                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      April 26, 1996

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 National AIDS Clearinghouse, or any
other organization. Reproduction of this text is encouraged;
however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC National AIDS
Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information.
Copyright 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"Reversal on Military HIV Issue Is Rare Hill Victory for Gay 
Rights Activists"
"Historic Budget Battle Ends With a Whimper, As Congress Approves
Funding Deal for 1996"
"House Panel Backs Discharge of Military Personnel With HIV"
"Blood-Supply Issue Tops Agenda"
"Merck's AIDS Drug Is Discounted"
"Women Policy Center Urges Focus on Women With..."
"New Virulent Tuberculosis Strain Hits Denmark"
"Kenyan Government Supports Controversy..."
"AZT, ddI, and ddC Combinations at FDA Advisory Hearing"
"Quebec Challenges Blood Inquiry"
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"Reversal on Military HIV Issue Is Rare Hill Victory for Gay 
Rights Activists"
Washington Post (04/26/96) P. A9;  Mintz, John
     Wednesday's agreement between the White House and
congressional leaders to reverse a ban on HIV-infected people
serving in the military was a victory for gay rights activists. 
Ultimately, Senate and House leaders decided to reverse the policy
because the entire command structure of the U.S. military opposed
it.  Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Calif.) added the provision to the
1996 defense spending bill, which President Clinton signed though
he noted that the amendment was unconstitutional and ordered 
government lawyers to support legal challenges to it.  On Thursday,
Dornan accused his GOP colleagues of "caving in" to gay 
rights lobbyists.  Related Story: Miami Herald (04/25) P. 13A
      
"Historic Budget Battle Ends With a Whimper, As Congress Approves
Funding Deal for 1996"
Wall Street Journal (04/26/96) P. A14;  Calmes, Jackie;  Rogers, 
David
     The House and Senate agreed on Thursday on a spending bill,
which was presented by White House and congressional leaders, to 
finance the remaining five months of 1996.  Nondefense government
programs funded by annual appropriations were cut by $20 million,
or about 9 percent from last year's level.  Programs that were 
not touched included Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, 
welfare, and veterans benefits.  The National Institutes of 
Health received an almost 6 percent, or $654 million, increase in
spending for medical research.  The Ryan White AIDS program 
received an estimated $105 million increase over last year's 
level of funding.
      
"House Panel Backs Discharge of Military Personnel With HIV"
Washington Times (04/26/96) P. A8
     On the same day that Congress voted to repeal a provision to
ban HIV-positive service members, the House National Security 
personnel subcommittee voted to support it and to reestablish the
ban on gays serving in the military.  Both proposals in the 
subcommittee were introduced by chairman Rep. Robert K. Dornan 
(R-Calif.), who had added the original ban on HIV-positive 
service personnel to the 1996 defense spending bill.  The 
subcommittee voted to add the proposals to the personnel part of 
the 1997 defense budget.  Dornan held that the ban on 
HIV-positive soldiers was not an attack on gays but rather on 
those who contract HIV in brothels.  The revised measure includes
a provision allowing HIV-positive service members to keep their 
jobs "if the service secretary deems their retention necessary." 
Dornan's earlier attempt to institute the ban was widely opposed 
by homosexual rights activists, President Clinton, the military, 
and veterans groups.
      
"Blood-Supply Issue Tops Agenda"
Toronto Globe and Mail (04/25/96) P. A4
     As health ministers from Canada's provinces and territories
met on Wednesday, restoring public confidence in the country's
blood system was a central topic.  The ministers agreed that
the public's confidence must be restored immediately, however they
did not reveal details of how that might be accomplished.  The
officials were preparing for a meeting with federal health minister
David Dingell, and were expected to ask for his approval for a
study of directed donations, in which blood is donated exclusively
for a family member to use.  Only a few provinces now allow such 
donations.
      
"Merck's AIDS Drug Is Discounted"
Knight-Ridder (04/26/96)
     The retail cost of Merck & Co.'s new AIDS drug Crixivan was
cut by 19.5 percent after the activist group ACT-UP threatened to 
boycott the product.  Stadtlanders, the Pittsburgh based 
mail-order company that distributes the drug, said Crixivan would
be sold to buyer's club members for $398 a month and to 
non-members for $495 a month.
      
"Women Policy Center Urges Focus on Women With..."
U.S. Newswire (04/25/96)
     The Center for Women Policy Studies released two reports on 
Thursday to advocate AIDS prevention programs, policies, messages
that are appropriate for women's diverse needs, and new 
Medicaid managed care systems that can provide comprehensive 
services to women with HIV and AIDS.  According to the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention, women make up 19 percent of 
all reported AIDS cases, more than triple the amount in 1985.  
The AIDS epidemic among women has received little attention, 
however.  The "Medicaid Managed Care" report notes that as 
Medicaid programs shift to managed care, "the needs of women with
HIV/AIDS are rarely considered as policy makers mandate changes 
on the state and local level."  In the second report, titled 
"Ten Principles," the researchers suggest women-centered AIDS 
prevention, including research on woman-controlled prevention 
methods, gender-based behavioral research, and increased funding 
for HIV prevention outreach.  Copies of the reports are available
from the Center for Women Policy Studies, 2000 P Street N.W., 
Suite 508, Washington, D.C. 20036.
      
"New Virulent Tuberculosis Strain Hits Denmark"
Reuters (04/25/96);  Follett, Christopher
     A new virulent strain of drug-resistant tuberculosis has
invaded Denmark, a Danish hospital announced Thursday.  The disease
requires long, complex treatment and the isolation of patients 
for months.  Although the strain accounts for less than 1 percent
of all TB cases in the country, health experts have imposed 
strict precautions to keep the disease from spreading.  The World
Health Organization has urged governments and the pharmaceutical 
industry to spend $500 million a year to stop the current 
resurgence of TB.  Most of the nine people infected with the new 
strain in Denmark were either foreigners or Danes who had been to
developing countries.
      
"Kenyan Government Supports Controversy..."
Xinhua News Service (04/25/96)
     Although the Kenyan government claims the controversial AIDS
drug Pearl Omega works, it also said that more clinical trials are 
needed before the protease inhibitor can be widely used.  The 
government said that it supported the trials being conducted in 
accordance with World Health Organization standards.  The creator
of the drug, Prof. Arthur Obel, claims that he has cured about 
500 HIV-infected individuals with Pearl Omega.  Obel was earlier 
condemned, but is now supported by Kenya's government.
      
"AZT, ddI, and ddC Combinations at FDA Advisory Hearing"
AIDS Treatment News (04/05/96) No. 244, P. 6;  James, John S.
     A recent meeting of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 
Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee focused on whether new results
from ACTG 175, the Delta trials, CPCRA 007, and an overview of
several studies of AZT and ddI should change the standard use of
AZT, ddI, and ddC, especially in combination.  Overall, the 
combinations of AZT with ddI and AZT with ddC were found to be 
better than AZT alone in reducing the risk of death.  AZT with 
ddI was also found to be better at reducing the risk of death 
than AZT with ddC.  The benefits of AZT and ddI were similar 
overall in patients who had not taken antiretrovirals before.
In sum, the committee voted to recommend approval of ddI for 
initial treatment of HIV infection, as well as to recommend 
approval of the combination of AZT with ddC for 
antiretroviral-naive patients.  The FDA panel, however, voted 
against approval of the therapy for patients with antiretroviral 
experience.  Moreover, the committee agreed that although there 
was no proof that ddI and AZT are better than ddI alone, it was 
uncomfortable with the decision, because while the evidence did 
not show that the combination was necessarily better than the 
single drug, combination therapy is generally thought to be 
better than monotherapy.
      
"Quebec Challenges Blood Inquiry"
Nature (04/18/96) Vol. 380, No. 6575, P. 572;  Spurgeon, David
     Quebec's government has taken legal action against the
Canadian government, claiming that the federal inquiry into the
sale of tainted blood products to hemophiliacs in the mid-1980s is 
unconstitutional.  A lawyer representing the province said that 
the federal commission of inquiry, led by Justice Horace Krever, 
did not have the authority to issue more than 300 preliminary 
notices of wrongdoing.  Robert Martin, a professor of 
constitutional law at the University of Western Ontario, 
disagrees, adding that the Canadian constitution divides only 
law-making authority between the federal government and the 
provinces, so the federal government can investigate conflicts at
any level.  Quebec's action is more far-reaching than previous 
efforts to thwart the inquiry, in that it could limit the federal
government's broad involvement in setting standards in such areas
as health care.  The head of the Quebec branch of the Canadian 
Hemophilia Association responded to the province's action by 
noting that those infected by the contaminated blood are 
beginning to lose hope that the truth behind the tragedy will 
ever be revealed.
      
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