                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                       June 29, 1994

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS
Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a public
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Copyright 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD

"EEOC Sues Health Fund, Alleges AIDS Discrimination"
Philadelphia Inquirer (06/29/94) P. B2
     The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission yesterday filed suit 
against a union health fund that it says discriminated against 
employees with AIDS.  The lawsuit charges the Laborers District 
Council Building and Construction Health and Welfare Fund of 
Philadelphia with placing a $10,000 lifetime ceiling on health 
insurance payments for HIV- or AIDS-related treatments, while 
maintaining a lifetime cap of $100,000 on payment for other 
catastrophic illnesses.   The EEOC is seeking a halt to the 
practice, as well as unspecified damages for two plaintiffs.
      
"Compromise Is Proposed on AIDS Test"
New York Times (06/29/94) P. B1;  Sack, Kevin
     As the debate in New York over testing newborns for HIV 
continues, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver used his clout to 
endorse a compromise that would oblige doctors to counsel 
pregnant women and new mothers to seek HIV testing.  If approved,
New York would become the first state to require such testing, 
but would effectively scuttle an alternative bill that aims to 
force doctors to inform parents if their baby tests HIV-positive 
during routine blind-testing conducted solely for research 
purposes.  Silver tried to reach a half-way point between that 
proposal and a mandatory counseling bill that has already passed 
the state Senate.  Silver's proposal would require physicians and
other health care providers to counsel pregnant women and new 
mothers about the benefits of early diagnosis of HIV, and offer 
testing to them.  Women receiving counseling would have to sign a
form saying so.  Assemblywoman Nettie Mayersohn, sponsor of the 
bill proposing that HIV testing results be revealed to parents, 
says she will not support Silver's proposal.
      
"AIDS Is Leading Killer of Area Black Men Age 25 to 44"
Washington Post (06/29/94) P. A1;  Masters, Brooke A.
     AIDS has replaced murder as the No. 1 cause of death for 
African-American males between the ages of 25 and 44 in the 
Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, according to local health 
officials.  In that same age bracket, AIDS was also identified as
the leading killer of black women in Maryland, and white men in 
the District and in Maryland.  Health officials say the local 
increase in AIDS deaths may reflect the national increase in AIDS
deaths among all men and black women.  Local health authorities 
have been warning for years about the increasing incidence of 
minority AIDS cases.  Much of the increase, they say, has 
occurred among intravenous drug users and heterosexuals.
      
"AIDS in the Workplace: Firms Urged to Set Policy"
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (06/28/94) P. 6B;  Flannery, William
     On Monday, the Leadership Coalition on AIDS, a group that 
provides technical support on employment policy concerning HIV 
and AIDS, released "Accommodating Employees with HIV: Case 
Studies of Employer Assistance."  The report features 10 American
firms, including Digital Equipment Corp., Levi Strauss & Co., and
Bank of America, which have all developed successful personnel 
policies to accommodate employees with AIDS.  Coalition President
J.B. Stiles notes that, according to the group's best estimate, 
about 80 percent of infected Americans are full-time employees, 
yet many companies are still lagging in efforts to develop AIDS 
employment policies.  Such firms are vulnerable to possible 
litigation under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other 
federal protection laws.  Most executives realize that firing a 
worker solely because he or she is infected is illegal, says 
Peter Petesch, a management-labor attorney who works with the 
coalition.  Issues such as hiring, work assignment, promotion, 
training, benefits, compensation, confidentiality, and the 
attitude of other employees, however, also need to be addressed.
      
"AIDS in the Workplace"
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (06/28/94) P. 11B
     Businesses that would like help in developing employee policies 
on AIDS can contact the National Leadership Coalition on AIDS at 
(202) 429-0930 to obtain a copy of "Accommodating Employees with 
HIV Infection and AIDS: Case Studies of Employer Assistance."  
The coalition also offers the "Business Response to AIDS 
Manager's Kit," prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.  Another kit, designed for labor union officials, is 
also available.  Both kits include policy planning guides, guides
for small businesses, and HIV/AIDS and health insurance.  They 
can be obtained by calling (800) 458-5231.
      
"OHA Launches HIV-Blood Test Drive"
Toronto Globe and Mail (06/28/94) P. A2;  Coutts, Jane
     In the first provincially coordinated effort to identify anyone 
who may have contracted HIV through blood transfusions in the 
period before screening for the virus was introduced, the Ontario
Hospital Association is advising anyone who was in an area 
hospital between 1978 and 1985 to consider getting tested for 
HIV.  Ontario chief medical officer Richard Schabas last July 
called for everyone who had received a transfusion during that 
time frame to undergo HIV testing.  However, according to OHA 
officials, although many people know that they were in a hospital
during those years, they may not know whether they received a 
transfusion.  Also, since hospitals at the time were not required
to maintain separate blood records, there is no easy way to 
determine which patients did and which did not have blood 
transfusions.  It is estimated, however, that about 600,000 
people in Ontario did receive blood transfusions during the 
critical period, and that about half are already dead, and more 
than 100,000 have already been tested.
      
"AIDS Digest: HIV Reporting Rules Take Effect in Maryland"
Washington Blade (06/24/94) Vol. 26, No. 25, P. 30;  van Hertum, 
Aras
     In accordance with new regulations that took effect on June 1, 
Marylanders who test positive for HIV will now be reported by a 
"unique identifier" number.  The number is made up of the last 
four digits of the individual's social security number, six 
digits indicating the person's birthdate, and two digits 
representing gender, race, or ethnicity.  The regulations 
replaced proposed rules that caused public outcry last year.  
Those rules would have included the last six digits of the 
individual's social security number, and would have obliged 
anonymous HIV testing centers to report HIV-positive results.
      
"Concern Over 'Invisible Problem' of HIV Blood in Developing 
Countries"
Nature (06/09/94) Vol. 369, No. 6480, P. 429;  Butler, Declan
     Nearly a decade after industrialized countries began testing all 
blood for HIV, as many as one in 10 HIV-positive individuals in 
developing nations are being infected this very way.  This lack 
of screening, combined with high levels of HIV-infected donors 
makes blood transfusion tantamount to Russian roulette.  
Receiving a transfusion of HIV-contaminated blood carries about a
95 percent risk of infection, compared to a 0.1 to 1.0 percent 
risk through sexual transmission.  Despite this, and the fact 
that transfusions still account for five to 10 percent of HIV 
infections worldwide, blood safety has not yet been given 
priority by the international community.  Some public health 
officials believe money would be better used for prevention of 
sexual transmission of HIV and, as a result, funding for HIV 
screening is being phased out of WHO's Global Programme on AIDS. 
The agency has, however, recently approved the establishment of a
new blood safety unit.  The task at hand is to secure the 
necessary funding for the unit at a time when the United Nations 
is cutting back programs and positions.
      
"Bucking Jazz's Macho Myth"
Newsweek (06/20/94) Vol. 123, No. 25, P. 61;  Masland, Tom
     Jazz ballads tell a story, and the story behind "Last Night When 
We Were Young: The Ballad Album" is AIDS.  HIV-positive pianist 
Fred Hersch produced the album as a fundraiser for the disease.  
So far, the album--on which Hersch contributes to eight of the 13
cuts--has only been available through the charity Classical 
Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS, but it may soon be 
distributed to record stores.  With this album, Hersch sheds the 
macho image flaunted by jazz professionals.  While most 
homosexual jazz musicians are closet gays, Hersch came out in the
mid-1980s because "it was starting to mess with my creativity."  
Still, he sometimes fears that he will be "known as the jazz guy 
with AIDS."  As long as he continues to put out quality work like
"Last Night," he shouldn't have to worry.
      
