                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      November 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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"Nation's Blood Supply Faces New Dangers, CDC Chief Says"
"The Economics of Disease"
"1 in 3 Blacks Believes in AIDS Conspiracy, Survey Finds"
"In the Loop: GOP Invokes Free Speech for Minister's Invocation"
"Supreme Court Doesn't Slight AIDS Cases"
"Across the USA: Vermont"
"Heterosexuals Polled on HIV-Related Risks"
"Medical Discoveries Wins Permanent Injunction..."
"Nef Vaccination Against HIV Disease"
"Health Hotlines: Cancer and AIDS Pain"
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"Nation's Blood Supply Faces New Dangers, CDC Chief Says"
Baltimore Sun (11/03/95) P. 9A
     The United States must continue to protect itself against new 
threats to the safety of the blood supply, cautioned Dr. David 
Satcher, director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC), on Thursday.  "We are faced increasingly with 
new and re-emerging infectious-disease challenges," he noted.  
Though Satcher said the CDC was increasing its surveillance 
system to guard against new contaminants, he admitted that 
hemophiliacs are still the best early warning system because they
use substantial amounts of blood-clotting products made from 
human plasma.  Satcher's statements came during a hearing by a 
congressional subcommittee investigating how to prevent another 
epidemic such as HIV.
      
"The Economics of Disease"
Investor's Business Daily (11/03/95) P. B1
     A recent study by economists David Bloom of Columbia University 
and Barnard College's Ajay Mahal concludes that there is no 
significant connection between the increased number of AIDS cases
and slower economic growth.  The proposed link between the two 
was due to the fact that many African nations have both large 
numbers of AIDS patients and slow economies.  That, however, does
not necessarily mean that one causes the other.  The National 
Bureau of Economic Research study factored out the connections 
between economic growth and such factors as schooling and 
literacy, foreign trade, tourism, religion, and urbanization.  
The researchers said that eliminating the effects of these 
elements leaves AIDS with little influence on economic growth.  
Reasons why AIDS does not damage economies as much as expected 
include the large pool of unemployed workers in developing 
countries who continue where sick workers left off, the fact that
AIDS tends to affect the poor more than others, and that over 
time, health care adjusts to AIDS.  A final reason is that people
also modify their behavior, slowing the growth of AIDS below 
estimates so that any influence on the economy will be less than 
predicted.
      
"1 in 3 Blacks Believes in AIDS Conspiracy, Survey Finds"
Miami Herald (11/02/95) P. 9A
     More than one-third of 1,000 black church members believe that 
HIV was developed in a germ warfare laboratory and has since been
used to commit genocide against their race, a new survey has 
found.  Another 33 percent report being "unsure" as to whether 
AIDS was designed to kill black people.  Although the survey 
cohort was not necessarily representative of the U.S. black 
population and the findings cannot be applied to blacks overall, 
the researchers say they were surprised by the pervasive nature 
of these beliefs.  "They don't trust our public health data," 
said Sandra Crouse Quinn, an author of the 1990 survey and an 
educator at the School of Public Health at the University of 
North Carolina.  Quinn added that "if they believe AIDS is a form
of genocide they are less likely to get tested, less likely to 
use condoms, and less likely to participate in clinical trials.  
The findings were reported this week at a meeting of the American
Public Health Association.  Related Story: Boston Globe (11/02) 
P. 21
      
"In the Loop: GOP Invokes Free Speech for Minister's Invocation"
Washington Post (11/03/95) P. A21;  Kamen, Al
     Democrats in the House of Representatives say they are "outraged"
that Thursday morning's invocation was given by Rev. Louis 
Sheldon, a Presbyterian minister and chairman of the Traditional 
Values Coalition.  According to Rep. Lynn C. Woolsey (D-Calif.) 
and 21 others, Sheldon "has made a career out of vilifying 
lesbians, gays, and persons with AIDS" and has called for people 
"with HIV/AIDS [to] be confined in concentration camp-like 
establishments known as 'cities of refuge.'"  In a letter to 
House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), the Democratic 
representatives said that the Speaker should not "provide bigots 
like Rev. Sheldon with an official platform" which 
"encourages...displays of hate."  The House Speaker's press 
secretary said, however, that the invocation--which was deemed 
nonpartisan and general by the Chaplain's office--was "perfectly 
appropriate."
      
"Supreme Court Doesn't Slight AIDS Cases"
New York Times (11/03/95) P. A28;  Meyer, Jeffrey A.
     Regarding a recent commentary by Prof. Michael L. Closen on the 
Supreme Court's failure to address certain AIDS-related cases, 
assistant U.S. attorney Jeffrey A. Meyer observes in a letter to 
the editors of the New York Times that by Closen's standard, the 
Court has also not ruled on many other medical conditions.  
Cancer, for example, is the cause of death for more than 500,000 
people a year.  But only last spring, the Justices rejected a 
case in which the lower courts dismissed a mother's claim against
a health maintenance organization that refused to cover an 
experimental treatment for a rare cancer that had attacked her 
son.  The Supreme Court is not the Surgeon General, argues Meyer,
and it is not licensed to teach the public about the "myths and 
prejudices about HIV and AIDS," as Closen believes.  According to
Meyer, the duty of the Court, which receives some 6,000 petitions
for review every year, is to rule on the legally difficult cases,
which have either run into conflict in the lower courts or may 
conflict on hard legal principles.  Furthermore, even if the 
Court were to warn the public about the dangers of AIDS, the 
epidemic--like the abortion issue--would not disappear, he 
concludes.
      
"Across the USA: Vermont"
USA Today (11/03/95) P. 6A
     The Human Rights Commission of Vermont has approved a policy 
which protects in a complaint the identities of parties who may 
have privacy issues, such as people with AIDS or abused women.
      
"Heterosexuals Polled on HIV-Related Risks"
Boston Globe (11/02/95) P. 3
     A survey completed in 1990 and repeated two years later indicates
that heterosexual adults are not significantly changing their 
sexual behavior in response to HIV risk.  In fact, the 
survey--which involved more than 9,000 people from 23 high-risk 
cities and other U.S. locations--found that the number of people 
reporting multiple sexual partners increased by 4 percent.  
Additionally, there was no greater likelihood in 1992 than in 
1990 that people would seek HIV testing or consistently use 
condoms with their principal sex partner.  But there was an 
increase in condom use with secondary sex partners, and 
basketball legend Magic Johnson's appeals for people to use the 
prophylactics have also been particularly effective among blacks,
the survey found.  The study was reported in the current issue of
the American Journal of Public Health.
      
"Medical Discoveries Wins Permanent Injunction..."
Business Wire (11/02/95)
     Medical Discoveries Inc. reported on Thursday that it has been 
granted a permanent injunction against former company president 
Robert E. Morrow.  The injunction prohibits Morrow from competing
with the company in treating AIDS and other patients with MDI-P, 
Medical Discoveries' patent-pending anti-viral agent.  Under the 
terms of the settlement, Morrow, who discovered MDI-P, will 
receive reduced royalties and fees on the drug and will pay 
Medical Discoveries $150,000 in cash.  The company plans to file 
an Investigational New Drug application for use of MDI-P on U.S. 
HIV-infected or AIDS patients.
      
"Nef Vaccination Against HIV Disease"
Lancet (10/28/95) Vol. 346, No. 8983, P. 1170;  Montagnier, Luc
     In a letter to the editors of the Lancet, Luc Montagnier of the 
Pasteur Institute suggests hyperimmunization against the nef gene
to reduce and ultimately suppress HIV's pathogenicity in humans. 
Although people vaccinated against nef would not be safeguarded 
against HIV, Montagnier notes, they might have an initial virus 
load low enough to be controlled by their immune system.  
Additionally, nef-vaccinated individuals would be less infectious
to their sexual partners and unborn children.  In the long term, 
such vaccination--which would be safe and could be given to 
children before the age of sexual activity--would reduce the 
level of HIV infection, Montagnier concludes.
      
"Health Hotlines: Cancer and AIDS Pain"
Men's Health (11/95) Vol. 10, No. 9, P. 34
     Access Roxane Laboratories' Internet site provides information on
how to deal with the often inevitable pain that accompanies 
cancer and AIDS.  Users can go to "http://www.Roxane.com" to 
obtain newsletters, clinical articles, and treatment guidelines 
on cancer and AIDS pain management, as well as a schedule of 
pain-management seminars.
      
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