                     AIDS Daily Summary
                     September 4, 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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"N.J. Will Offer 3 New AIDS Drugs Free to Uninsured Patients" 
"Revolutionizing Contraception"
"Biotech Research Praised at Groundbreaking for SUNY Lab" 
"The Morality of Testing"
"A Local Group Pulls Out of Next Year's AIDS Ride" 
"HIV Patient to Plead Guilty to Rapes"
"Vietnam Launches Anti-AIDS Campaign"
"Female Condoms: An Alternative AIDS Prevention Strategy" 
"The Politics of Drugs: Back to War"
"New HIV Drugs Cast in Supporting Roles" 
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"N.J. Will Offer 3 New AIDS Drugs Free to Uninsured Patients" 
Philadelphia Inquirer (09/04/96) P. B3; Collins, Huntly
     AIDS patients in New Jersey who are uninsured or
underinsured will have free access to three new anti-AIDS drugs 
beginning Oct. 1, state health officials said Tuesday.  The drugs 
will be made available to AIDS patients who earn less than 
$30,000 a year.  If demand for the costly new drugs is too great, 
however, the state may restrict distribution or require patients 
to pay a small fee.  The drugs--protease inhibitors Invirase 
(saquinavir), Crixivan (indinavir), and Epivir (3TC)--will be 
offered through the AIDS Drug Distribution Program.  Norvir, or 
ritonavir, another protease inhibitor, was not added because of 
concerns about complications and lack of patient demand.  About 
400 of the 1,700 people now enrolled in the program will request 
the new combination therapy, state officials estimate.
     
"Revolutionizing Contraception"
Journal of Commerce (09/04/96) P. 7A; Rosenfield, Allan; 
Harrison, Polly
     New methods of contraception should be developed to prevent 
unwanted pregnancies and curb the spread of sexually transmitted 
diseases, urge two members of the National Research Council's 
Committee on Contraceptive Research and Development in a Journal 
of Commerce commentary.  Allan Rosenfield, who chaired the 
committee, and Polly Harrison, the panel's study director, claim 
that research on new contraceptives has been stalled by social, 
legal, political, and financial factors.  Moreover, they cite 
advances in molecular and cellular biology that could be applied 
to develop chemical or physical barriers to HIV and other 
sexually transmitted diseases and provide new contraception 
options.
     
"Biotech Research Praised at Groundbreaking for SUNY Lab" 
New York Times (09/04/96) P. B2; McQuiston, John T.
     At a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday, New York Gov. George
E. Pataki heralded the future biotechnology center at New York's 
State University at Stony Brook as the place "where the battle 
against the health threats of cancer, AIDS, Lyme disease and 
other diseases will be fought and won."  The $40 million Center 
for Molecular Medicine and Biology Learning Laboratories is to be 
finished by 1999.  The center is expected to bridge the 
university's life sciences department and the School of Medicine 
at Stony Brook.  Among other projects, the center will focus on 
the university's current work with AIDS patients.
     
"The Morality of Testing"
Washington Times (09/04/96) P. A2; Koch, Ed
     In the July 19 edition of Newsday, quoted today by the
Washington Times, former New York Mayor Ed Koch wrote in support 
of HIV testing for pregnant women.  He cited reports that giving 
AZT to pregnant women with HIV could reduce transmission of the 
virus by half in the United States.  "Not to use an effective 
treatment against HIV/AIDS infection of the fetus is an immoral 
act on the part of government," he said, urging the federal 
government to impose testing and treatment requirements on the
states.
     
"A Local Group Pulls Out of Next Year's AIDS Ride" 
Philadelphia Inquirer (09/04/96) P. B2
     A Philadelphia-based non-profit group that operates one of
the city's largest HIV testing sites will announce today that it 
will not participate in next year's Philadelphia-to-Washington, 
D.C., AIDS bicycle ride fundraiser.  The group, the Philadelphia 
Community Health Alternatives, was one of the three original 
groups to benefit from the first AIDS ride, held in June.
     
"HIV Patient to Plead Guilty to Rapes" 
United Press International (09/03/96) 
     A Texas man who said he used a condom when he raped two
teenage girls because he is HIV-positive agreed to plead guilty 
Friday.  David Ballard, 36, consented to a plea agreement for two 
counts each of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated 
kidnapping.  He admitted to police on Aug. 18 that he had sex 
with the girls, aged 15 and 17.  The girls have thus far tested 
negative for HIV.
     
"Vietnam Launches Anti-AIDS Campaign" 
Xinhua News Agency (09/03/96) 
     Vietnam has launched a number of AIDS awareness campaigns
and community projects to deal with its growing AIDS epidemic, 
the local press reported Tuesday.  The country has more than 
4,200 reported HIV cases, including 353 people with AIDS and 184 
deaths from AIDS.  In Ho Chi Minh city, 1,550 people are infected 
with HIV and 200 have AIDS.  The government has broadcast 
information on safer sex and HIV/AIDS prevention through the 
media, movies, art performances, cultural activities, and 
family-planning services.  In addition, blood test kits have been 
provided for hospitals, at a cost of $2.7 million.  Community 
projects to care for patients with HIV and AIDS have also been 
supported by the government.
     
"Female Condoms: An Alternative AIDS Prevention Strategy" 
Reuters (09/03/96) 
     A study in Zambia of inner-city patients who sought
treatment for sexually transmitted diseases indicates that the
female condom should be added to HIV/AIDS prevention programs for 
women and heterosexual couples.  Nabila El-Bassel and colleagues 
from Columbia University reported that, among 45 men and women 
surveyed, most had a positive attitude about the female condom.
     
"The Politics of Drugs: Back to War"
Newsweek (08/26/96) Vol. 128, No. 9, P. 57; Klaidman, Daniel; 
Barry, John; Rosenstiel, Thomas; et al.
     President Clinton has not made the war on drugs a priority
during his administration, a fact which Bob Dole and the 
Republican party will repeatedly remind voters about as the 
election nears, according to Daniel Klaidman in Newsweek.  A 
federal survey recently revealed that drug use by 12- to 
17-year-olds has increased 33 percent since 1994, and 80 percent 
since Clinton took office.  William Bennett, former drug czar of 
the United States, told Newsweek that he blames Clinton for not 
pursuing the war on drugs.  The drug issue comes in third after 
the economy and crime in the list of voters' priorities.  Those 
voters who say they are concerned about drugs also currently 
prefer Clinton over Dole, but the issue could sway them.  The Dole
campaign will likely emphasize the rise in drug use and the fact 
that Clinton dramatically reduced the budget for the drug czar's 
office in 1993-1994.  FBI Director Louis Freeh has also criticized 
Clinton for his lack of leadership in curbing the flow of heroin 
and cocaine.  Clinton has restored the drug czar's budget and 
appointed retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey to Bennett's former 
position.
     
"New HIV Drugs Cast in Supporting Roles"
Journal of the American Medical Association (08/28/96) Vol. 276, 
No. 8, P. 585; Voelker, Rebecca
     AIDS researchers are predicting that non-nucleoside reverse 
transcriptase inhibitors may have various uses, ranging from 
combination therapy to preventing HIV infection after exposure.  
Like nucleoside analogs, the drugs change the function of the HIV 
replication enzyme reverse transcriptase.  Nevirapine, the first 
of the non-nucleoside drugs to be approved by the Food and Drug 
Administration, has shown promise when combined with AZT and ddI. 
Among patients taking the three-drug regimen, 80 percent attained 
undetectable viral load levels after 52 weeks, and three-fourths
of them maintained the reduction.  Studies with pediatric
patients have yielded similar results.  Studies to test
nevirapine's ability to prevent perinatal transmission will begin
next year.  Giving the mother a dose of the drug during labor may
prevent infection in the infant, who would also receive the drug.
Non-nucleosides may also be used for short-term therapy, possibly
for post-exposure prophylaxis is the workplace.  Other uses could
include a pre-exposure pill and a vaginal microbicide.
