From: jfh@netcom.com (Jack Hamilton)
Newsgroups: sci.med.aids
Subject: HIV News from the Bay Area Reporter
Date: 7 Nov 92 00:13:56 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)
Note: Copyright 1992, Dan R. Greening. Non-commercial reproduction allowed.
Archive-Number: 6423

[The notes below are extracted from various articles in the Bay Area
Reporter, San Francisco, November 5, 1992.  Some of the articles are
relevant to the bay area only, but I though people in other areas might
be interested in what's going on here.]

"AGENCY FOR GAY MEN OF COLOR FACES REDUCED CDC FUNDING" (page 18)

The National Task Force on AIDS Prevention, the only national agency
targeted at gay men of color with HIV, has been awarded a grant of
$292,700 for 1993.  It received 322,700 in 1992 and 472,700 in 1991.

The CDC says that this reduction is an artifact of the Task Force having
received special grants in the two previous years, but that the core
funding has remained constant.

Alan McCord, executive assistant at the Task Force, says "We're going to
have to develop a different strategy of funding besides government
grants."  The staff has been cut from 11 to 8, and the remaining workers
are receiving 80% of their salaries.

The Task Force is one of 32 minority agencies funded by the CDC.  Total
funding is $7 million; that may increase to $8 or $9 million next year.

African Americans make up 12 percent of the US population but 29.5
percent of AIDS cases, and Hispanics make up 9 percent of the population
but account for 17 percent of AIDS cases among adults.

"STUDY SHOWS AMERICANS PAY MORE FOR MEDICINE" (page 18)

A report by the General Accounting Office found that 81 percent of 121 drugs
studied cost more in the US than in Canada, while 19% are less
expensive.  The GAO says "The major source of US-Canadian differences in
drug prices is not variations in manufacturers' costs. ... Instead,
government regulations and reimbursement practices contribute to lower
average drug prices in Canada."

The Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association claims that the study is
flawed and misleading.  [We wouldn't expect them to admit that they're
overcharging, would we?]  For one thing, the study compares lowest
prices in Canada with list prices in the US.

The PMA also says that the "artificially" low prices in Canada has
stiffled innovation.  Henry Waxman (D-Calif, chair of the House Energy
and Commerce Subcomittee on Health) says that it may be true that high
prices stimulate research, but that we have to ask whether prices go
beyond what is necessary for stimulation.  He also says that US
residents are subsidizing research while other countries get both the
benefits and lower prices.

One half of the 121 drugs cost wholesalers at least 50 percent more in
the US than in Canada, 27 cost at least 100 percent more, and 3 cost at
least 500 percent more.  Isordil, used for the treatment of angina,
costs 967 percent more.

A few sample prices for quantities of 100:

 Drug                  US       Canada
  Synthroid         11.80         3.13
  Xanax             47.81        16.92
  Premarin          26.47        10.10

"NEW TB GUIDELINES DISCUSSED BY CDC" (page 19)

At a meeting at the CDC, Neil Schram of the American Association of
Physicians for Human Rights argued for changes which would reduce
transmission of TB in health care settings.  He called for impriving
education, implementing isolation precautions, and granting job
transfers when health care workers request them.

TB cases in the US increased 18 percent from 1985 to 1991.  In San
Francisco, there were 333 cases of TB during 1991, and NIAID says that
there were 8 million new cases and 3 millions deaths around the world.

Schram says that in many places all patients with respiratory symptoms
should be treated as though they have TB, just as we have started
treating all patients as if they have hepatitis B or HIV.

He also says that health care workers should be allowed to transfer to
jobs with reduced exposure to TB, and that the reasons for the transfers
should be kept confidential.

STUDIES/PROGRAMS (ads on page 19)

UCSF/SF General are conducting a study of Peptide T nasal spray in
patients with neuropathy.  Requires HIV+, CD4 < 500, moderate-severe
neuropathy, taking AZT or intolerant to it, not on ddI or ddC for the
past 8 weeks.

The UCSF Posituve Education Project is conducting education groups for
HIV+ gay men, to help them cope with the stress of HIV disease.  For gay
HIV+ men with t-cell count between 200 and 500.

HIVCare at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital is recruiting patients for
the following studies:
  - AZT vs Alpha Interferon
  - DaunoXome vs adriamycin/bleomycin/vincristine combination therapy
    for KS
  - Itraconazole vs Fluconazole for people with AIDS-related
    cryptococcal meningitis.

"LECTURE SERIES DISCUSSES AIDS AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS" (page 21)

A lecture series called "Celebration of Knowledge: Color, HIV, and the
Black Community" will be sponsored by the Bayview-Hunter's Point
Foundation.  All lectures are from 4pm to 8pm in the Student Union
Building at SF State.  Nov 4: Black men living with HIV and how to stop
its transmission.  Nov 5: Women Empowered Against HIV Infection.  Nov
17: Melanin and HIV Infection.  [There seems to be a mistake in the
listing, because it also shows:]  Nov 17: Black Family and Community
Response.  Call Beverly Jackson at 415/822-1377 for more information.

"GRANT ANNOUNCED" (page 21)

The Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership Forum has been awarded at $32,140
grant from the CDC to help offset the cost of the 5th Annual AIDS
Institute at the 6th National Black Gay and Lesbian Conference to be
held in February 1993 in Long Beach.  For more information about the
conference call 213/666-5495.

"BETA NOW IN SPANISH" (page 21)

The latest issue of the Bulletin of Experimental Treatments for AIDS,
published by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, contains a comprehensive
overview of treatments in both English and Spanish, information on women
with HIV, treatments for genital warts, and multiple prevention
treatments for opportunistic infections.  For more information, call
415/863-AIDS or 1-800-FOR AIDS.  It's sold by subscription.

"SERBIA STOPS TESTING BLOOD FOR AIDS" (page 26)

Serbia's health care system is collapsing.  Hospital patients are often
required to provide their own food and drugs, and equipment is being
recycled, including syringes and needles.  Testing of blood for HIV has
also been suspended.

"BERGALIS FAMILY LAUNCHES ADS" (page 27)

The family of the late Kimberly Bergalis is starting an AIDS awareness
campaign.  Some physicians object to it.

One ad said "You don't do drugs.  You don't sleep around.  You don't get
AIDS.  Right?  Wrong."  The ad goes on to say that sometimes contracting
HIV is as simple as pulling a tooth.

The CDC and the AMA don't like that ad; they say that getting AIDS from
a dental procedure is a statistical rarity, and their campaigns focus on
more common forms of transmission.

Dr. Roy Schwartz, senior vice president of Medical Education and Science
for the AMA, says "We welcome any organization whose goal it is to
educate the public about AIDS in a legitimate and scientifically based
manner.  Anybody, however, who tries to tell the public something that
simply is not true, we deplore.  In this case, we'll wait and see."

Schwartz did support another ad which encourages people to get the facts
and get tested.  George Bergalis, Kimberly's father, says he hopes the
ads will encourage people who are not in high risk groups to be tested.

-- 

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Jack Hamilton   jfh@netcom.com   P. O. Box 281107   SF, CA   94128-1107