                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                       July 29, 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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"Israel Gets New Guidelines on Ethiopian Blood Donations" 
"Johnson & Johnson Ordered to Give Up HIV Test Business" 
"Medical Workers Sue Latex-Glove Makers"
"Across the USA: California, West Virginia"
"In Age of AIDS, Love and Hope Can Lead to Risk" 
"Uganda to Test AIDS Vaccine"
"Cambodia-Health: AIDS May Prove as Devastating As [the Reign of 
the Khmer Rouge]"
"Unimed Drug for Cryptosporidium Available on Limited Basis" 
"Global Burden of the HIV Pandemic"
"The Profits and Losses of AIDS"
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"Israel Gets New Guidelines on Ethiopian Blood Donations" 
Washington Post (07/29/96) P. A20
     Israeli blood banks have been ordered to stop the practice
of wholesale dumping of blood donated by Ethiopian Jews and were 
given new guidelines to screen all blood donors.  A state 
commission proposed that blood banks reject donations from anyone 
who lived in areas where AIDS was "endemic" for at least six 
months of the last 10 years.  Ethiopian Jews rioted in Jerusalem 
in January when it was revealed that blood banks were discarding 
their donations.  Community leaders called the new 
recommendations superficial, saying that they are still wrongly 
stigmatized.  The commission reported, however, that of the 1,400 
reported AIDS patients in Israel, 550 are Ethiopian-born.
     
"Johnson & Johnson Ordered to Give Up HIV Test Business" 
Wall Street Journal (07/29/96) P. A3; McGinley, Laurie
     Johnson & Johnson was ordered Friday to turn over its
division that makes home HIV test kits to Elliott Millenson, the 
division head fired by the company.  Arbitrator John J. Gibbons 
made the order based on an employment contract between the 
company and Millenson, who developed the kits and sold the 
business to Johnson & Johnson in 1993.  A provision said that if 
Millenson were fired without cause, he had the right to demand 
that the test kit be returned to him and his wife.  Gibbons said 
that all assets, including patents, laboratory equipment, and the 
kits themselves, must be returned to Millenson.  Johnson & 
Johnson filed suit on Friday to challenge the arbitrator's 
ruling.
     
"Medical Workers Sue Latex-Glove Makers"
Wall Street Journal (07/29/96) P. B2; Ceballos, Arnold
     With the increased use of latex gloves by medical workers
trying to protect themselves from HIV, the makers of the gloves 
are facing lawsuits by those who claim the companies should be 
held liable for allergic reactions.  Some people have severe 
allergic reactions to proteins in latex products, and the Food 
and Drug Administration issued a medical alert in 1991, 
recommending that manufacturers reduce protein levels.  Glove 
makers note that people with allergic reactions can use gloves 
made from other materials, such as vinyl.  Companies being sued 
include Baxter International, Johnson & Johnson, Ansell, and 
Safeskin.  Plaintiffs argue that the companies were negligent in 
failing to reduce protein levels in the gloves and failing to 
warn users about possible allergic reactions.
     
"Across the USA: California, West Virginia" 
USA Today (07/29/96) P. 12A
     Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan promised to donate $1,000
for each of the city's 32 department heads who participate in the 
city's AIDS Walk, to be held Sept. 29.  In West Virginia, 
meanwhile, state epidemiologist Loretta Haddy said the government 
will emphasize abstinence and condom use and will call on 
residents to avoid injection drug use to reduce the spread of HIV.
     
"In Age of AIDS, Love and Hope Can Lead to Risk" 
New York Times (07/27/96) P. 7; Dunlap, David W.
     Unprotected sex between gay men, especially those in
romantic relationships, is continuing despite the risk of HIV 
infection.  Forgoing protection is seen as an act of trust 
between two committed men, and one recent study suggested that 
unprotected sex between gay men increased from 1990 to 1991.  The 
number of reported AIDS cases in men who have sex with men 
decreased from 1994 to 1995 but still represented the largest 
category of risk.  Advances in AIDS treatments may give people a 
false sense of security, and lead to increases in unprotected 
sex.
     
"Uganda to Test AIDS Vaccine"
Xinhua News Agency (07/26/96) 
     Testing of an AIDS vaccine will begin soon in Uganda among
three groups of HIV-negative volunteers.  The tests will be 
sponsored by the Uganda government, the Joint United Nations 
Program on HIV/AIDS, the Joint Clinical Research Center of 
Uganda, Makerere University in Uganda, and the Uganda Virus 
Research Institute.  The vaccine, provided by a French 
pharmaceutical company, uses the Canarypox virus to carry HIV 
envelope and genetic material.  The three groups will help to 
evaluate the vaccine's safety and effectiveness.
     
"Cambodia-Health: AIDS May Prove as Devastating As [the Reign of 
the Khmer Rouge]"
IPS Wire (07/26/96) 
     HIV has spread rapidly in Cambodia since it was first
screened for in 1991, and experts say the epidemic could be one 
of the most serious in Asia.  The World Health Organization 
estimates that there may now be between 100,000 and 150,000 HIV 
infections in the country, up from a November estimate of 50,000 
to 90,000.  The group says there are about 2,000 AIDS cases in 
Cambodia and predicts that there will be 40,000 cases by the year 
2000.  The disease is spreading faster in Cambodia than in any 
other Asian nation, except Burma and India.
     
"Unimed Drug for Cryptosporidium Available on Limited Basis" 
Reuters (07/26/96) 
     Unimed Pharmaceuticals is providing nitazoxanide, a
promising treatment for cryptosporidium infection, through a 
compassionate access program in the United States.  The company 
has been distributing nitazoxanide, which is not yet approved by 
the Food and Drug Administration, on a limited basis to patients 
who cannot afford it.
     
"Global Burden of the HIV Pandemic"
Lancet (07/13/96) Vol. 348, No. 9020, P. 99; Quinn, Thomas C.
     In the British medical journal The Lancet, Thomas C. Quinn,
of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and 
Johns Hopkins University, highlights some of the global HIV 
pandemic's epidemiological features.  Quinn notes that the World 
Health Organization estimates that by the year 2000, 26 million 
people will be infected with HIV--more than 90 percent of whom 
will live in developing countries.  Moreover, because AIDS affects 
people in their most productive years, it is a serious threat to 
the economic strength of both households and countries. Numerous 
epidemics make up the AIDS pandemic, reflecting the diversity in 
HIV strains.  These include two major groups of HIV-1: group M and 
group O, which have been subdivided into strains, and several 
subtypes of HIV-2.  HIV is spread by sexual, perinatal, and 
parenteral transmission.  Sexual transmission is most common, with 
heterosexual transmission increasing in industrialized countries.  
AIDS is also increasingly affecting women, who accounted for 45 
percent of all HIV-infected adults in 1995.  By 2000, the number 
of new infections in women is expected to equal those in men.  To 
control the spread of AIDS, Quinn argues that countries must 
promote changes in individual behavior and address such social 
issues as unemployment, rapid urbanization, migration, and women's 
status.
     
"The Profits and Losses of AIDS"
Economist (07/13/96) Vol. 340, No. 7974, P. 85
     Although no viral epidemic has been halted by drug
therapies, the powerful AIDS research engine has produced drugs 
that have the potential to make the disease more manageable. 
.
