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HIV awareness activists recall friends, discuss outreach efforts
February 8, 2008
People pray during a Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day program Thursday evening at the Brotherhood Task Force of Northwest Louisiana office in Shreveport. (Val Horvath/The Times)
Christy Sanders lights a candle during the vigil. (Val Horvath/The Times)
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Candlelight flickered across the faces of four people who met Thursday to remember friends taken by AIDS.
The gathering, at Brotherhood Task Force of Northwest Louisiana's office on Hope Street in Shreveport, was similar to vigils nationwide as groups marked National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
Blacks are disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS, and the majority of people newly diagnosed with HIV are black, said Cedric Murphy, head of the outreach organization.
Blacks accounted for 63 percent of new HIV diagnoses in northwest Louisiana in 2006, according to the state Public Health Office. Whites accounted for 32 percent, and other races made up 5 percent of new diagnoses during that time.
Murphy offers HIV testing, education, referrals for services and support for HIV-positive people.
On Thursday, he and volunteers Christy Sanders and John Perry tested more than 100 students at Grambling State University in Grambling.
"We had to turn about 20 people away because we had to come back to Shreveport," Murphy said. "Every time we go to Grambling, about 150 students show up to be tested."
Sanders and Perry are passionate about spreading prevention information while conducting tests.
Sanders laughingly recalled describing how to use a condom to a couple of Grambling State students who said condoms kept breaking.
"I also tell the female students, 'You have to be responsible for keeping yourself safe,'" Sanders said.
Perry wrote the names of friends who have died of AIDS on a white board as Murphy and Sanders lit candles.
"Those are just the close friends," he said. "People think that since the medication got better, people aren't dying. They are still dying."
Sanders agreed. "One of my most hated phrases is, 'AIDS is now a chronic, manageable disease like diabetes.'"
Minister Chris Bush, who recently joined the task force's outreach efforts, is appalled at the spread of AIDS among the black community.
"It's just an epidemic that needs to be addressed. Most of what I do is addressed to the church. The black church is not saying anything about AIDS and HIV," Bush said.
"I would like black churches to become more educated about what to do, how to respond to a person who may be infected, where to send them for help."
. The Times February 8, 2008
Activists hold triumphant "family reunion" at RV resort that barred HIV-positive child
Little Caleb Glover gets to go swimming, as Campaign to End AIDS event boosts awareness of AIDS stigma
Two months ago, Alabama toddler Caleb Glover was barred from the pool at the Alabama RV resort Wales West simply because he is HIV-positive. Yesterday, Caleb, accompanied by dozens of HIV-positive activists from the Campaign to End AIDS (c2ea.org), finally got to take a dip in the Wales West pool. The Labor Day swim was part of C2EA's "family reunion" at the resort, intended to call attention to the stigma that still affects people living with HIV/AIDS.
"Our family reunion was wonderful not only because Wales West welcomed us and publicly demonstrated its respect for people living with HIV/AIDS but because we stood strong as a community and showed that we will respond when one of our own faces discrimination," said Larry Bryant, C2EA's HIV-positive national field organizer.
Wales West owner Ken Zadnichek outraged people living with HIV/AIDS and everyday folks across the nation in July when he banned HIV-positive 2-year-old Caleb from the pool, showers and other common areas of his resort after he found out about Caleb's HIV status. Yesterday, however, Zadnicheck interacted cordially with C2EA activists and did not try to stop Caleb from swimming in the pool. In a statement he said, "Wales West's goal is to provide a family-oriented RV resort and train park for the enjoyment of the public. Wales West endorses HIV/AIDS research and prevention. Wales West complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Some 50 C2EA activists attended the family reunion. Attendees, most of whom were HIV-positive, traveled in car caravans from Washington, D.C., Miami, Houston, and Dallas and came from states as far away as California and Ohio to stand in solidarity with Caleb. They barbecued, played cards, and swam in bathing suits bearing the slogan "HIV Positive."
Silvia Glover, Caleb's foster mother, was deeply moved by the family reunion. "I can't believe all the people who came from around the country to support Caleb and I. I'm fighting back for Caleb and all others who are HIV-positive, who are guilty of nothing," she said, adding, "Normally Caleb is a little shy of the water but today he had a great time."
The family reunion dominated media coverage in Southern Alabama, including stories on local ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox channels, as well as in the Mobile Press-Register.
See NBC15's story (with video) here.
Read the Press-Register article here.
To speak to Silvia Glover or Larry Bryant, or for more information please contact David Thorpe at Thorpe@housingworks.org or 646-210-1805.
The Campaign to End AIDS (C2EA) is a national network of AIDS activists led by people living with HIV/AIDS. C2EA believes that the tools exist to end the AIDS epidemic worldwide. C2EA seeks universal access to and the provision of HIV/AIDS care, prevention and treatment. To learn more about the C2EA, visit C2EA.org.
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From article by Craig Timberg
Washington Post Foreign Service | Sunday, August 19, 2007
Click here for FULL ARTICLE
JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 19 — President Bush’s $15-billion anti-AIDS program will begin investing significant money in making circumcision available to African men seeking to protect themselves from HIV, top U.S. health officials said Sunday.
Recent research showing that circumcision dramatically cuts the rate of HIV infection is highly convincing, a delegation of U.S. officials, led by Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt told reporters in Johannesburg.
Countries taking part in the President’s Emergency Program For AIDS Relief have been invited to seek money to expand access to the procedure.
Circumcision funding would be small at first, with budgets in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for individual countries. But it is likely to grow to be “an important part” of the program in coming months and years, said Kent R. Hill, an assistant administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Local organizations prepare for National HIV Testing Day
June 20, 2007
By Mary Jimenez
maryjimenez@gannett.com
Local service organizations concerned with HIV/AIDS education will be holding events and extended hours in connection with National HIV Testing Day June 27.
The Brotherhood Task Force of Northwest Louisiana is partnering with organizations around the state in a “Louisiana Caravan to end AIDS.”
The first stop on the caravan will be in Shreveport on Sunday for a barbeque fundraiser from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Central Station, 1025 Marshall St. Dinner plates will sell for $6 and include Chicken and turkey, beans, potato salad and cake.
Free HIV testing and information on sexually transmitted diseases will be available.
“We wanted to work with others around the state to get people more aware of where they can go for help,” said Cedric Murphy, executive director of the Brotherhood Task Force.
The Brotherhood Task Force will then travel to Alexandria on Monday then Baton Rouge on Tuesday before returning to Shreveport for National HIV Testing day, where will be free 20-minute OraQuick swab testing from 8 a.m. to midnight across Shreveport.
The Philadelphia Center, at 2020 Centenary Blvd. in Shreveport, offers free HIV testing with the test each Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. On June 27 they will also offer an additional testing from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Billberry Park Community Center, 1902 Alabama Ave., Shreveport.
Then from 6 p.m. to midnight the Brotherhood Task Force will give free HIV tests at their offices located at 838 Hope St., Shreveport.
HIV SCARE at Cheyney: HBCUs Not Immune
Posted Feb 14th 2007 11:42AM by Angela Bronner
Filed under: AIDS: 25 Years and Counting
 We've all heard the stories -- Howard U was a hotbed of herpes -- Hampton had a big rash of chylamidia or HPV, or something.
And who knows? These stories probably have some truth to them. If you have a contained population of people having sex, it is entirely plausible that an STD could spread like, well, an STD on a college campus.
Anyone who's even been on a college campus knows this is sensical -- you have horny, attractive, mostly-unsupervised young people thrown together in close quarters at their sexual prime. Makes perfect sense.
Unfortunately, we live in a day and age when HIV and AIDS is making FAST inroads into our culture.
This past week Historically Black College, Cheyney University had a big scare as a prostitute tested HIV positive and said she had sex with at least 10 men on campus -- she couldn't recall if she'd used condoms with all of them...
A woman who said she is HIV-positive acknowledged having sex with at least 10 male students at Cheyney University, and could not confirm that all had used condoms, police said.
University officials urged anyone who has had sexual contact with the woman to seek an HIV test immediately. (Full Story)
(The latest: Press Tossed Out of Cheyney Student Meeting)
 The worst part about infectious diseases is that they are exponential. We've all heard those stories about you having sex with every person the person you've had sex with and so on and so on...
Suppose only five of those men didn't use protection. How many WOMEN on that campus had sex with those five men? And how many men with those women and so on and so on...
And we know how very incestuous college campuses can be!
BEING COLLEGE EDUCATED IS NOT GOING TO KEEP YOU FROM BECOMING HIV POSITIVE. Sorry folk.
Here's the bottom line on this Valentine's Day: Strap up. College students: Strap up. Men who frequent hookers: Strap Up. Women who are sexually active: Strap Up.
So what if he's an AlphakappaQSigma? So what if she's homecoming queen? This Cheyney scare has brought to light that unsafe sex practices are happening, and that people really are HIV positive, and that college ain't gonna save your black a$$.
If this has brought nothing else to light, I hope it has scared the bejezus out of folk. You've got one life to live.
Strap up. Get Tested. Black Colleges -- WAKE UP! *nod to Spike Lee*
Happy Valentine's Day.
THE SILENT KILLER IN THE U.S.
"OUT OF CONTROL: AIDS IN BLACK AMERICA"
ON A SPECIAL EDITION OF "PRIMETIME" THURSDAY, AUGUST 24 ON ABC |
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| Reported by Terry Moran with a special segment featuring Peter Jennings |
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While the world marked the 25th anniversary of the first reported cases of AIDS this summer, one important story in the epidemic was largely ignored ---until now.
"OUT OF CONTROL: AIDS IN BLACK AMERICA" is the first national network television news documentary on the AIDS epidemic among African Americans--- an epidemic that is spreading fast, but that has attracted little consistent attention from leaders in public health, politics, or religion. Terry Moran reports on the crisis in a special edition of "Primetime" on on THURSDAY, AUGUST 24 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.
Included in the report is a group interview conducted by Peter Jennings shortly before his cancer diagnosis. Jennings, who played a significant role in conceptualizing the program, speaks with a group of HIV positive African American men in Atlanta who are remarkably candid about the harsh realities of dealing with AIDS in Black America.
Black Americans make up 13% of the U.S. population but account for over 50% of all new cases of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. That infection rate is eight times the rate of whites. Among women, the numbers are even more shocking--- almost 70% of all newly diagnosed HIV positive women in the U.S. are Black women. Black women are 23 times more likely to be diagnosed with AIDS than white women, with heterosexual contact being the overwhelming method of infection in Black America.
"In America today, AIDS is virtually a Black disease, by any measure," says Phill Wilson, Executive Director of The Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles. Wilson also points out that while many Black American leaders and celebrities have embraced the cause of the epidemic's toll in Africa, few have devoted similar energy to the crisis here at home.
In interviews with AIDS activists, doctors, and people on the front lines of the epidemic, "OUT OF CONTROL: AIDS IN BLACK AMERICA" paints a sobering and shocking portrait of the disease, and the failure of leadership that has allowed the epidemic to spiral into a crisis in small towns and inner cities across the country.
Terry Moran talks to experts in several key areas about what contributes to the spread of AIDS in Black America, including the disproportionate number of Black men in prison. Prisons have AIDS infection rates five times higher than outside the walls, and many men go into prison HIV negative and come out infected, often without knowing it.
"OUT OF CONTROL" also reports the results of studies from the Universities of Chicago and North Carolina which shed light on a complex reality that helps explain why heterosexual transmission among African Americans is so common: Black men are more than twice as likely as white men to have multiple female partners at the same time. Rates of all sexually transmitted diseases are higher among African Americans than other groups, and once those rates start to rise, says Dr. Jim Thomas of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, "It starts a cycle. Because now when a person goes to have sex with someone, the chances that the new partner is already infected are relatively high."
And because homosexuality and bisexuality carry such a strong stigma in Black America, African American men may choose to hide their sexual orientation. Men who have sex with men, and then also have sex with women without necessarily telling their female partners about their male encounters, is another topic covered in back to back roundtable discussions led by Jennings and Moran. Black men and women talk openly for the first time about sexual patterns in Black America, denial, secrecy, and shame. "I know of few communities as conservative as the African American community, especially about sex," says Debra Fraser-Howze, CEO of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS in New York. "And when it comes to homosexuality, it's a real problem. Nobody wants to talk about it."
Moran also reports on the role of the Black Church, traditionally the most powerful source of political and social activism in Black America. Black churches have been silent on AIDS, says The Rev. Calvin Butts III, Senior Pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. "When you see the numbers going up, you know you have not done enough," he says. Elizabeth Arledge is the producer of "OUT OF CONTROL: AIDS IN BLACK AMERICA" Kayce Freed Jennings is the Senior Producer; Tom Yellin is the Executive Producer.
*** To obtain a screener copy of the Special Edition of "Primetime" OUT OF CONTROL: AIDS IN BLACK AMERICA, please email ABC News Media Relations andrea.jones@abc.com or call ABC News Media Relations 202-222-6896 or 212-456-4934.
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| ABC Media Relations Contact: |
Andrea Jones, 202-222-6896
Cathie Levine, 212-456-4934
Alison Bridgman, 202-222-7370
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After 25 Years of AIDS^ Deadly Onslaught, We Must Create 25 Years of Healing
June 5, 2006
Today marks the 25th anniversary of America^s first AIDS diagnosis. As a nation and a community, we have come a long way in those 25 years of reeling under this virus^ onslaught. The tragedy is that we still have far, far to go if we are to bring it under control.
In all sectors, we spent too many of the epidemic^s early years caught off guard as HIV wormed its way into our lives. Scientists took years to identify the virus that caused the destruction first reported by the CDC on June 6, 1981 -- and 15 years to develop medicine that gave people a chance to continue living. Political leaders were equally slow to react: It was 1987 before President Reagan bothered to address the nation about the carnage his administration callously decided to ignore and 1990 before Congress bothered to create a comprehensive system to make care and treatment affordable for the poorest Americans living with AIDS.
As for Black America, we are arguably still working to truly mobilize a defense against the virus. For too many years, our community -- our leaders, our institutions and our selves -- chose to act like AIDS didn^t matter to us. We did this even as we watched our brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers and children get sick and die. And we did this because of our fear --- fear of the people most immediately impacted, fear of engaging yet another momentous struggle for survival, fear of losing focus on the struggles we were already engaged in.
Our fear killed too many Black Americans, and continues to do so today.
African Americans diagnosed with HIV are now eight times more likely to die from it than our white counterparts. And we are not short on such diagnoses in Black America. Nearly half of the estimated one million Americans living with HIV/AIDS are Black; more than half of the estimated 40,000 people newly diagnosed with HIV each year are Black. Yet, we are 13 percent of the population.
These simple facts are unacceptable for a disease we know how to both prevent and treat. But unless we take action -- as individuals and as a community -- the blackening of AIDS will grow more stark with each year.
In a new report (available online at BlackAIDS.org) and at a press conference in New York City today, the Black AIDS Institute urges such action. We call on the community to embrace proven HIV prevention strategies; to save lives by accessing available treatments ourselves and demanding our governments make those treatments truly accessible to all; and to finally discard the debilitating bigotry, stigma and shame that fuels this epidemic^s fire.
In many areas, we are beginning to see such steps taken. The Congressional Black Caucus and brave state legislators around the country have picked up the mantle, driving government to do something about AIDS in Black neighborhoods. Many of our civil rights and community leaders have come to see AIDS as a crucial part of their broader work. Our churches and faith leaders are increasingly willing and able to minister not just to their dying church members but to their living communities about sexual health and healing.
As individuals, we must all join this building movement and work to save our own lives as well. The Institute^s founding motto is that AIDS affects our people, which makes it our problem, and demands we find our own solutions. Let^s not wait until it^s too late to do so. Let^s make the next 25 years into a story about how we rose up and healed our communities -- and our selves.
Learn More at BlackAIDS.org
MEDIA CONTACT
Phill Wilson
Executive Director
Black AIDS Institute
213-353-3610
phillw@blackaids.org
Black AIDS Institute
213-353-3610
Mr. Cedric Murphy
838 Hope Street
Shreveport, LA 71101
March 10, 2006
The Honorable Jim McCrery
U.S. House of Representatives
2104 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-1804
Dear Congressman McCrery:
Today, you have an important opportunity to help prevent HIV/AIDS transmission becoming signing on to H.R. 3854, The Microbicide Development Act.
One of the most far-sighted anti-HIV measures in years, the Microbicide Development Act has been written to strengthen and accelerate microbicide research and development at the National Institutes of Health, the US Agency for International Development, and the Centers for Disease Control.
Anti-HIV microbicides - creams or gels that women could use to protect themselves from HIV infection - were hailed as one of the world^s most promising new HIV-prevention technologies at the 2004 Bangkok AIDS Conference. Scientists estimate that a safe and effective microbicide could be available within 5-7 years, and the impact would be significant.
But this effort will require a significant investment on a global scale. With an estimated 14,000 new HIV infections every day, an effective microbicide could make a huge difference. We must move aggressively to develop these prevention products and provide adequate funding for treatment and care of the tens of millions of people who are already infected with HIV.
Legislation to promote microbicide research is urgently needed. For more information or to sign on to H.R.3854, please contact Liz Osborn in Rep. Shays^ office at 5-5541, Cathy Hurwit in Rep. Schakowsky^s office at 5-2111, or Jennifer Luciano in Rep. Davis^ office at 5-5006.
I hope to hear from you soon on this urgent issue.
Sincerely,
Cedric Murphy
Daily HIV/AIDS Report
Science & Medicine | Gilead, Bristol-Myers Squibb To Develop Once-a-Day Pill for Treating HIV; Study Shows Drug Combination More Effective Than Standard Regimen
[Jan 19, 2006]
Gilead and Bristol-Myers Squibb say they jointly have developed a regimen for treating HIV that is effective in suppressing HIV viral loads with few side effects and could lead to the development of a one-pill, once-a-day treatment regimen, according to a study published on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Washington Post reports (Gillis, Washington Post, 1/19). Joel Gallant of Johns Hopkins University and colleagues looked at 517 HIV-positive patients who had never received antiretroviral therapy and had HIV viral loads greater than 10,000 copies per milliliter (Gallant et al., New England Journal of Medicine, 1/19). The patients were randomly divided into two groups: one group received a combination of BMS^ Sustiva and Gilead^s Viread and Emtriva as separate components and the other group received a combination of Sustiva and GlaxoSmithKline^s Combivir (Vollmer, Charlotte News & Observer, 1/19). Combivir, which is taken twice daily, is the standard treatment taken by one in five HIV-positive patients in the U.S., according to GSK (Tansey, San Francisco Chronicle, 1/19). After 48 weeks, researchers found "significantly greater responses" in the group receiving the Sustiva, Viread and Emtriva treatment, with 84% of patients in that group showing a reduced viral load compared with 73% in the other group. According to the study, patients taking the Sustiva, Viread and Emtriva treatment also experienced fewer side effects than those associated with the standard three-drug regimen (New England Journal of Medicine, 1/19). According to the Post, BMS and Gilead already have combined the three drugs into one pill (Washington Post, 1/19). Gilead plans to ask FDA to approve its once daily pill later this year, the Chronicle reports (San Francisco Chronicle, 1/19).
Reaction
"I think it^s a huge thing these companies are going to do," Nelson Vergel, an HIV/AIDS treatment activist in Houston, said, adding that with the "right price" in developing countries, the one pill, once a day, could become the "main treatment [for HIV] in the world" (Washington Post, 1/19). However, GSK in a statement questioned the value of the results of a single study, adding that Combivir has been tested in more than 50 studies and each time has been proven effective. Mark Shaefer, head of GSK^s HIV drug development division, said, "We are always interested in learning more about existing treatments for HIV, but we realize the limited value of a single, open-label study to make comparisons among products" (Charlotte News & Observer, 1/19). Gilead and BMS plan to seek approval for the pill in the U.S. and Europe by the end of 2006 (Washington Post, 1/19).
Source: Kaiser Weekly HIV/AIDS Report
HIV Prevention Hope: Yogurt Bugs That Make Antiviral Drugs
Submitted by BJS on Tue, 2006-01-24 18:11.
Researchers have come up with a novel delivery system for anti-AIDS drugs: milk-curdling bacteria used to make yogurt and cheese.
“We’ve found that you can engineer these bugs to secrete drugs – in this case, a viricide that disables HIV,” said Bharat Ramratnam, assistant professor of medicine at Brown Medical School and attending physician at Rhode Island Hospital and The Miriam Hospital. “The hope is to use the bacteria as the basis for a microbicide which can prevent sexual transmission of HIV.”
Ramratnam oversaw the bug-to-drug experiments conducted by an international team of scientists who recently published their results in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
Ramratnam hatched the idea a few years ago after reading about an intriguing discovery: A protein called cynovirin binds to HIV and prevents it from entering cells in the mucous membranes – a feat confirmed in both laboratory and animal studies. Ramratnam was already familiar with lactic acid bacteria, or LAB. They help make fermented foods such as yogurt and cheese by turning carbohydrates into lactic acid. LAB are also known for their “promiscuity,” or the ability to accept foreign DNA, then produce proteins called for in these new genetic recipes.
So why not introduce cynovirin DNA into these bacterial protein factories?
That’s what the research team tried. Using blasts of electric current, the team made tiny holes in LAB membranes and inserted circular bits of DNA that carry the recipe for cynovirin. The team succeeded: The genetically modified LAB began cranking out the HIV-blocking protein.
The hope is to use these bioengineered bacteria as the active ingredient in a microbicide – a foam, cream or suppository that can be applied to, or inserted into, the vagina or anus before sex to prevent HIV transmission. Scientists around the world are trying to develop these topical drugs as weapons in the battle against HIV/AIDS, which has killed more than 25 million people. According to the World Health Organization, this makes the HIV/AIDS epidemic one of the most destructive in recorded history.
Ramratnam, an internist who received his medical training before the advent of life-extending antiretrovirals, hopes to have a treatment to test in humans in three years. A microbicide using modified LAB will be tested in monkeys beginning this summer.
“Before we can move into human trials, we need to meet a few challenges in animal trials,” he said. “We need to be sure that LAB make enough cynovirin and make sure that the cynovirin is effective. If that happens, we may have a terrific treatment on our hands.”
Ramratnam also plans to genetically modify LAB to crank out proteins that disable salmonella, shigella, cholera and other pathogens that enter the body through the mucous membranes.
Ramratnam is a scientist with the Lifespan/Tufts/Brown Center for AIDS Research. Other members of the research team include Oliver Pusch with the Medical University of Austria, Daniel Boden from the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Sean Hannify with the Institute of Food Research, Lynne Tucker from Brown Medical School, Michael Boyd from the USA Cancer Research Institute at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, and Jerry Wells from the Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences.
The National Institutes of Health, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Charles E. Culpeper Biomedical Pilot Initiative funded the work.
From Brown University
By Tracy Stokes, BET.com Staff Writer & Wire Reports
Posted Nov. 4, 2005 – An Ex-D.C. government worker, who police say has known since 1996 that he has the AIDS virus, was sentenced Thursday to almost 22 years in prison for luring women and teenage girls into sexual relationships without telling them that he had the disease, The Washington Post reported.
Washington, D.C. Superior Court Judge Robert I. Richter told 34-year-old Sundiata Basir, a onetime assistant to a deputy mayor, that he "knowingly put uncountable people at grave risk," calling him a "violent, self-absorbed outlaw."
:: AD ::
Among the victims were a 15-year-old girl and Basir^s wife, who was then 17, The Post reported. Basir pleaded guilty to first-degree child sexual abuse in the former case, and second degree cruelty to children in the latter. He also pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated assault in the case of a woman he had a long-term relationship with who later became HIV-positive, the paper reported.
"We have a man who repeatedly and wantonly went around town, met young women -- girls -- gained their trust, and then when they asked him whether he had AIDS, when they inquired about whether they should have unprotected sex he outright lied to them," U.S. Attorney Ken Wainsteen told WTOP radio.
Prosecutors told The Associated Press that they were able to identify seven victims, and that Basir has fathered seven children with six women and girls but none of the children has been diagnosed with HIV.
Vaginal Gel Trials Start in Africa
Date: Monday, October 31, 2005
By: Clare Nullis, Associated Press
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) - Researchers in Africa have started what they describe as the largest trials ever held of a vaginal gel that could help women protect themselves against HIV in countries where men are notoriously reluctant to use condoms.
About 10,000 women in South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia. are expected to take part in the trial of PRO 2000, which could provide a physical barrier that prevents HIV from reaching target cells during sexual intercourse. It is one of a number of microbicide products in various stages of clinical development around the world. The first nine volunteers were enrolled in Johannesburg this week, said Sibongile Walaza of the University of Witwatersrand Reproductive Health Research Unit.
HIV infection is rising more rapidly among women than men in many parts of the world. Half of all adults living with the virus that causes AIDS are female, according to U.N. figures.
In sub-Saharan Africa, home to more than 25 million of the nearly 40 million people infected globally, the figure is nearly 60 percent, with most new infections acquired through heterosexual intercourse. Yet strong taboos exist on the continent against the use of condoms.
"If there is any other mechanism for women to protect themselves using their own power, then that is absolutely critical," Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said at a news briefing Thursday.
[Oct 13, 2005]
An advisory panel of FDA on Nov. 3 is scheduled to review a proposal to make OraSure Technologies^ rapid HIV test available for use in the home, the New York Times reports. After the panel makes a recommendation, OraSure said it likely will formally apply to sell the test over-the-counter. The test, called OraQuick Advance Rapid HIV 1/2 Antibody Test, has been proven safe, effective and easy to use, and currently is only sold to doctors and clinics. The test requires users to swab their gums and then place the swab in a holder. After 20 minutes, one line appears on the strip if the HIV result is negative, two appear if the result is positive. At-home HIV testing has been debated for the past 18 years, as AIDS advocates and public health officials have feared that making such tests available might cause "widespread suicides, panic and a rush to public health clinics," the Times reports. A 1987 application for an at-home HIV test stalled because of such concerns. However, Freya Spielberg, a researcher at the Center for AIDS Research at the University of Washington, said the availability of a rapid, at-home HIV test "is the most powerful strategy we have to bring down HIV infections." She said that about one-quarter of the nearly one million HIV-positive people in the U.S. do not know they are infected, and between 40% to 45% of people who test HIV-positive do so less than one year before developing AIDS (Harris, New York Times, 10/13). Also, about 8,000 people who test positive for HIV annually at health clinics never return to pick up their results, according to the Allentown Morning Call (Blumenau, Allentown Morning Call, 10/13). Doug Michels, OraSure^s president and CEO, said he plans to include in the test^s label advice about counseling, adding that OraSure would include anything FDA says is necessary (New York Times, 10/13).
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SUMMARY AS OF:
2/9/2005--Passed House, amended.
Expresses support for the goals and ideals of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (February 7) and recognizes the fifth anniversary of its observation.
Encourages: (1) State and local governments to recognize such day, publicize its importance among their communities, and encourage individuals to undergo HIV testing; (2) media organizations to carry messages in support of such day; (3) enactment of effective HIV prevention programs; and (4) States to enact HIV surveillance programs consistent with recognized infectious disease control methods to ensure accurate data, better targeting of resources, and improved delivery of health services to those living with HIV.
Commends the President for highlighting HIV/AIDS in the State of the Union Address and for emphasizing the importance of addressing HIV/AIDS in the African-American community.
The Hilltop - Nation & World
Issue: 10/3/05
Bennett Says: ^Abort Black Babies to Reduce Crime^
By Kevin Harris
President George Bush, over the weekend, joined a growing list of leaders and lawmakers in condemning conservative commentator William J.Bennett, who said last week that "if you wanted to reduce crime, you could-if that were your sole purpose-you could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down."
"The President believes the comments were not appropriate," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Friday during a briefing with reporters.
Bennett, a former education secretary during the Regan Administration, made his remarks Wednesday during the broadcast of his radio show "Morning in America." Bennett has not apologized for his remarks, telling reporters Friday that his comments were taken out of context.
"Anyone paying attention to this debate should be offended by those who have selectively quoted me, distorted my meaning, and taken out of context the dialogue I engaged in this week," Bennett said. "Such distortions from leaders of organizations and parties is a disgrace not only to the organizations and instituitions they serve, but to the First Amendment."
He said that the media, as well as democrats calling for him to apologize are overlooking the fact that he followed up his statement with remarks saying that aborting all black babies to reduce crime would be immoral.
Bennett went on to "renounce all forms of bigotry" and to say that "my record in trying to provide opportunities for, as well as save the lives of minorities in this country stands up just fine."
Democratic leaders were not convinced and unleashed a flurry of criticisms on Bennett. "These are shameful words," said House minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on the floor of the House.
Despite the backlash, no plans have been announced to cancel Bennett^s radio show.
The Hilltop - Nation & World
Issue: 10/25/05
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