Kaisernetwork.org (Washington, DC)
20 May 2008
HIV/AIDS Experts Call for New Ideas, Increased Funding on 25th Anniversary of Paper Identifying Virus
[May 20, 2008]
A novel strategy, new teams of researchers and increased funding are needed to revitalize the fight against HIV/AIDS worldwide, experts said Monday on the 25th anniversary of the release of the study that identified HIV, AFP/Google.com reports.
Experts at a review of medical progress against HIV/AIDS highlighted the successes made over the past 25 years, including the identification of HIV and the development of antiretroviral therapy in the mid-1990s. They also acknowledged "cruel setbacks" -- such as the ongoing search for a vaccine and a successful microbicide to prevent HIV among women -- which "show basic questions remain to be answered about HIV's shape-shifting properties and its stealthy invasion of immune cells," according to AFP/Google.com.
On May 20, 1983, Luc Montagnier and a team at the Pasteur Institute published a paper in the journal Science about a virus found in a person who died of AIDS-related causes. U.S. researcher Robert Gallo later showed that the same virus caused AIDS. A dispute over who first discovered the virus was settled in 1987, giving both the researchers credit.
Montagnier said, "We still don't completely understand the various forms of the virus. It's more complicated for us than we thought." Jean-Francois Delfraissy, director of the National Agency for AIDS Research in France, said, "We need to go back to the question of basic research, to have new ideas, new teams, to take a new look at cellular biology." Alice Dautry, head of the Pasteur Institute, said the next step in HIV/AIDS research should involve "a multidisciplinary approach, for looking at the problem through different eyes. When there is a problem, it has to be attacked from every direction" (AFP/Google.com, 5/19).
Daniel Halperin of the Harvard University School of Public Health said, "Intuitively, things like condom promotion and HIV testing should work anywhere." He added, "But if that were true, countries like Botswana" -- which has recorded the second highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in Africa after Swaziland -- "should have wiped out their HIV epidemic by now."
In a recent article in Science, Halperin and his co-authors said that health officials should significantly increase funding for male circumcision -- which has been shown to reduce HIV transmission among heterosexual men by up to 60% -- and for programs to promote partner reduction, the AP/International Herald Tribune reports (AP/International Herald Tribune, 5/19).
In addition, Gallo called for new approaches to vaccine development. "Some fundamental biological questions are needed (to be addressed) before some vaccines go forward, or we tend to waste money, produce a depressing atmosphere in the field and take money away from the basic science that is needed right now." He also said there is a "worrying tendency" to consider HIV/AIDS as a manageable disease in light of the availability of antiretrovirals, noting that only a small percentage of people in Africa who need such treatment actually receive it (AFP/Google.com, 5/19).
Link to this story.
Beijing Launches Hotel Condom Campaign To Curb Spread of HIV
[May 20, 2008]
In an effort to curb the spread of HIV in Beijing, the city's Municipal Health Bureau and Municipal Tourist Bureau have ordered three-star and higher-rated hotels in the city to supply their guest rooms with condoms by the end of May, Xinhua/China View reports. According to Xinhua/China News, Beijing recorded 5,219 HIV/AIDS cases as of April 30 -- up from 4,663 cases as of October. The spread of the virus has been largely associated with sexual transmission, BMHB officials said, adding that the situation requires immediate condom promotion efforts.
In addition to hotels, condoms will be available at karaoke and night clubs, spa resorts and other entertainment venues by the end of the year to ensure safer-sex practices. Twenty-six other departments also are involved in the campaign (Xinhua/China View, 5/19).
Link to this story.
In The Courts
HIV/AIDS Advocacy Groups Protest Ruling in Case Regarding HIV-Positive Man, Saliva
[May 20, 2008]
Several HIV/AIDS advocacy groups are saying that a recent ruling in a Dallas County, Texas, case that an HIV-positive man who spit into the mouth and eye of a Dallas police officer was using saliva as a deadly weapon was excessive, the Dallas Morning News reports. CDC and "countless doctors say no one has ever contracted the virus from" saliva, the Morning News reports. According to Bebe Anderson, HIV project director for Lambda Legal, the group is criticizing the ruling, saying it could lead to a misunderstanding of how HIV is transmitted (Ellis, Dallas Morning News, 5/17).
Dallas police officer Dan Waller during the case testified that Willie Campbell, who is HIV-positive, spit into his eye and open mouth when he arrested Campbell for public intoxication in 2006, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. In addition, while in prison awaiting trial, Campbell allegedly bit two inmates and attacked other officers. Because Campbell had been in prison twice before, he was classified as a habitual offender subject to a sentence of at least 25 years, according to the AP/Chronicle (AP/Houston Chronicle, 5/17). Campbell on Wednesday received a 35-year prison sentence in the case. Waller has not tested HIV-positive, according to the Morning News.
Dallas County Health and Human Services on Friday in response to the ruling issued a statement that said, "U.S. Public Health Service guidelines determine the risk of HIV transmission from such fluids as saliva and tears to be extremely low." R. Doug Hardy, infectious disease specialist at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Children's Medical Center Dallas, added that there is a higher risk of transmitting hepatitis B and C, and syphilis through saliva.
Dallas County prosecutor Jenni Morse said that any risk level is sufficient for saliva to be considered a deadly weapon. "No matter how minuscule, there is some risk," Morse said, adding, "That means there is the possibility of causing serious bodily injury or death," the legal definition of a deadly weapon. Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins added that "it was clear [Campbell] intended to cause serious bodily injury" to Waller. Anderson said, "It's been 25 years since the virus was identified, but there are still lots of fears." She added, "We are still facing people losing their jobs and fighting for their children because of fears that are unfounded" (Dallas Morning News, 5/17).
Link to this story.
Across The Nation
NPR Program Examines HIV/AIDS Education in U.S.
[May 20, 2008]
NPR's "Weekend Edition Sunday" examined issues surrounding HIV/AIDS education in the U.S. The segment included a discussion with Adam Tenor -- executive director of Metro TeenAIDS, a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., that runs education programs in city schools -- and with John Jemmott, a specialist in health psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Tenor said that about 50% to 60% of young students in Metro TeenAIDS' education classes say they know someone living with HIV. The city is "dealing with a very quiet, very deadly epidemic," he said, adding that "as long as we continue to have such high inequality in the district, ... I think we'll continue to see HIV flourish."
Jemmott -- who has helped to develop curricula in HIV/AIDS education classes nationwide, including those used by Metro TeenAIDS -- said the "best strategy" to prevent HIV/AIDS is to "practice abstinence and to delay sexual involvement as much as possible." The second method "would be to use condoms consistently," and the third is to have as "few sexual partners as possible if you do have sex," he said.
Jemmott also said that HIV/AIDS education is "making a difference" on a national level, adding that the "trends have all been in the right direction in terms of the percentage of young people who are engaging in sexual activity and then also increases in condom use that have occurred over time" (Hansen, "Weekend Edition," NPR, 5/18).
Link to this story.
Politics and Policy
Canadian HIV/AIDS Groups Lobby Government To Reinstate Funding, Halt Further Reductions
[May 20, 2008]
Some community groups in Canada are calling on the government to reinstate funding for HIV/AIDS services and to stop further reductions, the CP/Google.com reports. The government recently announced that about $26 million will be redirected from HIV/AIDS initiatives to vaccine development efforts, the CP/Google.com reports.
According to the CP/Google.com, HIV/AIDS groups have said that they do not know when the cuts will be implemented or how they will be affected. Rick Kennedy, executive director of the Ontario AIDS Network, said the reductions are moving across Canada as different programs come up for renewal. He added that funding in Ontario was reduced by 30% in 2007 and that HIV/AIDS groups in Quebec could lose up to 24% this year. Kennedy acknowledged the need for a vaccine but said funding allocated for that goal should not be included in the government's overall HIV/AIDS spending target of $84.4 million. Funding for Alberta has been extended for six months, and groups have been notified that some type of funding reduction will follow when the extension ends.
Susan Cress, chair of the Alberta Community Council on HIV, said, "At this point in time, one would think somebody would be able to draw a line in the sand to say, 'This is what it's going to look like.'" She added, "We don't have it." Some advocates said that they fear the funding reductions will increase HIV/AIDS rates among vulnerable groups -- including injection drug users, prisoners and men who have sex with men -- the CP/Google.com reports. "We're concerned about having to lay off staff, having to discontinue programs and having our ability to fight HIV through prevention and education substantially reduced," Kennedy said.
The office of Health Minister Tony Clement said that Clement is traveling and referred inquiries to the Public Health Agency of Canada. No one from the agency was available for an interview, according to the CP/Google.com. Jacinthe Perras, spokesperson for the agency, in an e-mail wrote that the majority of the $26 million redirected to the vaccine initiative will not come from "the community funding envelope." She added, "Great effort has been taken to minimize the impact of the redirection of funding on community programs." Clement in a March letter to Kennedy said that he understands the concerns that have resulted from the funding reductions and that the government is "taking action to mitigate the negative impact of these reductions."
The Ontario AIDS Network, the Alberta council and a similar group in Quebec are lobbying the government to reinstate the funding. The groups have also created a postcard mail-in campaign with the slogan "Cutting Funding," the CP/Google.com reports (CP/Google.com, 5/18).
Link to this story.
Opinion
PEPFAR Reauthorization Legislation Should Make HIV/AIDS Treatment 'Priority,' Letter to Editor Says
[May 20, 2008]
"When it comes to AIDS, treatment is prevention," Republican Sens. Richard Burr (N.C.) and Tom Coburn (Okla.) write in a Washington Post letter to the editor in response to a recent opinion piece by columnist Michael Gerson. According to Burr and Coburn, Gerson in the opinion piece "baselessly attacked [their] position on the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief" and "went so far as to accuse [them] of being 'indifferent to human suffering.'" They add, "Nothing could be further from the truth." The authors write that along with Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), they have introduced "legislation that would continue PEPFAR's lifesaving focus by maintaining the mandate that at least 55% of all funding through the program be tied to treatment" for HIV-positive people.
"If we fail to aggressively treat patients, we endorse the spread of the virus," Burr and Coburn write, adding, "By requiring that the majority of PEPFAR funds go toward treatment, we are working to prevent the spread of this devastating virus." HIV/AIDS has "destroyed far too many lives already, and it is time to say enough is enough," the authors write, concluding, "We must continue to support legislation that makes treatment a funding priority" (Burr/Coburn, Washington Post, 5/20).
Link to this story.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Kaisernetwork.org. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
