Kaisernetwork.org (Washington, DC)
30 April 2008
Science & Medicine
Suppression of Human Protein Reduces HIV's Ability To Enter T Cells, Replicate, Study Finds
Global Challenges
Global Climate Change To Increase Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS of People in Developing Countries, Panel Says
Number of HIV/AIDS Cases in Singapore Reached Record High Last Year
Philippine Lawmaker Introduces Bill To Bolster HIV/AIDS Prevention, Services
Commercial Sex Industry Booming Along Uganda, Sudan Border; Teachers Increasingly Joining Trade, Study Says
Across The Nation
Salt Lake Tribune Examines Enforcement of Utah Law Requiring Mandatory HIV Tests for Convicted Sex Workers, Solicitors
Recent Releases
GAO Reports Examine PEPFAR Funding Allocation
Science & Medicine
Suppression of Human Protein Reduces HIV's Ability To Enter T Cells, Replicate, Study Finds
[Apr 30, 2008]
Researchers have found that suppressing the human protein ITK in CD4+ T cells reduces HIV's ability to enter the cells and replicate, according to an NIH study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Reuters reports.
For the study, Pamela Schwartzberg of Boston University and colleagues used human cells in a laboratory to test two methods of inactivating ITK. One method stopped ITK from functioning. In the other method, the researchers used a drug to chemically interfere with the protein (Dunham, Reuters, 4/28). "Suppression of the ITK protein caused many of the pathways that HIV uses to be less active, thereby inhibiting or slowing HIV replication," the researchers said (AFP/Google.com, 4/28). Schwartzberg added that the researchers did not "completely block (infection), but we certainly severely impaired it. It has minor effects at multiple stages of HIV life cycle, and together that all adds up to a more profound effect" (Reuters, 4/28).
The researchers said that they were concerned that ITK suppression "might kill or otherwise impair the normal functions of T cells." However, both suppression methods slowed HIV replication but did not interfere "significantly" with T cell survival, according to the study. In addition, the researchers said that mice with ITK deficiencies were able to fight other viral infections (AFP/Google.com, 4/28).
According to the PA/Google.com, ITK suppression could help address the emergence of drug-resistant strains of HIV because it targets a human protein rather than the virus (PA/Google.com, 4/28). Study researcher Andrew Henderson of Boston University added that treatments based on ITK suppression could complement existing antiretroviral drugs. Schwartzberg said that it likely would be several years before a drug that suppresses ITK could enter human clinical trials. She added that more lab experiments are needed to assess other ways of suppressing the protein.
NIH and the researchers have filed for a patent on suppressing ITK to treat HIV with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The protein also is being examined as a possible target to treat asthma and other illnesses involving the immune system, Reuters reports (Reuters, 4/28).
The study is available online (.pdf).
Link to this story.
Global Challenges
Global Climate Change To Increase Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS of People in Developing Countries, Panel Says
[Apr 30, 2008]
Climate change is the newest threat to the increasing HIV/AIDS epidemic worldwide, panelists said Wednesday at an HIV forum at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, the AAP/Age reports (McLean, AAP/Age, 4/30).
The forum, titled "A Future Free of HIV," was moderated by Justice of the High Court Michael Kirby and included several HIV/AIDS researchers, according to a UNSW release. Topics covered at the forum included the social and human rights implications of HIV, the latest scientific perspectives on the disease, and the social and behavioral aspects of the epidemic (UNSW release, 4/30).
Speaking at the forum, Daniel Tarantola, a professor of health and human rights at UNSW, said that global warming will indirectly increase vulnerability to HIV infection for people living in developing countries. Tarantola said, "Climate change will trigger a chain of events which is likely to increase the stress on society and result in higher vulnerability to diseases, including HIV."
David Cooper, director of the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research at UNSW, said that environmental change would have a negative impact on people living with HIV/AIDS. "Climate change will lead to food scarcity and poorer nutrition, putting people with perilous immune systems at more risk of dying of [AIDS-related illnesses], as well as contracting and transmitting new and unusual infections," Cooper said.
Cooper said that with 16,000 new HIV cases daily and the failure of research to produce a vaccine or cure, the outlook for fighting the pandemic was "pretty grim." He said, "I don't think we have any idea of how to harness a vaccine for this, and we need a strong basic science breakthrough to get anywhere with it."
Cooper said that it is important to increase preventive measures that work, including condoms and male circumcision, as well as work towards the development of microbicide gels and drugs to block HIV infection (AAP/Age, 4/30). "Science has achieved great strides towards shaping a more effective response to HIV," but "research has not succeeded in producing the hoped for 'magic bullets' of either a cure or a vaccine," Cooper said, adding, "We need to escalate our research efforts while sustaining and expanding what we know works: good prevention and access to life-saving antiretroviral therapy and integrated care" (UNSW release, 4/30).
Link to this story.
Number of HIV/AIDS Cases in Singapore Reached Record High Last Year
[Apr 30, 2008]
The number of reported HIV/AIDS cases in Singapore reached a record high last year, the country's Ministry of Health said Wednesday in a statement on its Web site, AFP/Yahoo! News reports. The ministry reported 422 new cases of HIV in 2007, which was the highest number in a single year since record-keeping began in 1985 (AFP/Yahoo! News, 4/30).
Ninety-three percent of the new reported HIV cases were among males, and 95% were transmitted through sexual intercourse (AP/Google.com, 4/29). Of the new reported cases, 255 were transmitted through heterosexual intercourse, and 130 occurred through same-sex intercourse -- a 38% increase from 2006, Channel NewsAsia/Yahoo! News reports. The number of people reported to have contracted HIV through injection drug use decreased from 14 in 2006 to seven last year. One case occurred through a blood transfusion in another country.
Singapore citizens and permanent residents between ages 30 and 49 accounted for 57% of all new HIV cases reported last year, the ministry said. One in eight cases were between people ages 20 and 29. Ten people under age 20 were diagnosed with HIV, including one case of mother-to-child transmission, the ministry said.
About 29% of the cases reported among men who have sex with men were among people who voluntarily sought HIV testing, compared with 5% of reported cases among heterosexuals (Channel NewsAsia/Yahoo! News, 4/29). More than 50% of the new cases had progressed to late-stage HIV at the time of diagnosis, similar to previous years, the ministry said. "There is ... an urgent need for persons who engage in high-risk behavior ... to go for regular HIV testing," the ministry's Web site said (AP/Google.com, 4/29).
Singapore's Parliament last week approved a bill that would make it a crime for people who have reason to believe that they might be HIV-positive to have sex without informing their partners of the risks. Those who violate the measure could be punished even if they test negative for HIV. Violators could face as much as 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine. Punishment for those who know they are HIV-positive and decline to tell their partners -- which currently is a crime under a 1992 law -- would be increased to the same level. No one has been prosecuted under the 1992 law. Enforcement of the proposed law would depend on whether the "aggrieved" partner files a complaint and prosecutors can prove that the defendant has a history of risky sexual behavior. United Nations agencies and HIV/AIDS advocates oppose Singapore's proposed measure. According to the government, the measure would encourage people to seek HIV testing and to avoid risky behavior (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 4/24).
Link to this story.
Philippine Lawmaker Introduces Bill To Bolster HIV/AIDS Prevention, Services
[Apr 30, 2008]
Philippine Rep. Nerissa Corazon Soon Ruiz recently introduced a measure that would amend the country's 1998 AIDS Prevention and Control Act in an effort to strengthen prevention and care services, the Manila Standard reports. The measure would bolster the country's HIV/AIDS monitoring system, as well as improve support services for people living with the disease and their families. In addition, the measure would increase the annual budget of the Philippine National AIDS Council in an effort to make it more autonomous.
Ruiz said that she introduced the measure to address the increasing number of undocumented HIV/AIDS cases in the Philippines (Araneta, Manila Standard, 4/29). "The incidence of HIV and AIDS in the Philippines can no longer be regarded as low and slow but ... hidden and growing," she said, adding, "The alarming side of the story is the unreported and undocumented cases, now escalating to an estimated 11,000 cases" (GMANews.tv, 4/28). Ruiz, who also is a member of UNAIDS, said, "Inaction could prove to be costly. Let's not wait for this health problem to become an epidemic" (Manila Standard, 4/29).
Link to this story.
Commercial Sex Industry Booming Along Uganda, Sudan Border; Teachers Increasingly Joining Trade, Study Says
[Apr 30, 2008]
The commercial sex industry is booming along the border between Uganda and Sudan following a recent increase in jobs and commercial trucking, according to a recently released study about HIV/AIDS in the region, Uganda's Monitor reports.
The National Committee on AIDS in Emergency Settings, the International Organization for Migration and the Uganda AIDS Commission, with support from UNAIDS, identified locations with high commercial sex traffic between September 2007 and January 2008. The project was part of the country's National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS activities.
The study identified locations in Uganda and Sudan where the sex trade is increasing. The spots in Uganda are Arua Park in Kampala, Atiako, Bibia, Bweyale, Gulu, Karuma, Masindi, Migyera and Nakasongola. The two sites studied in southern Sudan are Juba and Nimule, the Monitor reports. According to study consultant Alan Ferguson, commercial sex work is well-established on the Kampala-Juba highway.
There are about 500 sex workers at each of the studied locations, Ferguson said, adding that the majority of workers migrate between the two countries depending on where they can earn more money. Those involved in the areas' commercial sex trade include bar and hotel attendants, children from child-headed families, women widowed by conflicts and teachers, the Monitor reports.
Joyce Namulondo, focal officer for AIDS in Emergencies at UAC, said one of the teachers interviewed for the study said she makes 1.5 million shillings monthly, or about $900, as a sex worker. This compares with about 130,000 shillings, or $77, monthly as a primary teacher in Uganda. According to the Monitor, sex workers come to the border route as new job and trade opportunities become available, and the flow of human and truck traffic on the highway increases.
Namulondo said low condom use along the route is disconcerting, adding that there are reports of Ugandan girls involved in the sex trade in Sudan being prohibited from using condoms. "We were told that people there have shunned condom use because they want to produce more children and increase the population of the country," she said.
Ferguson said that the majority of people who pay for sex are truck drivers. The study also identified police officers, fuel dealers, health workers, soldiers, teachers and business representatives as some of the people who buy sex along the route. The study found that 70.7% of truck drivers said they always use condoms with sex workers, 68.4% of transactions reported by sex workers involved condom use, and 16.4% of sex workers reported always using condoms. Ferguson also said that in some places, sex workers are paid about 50,000 shillings, or about $29, while in other more poverty-stricken locations, they receive as little as 2,500 shillings, or about $1.50, for unprotected sex.
Namirembe Bitamazire, Uganda's minister of Education and Sports, said that she was not aware that sex work among teachers has become an issue. "I have worked in the education sector for a long time, but I have never heard anything of that sort." Ministry spokesperson Aggrey Kibenge also said that he had not heard about the issue but that a recent study conducted in both Uganda and Malawi indicated that HIV/AIDS prevalence among teachers was as high as 30%. Sex work was not officially cited as a reason for the study's findings, the Monitor reports (Nafula, Monitor, 4/28).
Link to this story.
Across The Nation
Salt Lake Tribune Examines Enforcement of Utah Law Requiring Mandatory HIV Tests for Convicted Sex Workers, Solicitors
[Apr 30, 2008]
A review of Utah court records and procedures has found inconsistencies in the enforcement of a state law that requires convicted commercial sex workers and solicitors of commercial sex to be tested for HIV, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. The state is one of six in the U.S. in which penalties for the two offenses increase if the convicted person previously tested positive for HIV, according to a 2002 CDC-funded study.
According to the Tribune, court dockets and case files indicate that in almost 40% of solicitation and commercial sex work convictions processed in state courts in 2006 and 2007, there is no record of HIV tests being ordered, read by a judge or filed. Lynn Beltran, program manager for HIV and sexually transmitted infections at the Salt Lake Valley Health Department, said, "Last month, we ended up doing about 20 [HIV tests], and I'm quite sure there are way more at times." She added, "We almost need a full-time person to do this and make sure people don't fall through the cracks."
Salt Lake City prosecutor Sim Gill said he does not know if the law "necessarily is always implemented." According to the Tribune, even if test results are successfully transferred to police departments, other factors -- including various aliases and jurisdictional issues -- can impede their use in future cases. "There's a breakdown in making sure there is a centralized database (by) which law enforcement can gather that information," Gill said. He said that he believes police agencies are collecting results independently from the courts, adding that his office recently began keeping its own databank of HIV-positive results. "We need to be much more diligent on it," Gill said.
Beltran estimates that solicitation cases are responsible for about one-fifth to one-fourth of newly recorded HIV cases in recent years. She added that ultimately, such prosecutions are effective not because they deter offenders who might be HIV-positive, but because the law requires HIV counseling and drug treatment for felony convictions. Gill noted that the cost of treating those found to be HIV-positive is less than the cost of punishing them. "We're talking about a criminal justice response to what is otherwise a public health issue," Gill said, adding, "Where we introduce a nonjudicial intervention, we're going to be dollar-for-dollar much farther ahead" (Alberty, Salt Lake Tribune, 4/28).
Link to this story.
Recent Releases
GAO Reports Examine PEPFAR Funding Allocation
[Apr 30, 2008]
The Government Accountability Office on Tuesday released two reports examining the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and funding decisions. One of the reports, titled "A More Country-Based Approach Could Improve Allocation of PEPFAR Funding," interviewed 22 HIV/AIDS experts, surveyed PEPFAR officials in the 15 focus countries and reviewed documentation to find alternative approaches to allocating funds and ascertaining the views of HIV/AIDS experts about such programs (Report summary [1], April 2008). For the second report, titled "Survey of PEPFAR Country Team Officials (GAO-08-534SP), an E-Supplement to GAO-08-480," researchers sent surveys to 41 U.S. officials implementing PEPFAR funding in the 15 focus countries. The survey was conducted to identify potential challenges to implementing an alternative approach to allocate funds for the next five-year phase of PEPFAR. Thirty-eight officials responded, including CDC's chief of party, USAID's health team leader and the PEPFAR coordinator in each of the 15 focus countries. The questions in the survey were intended to obtain information on country teams' experiences with setting targets, selecting interventions and using cost information (Report summary [2], April 2008).
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Subject: Ambush...Jamaica Gleaner Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:34:01 +0000
Jamaican-born pharmacist has cure for AIDS? published: Monday | April 14, 2008
Paul H. Williams, Gleaner Writer
MISHE
Since the mid-1980s, the scourge of AIDS has been taking its toll on the minds, bodies and lives of millions worldwide. Scientists are working to find a cure. As they do so, a Jamaican living in the United States has been saying for quite a while now, look no farther, the 'cure' is already available. He said it was sent to him by God.
"I did not come up with this 'cure' ... but, I was given it by the Angel Gabriel, who appeared to me in 2002, and said, 'I am going to give you the cure for AIDS.' So I replied, "There is no cure for AIDS!" Gabriel asked, 'Do you believe I am an angel?' Now, looking straight and stern at me, standing about seven feet away. So, I said, "Yes, what is it?" He showed me a species of the palm plant. I asked him how to get it out, which he showed me, and said that the dose should be 60ml three times daily for 21 days and the person will be 'cured' of AIDS.
And therein lies his challenge. Many in the medical science community don't believe him, even though he is claiming to have cured 400 persons so far with AMBUSH, the name of the drug derived from the plant. "I have contacted the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and a host of other institutions who were 'very interested' until they asked the question: 'Who gave you?' and (when) I said the Lord God, then all lights are out." But, before we get to the 'cure' itself, who is this man with such a huge claim?
Name change
In Warsop, Trelawny, in 1953, he was born Vernon Palmer. Last year, he changed his name to Apostle Shada Mishe. The year before, he was on the ballots for governor of the state of Florida. But, years before that, he attended Warsop Primary School, Knox College and the College of Arts, Science and Technology where he studied pharmacy.
He has worked as a pharmacist in many locations, including Red Hills Pharmacy in St Andrew; the Kingston Public Hospital, Hialeah Hospital in Florida. He also studied political administration, and law at Nova University, and health services administration at Florida International University. Then, in 2002, Angel Gabriel, on a mission of mercy, manifested itself to him.
For seven months after the 'revelation', Palmer did nothing about the 'cure', but when his friend Larry was near death from AIDS, he acted. He recalled, "So I gave him the 21-day dose. In which time, I had to boil and feed him with cornmeal porridge because he was so weak. After 21 days, Larry had recovered and was on his way to full strength. I made him take the HIV test again and it was positive.
"I asked the Lord why it was positive if he is cured. The Lord reminded me of the principle of virology 101. When the virus is killed, the antibodies are left in the body. Therefore, the individual will always be positive, similar to mumps or smallpox."
The palm then is the source of this much-needed cure. The Lord God, he said, has given him seven steps to isolate the active ingredient, which is soft and metallic in nature, and has a carbon-uranium-sulfur-(classified)-phentolamine configuration or structure.
Preparation
Palmer: "AMBUSH is a radioactive isotope of uranium that is found in the palm plant of which there are more than 3,000 species. When ingested, AMBUSH causes the body temperature in the trunk area to rise to about 102 degrees when the individual is sleeping. The preparation takes four hours per batch, which is then given to the individuals for consumption, 60ml three times daily for 21 days. AMBUSH is a herbal preparation in this form, but it contains an active ingredient, which is a new crystalline substance."
The active ingredient, he's contending, kills the virus by causing its protein envelope to rupture and the viral particles are discarded by the white blood cells. AMBUSH is able to kill the virus that is hiding in the lymph system by its natural radioactive properties. This process allows the body to return to normal health.
"After 21 days on AMBUSH, all the individuals experienced a decrease in viral load to undetectable - an improvement in general health such as more colour to the face, a decrease in buffalo hump, an increase in gluteal muscles, a decrease in joint pain. There is also a dramatic increase in their sexual appetite beginning after the first week of therapy."
In another claim of success, he said a 35-year-old male AIDS sufferer who found it difficult to urinate was put on green tea and water, while his doctors contem-plated prostate surgery. One of the doctors gave the patient his number. He sent the man a supply of AMBUSH. Since he has started taking AMBUSH 18 months ago, he has not been given any more anti-retroviral drugs, has been in good health and has expressed a willingness to be examined by HIV investigators.
Universal 'cure'
But AMBUSH seems to be a universal 'cure', for Apostle Mishe is saying that as an antiviral and a natural radioactivity-producing agent, it is also effective against leukaemia, lupus and the human papilloma virus (HPV).
Palmer: "Here I am saying that I have given AMBUSH in the same strength and dosage to patients with leukaemia, lupus and HPV." Yet, no organisation or government is willingness to buy into his claim.
"I have sent this idea to most HIV research agencies, scientists in the field, universities, hospitals, clinics, politicians and news agencies (and) it is rejected because the name of the Lord God is mentioned. He has steered me scientifically through the processes such as which plant and how to produce the active ingredient."
Palmer, who said he was christened and confirmed in the Anglican Church, which he still attends, and sent by the Holy Spirit to be baptised in the Pentecostal Church, wants his proposal to be accepted on the basis that he has proven that AMBUSH has saved many end-stage and/or drug-resistant sufferers and that the scientific community is aware of their recovery.
No charge
And to those who might say it is just a scam to earn money, the ordained minister said, "I have never charged any of the people for their supply of AMBUSH, but a life's saving has been spent on the project with no remuneration from any sources because AMBUSH falls outside the walls of modern medicine and research."
He is steadfast in his claim, for he said, "If this is accepted or not, believed or not, the Lord God always wins, and this is the heavenly truth to which AMBUSH was divinely given to mankind for the 'cure' of HIV/AIDS and it will be here forever."