the United Nations (UN) reported on 
Friday.  In a statement, the UN Development Program (UNDP) said 
that it had given the Lao Ministry of Health $252,000 for an 
18-month campaign which will involve reorganization of the 
country's AIDS control body and the promotion of AIDS awareness. 
The UNDP also said, "Only 59 HIV positive cases, resulting in 10 
AIDS deaths, have ever been reported in Laos," compared to 
significantly higher rates in such countries as Thailand, Burma, 
and Cambodia.
      
"Bombay Blood Scandal Raises Question of Safety"
Lancet (08/26/95) Vol. 346, No. 8974, P. 566;  Kumar, Sanjay
     Recent reports of contaminated blood and alleged theft at the Red
Cross Society Blood Bank in India have emphasized the issue of 
blood safety in the country.  Media reports based on leaked 
documents claim that the blood bank provided at least 15 bags of 
HIV- or hepatitis B-contaminated blood to several Bombay 
hospitals between 1992 and 1994.  Other documents reveal that 
hundreds of bags of blood missing in official reports during much
of that time were "adjusted" in the monthly summaries.  One bank 
official says that blood meant to be thrown out may have been 
stolen for sale.  Those aware of the scandal are not surprised.  
"Hardly much has changed since the Fergusson report," says H.D. 
Shourie, director of the consumer rights group Common Cause, 
referring to the 1990 health ministry study on the blood banking 
system.  The Indian Health Organization, which has taken up 
several issues raised by the scandal, reports that more than half
of the country's blood supply is not screened for HIV, and that 
75 percent of the World Bank's $84.5 million loan to fight AIDS 
has not been spent over the last three years.
      
"Smear Campaign"
POZ (08/95-09/95) No. 9, P. 83;  Horn, Tim
     For people with HIV, particularly women, yeast infections can be 
recurrent problems and are frequently associated with disease 
progression.  A yeast infection often found in HIV-infected 
people is thrush, or candidiasis, which often manifests itself in
the mouth, esophagus, digestive tract, and vagina.  Risa 
Denenberg, a family nurse practitioner who specializes in the 
care of HIV-positive women, says, "Cultures, or smears, should be
obtained during regular six-month checkups."  Denenberg also 
warns that the yeast infections "can often be obscured by the 
symptoms of HIV infection."  There are several treatments to 
chose from, including Monistat-7, Gyne-Lotrimin, and Femstat.  
Oral treatments, such as fluconazole and ketaconazole are also 
available for the treatment of recurrent or severe yeast 
infections.  In addition, it is important to distinguish whether 
repeated yeast infections are individual recurring infections, or
if they treatment failures--which Denenberg says occurs when an 
infection fails to clear after a full seven-day course of 
treatment.  Preventative measures that may reduce the likelihood 
of new infections include low-dose oral antifungal drugs, reduced
sugar intake, and the consumption of yogurt containing 
Lactobacillus acidophilus.
      
"AIDS Drugs by Mail"
Pharmaceutical Representative (09/95) Vol. 25, No. 9, P. 4
     A new mail-order pharmacy will provide low-cost medications to 
AIDS patients within 24 to 48 hours of ordering.  MedExpress, 
which was recently introduced by the National Association of 
People with AIDS, will offer all medications approved by the Food
and Drug Administration, as well as nutrients and supplements.  
The service will also assign each patient a "member advocate," 
who will provide data on prescription interactions and side 
effects, stress management, and nutrition.
      
"FDA Announces Public Workshop and Advisory Subcommittee Meeting 
on Current Issues in AIDS Clinical Trials"
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ()
     The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is holding a public 
workshop on current issues in HIV clinical trials on Sept. 6 and 
7, 1995.  At the workshop--to which registration is 
required--members of the industry and the public will be able to 
discuss issues regarding the design and conduct of clinical 
trials of drugs for the treatment of HIV, as well as propose 
strategies for overcoming known obstacles.  A major challenge to 
developers of HIV treatments is the successful design and conduct
of clinical confirmatory trials, which are needed to provide the 
data used to confirm the clinical benefit of drugs that have 
received accelerated approval.  The workshop will be followed by 
a joint meeting on Sept. 9 of subcommittees of the Antiviral 
Drugs Advisory Committee and the National Task Force on AIDS Drug
Development.  The subcommittees will hear summary presentations 
from the workshop,  and will discuss recommendations on the 
scientific design of future HIV clinical trials.  For more 
information, call the AIDS Clinical Trial Information Service at 
(800) 874-2572.
      
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