SOUTH AFRICA: "Boost for AIDS Fight from New Minister"
UGANDA: "Cutting = HIV: Male Circumcision Booms in Uganda"

UNITED STATES: "No Proof = Circumcision Cuts Gay Male HIV Risk: Study"
UNITED STATES: "HIV Risk-Related Attitudes, Inte= rpersonal Influences, and Intentions Among At-Risk Urban, Early Adolescent G= irls"

TENNESSEE: "Clinic Offers Sex Education, Substan= ce Abuse Services to Students"
CALIFORNIA: "DPH Launches Online STD Testing Program"
=

U= NITED STATES:   "Drug Firms Open Vaults in Search for TB = Treatment"
Seattle Times     (10.07.08):: Sandi= Doughton

The Seattle-based Infectious Disease Research Inst= itute is spearheading a search for new ways to treat tuberculosis. IDRI has = persuaded Eli Lilly and Merck & Co. to open their "molecular libraries" of m= ore than 500,000 compounds to look for any promising leads.

Such libr= aries, which detail the structure and chemistry of potential drug components= , are among drug firms' most valuable and closely held assets, said Dr. Gail= Cassell, vice president of scientific affairs for Lilly. But the need for n= ew TB drugs is so urgent the companies have put competitiveness aside.
Worldwide, up to 2 billion people are infected with TB. The disease claims= the lives of some 1.5 million people annually. TB strains resistant to most= existing drugs have been diagnosed in nearly 50 countries, including the Un= ited States.

Lilly has taken the search one step further by launching= the nonprofit Lilly TB Drug Discovery Initiative, based at IDRI. The progra= m, in partnership with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Dise= ases (NIAID), is working with universities, private labs, and government res= earch centers for more leads. Two promising candidates have already emerged:= One, developed from a soil microbe by Japanese researchers, has proved effe= ctive against drug-resistant TB strains in mice. The other, developed in Bri= tain, also appears to kill resistant TB strains, though it needs more study.=

Cassell cautioned that the failure rate of drug candidates is high.= Those that pass initial testing will graduate to animal studies. Testing in= humans will be done in cooperation with NIAID.

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SOUTH AFR= ICA:   "Boost for AIDS Fight from New Minister"
= Business Day (South Africa)     (10.03.08):: Chantelle B= enjamin

Speaking in Pretoria on Oct. 2, newly appointed Heal= th Minister Barbara Hogan said the challenges of HIV/AIDS and TB will be top= priority as she works to turn around South Africa's health system.

H= ogan replaced Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who was removed from the post last m= onth after a new cabinet was formed. Hogan inherits a health department plag= ued with low morale, high costs and vacancies, poor financial management, an= d major epidemics of HIV/AIDS and TB. Hogan said there will be no "quick-fix= promises" or "cheap political tricks." "This country is facing significant = health burdens and we want to give you something solid, rather than a list o= f 20 things to be done in the last 100 days," she said.

Hogan praised= the efforts of former Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka in developing= the National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS and TB, as well as restructuring t= he South African National AIDS Council.

"Through our comprehensive p= lan for HIV and AIDS care, management, and treatment program, we have initia= ted the largest number of people on antiretroviral treatment in the continen= t and globally," said Hogan. "Yet, we still have millions of people being af= flicted by HIV/AIDS, both the infected and the affected."

"Consistent= work and political leadership" are needed to improve attitudes and awarenes= s, said Hogan. Further distancing herself from her predecessor, Hogan invite= d civil society, political parties, and the media to monitor and report on b= est practices and areas where the health department needs improvement.

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UGANDA:   "Cutting HIV:= Male Circumcision Booms in Uganda"
Agence France Presse  &nbs= p;  (10.07.08)
Responding to studies showing that male= circumcision reduces the chance of female-to-male HIV transmission by about= 60 percent, Uganda's health ministry is planning to promote the procedure c= ountrywide. Now, many men from East African tribes that do not traditionally= practice male circumcision are opting to undergo the operation. In neighbor= ing Kenya, Prime Minister Raila Odinga endorsed circumcision for the same re= ason, though some elders in his Luo tribe are wary because the procedure is = not part of cultural traditions.

Circumcision in Uganda has been asso= ciated with the dominant eastern Bugisu tribe, which has practiced it as a r= ite of adulthood for centuries. The age of males circumcised varies from cla= n to clan, between ages 14-25. About 10 years ago, HIV/AIDS forced tribes to= switch from using a knife communally to individually. Ugandan officials hop= e to change the tribal association, emphasizing medical circumcision for ado= lescents before they become sexually active.

"Some support circumcisi= on, others trash it, but if you can get an intervention that can contribute = to the reduction of infections, you have to support it," said Dr. Kihumoro A= puuli, head of Uganda's AIDS Commission. One criticism is that circumcised m= ales may defeat the protective effect by having sex before the wound heals o= r taking fewer precautions, he said.

"It is an in-born thing," said G= eofrey Natubu, the vice chairperson of Bududa District, who recently officia= ted at a tribal circumcision event. "We don't force you. If my son tells me = he wants to be circumcised, I will ask him if he is confident that he is goi= ng to manage." Custom dictates that youths undergoing traditional circumcisi= on not express pain.

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<= P>UNITED STATES:   "No Proof Ci= rcumcision Cuts Gay Male HIV Risk: Study"
Reuters   &nbs= p; (10.07.08):: Will Dunham

There is insufficient evide= nce to support male circumcision as a way to protect against HIV or other ST= Ds for men who have sex with men (MSM), CDC researchers reported on Tuesday.= This conclusion was based on a meta-analysis of 15 studies involving 53,567= MSM from the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, India, Taiwan, Peru= and the Netherlands.

Earlier studies of male circumcision in Africa,= where the route of viral transmission is largely heterosexual, showed that = circumcised males had up to a 60 percent reduction in their risk of contract= ing HIV from females. However, circumcision's effect among MSM remained uncl= ear.

In the new report, circumcised MSM were 14 percent less likely t= o be HIV-infected than uncircumcised MSM. But that proportion did not reach = a level of statistical significance, the CDC team said.

"You can't ne= cessarily say with confidence that we're seeing a true effect there," said G= regorio Millet, who led the study. "Overall, we're not finding a protective = effect associated with circumcision for gay and bisexual men." "We really ca= nnot recommend overall male circumcision as a strategy for [MSM] in the Unit= ed States."

Circumcision might protect some MSM depending on their se= xual role, Millet said. Research in Australia and Peru found that MSM who pr= acticed exclusively insertive anal sex and were not being penetrated by male= partners were significantly protected from HIV by being circumcised, he sai= d.

"Of course, if you're being penetrated by a partner during sex, yo= u being circumcised is not going to protect you from HIV infection," noted M= illet.

The full report, "Circumcision Status and Risk of HIV and Sexu= ally Transmitted Infections Among Men Who Have Sex with Men," was published = in the Journal of the American Medical Association (2008;300(14):1674-1684).=

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UNITED STATES:   "= ;HIV Risk-Related Attitudes, Interpersonal Influences, and Intentions Among = At-Risk Urban, Early Adolescent Girls"
Amer J of Health Behavior V= ol. 32; No. 5: P. 497-507    (09.10.08):: Jennifer Di No= ia, PhD; Steven P. Schinke, PhD

The study authors sought to examine correlates of sexual e= xperimentation and risk among 236 urban, early adolescent girls (age 12.38 = ± 1.2 years) by comparing measures of HIV risk-related attitudes, interper= sonal influences, and intentions.

Girls in high sexual experimentatio= n and risk groups scored highest on deviant peer norms; endorsements of risk= y behaviors; and inability to refuse unprotected sex, offset negative partne= r influences, avoid intercourse, and assert sexual desires. Girls with older= versus same-age or younger partners reported greater experimentation.
<= BR>"Risk correlates should be considered in designing HIV prevention program= s," the authors concluded.

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TENNESSEE:   = "Clinic Offers Sex Education, Substance Abuse Services to Students" =
Tennessean (Nashville)     (10.03.08):: Suzanne No= rmand Blackwood

The new clinic at Glencliff High School, ope= rated by United Neighborhood Health Services, offers students sexual health = and substance abuse counseling and treatment. The clinic does not provide co= ntraceptives, but it can test students for pregnancy and screen and treat ST= Ds.

Under state law, Glencliff students can access the clinic's serv= ices without parental involvement. Federal privacy laws also protect the con= fidentiality of students visiting the clinic, said Luz Salazar, a nurse prac= titioner at the clinic. The only exceptions are if a student's life is in da= nger or he or she is threatening to harm someone else.

If a student t= ells Salazar about experimenting with drugs, the nurse said she first talks = with the student about the situation. Serious problems would merit a referra= l to Project SELF, a school-based substance abuse treatment program.
Tennessee law also grants any student age 16 or older the freedom to seek c= ounseling without parental consent. The school has on hand a social worker f= rom Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a psychologist from Centerstone= Mental Health Center.

"We'd rather have them talk to somebody than d= o something wrong," Salazar said. "We are patient-advocates. We're not here = to judge them; we're here to serve them," she said. "Parents most of the tim= e want the best for their children, and that may mean giving them some priva= cy."

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CALI= FORNIA:   "DPH Launches Online STD Testing Program" <= BR> Bay Area Reporter     (10.02.08):: Liz Highleyman
San Francisco's Department of Public Health is highlighting it= s STD testing Web site as part of its efforts to fight resurgent syphilis am= ong men who have sex with men (MSM). On Sept. 24, DPH introduced STDTest.org= at Gotham Body Piercing and Tattoo, Market and 17th streets, where the depa= rtment will offer testing outside of shop hours, at 7-9 a.m. and 7-10 p.m.
People can anonymously receive personalized STD advice through the Web= site and schedule an appointment for screening at one of six testing sites = throughout the city. Screening is free but donations are requested to mainta= in the program, a joint endeavor of DPH and Internet Sexuality Information S= ervices Inc. DPH will ask patients for a name when specimens are taken to en= sure that patients testing STD-positive learn their treatment options.
<= BR>Most test results can be retrieved online within three to seven days usin= g a unique identifier. By law, HIV test results must be delivered by phone o= r in person by a trained counselor.

"We need to be where people are a= t, and a lot of people are socializing and finding sexual partners online," = said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, DPH's director of STD prevention and control. "Th= e same way STDs are spread through networks and partnerships, we need networ= ks and partnerships to prevent and treat them."

Syphilis cases rose a= mong local MSM in the first half of this year, and STDs also are disproporti= onately affecting African-American youths.

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VIETNAM:&n= bsp;  "US Provides HIV/AIDS Prevention Funding"
Thanh= Nien News (Viet Nam)     (10.08.08):: Huu Tho

On Tuesday, the US Embassy in Vietnam announced almost $29 million in= funding to help the nation fight HIV/AIDS. A five-year social marketing, pr= evention, and support services project will receive $15 million to target th= ose most at-risk with messages designed to increase safer practices and decr= ease drug use. A $10 million project will support government, civil society,= and local networks in undertaking actions to prevent HIV transmission and i= mprove care and treatment. A $3 million grant will offer technical assistanc= e for workplace-based prevention efforts, as well as employment and support = services for persons at high risk of infection. The contracts will be implem= ented through the US Agency for International Development under the Presiden= t's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. PEPFAR has issued HIV/AIDS-related grant= s totaling more than $232 million to Vietnam since 2004.

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CALIFORNIA:   "Wilson High TB Tests = Come Up Negative"
Press-Telegram (Long Beach)    &nb= sp;(10.07.08):: Kevin Butler

Testing carried out last week a= t Wilson High School after one person was diagnosed with TB has found no add= itional cases of the disease. About 350 students who may have been directly = exposed were tested. Chest X-rays performed on students whose initial skin t= ests were positive indicated that none had TB. The initial patient is receiv= ing treatment and has been not been in school since mid-September.

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CALIFORNIA:   "Event R= aises Money for an Inland Group that Serves About 800 People"
Press= Enterprise (Riverside)     (10.05.08):: John Asbury

The Inland AIDS Project's 18th annual AIDS Walk on Sa= turday drew a crowd of supporters to Fairmount Park. Organizers and walkers = expressed hope that the event would help revive awareness of the ongoing epi= demic. "The word is not getting out and people aren't as concerned, but they= should be," said D. Joy Gould, the group's CEO. IAP treats about 400 patien= ts in both Riverside and San Bernardino counties, Gould said.

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