=

CAN= ADA: "Vancouver Safe-Injection Site Can Operate Until June Under Si= x-Month Extension"
GLOBAL= : "New AIDS Drugs Will Simplify Care of Rural Children"

GEORGIA: "Feds Help= Atlanta Firm Hunt for AIDS Vaccine"
ILLINOIS: "Clinic Opens amid Cheers and Protests"CALIFORNIA: "Californ= ia State-Fullerton Nurse Spreads Safe Sex Advice"

NEW YORK: "New = York City Council Speaker Starts Women's Health Campaign"
NEW YORK: "Dutchess Gets Cash to H= elp HIV/AIDS Patients"
JA= PAN: "415 to Be Tested After Doctor in Japan Gets TB"
INDIA: "MedMira Attracts Orde= r from India for 1 Million HIV Test Kits"

=

M= ASSACHUSETTS:   "State Hears Testimony on AIDS Bills"=
Bay Windows (Boston)    (09.27.07):: Ethan Jacobs<= BR>
On Sept. 26, the Legislature's Joint Committee on Public Hea= lth heard testimony on several bills that could affect HIV testing in Massac= husetts and how state health agencies use the personal information of HIV/AI= DS patients. Among the bills under consideration:

*HB 2209 would elim= inate the requirement for written informed consent prior to HIV testing. The= bill is in response to CDC's 2006 recommendations aimed at making HIV testi= ng a routine part of health care. William Ryder, Chief of Regulatory Affairs= for the Massachusetts Medical Society, spoke in favor of the bill. Ben Klei= n, Director of the AIDS Law Project at Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defende= rs, spoke against the measure, saying if it passed, "there is no questio= n that in Massachusetts that people will be tested for HIV without even know= ing it."

*HB 2276 would create new rules on how public health age= ncies use patients' health information. The AIDS Action Committee filed the = bill in response to the state's recent shift to name-based HIV reporting. Th= e measure would require public health agencies to obtain patients' informed = consent before collecting and disclosing personally identifiable health info= rmation, and it says the information must only be used for narrowly tailored= public health purposes. All testimony offered supported the bill.

*P= ersons convicted of sexual assault would be required to undergo HIV testing = under one bill; the results would be shared with the assault victim.

= *Another bill would allow public safety personnel to petition a court to man= date an HIV test for anyone facing a criminal indictment or complaint who ex= posed the official to bodily fluids.

*Finally, a bill was discussed t= hat would allow anyone who came into contact with the blood of a possibly in= fected person to compel that person to be tested; the results would be share= d with the potentially exposed person.

Back to Top

CANADA:  &nbs= p;"Vancouver Safe-Injection Site Can Operate Until June Under Six-Month = Extension"
Canadian Press    (10.02.07):: Steph= anie Levitz

The federal government on Tuesday granted Vancou= ver's supervised-injection pilot project, Insite, a six-month extension to o= perate free from Canada's drug laws. At the site, drug users inject heroin u= nder the supervision of a nurse, who is to ensure the injections are safe an= d clean.

Health Canada's announcement met a mixed reception by Insit= e supporters, who believe the project has become a political football due to= elections that could be called this fall. Insite's previous federal exempti= on ran out at the end of the year.

The extension for Insite lasts = until June, and it was granted "for the purposes of research into the im= pact of such sites on prevention, treatment and crime," said Jirina Vlk,= a Health Canada spokesperson.

Research on Insite has found that its= clients are more likely to enroll into detoxification programs, begin metha= done substitution therapy, and decrease their monthly visits to the site to = inject drugs. In August, 130 eminent physicians, researchers, and health pro= fessionals endorsed an Open Medicine commentary suggesting Insite was being = judged by a different standard than other health interventions.

"= I think what this is an indication of is that the government is currently re= ally trying to sit out the issue of Insite rather than making a decision one= way or another that inevitably would offend a lot of people on one side or = another," said Benedikt Fischer, Director of the Illicit Drugs, Public H= ealth and Policy Unit at the Center for Addictions Research of British Colum= bia.

Several noted researchers have declined to apply for Health Cana= da grants soliciting research into Insite's impact, citing a gag order that = would prohibit discussion of their findings, said Mark Townsend of Portland = Hotel Society, which runs Insite.

Bac= k to Top

GLOBA= L:   "New AIDS Drugs Will Simplify Care of Rural Children= "
Inter Press Service    (09.28.07):: Adrianne = Appel

Families in rural areas in particular will benefit fro= m new child-friendly formulations of AIDS drugs, a World Health Organization= official recently told a Harvard Medical School conference. The complicated= dosing requirements of current AIDS drugs are "the reason so few kids a= re on treatment outside of capitals," said Charlie Gilks, Chief of Treat= ment in WHO's HIV Division.

The benefits of getting modern AIDS drugs= to infected children early are evident from the example of Brazil, where &#= 34;In the 1980s, just 25 percent of children infected with HIV survived afte= r three years of treatment. Today it is 80 percent," Gilks said.
The new pills combine two or three AIDS drugs in a single tablet and are ac= companied by a simple dosing chart. The pills are scored so they can easily = be cut in half for very small children; they can also be crushed and mixed w= ith food.

Under the WHO plan, the drugs will be distributed to entir= e families, with adults taking them at higher doses. This is key because the= HIV-infected children with the best chance of survival are those whose moth= ers are well enough to care for them, Gilks said.

Most of the world'= s children needing HIV treatment live in sub-Saharan Africa, Gilks said. Des= pite improvements in recent years, the drugs are reaching only 21 percent of= South African children who need them.

WHO has been working for more = than a year on the new formulations in combination with the European Union a= nd the Bill Clinton Foundation. They still must be approved by the drug boar= ds of various nations, however, and "It's been a nightmare dealing with = the regulators," Gilks said.

Back= to Top

UNITED STATES:   "Viag= ra, Methamphetamine, and HIV Risk: Results from a Probability Sample of MSM,= San Francisco"
Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Aug. 2007, Vol. 34; = No. 8: P. 586-591    (08..07):: Hilary H. Spindler, MPH;= Susan Scheer, PhD, MPH; Sanny Y. Chen, MS; Jeffrey D. Klausner, MD, MPH; Mi= tchell H. Katz, MD; Linda A. Valleroy, PhD; Sandra K. Schwarcz, MD, MPH
<= /strong>
The authors undertook the current study to evaluate the prevalen= ce and factors of Viagra use in combination with crystal methamphetamine and= its relationship to HIV risk behavior in a probability sample of men who ha= ve sex with men (MSM). They conducted a cross-sectional, random-digit dial t= elephone survey of San Francisco MSM between June 2002 and January 2003.
=
Of the 1,976 MSM polled, 13.5 percent used Viagra alone; 5.1 used Viagra= with methamphetamine; 7.1 percent used methamphetamine without Viagra; and = 9.6 percent used Viagra with a mood-altering substance other than methamphet= amine. Of the MSM who reported using both Viagra and methamphetamine, 57 per= cent were HIV-positive, and 24 percent of these MSM reported serodiscordant = unprotected insertive intercourse. Use of Viagra with methamphetamine was in= dependently associated with a higher risk of serodiscordant unprotected inse= rtive intercourse, serodiscordant unprotected receptive intercourse, and rec= ent STD diagnosis.

"MSM who use Viagra with crystal methamphetami= ne have high prevalence rates of HIV and engage in HIV risk behaviors," = the authors concluded.

Back to Top

GEORGIA:   "Feds Help = Atlanta Firm Hunt for AIDS Vaccine"
Atlanta Journal-Constitution&nb= sp;   (09.28.07):: Craig Schneider

Given enco= uraging initial data, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently award= ed a vaccine research firm $15 million to help continue investigations in a = candidate HIV vaccine's development.

"We've done a significant a= mount of testing on humans with positive results," said Don Hildebrand, = president of Atlanta-based GeoVax. "We've had a high percentage of peopl= e respond positively so far."

The experimental inoculation is mea= nt to stimulate a person's immune system to fight HIV infection, said Hildeb= rand. About 140 people are participating in four independent national studie= s of the vaccine, he said, characterizing its development as in the middle s= tages.

The NIH grant will move forward the vaccine's development by = months or years, Hildebrand said. With the help of the funding, GeoVax will = perform Phase II human clinical trials, planned for 2008, to see whether the= vaccine prevents HIV or helps people keep infection from progressing to AID= S. A recent vaccine candidate by Merck & Co. was found not to be effective, = and the study was halted.

GeoVax developed its vaccine with CDC, NIH,= and the firm's majority stakeholder, Emory University.

Back to Top

ILLINOIS:   "Clinic Opens amid Cheers and = Protests"
Chicago Tribune    (10.03.07):: James= Kimberly; Gary Gibula

On Tuesday, a new Planned Parenthood = clinic opened in Aurora in a ceremony attended by about 50 employees and sup= porters and about 100 abortion protesters; around a dozen police kept watch.=

The complex on Oakhurst and New York Streets will provide a range of= reproductive health services, including STD screening, contraception, and c= ervical and breast cancer exams, said Steve Trombley, CEO and President of P= lanned Parenthood/Chicago Area. He said less than 10 percent of the group's = services are abortion-related.

Trombley estimated the clinic would se= rve about 25,000 clients annually when at full capacity. A few patients had = already scheduled appointments at the clinic for Tuesday, mostly for STD tes= ting, and more patients were scheduled this week, he said.

The Pro-L= ife Action League filed a zoning objection with the Aurora Zoning Board of A= ppeals Tuesday evening, since the clinic was not operating under a special-u= se permit, said Eric Scheidler, league spokesperson. City attorneys were rev= isiting their opinion that this permit was not required, said Carie Anne Erg= o, a city spokesperson. Scheidler said he believes the objection should have= automatically closed the clinic's operation for 30 days under the appeals p= rocess.

Mayor Tom Weisner said that "there is no substance or rea= son to deny the occupancy permit. While granting the occupancy permit may ma= ke some people unhappy, our job is to follow the law, and that's what we're = doing."

Back to Top

CALIFORNIA:   = ;"California State-Fullerton Nurse Spreads Safe Sex Advice"
Uni= versity Wire    (10.01.07):: Elisabeth Donovan, Daily Ti= tan

The Women's Center at California State University-Fuller= ton (CSUF) recently presented "Women and Safe Sex in the 21st Century,&#= 34; a discussion about safe sex and pregnancy prevention.

"The c= hoices that people make when they're young affect their entire lives," s= aid Janet Emery, a nurse practitioner at the university. "People aren't = marrying until they're in their late 20s. Young girls are reaching puberty e= arlier than ever before. Some girls begin their periods at ages 10 and 11. Y= oung people have a lot of time to be sexually active."

Emery disc= ussed various STDs, saying that in the heat of the moment young people too o= ften overlook these serious threats to their health. She noted that a colleg= e survey found that 60 percent of students believe oral sex is safe and is n= ot even considered sex. But herpes, gonorrhea, and syphilis are among STDs t= hat can be contracted orally, Emery said.

Free condoms and STD tests= are available to students at the CSUF Health Center through the federally f= unded Family PACT (Planning Access Care Treatment) Program. Planned Parentho= od also provides free reproductive health services to students and low-incom= e persons.

One young communications major said she believes the STD = rate among Americans would fall if people were more open about sexual matter= s. "Students need to open up and get the facts," she said. "If y= ou're going to have sex, you should be able to talk about it."

Back to Top

NEW YORK:=    "New York City Council Speaker Starts Women's Health C= ampaign"
Associated Press    (10.01.07)
New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has launched a yearlong h= ealth initiative to educate women about a number of issues, specifying a mon= th for each health topic. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month,= in which the importance of mammograms will be emphasized. In November, the = city will focus on diabetes. Other topics for the campaign include HIV, dome= stic violence, depression, heart health, gynecological health, colon health,= safe sex, osteoporosis, smoking, and pregnancy health. For more information= , visit www.nycwomenfirst.org.

Back t= o Top

NEW YORK:&= nbsp;  "Dutchess Gets Cash to Help HIV/AIDS Patients"
= Poughkeepsie Journal    (09.18.07):: John Davis

Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus recently announced the = county is receiving a $103,571 federal Ryan White Minority AIDS Initiative g= rant. "This additional funding will help us to continue to enhance and d= evelop necessary services to help all those impacted by HIV/AIDS," said = Steinhaus. Blacks account for a disproportionate 46 percent of local HIV cas= es, compared to 28 percent for Hispanics, and 24 percent for whites, said Dr= . Michael Caldwell, county health commissioner. The Ryan White grant will he= lp the county provide a seamless network of care for all those affected by H= IV/AIDS, he said.

Back to Top

JAPAN:   = ;"415 to Be Tested After Doctor in Japan Gets TB"
Reuters =    (10.03.07)
The news that a doctor in Gifu has = tuberculosis has prompted local health authorities to ask 415 of his patient= s to be tested for the disease. The doctor was diagnosed last month, though = he had been coughing and breathing heavily since January. During the interve= ning months, he treated 1,695 patients; however, health officials said it is= unlikely he infected any of them, since he spent only a brief time with eac= h person. If anyone among the 415 is found to be infected, other patients wi= ll be tested as well, a Gifu spokesperson said. The proportion of new TB pat= ients in Japan is 4.4 times higher than in the United States, according to t= he Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association.

Back to Top

I= NDIA:   "MedMira Attracts Order from India for 1 Million = HIV Test Kits"
Halifax Daily News    (09.27.07)=
India is ordering 1 million rapid-result HIV test kits from Med= Mira Inc., the Canadian manufacturer has announced. The kits can test whole = blood, serum and plasma. India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organization= evaluated an initial shipment of the kits and found their overall accuracy = to be 100 percent, MedMira said.

Back= to Top

---

The CDC Nationa= l Center for HIV, Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention provides the above inform= ation as a public service only. Providing synopses of key scientific article= s and lay media reports on HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases and= tuberculosis does not constitute CDC endorsement. The above summaries were = prepared without conducting any additional research or investigation into th= e facts and statements made in the articles being summarized, and therefore = readers are expressly cautioned against relying on the validity or invalidit= y of any statements made in these summaries. This daily update also includes= information from CDC and other government agencies, such as background on M= orbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) articles, fact sheets and announ= cements. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be= sold, and the CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update should be cit= ed as the source of the information. Contact the sources of the articles abs= tracted above for full texts of the articles.

The Prevention = News Mailing List is maintained by the National Prevention Information Ne= twork (NPIN), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's = National Center for HIV, Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention. Regular postings= include the Prevention News Update, conference announcements, current fun= ding opportunities, select articles from the Morbidity and Mortality Weekl= y Report series and announcements about new NPIN products and services.

To join the PreventioNews listserv, send a blank e-mail to prevention-news-subscribe@= cdcnpin.org. For instructions on how to remove yourself from the lists= erv, send a blank e-mail to prevention-news-unsubscribe@cdcnpin.org.

You can = also join or leave the PreventioNews listserv from the NPIN Web site at:= http://www.cdcnpin.org/scripts/listserv/prevention_news.asp.

Back issues of the CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Up= date can be found at http://listmanager.bps-lmit.com/read/?= forum=prevention-news. You can search for back issues in the Prevent= ion News Update Database at http://www.cdcnp= in.org/scripts/locates/LocateNews.asp?SearchType=Advanced.

W= e'd like to know what you think of the Prevention News Update. Please take= a minute to send an e-mail with your comments to update-feedback@cdcnpin.org. With your help, we= will continue to improve this service to better meet your information nee= ds.

Please send all other e-mail inquiries to info@cdcnpin.org.

**This message may be co= pied and distributed; however, it may not be distributed for profit.**