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Prevention News
Following are links to the Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report (and occasionally
other sources) and summaries from the CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention
News Update. See more news on Prevention Research,
Microbicides
and Vaccine Research; and
Syphilis. New
to HIV/AIDS Prevention? See 101 Education. Visit the CDC Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention Web site at
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv;CDC's National Center for HIV, STD,
and TB Prevention http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/od/nchstp.html
May 2008 News
Suppression of Host Protein in CD4 Cells
Prevents HIV Infection
At-a-Glance Volume 4 Issue 19
A research team funded by the NIH has found
that suppressing the interleukin-2-inducible T
cell kinase (ITK) in CD4 cells can prevent HIV
from entering the cells and
replicating. Researchers used both chemical and
genetic methods to suppress ITK. Neither method
of suppression impaired or killed CD4 cells, and
mice with suppressed ITK were able to fight off
other viral infections, although the response
was delayed.
ITK suppression could circumvent the current
problem of HIV drug resistance because it
targets the host cell, which rarely mutates
unlike HIV.
More information is available:
Addressing IDU Risk:
"Russia ‘Not Ready’ for Tough HIV Measures: Top
Health Official"
CDC Summary
Russia Should Increase HIV Prevention Efforts Targeted at IDUs, UNAIDS
Executive Director Piot Says
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=51958
Texas Issues Opinion Allowing Prosecution of People Involved in Bexar
County Needle-Exchange Program
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=51961
Canadian Government Committed 'Breach' of Scientific Standards by
Interfering in Vancouver's Supervised Drug-Injection Site, Researchers Say
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=51890
Shanghai, China, To Establish Four New Methadone Clinics To Curb Spread
of HIV, Health Officials Say
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=51893
CALIFORNIA:
"HIV Section Head Nixes Bathhouse Return"
Bay Area Reporter , (04.24.2008) Matthew S. Bajko
At a recent community meeting in the Castro, the head of San Francisco’s HIV
prevention section said he was not inclined to support ending a decades-long
restriction aimed at bathhouses. Dr. Grant Colfax’s statement came in response
to a question by a member of the city’s HIV Prevention Planning Council, Ken
Pearce. CDC Summary
See April News Archives
Summaries
RUSSIA:
"Russia ‘Not Ready’ for Tough HIV Measures: Top Health
Official"
Associated Press , (05.05.2008) David Nowak
Although health experts say up to 80 percent of Russia’s HIV infections are the
result of drug injecting with contaminated equipment, the country’s top health
officer said Monday the nation is “not ready” to try aggressive harm reduction
measures.
Though numerous international studies have found that drug injectors who switch
to clinic-supplied methadone are up to five times less likely to contract HIV,
Gennady Onishchenko said he is “not convinced” of the efficacy of this approach.
Methadone-replacement therapy is illegal in Russia. Onishchenko warned that even
if this approach were allowed, the nation’s weak law enforcement system would be
unable to stop the clinics from becoming “shops for drugs.”
In his remarks at the conclusion of a Moscow AIDS conference, Onishchenko said
most Russians have little tolerance for drug users and would prefer to isolate
them rather than deal with their problems.
Onischenko’s attitudes are not atypical, said Michel Kazatchkine, director of
the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. “There is a basic lack of
political support,” he said, adding that Russia “is like an isolated island.”
“Where intravenous drug use drives over 60 percent of the epidemic, you cannot
afford not to have a comprehensive approach,” Kazatchkine said.
Substitution therapy “could have a dramatic impact if implemented properly,”
agreed Craig McClure, executive director of the International AIDS Society.
The situation in Russia is not without progress, however. Growth in the number
of new HIV cases annually has slowed. In addition, McClure said, a TV ad
campaign is helping teach the public that HIV is not transmitted by casual
contact.
CALIFORNIA:
"HIV Section Head Nixes Bathhouse Return"
Bay Area Reporter , (04.24.2008) Matthew S. Bajko
At a recent community meeting in the Castro, the head of San Francisco’s HIV
prevention section said he was not inclined to support ending a decades-long
restriction aimed at bathhouses. Dr. Grant Colfax’s statement came in response
to a question by a member of the city’s HIV Prevention Planning Council, Ken
Pearce.
“My personal view is it is very difficult to justify reopening the baths,”
Colfax said at the April 23 meeting soliciting feedback for the city’s HIV
Prevention Plan. With a decade of work in HIV research at the city Department of
Public Health, Colfax said he has seen reams of data showing that men engaged in
high-risk sex at bathhouse-like venues. The current ban restricts private rooms
inside city sex clubs.
Health Director Dr. Mitch Katz has also repeatedly said he sees no reason to
reopen bathhouses.
Pearce said the ban was made in an era of limited knowledge about HIV/AIDS,
which was then wiping out the city’s gay male population. But today, HIV
prevention messages could be targeted to bathhouse clients, he said, which would
be easier than reaching men who use the Internet as a “virtual bathhouse.” “We
have sex clubs that are de facto baths,” Pearce said. “We know people are going
outside the city when they want to go to the baths.”
About 35 mostly white men attended the meeting, many of them employed with local
service providers or the health department, or serving on the city’s two HIV
planning bodies. Among other issues, participants said they wanted to see more
information about hepatitis C, non-occupational post-exposure HIV prophylaxis,
and more emphasis on people of color and gay youths.
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