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National News Archives
National News Briefs
Across the Nation
House To Consider PEPFAR Reauthorization Bill Wednesday
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=51231
"US Reviewing Safety of Glaxo, Bristol-Myers AIDS
Drugs"
Reuters , (03.27.2008) Lisa Richwine
On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration said it is evaluating the safety
of the HIV drugs Ziagen (abacavir) and Videx (didanosine) after a large study
showed patients on either drug had an increased risk of heart attack compared
with patients on other HIV drugs. The notice is part of FDA’s effort to give the
public early warnings about potential safety concerns before officials have
reached any final conclusions. CDC Summary
"Early Treatment for HIV Act Inches Forward"
Bay Area Reporter , (03.27.2008) Bob Roehr
The 2009 budget resolution passed by the Senate on March 14 includes an
amendment that would allow states, through Medicaid, to offer low-income people
with HIV treatment access before they develop AIDS. The Early Treatment for HIV
Act (ETHA), a priority for AIDS activists for over a decade, was sponsored by
Sens. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) and Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.). CDC Summary
CDC Releases Surveillance Report on U.S. 2006 HIV/AIDS Cases
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=51232
FDA To Review Safety of GSK, BMS Antiretrovirals Abacavir, Didanosine
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=51205
"Ban on Travelers with HIV into US Reviewed"
Houston Chronicle , (03.23.2008) Susan Carroll
The Senate is expected this month to reconsider a ban against HIV-positive
foreign visitors and immigrants entering the country, a policy that has resulted
in harsh international criticism.
Under US law since 1987, foreigners with HIV are not permitted to immigrate or
even visit temporarily unless they qualify for narrowly defined waivers. The
United States is one of only 13 nations with such a law: Others include Iraq,
Qatar, and Armenia.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed an amendment this month to the $50
billion AIDS funding bill that would move toward lifting the ban. Rep. Barbara
Lee (D-Calif.) has sponsored a House version of the amendment.
CDC Summary
SOUTH CAROLINA:
"Lecturer Speaks on AIDS Epidemic at University of
South Carolina"
University Wire , (03.20.2008) Katie Jones, Daily Gamecock
On Wednesday, Dr. David H. Ho gave a lecture and participated in a panel
discussion about HIV/AIDS at a packed law school auditorium at the University of
South Carolina-Columbia. Ho was awarded Time magazine’s 1996 Man of the Year for
his breakthrough advances in treating HIV.
“This is the worst plague in human history - 25 million have already died,” Ho
told his audience. “Even though this is already a raging problem, it will
continue to spread. There are 7,000 new infections each day. That adds up to
two-and-a-half-million new infections each year.” CDC Summary
Washington Post Examines Experts' Questions on Basis of HIV Vaccine Research,
Funding Strategies
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=51084
Communities Nationwide Commemorate National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=51061
AP/Montgomery Advertiser Examines Debate Over Segregating HIV-Positive Inmates
From General Prison Population
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=51039
CQ's Carey Discusses PEPFAR Reauthorization
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=51007
CDC Data Show 80 Percent Increase In HIV Among Young African American Men Who
Have Sex With Men
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/100743.php
"US Senate Committee Approves $50
Billion Global AIDS Bill"
Associated Press , (03.13.2008) Jim Abrams
On Thursday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 18-3 in favor of a $50
billion, five-year extension of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
The vote comes two weeks after the House Foreign Affairs Committee endorsed a
similar measure. CDC Summary
Advocates Call for Lifting of U.S. HIV/AIDS-Related Travel Restrictions
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=50899
National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
March 10, 2008
Today, we pause to commemorate the third annual National Women and Girls
HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and to recognize the female face of HIV/AIDS in America.
Since the epidemic began in the early 1980s, more than 181,000 women and girls
in the United States have been diagnosed with AIDS, and an estimated 86,000 have
died with the disease.1
In some parts of the world, HIV/AIDS predominately strikes women; globally,
approximately half of all people living with HIV are female.2 Although that is
not the case in the United States, women represent more than a quarter of all
new annual HIV/AIDS diagnoses in this country. In 2005, nearly 10,000 U.S. women
and adolescent girls (13 years of age and older) were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.3
NIH Press Release
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Expected To Discuss PEPFAR Reauthorization
Draft Bill This Week
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=50842
Task Force Calls for Lifting of HIV/AIDS-Related Travel Restrictions
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=50843
First Lady Laura Bush To Visit Haiti To Highlight U.S.
HIV/AIDS Programs
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=50788
Gates Foundation Seeking Grant Proposals for $100M Initiative To Support
Research on Infectious Diseases, Including HIV/AIDS
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=50733
Advocates Launch 19th Annual Black Church Week of Prayer To Raise Awareness
About HIV/AIDS Among Communities Nationwide
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=50709
'Magic' Johnson Calls for More HIV Testing Among Blacks, End to Stigma
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=50657
House Foreign Affairs Committee Approves PEPFAR Reauthorization Bill
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=50652
See Nation Archives
Across the Nation
Pennsylvania HIV/AIDS Advocacy Group Targets Prevention, Treatment Programs
Toward Older Adults
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=51008
NEVADA:
"Licensing Bureau Alters Surgical Centers’ Rules"
Las Vegas Review-Journal , (03.12.2008) Annette Wells
Gov. Jim Gibbons has signed several amendments to regulations governing
ambulatory surgical centers in Nevada.
“It’s basically codifying what should be common knowledge,” said Steve George, a
spokesperson for the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. “The
licensing bureau is trying to get emergency regulations that would require staff
at ambulatory surgical centers to follow manufacturer’s instructions for
medication and equipment use.”
The amendments come in response to a spate of reports of unsafe practices at
several southern Nevada ambulatory surgery centers, including the use of
single-dose medicine vials on multiple patients and the reuse of syringes.
Illinois House Rejects Legislation That Would Have Repealed Act Requiring
Students To Report Their HIV Status
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=50789
New York City Receives $102M in Ryan White Grants
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=50814
New York's HIV/AIDS Names-Based Reporting, Partner Notification Law Has Not
Led to Decline in Testing, Study Says
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=50710
California County Board of Supervisors Votes To Oppose FDA
Policy Barring MSM From Donating Blood
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=50653
Summaries
"US Reviewing Safety of Glaxo,
Bristol-Myers AIDS Drugs"
Reuters , (03.27.2008) Lisa Richwine
On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration said it is evaluating the safety
of the HIV drugs Ziagen (abacavir) and Videx (didanosine) after a large study
showed patients on either drug had an increased risk of heart attack compared
with patients on other HIV drugs. The notice is part of FDA’s effort to give the
public early warnings about potential safety concerns before officials have
reached any final conclusions.
“Until this evaluation is complete, health care providers should evaluate the
potential risks and benefits” of each drug, FDA said on its Web site.
Analysis of data from the D:A:D study, an evaluation of the long- and short-term
effects of HIV drugs on more than 33,000 patients, prompted the concerns.
Researchers examining the heart attack risk associated with nucleoside reverse
transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) found that patients taking either Ziagen or
Videx “had a greater chance of developing a heart attack than patients taking
other medications,” FDA said.
The risk of heart attack did not seem to increase over time, and “the effect was
not seen six months after stopping the drugs,” FDA said. The agency said it
believes D:A:D analyses are still incomplete, and researchers have yet to
evaluate any heart attack risks associated with the NRTIs Viread (tenofovir) and
Emtriva (emtricitabine).
The makers of Ziagen and Videx, GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Bristol-Myers Squibb
Co., respectively, say their analyses of clinical safety databases reveal no
increased risk of heart attacks. However, FDA said those analyses are
inconclusive.
To view FDA’s statement, visit
http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/early_comm/abacavir.htm
"Early Treatment for HIV Act Inches
Forward"
Bay Area Reporter , (03.27.2008) Bob Roehr
The 2009 budget resolution passed by the Senate on March 14 includes an
amendment that would allow states, through Medicaid, to offer low-income people
with HIV treatment access before they develop AIDS. The Early Treatment for HIV
Act (ETHA), a priority for AIDS activists for over a decade, was sponsored by
Sens. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) and Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.).
The measure creates a reserve fund for ETHA demonstration projects by state
Medicaid offices. An initial version set aside $500 million; the final passed
without a dollar figure, which allows the budget chairperson to find offsetting
funds for it. Under the “pay as you go” budgetary restraints that Democrats
adopted, new spending must be offset by cuts elsewhere or new taxes, and the
latter option is not considered realistic during an election year.
The overarching budget measure passed by a largely partisan vote of 51 to 44. A
companion ETHA bill introduced in the House last August was not included in its
budget resolution, which passed on March 13. However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.) promised last August in San Francisco at the National AIDS Memorial
Grove she would “do everything possible to make it happen.”
It is not clear whether ETHA will emerge intact in the budget during the
Senate-House conference to resolve differences in the legislation.
Also in the House, 79 members, including Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), signed a
March 19 letter asking the Appropriations Committee to boost Minority AIDS
Initiative funding by about 50 percent, to $610 million for fiscal year 2009.
UNITED STATES:
"Ban on Travelers with HIV into US Reviewed"
Houston Chronicle , (03.23.2008) Susan Carroll
The Senate is expected this month to reconsider a ban against HIV-positive
foreign visitors and immigrants entering the country, a policy that has resulted
in harsh international criticism.
Under US law since 1987, foreigners with HIV are not permitted to immigrate or
even visit temporarily unless they qualify for narrowly defined waivers. The
United States is one of only 13 nations with such a law: Others include Iraq,
Qatar, and Armenia.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed an amendment this month to the $50
billion AIDS funding bill that would move toward lifting the ban. Rep. Barbara
Lee (D-Calif.) has sponsored a House version of the amendment.
The ban prompted a boycott of the United States by prominent AIDS advocacy and
research groups, which have not held a major international conference in the
nation since the early 1990s.
“There is no scientific basis whatsoever for the travel ban and there never has
been,” said Dr. Mark Kline, head of retrovirology at the Baylor College of
Medicine in Houston. He added that the ban may indirectly spread HIV by
stigmatizing the disease and deterring people from seeking treatment.
In 1987, HHS added HIV/AIDS to the list of “communicable diseases of public
health significance” resulting in the travel ban. In 1993, Congress passed
specific legislation under the Immigration and Nationality Act that further
supported the travel ban.
HIV tests are required for people planning to immigrate permanently, and
short-term visitors are questioned when they apply for a visa.
In 2006, UNAIDS stated there is “no public health rationale for restricting
liberty of movement or choice of residence on the grounds of HIV status.”
SOUTH CAROLINA:
"Lecturer Speaks on AIDS Epidemic at University of
South Carolina"
University Wire , (03.20.2008) Katie Jones, Daily Gamecock
On Wednesday, Dr. David H. Ho gave a lecture and participated in a panel
discussion about HIV/AIDS at a packed law school auditorium at the University of
South Carolina-Columbia. Ho was awarded Time magazine’s 1996 Man of the Year for
his breakthrough advances in treating HIV.
“This is the worst plague in human history - 25 million have already died,” Ho
told his audience. “Even though this is already a raging problem, it will
continue to spread. There are 7,000 new infections each day. That adds up to
two-and-a-half-million new infections each year.”
An HIV/AIDS vaccine is not in the near future, either, said Ho. “I’m willing to
go as far as saying there won’t be [a preventive vaccine] in the next decade,”
he said, even though “there are a number of vaccine strategies that are being
pursued.”
“Despite many years of effort, only about one-and-a-half million people in the
developing world have been treated,” Ho said. “That leaves about 30 million”
people with HIV/AIDS without treatment access, he said. Ho noted the AIDS
treatment and care disparities between developing and developed nations. “There
is an enormous amount of social injustice,” he said, comparing the epidemic in
Africa with that in the United States.
Nonetheless, Ho remains hopeful for the future. “Scientific advancements are
being made rapidly in this field,” he said.
At a panel discussion and Q&A following his lecture, Ho joined university and
community panelists, who spoke about HIV/AIDS in South Carolina.
Everyone should be concerned about HIV/AIDS, said Christine Fritz, calling it “a
human problem.” “It’s a big problem in South Carolina,” said Sara Parrish, a
third-year law student. “AIDS has always been a problem I’ve never known much
about. It felt foreign.”
"US Senate Committee Approves $50
Billion Global AIDS Bill"
Associated Press , (03.13.2008) Jim Abrams
On Thursday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 18-3 in favor of a $50
billion, five-year extension of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
The vote comes two weeks after the House Foreign Affairs Committee endorsed a
similar measure.
The Senate bill, S 2731, would more than triple the $15 billion initially
allotted for PEPFAR five years ago. The program targets 15 countries in Africa,
the Caribbean, and Asia. Under PEPFAR, some 1.4 million people have received
antiretroviral treatment and more than 6.6 million have received
HIV/AIDS-related support. “Over 2 million orphans and vulnerable children have
received care, education, and support,” said committee chair Sen. Joseph Biden
(D), who introduced the bill with top-ranking Sen. Richard Lugar (R) and two
other members. “Across Africa, we have given millions of people hope for a
better and longer life.”
The Senate version includes a measure introduced by Sen. John Kerry (D) that
lifts a ban on HIV-positive people entering the United States. While people with
the disease have the option of requesting a waiver, “the process is incredibly
restrictive,” said Kerry.
Similar to the House bill, S 2731 would ease requirements in the 2003 act that
one-third of all prevention money be spent on abstinence-based programs, instead
directing the administration to promote “balanced funding for prevention
activities.”
Family planning is not mentioned in S 2731. The House, in response to concerns
that AIDS money might be used for abortions, included a provision that allows
the use of funds for HIV/AIDS testing and counseling services by US-supported
family planning programs.
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