                     AIDS Daily Summary
                      October 04, 1994

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
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Copyright 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD

"Act Up Agitates Outside GOP Fete"
Philadelphia Inquirer (10/04/94) P. B1;  Landry, Peter;  Bustos, 
Sergio R.
     Outside a fund-raising event for Republican U.S. Senate candidate
Rick Santorum Monday night, about 400 members of the Philadelphia
chapter of Act Up lay down in the street to protest Santorum's 
lack of support for legislation that would advance gay and 
lesbian causes.  Philadelphia Act Up spokesman Paul Davis said 
that the GOP event had been targeted because of the "far-right 
politicians" that were invited to host it.  Act Up, a group known
for its confrontational style in advocating gay rights, began 
distributing fliers last week under the heading "Evil Jerks 
Coming to Philadelphia."  Santorum, a two-term congressman from 
Pittsburgh, received a zero rating in the 1993-1994 Congress from
the Human Rights Campaign Fund, the largest gay-lesbian political
organization in the United States.  Santorum's opponent, 
Democratic Sen. Harris Wofford, received an 80 percent rating 
from the group on similar bills in the Senate.
      
"In Performance: Male Prostitute With AIDS Is a Stand-In for 
Jesus"
New York Times (10/04/94) P. C16;  Hampton, Wilborn
     "Mother and Child," a new play by Matthew Lombardo, is the story 
about the confessions of the two characters, Mother and Child.  
Child is dying in a hospital room from AIDS and confesses to his 
mother all the intimate details of his life as a male prostitute 
before asking her to assist in his euthanasia.  At the same time,
Mother wants Child to know that he never had a father--except for
at the time of conception in the back seat of a car, which her 
own mother justified by calling it an Immaculate Conception.
      
"Red Cross Demands Funding Change"
Toronto Globe and Mail (10/03/94) P. A6
     The Canadian Red Cross Society said that unless the provinces 
agree to a major renovation of the country's blood supply system,
it will not continue to be a part of the blood-donation business.
If introduced, the new system would resemble the U.S. blood 
distribution system.  "We need to move away from a system where 
we're funded up front by the provinces as part of the healthcare 
system to a situation where we will arrange all the 
financing...but we will bill for the product on the basis of 
product actually used," said Doug Lindores, secretary-general of 
the CRC.  The idea was suggested in an effort by the CRC to be 
less dependent on the provinces, from whom they must get 
financing and permission before implementing new procedures.  
Lindores called the current system clumsy and slow to approve new
procedures.
      
"Experimental AIDS Treatment Prolongs Life--Studies"
Reuters (10/03/94);  Baker, Sue
     Researchers announced Monday that there was conclusive evidence 
that Passive Immune Therapy--an experimental AIDS treatment that 
uses plasma transfusions--delays the onset of AIDS in 
HIV-infected patients and extends the lives of people with AIDS. 
Dr. Abraham Karpas, from the University of Cambridge's hematology
department, said that PIT was a "breakthrough" and has no known 
side effects, but should not be considered a cure.  Under PIT, 
monthly transfusions are given of approximately a pint of plasma 
from healthy HIV-positive individuals.  The blood has the red and
white cells removed and is free from HIV, but contains high 
levels of neutralizing antibodies that kill the virus.  The study
was conducted by Hemacare Corporation and two hospitals in Paris.
It is the "first conclusive evidence that PIT is an effective 
AIDS treatment," said Karpas.
      
"Henry Ford Hospital Receives Major AIDS Research Grant"
PR Newswire (10/03/94)
     The federal government has awarded $5.2 million to the Henry Ford
Hospital in support of clinical trials in people with HIV and 
AIDS.  The Division of Infectious Diseases, headed by Dr. Louis 
Saravolatz, received the grant.  This award is the third largest 
of 16 awards given by the Terry Beirn Community Programs for 
Clinical Research on AIDS, which is one of four HIV clinical 
trial programs supported by the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases.  Beirn was a former manager of the American 
Foundation of AIDS Research and was also a health policy 
consultant to Sen. Edward Kennedy.  The CPCRA's goal is to 
identify the most effective antiretroviral treatments for 
patients at various stages of HIV-infection.  The Henry Ford 
Hospital treats more patients with AIDS than any other facility 
in Michigan, with a network of more than 20 community doctors.
      
"Local Agencies Band Together on Effort for AIDS Benefit Concert"
Richmond-Times Dispatch (10/03/94) P. D14;  Middleton, Otesa
     The Richmond, Va., advertising community has come together to 
help people with AIDS.  A piano concert will be held Friday to 
benefit the Persons with AIDS Assistance Fund at the Fan Free 
Clinic/Richmond AIDS Information Network.  The money raised will 
be used to help people with AIDS pay their bills and buy 
groceries--something they cannot always do if they are unable to 
work.
      
"The AIDS Establishment's Conspiracy of Silence"
Washington Post (10/01/94) P. A23;  Hentoff, Nat
     During the 1980s, Dr. Stephen Joseph, then New York City's 
commissioner of health, insisted that AIDS was a health 
problem--not a political one.  Joseph was attacked when he 
exposed the tourist-attracting baths as polluted, when he 
advocated contact tracing, and when he advocated widespread 
testing.  Posters around New York City called him an enemy of 
privacy.  He was spat upon and otherwise harassed--ultimately, 
Joseph was forced to leave his job.  At the same time, ACT-UP, an
enemy of Joseph, was posting signs around the city calling for 
more AIDS research, bearing the message Silence=Death.  They did 
not realize that, by being against partner notification, they 
were supporting the silence.  State Health Commissioner David 
Axelrod refused to classify AIDS as a sexually transmitted 
disease, thus the testing and notification that applied to 
syphilis and gonorrhea did not apply to HIV.  In September, Dr. 
Sanford Kuvin, an infectious diseases specialist, stated  on "60 
Minutes" that "it's the first time in the history of public 
health or medicine that a disease has been treated as a secret 
disease."  His statement, in such an influential public forum, 
will help to de-politicize AIDS.
      
"Ivory Coast Launches Five-Year AIDS Plan"
Reuters (10/03/94)
     Ivory Coast has won pledges of $2.25 million in initial funding 
for its program to fight the spread of AIDS.  The five-year, $4.8
million plan was designed to prevent transmission of HIV, care 
for AIDS patients, and control other sexually transmitted 
diseases that facilitate the transmission of HIV.  Daniel Kablan 
Duncan, prime minister of Ivory Coast, said Friday that the 
economic impact of AIDS in terms of loss of workforce and the 
cost of caring for patients threatened to negate efforts to 
revitalize the economy.  A health ministry statement said that 
the $2.25 million will cover the expenses of the first year of 
the plan.  The money will come from the Ivory Coast government, 
other donor governments, and aid organizations.  Ivory Coast has 
the highest rate of HIV-infection in West Africa and has reported
more than 18,000 cases of AIDS since it was first reported in the
country in 1985.
      
"More Concerns Emerge Over D.C. AIDS Funding"
Washington Blade (09/23/94) Vol. 25, No. 39, P. 32;  Chibbaro 
Jr., Lou
     Hank Carde, a former advisor to the Washington, D.C. Agency for 
HIV/AIDS, is threatening to sue the D.C. government for allegedly
using federal AIDS funds to pay overdue bills for services not 
related to AIDS.  Carde says that local AIDS service groups are 
approaching financial insolvency because the District is taking 
so long to repay them for services performed under contracts.  
Almost all contract funds come from the federal government's Ryan
White CARE Act, a comprehensive AIDS measure passed in 1989.  In 
a letter to D.C. Councilmember Linda Cropp--who is also chair of 
the Council's Committee of Human Services, which oversees the 
city's AIDS programs--Carde wrote that if the committee cannot 
determine why federal AIDS funds are not reaching their 
destinations on time, then he would have to look to Congress and 
the Clinton administration for a federal audit of all Washington,
D.C., AIDS programs.
      
"First Condom for Women Brings Reality to Drugstores"
American Medical News (09/26/94) Vol. 37, No. 36, P. 13
     Reality, the first condom for women, is the first product that 
enables women to protect themselves from AIDS and unwanted 
pregnancy.  The road ahead for its manufacturer, Wisconsin 
Pharmacal Co., will be difficult because of complex usage 
instructions required by the Food and Drug Administration, a 
price nearly three times that of male condoms, and the fact that 
Reality looks "funny".  Wisconsin Pharmacal Co. attempts to 
address the issue that many men do not want to wear condoms by 
including an explanatory pamphlet with the female condom.  
Reality is made of polyurethane--making it thinner, more heat 
sensitive, and more natural-feeling, says the pamphlet.  Amid 
doubts of whether Reality would sell well, Mona Doyle--president 
of Consumer Network, a market-research firm--remarked that 
Reality "fits in with the way a great many women are trying to 
live their lives."
      
