From: buckmr@marcus.its.rpi.edu (Ron Buckmire)
Subject: International AIDS News [Israel, Cameroon and Argentina]
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1993 00:38:49 GMT




"12.2 Percent of Argentine Inmates Are Found to Have AIDS" Chicago 
Tribune (01/06/93), P. 1-4
     A total of one in eight prisoners in Argentina's federal prison  
system has AIDS, according to a report released Monday night by  the 
Federal Prison Service.  The report said 12.2 percent of the  4,500 
inmates in its jails have AIDS.  It added that if the  current AIDS case 
rate remains constant, in 10 years 45 percent  of the prison population 
could develop AIDS.  Justice  undersecretary Carlos Loturco told the 
private news agency  Diarios y Noticias that 23 prisoners who are very 
ill have asked  President Carlos Menem to grant them clemency.  Menem 
offered  pardons to a dozen prisoners with AIDS after they were found  
chained to their beds in a Buenos Aires hospital ward used as a  jail 
sick bay. 


"VIIth International Conference on AIDS in Africa" AIDS Treatment News 
(01/01/93) No. 166, P. 7  (Heyman, Jason)
     The Seventh International Conference on AIDS in Africa was held  in 
Yaounde, Cameroon, from Dec. 8-11.  The tone, however, was  somewhat 
murky.  The primary issue addressed was HIV prevention  and how efforts 
in Africa are hurting due to a lack of resources. Michael Merson, the 
director of the World Health Organization's  Global Program on AIDS, 
said, "There have already been over 7.5  million infections in adults 
[in Africa] since the start of the  pandemic, close to 4 million of them 
in women."  There was very  little discussion on treatments used for HIV 
infection.  But  HIV-2 was discussed in detail at the conference.  HIV-2 
has come  to be known as the virus of developing countries and has not 
been given the attention that HIV-1 has received.  It was revealed  that 
HIV-2 is much less likely to be transmitted from mother to  child.  Sy 
El Hadj Amadou, the African Secretary of the  International Council of 
AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO)  delivered a speech at the conference 
which drew a connection  between the failure of prevention efforts and 
the lack of AIDS  treatments available to Africans.  He said that as a 
consequence  of the African AIDS community's defeatist attitude towards 
access to treatment, and the West's view of Africa as hopeless, all  
anti-AIDS efforts are seen as weak and not taken seriously by the 
public.  The only treatment discussed in any detail was PCM-4, a  
little-known alternative treatment made from extracts of pig  spleen and 
Siberian genseng, Eleutherococcus senticosus.   Currently, it is being 
researched in the United States and  Uganda, and is sold in buyers' 
clubs and health-food stores. 

"Israel: Rethinking of Entry Restrictions" Lancet (01/02/93) Vol. 341, 
No. 8836, P. 42  (Naparstek, Yaakov  and Morag, Abraham)
     The Israeli Ministry of the Interior's recent decision to  prohibit 
the entry of HIV-positive foreigners into the Israel has prompted 
controversy among the public and in the Knesset.   Exactly how the 
restriction--intended to keep the rate of HIV  infection low (now 1,000 
HIV-positive people and 230 AIDS  patients in a population of more than 
4 million)--is to be  executed is unclear.  A statement by an applicant 
that he or she  does not have AIDS could satisfy the restriction.  Also, 
it is  possible that the applicant will have to produce a medical  
certificate or undergo a blood test for HIV infection.  The  debate over 
the restriction is between groups who object to it on human rights 
grounds and supporters who claim it protects public  health, and those 
who believe the regulation is useless and that  the main effort should 
be invested in public education.  Tourists who visit for less than three 
months at a time and Arab citizens  from the occupied territories will 
not be affected.  Regarding  new immigrants, the issue is even more 
problematic.  The "Law of  Return" allows for every Jew to become an 
Israeli citizen  whenever he or she wishes.  Therefore, a positive test 
would not  prevent Jews from entering the country.  But since a quarter 
of  the HIV-positive people in Israel are immigrants from African  
countries, where the prevalence is very high, testing and  counseling 
must be performed in confidence.  It is undetermined  whether the 
proposed restriction will prevent the spread of HIV  in Israel, and due 
to the controversy, authorities have decided  to reassess their approach 
to the problem. 

-- 
RON BUCKMIRE, 11 Colvin Circle, Troy, NY 12180-3735.  "D.C. IN 93!"
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