                     AIDS Daily Summary
                      November 28, 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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"Heroin Influx Ignites a Growing AIDS Epidemic in China"
"Teen Sex Drama Ignores AIDS"
"Obituaries: John Watters, 47, an Advocate of Needle Exchange 
Programs"
"Experts Cite Prostitutes' Role in AIDS"
"AIDS Fight Brings 2,500 to Vizcaya"
"Across the USA: Washington"
"Inside Art: A Seventh Day Without Art"
"D.C. Area Residents Less Healthy on Average"
"Quick Uptakes...AIDS and Human Rights"
"The Glamorization of AIDS"
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"Heroin Influx Ignites a Growing AIDS Epidemic in China"
New York Times (11/28/95) P. A3;  Tyler, Patrick E.
     The heroin trade that swept into China during the 1980s has 
undermined the stability of thousands of peasant villages and has
helped spread HIV among the country's injection drug users.  
Although China's Ministry of Public Health reports that there are
2,428 cases of HIV infection, few people have been tested for the
virus, and some health officials estimate that there could be up 
to 100,000 infected individuals in the country.  The majority of 
the carriers are thought to be in Yunnan Province, which borders 
on Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam and where needle sharing and sexual
intercourse has spread the deadly virus.  In the Yunnan town of 
Ruili, for example, condoms have only been available for the past
two years because China's birth control program had previously 
imposed intrauterine devices or sterilization on women.  
According to city residents, however, by the time the condoms 
arrived in Ruili, many people had already become infected through
the brothels.  Still, some of the area villages have now taken 
the initiative against drug addiction, and are no longer ignoring
the problem.
      
"Teen Sex Drama Ignores AIDS"
Baltimore Sun (11/28/95) P. 1E;  Zurawik, David
     Fox's made-for-television movie "The Price of Love" takes a look 
at the world of teenage runaways and male prostitution in 
Hollywood.  According to the story, 16-year-old Bret--played by 
actor Peter Facinelli--is first abused and thrown out by his 
step-mother, and then ends up on Santa Monica Boulevard as a male
hustler.  But the film virtually ignores the AIDS problem, even 
though it focuses on a very risky profession.  Bret is shown 
entering the cars of at least three men to have sex with them, 
and is also shown sleeping with a female runaway.  The only point
at which some mention of the consequences of such behavior is 
made is when an older hustler named Beau reproaches Bret for 
turning his first trick without first talking to him.  "There's 
stuff you gotta know about cops, safe sex.  You could get 
yourself hurt," Beau says.  Bret is quickly arrested by an 
undercover policeman, yet there are no health consequences for 
him or his partners, and safe sex is never again brought up.
      
"Obituaries: John Watters, 47, an Advocate of Needle Exchange 
Programs"
New York Times (11/26/95) P. 50;  Fisher, Lawrence M.
     Dr. John Watters, an advocate of clean needle exchanges to stem 
the spread of HIV, was found dead last Monday at the age of 47.  
The coroner's office reported that his death was being 
investigated as a possible drug overdose.  Dr. Watters 
aggressively fought for programs that permitted injection drug 
addicts to exchange used needles for clean ones, and conducted 
studies that showed how such programs reduced HIV transmission 
without increasing drug use.  Dr. Watters helped launch the first
needle exchange project in San Francisco.  He also played a role 
in the development in the "bleach and teach" outreach technique 
to get drug addicts to clean their syringes.  Most recently, Dr. 
Watters was collaborating with Dr. Thomas Coates, director of the
Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, on a new study about needle 
exchanges.
      
"Experts Cite Prostitutes' Role in AIDS"
Los Angeles Times (11/26/95) P. A11;  Hutzler, Charles
     Health experts say that prostitutes play a critical role in the 
transmission of HIV between cities and villages of China.  A 1993
survey discovered that the majority of these women sold sex only 
part of the time.  The work was used merely to augment their 
small incomes.  Tang Weihong, the Beijing Union Medical College 
student who undertook the study, found that 66 percent of the 267
female prostitutes questioned believed that the risk of HIV 
infection was very low or nonexistent.  Almost half had never 
used condoms, and an additional 30 percent said they used the 
prophylactics rarely or only sometimes.  "The great majority see 
AIDS as a foreigners' disease; China doesn't have it and it's got
nothing to do with them," Tang's report concluded.
      
"AIDS Fight Brings 2,500 to Vizcaya"
Miami Herald (11/27/95) P. 1B;  Martin, Lydia
     About 2,500 people gathered at Vizcaya on Sunday to raise money 
for AIDS and praise advances that have been made in the war 
against the disease.  One reveler, Phil Carpenter, noted, "We've 
lost 40 friends to AIDS.  But it has not been in vain."  The 
White Party was established 10 years ago to help the failing 
Health Crisis Network, Dade County, Fla.'s largest AIDS service 
organization.  At that time, the disease as a cause was still 
stigmatized, though now corporate America has adopted it.  This 
year, some 15,000 non-local residents traveled to participate in 
the week of festivities that surrounded the Vizcaya gala, at 
which people wear white as a symbol of hope and purity.  AIDS 
organizers say 1995's White Party was the most successful ever, 
bringing in an estimated $500,000.
      
"Across the USA: Washington"
USA Today (11/27/95) P. 9A
     The cremation of a man who had died from AIDS was delayed when 
Spokane County (Wash.) Coroner Dexter Amend demanded an autopsy 
to prove the death was sodomy-related, the man's family claims.  
The autopsy request was rejected, with forensic pathologist 
George Lindholm calling it a "witch hunt."
      
"Inside Art: A Seventh Day Without Art"
New York Times (11/24/95) P. C30;  Vogel, Carol
     The seventh annual Day Without Art on Dec. 1 is meant to increase
public awareness of people living with AIDS and those who have 
died from the disease.  This year, some 5,600 cultural 
institutions across the world are participating in the event in 
which televisions will go blank for one minute at 8:01 P.M, 
artworks in museums will be covered in black, and volunteers will
distribute red ribbons.  "The whole concept has taken on a life 
of its own independent of us," said Nick Debs, executive director
of New York City's Visual AIDS, a nonprofit organization of arts 
professionals, which organizes the event.  Visual AIDS sponsors 
lectures and covers artworks, hoping to spread the message that 
history should be preserved.  The group's year-old Archive 
Project was established to document the work of artists with AIDS
via photography, video, and written questionnaires.  "Many 
artists don't have the resources to do it themselves, so it's 
crucial to help them insure that their art doesn't disappear," 
Debs explained.
      
"D.C. Area Residents Less Healthy on Average"
Washington Post (District Weekly) (11/23/95) P. D.C.1;  
Goldstein, Amy
     A new study reveals that the Washington, D.C. area has been 
harder hit by such diseases as AIDS and tuberculosis compared to 
the rest of the nation.  The data, however, is imperfect--the 
AIDS information, for example comes from different time periods 
for each county.  But Alexandria (Va.) Health Department Director
Joshua Lipsman noted, "It brings attention to the important 
public health issues for our region."  According to the study, 
which was prepared by the Metropolitan Washington Public Health 
Association, AIDS represents the most substantial differences 
between the health of local residents and that of the U.S. 
population.  The disease is significantly more prevalent in the 
D.C. area for all races, especially for blacks.  AIDS has 
particularly taken its toll in the District and Alexandria.  
Furthermore, the metropolitan area also has higher rates of 
tuberculosis and colon cancer than the rest of the nation.
      
"Quick Uptakes...AIDS and Human Rights"
Journal of the American Medical Association (11/22/95-11/29/95) 
Vol. 274, No. 20, P. 1577;  Voelker, Rebecca
     In observance of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, the United Nation's 
World Health Organization (WHO) will stress human rights and 
responsibilities.  This year's theme--which, according to WHO 
officials, highlights "equality and solidarity in the global 
response" to AIDS--builds upon the multi-nation pledge made last 
year at the Paris AIDS Summit to fight discrimination, promote 
the rights of people with HIV and AIDS, and protect those 
individuals most at risk for HIV infection.  Human rights will 
also be a focus of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
(UNAIDS), which will replace the WHO's Global Programme on AIDS 
in 1996.  UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot adds that the 
organization is considering the creation of an independent 
advisory council on human rights, ethics, and law.
      
"The Glamorization of AIDS"
Advocate (11/28/95) No. 695, P. 29;  Simmons, Todd
     Some people claim that by glossing over the realities of HIV and 
AIDS with such images as flawless models in magazines and ad 
campaigns, the young or impressionable believe that they are 
safer than they actually are.  Officials at the Los Angeles Gay 
and Lesbian Community Services Center were so concerned about 
what they considered the sanitization of AIDS that they launched 
an ad campaign that featured graphic pictures of people in the 
last stages of the disease.  According to center spokesman Jim 
Key, the ads were meant to remind the public "what the disease 
actually is."  Some media have used even bolder imagery.  In the 
early 1990s, Italian clothesmaker Benetton drew sharp criticism 
for an ad campaign which featured a dying AIDS patient, body 
parts branded HIV-POSITIVE, and a doctored picture of Ronald 
Reagan that showed his face covered with Kaposi's sarcoma 
lesions.  But in most advertising, people with HIV or AIDS are 
healthy, handsome, and happy.  Michael Davis--a former 
coordinator of Rainbow's End, a support group for young gay 
men--claims that insecurity and a fixation on the importance of 
being attractive, can lead some men to associate HIV 
seropositivity with continued good looks.  Still others say that 
this practice of depicting people with AIDS as healthy and 
attractive is empowering.  That is the concept behind Proof 
Positive, a two-year-old agency for models who have HIV or AIDS, 
according to owner Keith Lewis.  "It started because we noticed 
an increase in castings from companies marketing products to the 
HIV community," he explains.  Furthermore, POZ founder and 
executive director Sean Strub notes that the magazine uses 
pictures of people who are obviously sick, but editors "respect 
the privacy of those who don't want to be seen on a respirator in
a national magazine."  Strub adds, however, that "like any 
magazine, we try to make everyone in POZ as attractive as 
possible," in part, because "we're talking about marketing 
products."  Michael Isbell of the Gay Men's Health Crisis 
questions the validity of fighting over the depiction of people 
with AIDS as HIV continues its spread and temptations to 
participate in unsafe activities increase each year.
      
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