                       AIDS Daily Summary 
                         July 23, 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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"Liz Taylor on AIDS: Battle Far From Won"
"Zimbabwe Lifts Ban on Gay Group at Fair" 
"Across the USA: Rhode Island"
"Number of AIDS Cases Doubles in Russia" 
"Thai Government Unveils New Anti-AIDS Plan"
"Anti-HIV Agent Delavirdine Promising in Phase I/II Study" 
"Namibia Urged to Widen AIDS Control Program"
"President Clinton and the First Lady to Serve as Honorary 
Co-Chairs for the Display of the Entire AIDS Memorial Quilt This 
Fall"
"HIV as the Cause of AIDS"
"Pataki's AIDS Drug Ruse"
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"Liz Taylor on AIDS: Battle Far From Won"
Washington Post--Health (07/23/96) P. 6; Trafford, Abigail
     In her speech to the National Press Club Monday, Elizabeth 
Taylor, a long-time AIDS activist who helped found the American 
Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR), warned against complacency in
the fight against AIDS.  Like many AIDS researchers, she said that 
the recent advances in treatment should not be perceived as a 
cure.  The cost of the new drugs is a critical issue for access, 
Taylor pointed out, saying that "the most promising treatments 
will be least available to those who need them."  Prevention 
strategies should not be overlooked because therapies are 
improving.  "People don't think it could happen to them," Taylor 
said, especially teenagers who think of abstinence as a "remote 
idea."  Taylor also criticized President William Clinton and 
Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole for their views and 
actions on AIDS.  Specifically, she pointed to the ban against 
needle exchanges, saying that "misunderstanding, social 
squeamishness and lack of compassion have prevailed over sensible 
public health practice."
     
"Zimbabwe Lifts Ban on Gay Group at Fair" 
New York Times (07/23/96) P. A8
     A homosexual group will be allowed to participate in an 
international book fair, the Zimbabwe government said Monday, 
reversing a ban it made last year.  The organizers of the 
state-supported Zimbabwe International Book Fair have given the 
Gays and Lesbians Society of Zimbabwe permission to display 
literature, mostly on AIDS, at the week-long fair which starts on 
July 29.
     
"Across the USA: Rhode Island"
USA Today (07/23/96) P. 8A
     The first clinical trials of SPC-3, a drug designed to block
HIV infection, will be conducted at Roger Williams Medical Center 
in Providence, R.I.
     
"Number of AIDS Cases Doubles in Russia" 
United Press International (07/22/96) 
     The number of new HIV infections in Russia during the first
half of 1996 was twice the number for the same period of 1995, the 
head of the Russian AIDS Center said Monday.  Vadim Pokrovski said 
the number of AIDS cases in Russia for 1996 would at 
least double last year's total, and that it could reach 100,000 
by 2000.  By the end of 1995, 1,269 people were infected with 
HIV, mostly as a result of intravenous drug use.  In the former 
Soviet Republics, the number of infections is much higher, 
Pokrovski said.
     
"Thai Government Unveils New Anti-AIDS Plan" 
Xinhua News Agency (07/23/96) 
     On Monday, the Thai government announced a new five-year plan
to combat the spread of AIDS by promoting family values and 
awareness of self-protection.  Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-Archa 
unveiled the 1997-2001 National AIDS Prevention and Control Plan, 
which calls for higher social status for women and efforts to 
educate people about preventing HIV infection.  The plan stresses 
community and family roles to help HIV-positive and AIDS patients.
     
"Anti-HIV Agent Delavirdine Promising in Phase I/II Study" 
Reuters (07/22/96) 
     Delavirdine mesylate (DLV), a nonnucleoside reverse
transcriptase inhibitor, is apparently safe and well-tolerated even
at high doses, government and industry researchers report in the 
July issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.  R.T. Davey, 
Jr., of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 
and colleagues at Chiron and Upjohn, reported that DLV was safe and
well-tolerated in the phase I/II study.  Among the 85 
HIV-positive patients participating in the study, those taking 
DLV, zidovudine, and didanosine benefited most.
     
"Namibia Urged to Widen AIDS Control Program" 
Xinhua News Agency (07/22/96) 
     The Namibian government needs to expand its national HIV/AIDS 
control program (NACP) to deal with the growing number of HIV 
cases in the country, an independent review advised.  The review 
panel included members from national and international 
organizations and other specialists.  They said the Ministry of 
Health and Social Services and the NACP are no longer able to cope 
with the growing epidemic, and that individuals and organizations 
in the government, and non-governmental and private groups must be 
called on to help.  An estimated 21,737 HIV infections have been 
reported in Namibia since 1986.
     
"HIV as the Cause of AIDS"
Lancet (07/06/96) Vol. 348, No. 9019; P. 31; Barre-Sinoussi, 
Francoise
     In an essay on the structure and mechanism of HIV compared to 
other primate lentiviruses, Francoise Barre-Sinoussi of the 
Pasteur Institute in Paris suggests that the simian 
immunodeficiency virus (SIV) may be a valuable model for studying 
HIV and AIDS.  HIV shows extensive genetic diversity, even within 
patients, and the evolution of virus isolates increases with 
their ability to infect cells as the clinical disease progresses. 
This ability allows HIV-1 to quickly develop resistance to 
antiviral drugs.  Genetic analysis has found two distinct groups 
of HIV-1 isolates--the M group and the O group.  The M group, 
which contains most HIV-1 isolates, is subdivided into at least 
10 strains.  The discovery of HIV-1 in West Africa and its 
similarity to SIV has raised the possibility of a link between 
human and non-human primate lentiviruses.  The divergence between 
HIV-1 group M subtypes and SIV suggests that chimpanzee viruses 
may have been introduced into the human population 30 to 50 years 
ago.  The origin of HIV-1 group O remains to be explained, 
however.  SIVs, while genetically similar to HIVs, do not cause 
disease in their natural hosts, though cross-species transmission 
may result in pathogenic infections.  Barre-Sinoussi concludes 
that non-human lentiviruses from Old World primates can provide 
useful models for studying the interaction between the human host 
and viral factors that cause AIDS.
     
"Pataki's AIDS Drug Ruse"
Village Voice (07/09/96) Vol. XLI, No. 28; P. 11; Schoofs, Mark
     Although New York Gov. George Pataki promised that the 
state's AIDS Drug Assistance Program would cover the costly new 
protease inhibitors, his plan would exclude 129--or 70 
percent--of the drugs currently available.  Pataki's proposal 
would remove drugs for diarrhea, parasites, bacterial infections, 
life-threatening blood disorders, and AIDS-related wasting from 
the program.  Advocates for AIDS patients are lobbying the state 
to restore coverage for the drugs.  The state Assembly has 
pledged to allocate $15 million, which would cover the drugs, and 
the Senate has promised $4 million, while the governor has not 
promised any additional funds.
     

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