                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      April 16, 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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"Cashing in Insurance for a Last Fling or a Lasting Legacy" 
"Red Cross Paid Witnesses Thousands"
"Across the USA: Nebraska"
"China Plans to Combat Infectious Diseases" 
"Zimbabwe--Health: To Tell or Not, Is the Question" 
"TennCare MCOs Must Cover New AIDS Drugs"
"Immune Response's HIV Agent Promising; Hybridon HIV Drug Tests 
Get Underway"
"Prestigious Hospitals in Miami and Needle..." 
"FDA Weighs Approval of HIV RNA Test"
"Can AmFAR Survive AIDS?"
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"Cashing in Insurance for a Last Fling or a Lasting Legacy" 
Journal of Commerce (04/16/96) P. 1A;  MacLeod, Helen R.
     The growth in viatical settlement companies, which buy life 
insurance policies from people with terminal illnesses and 
collect the death benefit when their customers die, has prompted 
concern and calls for regulation.  There are currently about 50 
such companies, which started in the late 1980s, stimulated by 
deaths from AIDS.  AIDS patients still account for 90 percent of 
the customers, but at least one company is seeking cancer 
patients.  The deal allows dying people to fulfill dreams of 
travel or of leaving something behind.  William B. Kelly, 
president of the Viatical Association of America, says the 
industry is experiencing a period of growth, allowing only 
serious companies to survive.  Twelve states now require viatical 
companies to have licenses and four states are considering such 
legislation.  Caregivers, who require money for non-medical 
expenses, often approach the companies about the policies, rather 
than the patient themselves.
     
"Red Cross Paid Witnesses Thousands"
Toronto Globe and Mail (04/15/96) P. A4;  Picard, Andre
     The Canadian Red Cross paid its former director Roger
Perrault almost $100,000 for his testimony in the tainted-blood 
inquiry.  Perrault's assistant, Martin Davey, received almost 
$50,000 for his testimony.  The agency said that the men were 
reimbursed for the expenses billed, including preparation time 
and travel expenses, because the Commission of Inquiry on the 
Blood System in Canada refused to do so.  So far, the 1,052 
people who were infected with HIV from the tainted blood, have 
received $30,000 annually.  The Red Cross and other parties have 
filed a lawsuit to keep the commission from issuing findings of 
wrongdoing, which could then be used in criminal or civil 
proceedings.  The Inquiry has paid for a number of reports it 
commissioned which were related to investigations into the blood 
system.
     
"Across the USA: Nebraska"
USA Today (04/16/96) P. 9A
     Since the implementation of a Nebraska law requiring cases
of HIV infection to be reported, 198 cases have been documented. 
Before the law went into effect in July, only AIDS cases were 
reported.
     
"China Plans to Combat Infectious Diseases" 
Reuters (04/16/96)
     China will spend $60 million by the year 2000 to implement a
disease-prevention boundary along its southwestern border.  The 
system would be set up at six border crossings along Yunnan 
Province's 2,486-mile border with Vietnam, Laos, and Burma.  The 
government hopes to halt the spread of children's infectious 
diseases and HIV across the borders.  Yunnan, China's main 
drug-trafficking area, now has 2,000 people infected with HIV, 
more than 70 percent of China's total.  Although trade and 
contact across the borders have increased significantly with 
China's economic reforms, they have also allowed diseases to 
spread.
     
"Zimbabwe--Health: To Tell or Not, Is the Question" 
IPS News Service (04/15/96)
     In a controversial move, Zimbabwe Vice President Joshua
Nkomo recently disclosed that his son died of AIDS.  Although 10 
percent of the country's population has HIV, the country has 
taken a conservative stance on the issue.  The media, for 
example, says that patients die "after a long illness," instead 
of dying of AIDS.  Doctors had officially listed Nkomo's son's 
death as "respiratory complications," but Nkomo was open about 
the his son having AIDS when he spoke at his burial.  Some people 
in the country question Nkomo's openness, saying he violated the 
privacy of his son's wife and children.  Even though AIDS 
awareness is taught in Zimbabwe, the disease is treated as a 
curse, and infected people are seen as social outcasts.  AIDS 
workers advocate an attitude change, but say privacy should be a 
concern.
     
"TennCare MCOs Must Cover New AIDS Drugs" 
Reuters (04/15/96)
     The 11 TennCare managed care organizations that cover
TennCare patients must pay for the newly approved protease 
inhibitors to treat HIV infection, the TennCare Bureau decided. 
The decision was based on the federal government's decision to 
require Medicaid to cover the drugs.  Approximately 2,000 
Tennessee patients with HIV will be eligible for the protease 
inhibitors, which could cost as much as $12,000 per patient.
     
"Immune Response's HIV Agent Promising; Hybridon HIV Drug Tests 
Get Underway"
Reuters (04/12/96)
     Immune Response announced that 12 of 25 HIV-positive
patients participating in a trial of its Remune agent have 
responded positively.  One patient died 5 years after the study 
began in 1987, and 11 are still alive and using the drug.  The 
overall health and T-cell counts of the patients receiving Remune 
have appeared to stabilize.  Meanwhile, Hybridon Inc. announced 
that it is launching two new clinical studies of GEM 91, its 
genetic antisense compound for the treatment of HIV-1 infection 
and AIDS.
     
"Prestigious Hospitals in Miami and Needle..." 
Business Wire (04/15/96)
     Bio-Plexus, the maker of the patented Punctur-Guard
self-blunting needle, which reduces the risk of accidental 
needlesticks, said Monday that Mercy Hospital in Miami and Albert 
Einstein Hospital in Philadelphia will convert their facilities 
to the Punctur-Guard needle.  Bio-Plexus continues to test its 
new Punctur-Guard Winged Set, while the Food and Drug 
Administration considers this device for approval.
     
"FDA Weighs Approval of HIV RNA Test"
Lancet (04/06/96) Vol. 347, No. 9006, P. 959;  Barnett, Alicia 
Ault
     The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is deciding whether to
approve wider use of a polymerase chain reaction test that 
measures HIV viral RNA.  Roche Diagnostic Systems' Amplicor HIV 
Monitor test has been used for research, but the company wants to 
broaden its uses to include indicating disease prognosis, 
monitoring the effects of antiretroviral therapy, and predicting 
clinical end-points.  An FDA advisory committee decided in March 
that Roche had provided enough evidence of the test's ability to 
measure drug effectiveness, but asked for more data on its 
usefulness in patient care.
     
"Can AmFAR Survive AIDS?"
New York (04/08/96) P. 28;  Jacobs, Andrew
     The American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR), like
other AIDS organizations, has suffered from a lack of funding as 
public interest in AIDS has waned in recent years.  Actress Sharon 
Stone, AmFAR's new chairman, has said she will raise $76 million 
for the organization over the next three years.  AmFAR has spent 
$83 million on AIDS research so far, and many of its early grants, 
including those to fund work on protease inhibitors and gene 
therapy, are showing results.  AmFAR's founder, Mathilde Krim, was 
a cancer researcher at Sloan-Kettering Hospital when AIDS first 
appeared.  In 1985, the organization joined with an AIDS charity 
set up by Elizabeth Taylor, adding to its legitimacy and 
visibility.  Terry Beirn, who served as executive director until 
his death, brought Krim's and Taylor's groups together, helped 
write the Ryan White Care Act, and pushed for getting people with 
HIV and AIDS included under the Americans with Disabilities Act.  
While AmFAR was able to turn AIDS into a popular cause by 
involving celebrities, it mostly ignored grassroots donors 
including gay men and AIDS activists.  Also, Taylor's involvement 
in AmFAR declined, and the organization has had difficulty finding 
celebrities to lead its fund-raising efforts.  Supporters hope 
Stone's enthusiasm revives the foundation's efforts.
     
     
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