                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      December 12, 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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"Facing Budget Queries"
"AIDS Patterns Shifting: Half-Million U.S. Cases"
"New AIDS Drugs' Aim Is 'Buying Time'"
"Inmates: The 'Other' AIDS Patients"
"AIDS Researcher Says Africa to Get Prevention Help"
"Thailand Weighs AIDS Vaccine Tests"
"HIV Mars Heart Development"
"AIDS Update: HIV Information On-Line"
"New AIDS Treatment Article Series Available"
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"Facing Budget Queries"
New York Times (12/12/95) P. C11;  Hilts, Philip J.
     As new head of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), one of the 
issues Dr. Richard Klausner must address is AIDS research 
spending.  A report from the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) 
claims that about $172 million, or 81 percent of the institute's 
$212 million AIDS research budget, was intramural--$68 million 
more than reported by the NCI.  Klausner recently conceded that 
the institute's early figures were wrong, and estimated that 
1994's AIDS intramural research total was $128 million.  The GMHC
report--which was prepared by member Derek Link--criticized the 
intramural research because it lacked proper documentation, 
management, peer review, and strategic planning.  Link also said 
that portions of the budget were so unclear that it was not 
possible to determine how the funds were being spent.  Klausner, 
who said he was quite surprised at the chaos he found in the 
intramural research accounting at the NCI, said a complete audit 
is now being conducted.  Klausner added that he was reforming the
advisory committee system so that a greater number of outside 
reviewers can review work from any of the national health 
institutes.
      
"AIDS Patterns Shifting: Half-Million U.S. Cases"
Washington Post (Health) (12/12/95) P. 5;  Colburn, Don
     More than 500,000 cases of AIDS had been reported to the U.S. 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as of November 
1995.  Sixty-two percent, or some 311,000, of those individuals 
have died.  Although men who have sex with men still account for 
the greatest proportion of AIDS cases, that number is decreasing.
Groups accounting for a growing number of AIDS cases include 
injection drug users and heterosexuals.  "The increase in AIDS 
cases resulting from heterosexual transmission also is reflected 
in the increase in cases reported among women," the CDC noted.  
The disease continues to disproportionately affect some racial 
and ethnic minorities.  Among American blacks and Hispanics, the 
rates for AIDS cases are six times higher and three time higher, 
respectively, than those for whites, who now represent less than 
half of the nation's AIDS cases.  Worldwide, the World Health 
Organization estimates that 18 million adults and 1.5 million 
children have HIV, and that there have been 4.5 million cases of 
AIDS.
      
"New AIDS Drugs' Aim Is 'Buying Time'"
Miami Herald (12/11/95) P. 1C;  Jacobs, Sandra
     The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved on Thursday the 
protease inhibitor saquinavir, which is now being sold by 
Hoffmann-La Roche under the brand name Invirase.  This new class 
of AIDS drugs works by inhibiting the production of the enzyme 
required for HIV replication.  Protease drugs are not a cure for 
AIDS, but they are expected to become an integral part of an 
anti-HIV strategy that involves combining multiple drugs to slow 
disease progression.  The plan is to attack HIV in as many 
vulnerable spots as possible, which is critical because HIV 
mutates rapidly and thus becomes resistant to any one drug.  AIDS
researchers, however, are worried that resistance to one protease
inhibitor may lead to resistance to others.  Hoffmann-La Roche 
says it does not predict that such resistance will be a problem. 
Another problem with regimens of drugs is the cost.  Several 
insurance companies and Medicaid will not pay for more than one 
drug.  The wholesale price for one year's supply of saquinavir is
$5,800, though the patient may receive financial assistance from 
the manufacturer if qualified.
      
"Inmates: The 'Other' AIDS Patients"
Boston Globe (12/11/95) P. 29;  Kong, Dolores
     Some public health and prisoners' advocates are concerned that 
the national commitment to fight HIV inside prisons may be 
wavering.  Prisons in the Northeast, for example, have reported 
HIV infection rates of 20 percent.  During the last few years, 
prisons in Massachusetts and some other states have significantly
improved their HIV prevention and AIDS services, though some 
worry that this progress could be hindered by the increasingly 
troubled relationship between public health and correctional 
mandates.  Former prison health care workers say that tension is 
evident in Massachusetts, where doctors' public health advocacy 
must fight prison officials' objectives of incarceration, 
punishment, and cost containment.  Next week, Dr. Anne De Groot, 
the head of the HIV clinic at the women's prison in Framingham, 
Mass., and Ronald Bogard, co-chairman of the Incarcerated 
Populations Work Group, will discuss the issue with White House 
AIDS policy advisor Patricia S. Fleming and other advocates.
      
"AIDS Researcher Says Africa to Get Prevention Help"
Reuters (12/10/95);  Kizito, Edmond
     Prevention is the best method of fighting HIV, according to AIDS 
researcher Luc Montagnier, who said on Sunday that he was 
establishing AIDS education centers in Africa.  "Education on 
AIDS prevention should be intensified and emphasized," he 
explained to an African AIDS conference.  Montagnier added, 
"Research should also be done into African herbal treatment with 
a view of finding ways of controlling AIDS."  Montagnier, who is 
chairman of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and 
Prevention, said his organization would open several AIDS pilot 
centers around the world, whose principal role would be AIDS 
training and blood testing.  The World Health Organization 
estimates that more than 11 million African adults and 1 million 
children are infected with HIV, though experts say that these 
figures show only registered cases and underestimate the true 
infection rates.
      
"Thailand Weighs AIDS Vaccine Tests"
Science (11/10/95) Vol. 270, No. 5238, P. 904;  Cohen, Jon
     Thailand is emerging as the most important AIDS vaccine test-site
in the world.  "There's probably more going on here than 
anywhere," notes epidemiologist William Heyward of the U.S. 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  In the coming years,
tests and research in Thailand could help determine the efficacy 
of first-generation vaccines, as well as settle some scientific 
debates over how best to proceed with vaccine development.  
Currently, no definite plans are in action to stage large-scale 
efficacy trials in the southeast Asian country, but teams of Thai
researchers and scientists from two San Francisco-area 
companies--Genentech and Biocine--are laying the foundations for 
such work.  Thailand has become the focus of HIV vaccine 
research, in part, because of its large, growing number of 
infections.  Johns Hopkins University epidemiologist Kenrad 
Nelson, a principal investigator of an NIH-funded team that is 
helping prepare Thailand for AIDS vaccine efficacy trials, feels 
that Thai decision-makers are much less capricious than those in 
the United States.  "If [the Thais] decide to study something, 
they carry through," Nelson explains.  In addition, Thailand 
offers a relatively stable government, a long history of staging 
collaborative vaccine efficacy trials with the West, and an 
educated and culturally homogenous population.
      
"HIV Mars Heart Development"
Science News (12/02/95) Vol. 148, No. 23, P. 380;  Seachrist, 
Lisa
     Researchers at Harvard Medical School have concluded that a child
born to an HIV-infected mother is predisposed to developmental 
heart problems.  Led by Steven Lipshultz, the scientists studied 
some 400 infants born to HIV-positive women, and discovered that 
12 percent of these children experienced such heart disorders as 
heart wall and valve defects and poor pumping function.  In the 
general population, just 0.8 percent of children are born with 
these defects.  The Harvard researchers did not say that HIV 
causes the defects, but Lipshultz noted that HIV-infected women 
could have drug, alcohol, or nutrition problems that obstruct 
fetal heart development.
      
"AIDS Update: HIV Information On-Line"
Men's Health (12/95) Vol. 10, No. 10, P. 44
     Many people are concerned that efforts to censor "indecent" 
material on the Internet or services such as America Online could
hamper HIV education attempts.  Derek Gordon of the San Francisco
AIDS Foundation, which intends to launch a World Wide Web site, 
explained, "Almost everything we do might involve frank 
discussions of sex and sexuality."
      
"New AIDS Treatment Article Series Available"
AIDS Treatment News (11/17/95) No. 235, P. 1;  James, John S.
     Boston's nonprofit Search for a Cure has introduced "Reasons for 
Hope," a series of monthly  articles that explain advanced 
practical treatment choices for AIDS to persons who are newly 
diagnosed, or who do not have an extensive background in AIDS 
treatment.  The series features an easy reading level, yet the 
articles highlight such treatment methods as combination therapy 
and protease inhibitors.  Forthcoming articles may consider 
immune-based therapies, nutrition, and alternative treatments.
      
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