The CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention provides the following information as a public service only. Providing synopses of key scientific articles and lay media reports on HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis does not constitute CDC endorsement. This daily update also includes information from CDC and other government agencies, such as background on Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) articles, fact sheets, press releases, and announcements. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update should be cited as the source of the information.
"Letters to the Editor: Community-Level HIV Intervention Work for
Women Means Restructuring Society and Culture"
American Journal of Public Health (11/99) Vol.
89, No. 11, P. 1762; Gollub, Erica L.; Metzger, David
In a response to an article regarding individual-level HIV
interventions, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania
Center for Addiction Studies assert that author J.A. Kelly
ignored the need for a macro level approach to the problem. To
reduce HIV risk for women, interventions should focus on helping
women break from the poverty and societal cycle that puts them in
the hands of a male provider. Raising opportunities for
education and employment would help women to lower their
likelihood for contracting HIV by helping to address the cultural
factors behind the risk. The authors contend that "reducing HIV
risk for women means changing society and culture to align
women's perceived power with actual power so that avoiding HIV
infection really has only benefits and no costs."
"Muluzi Breaks Silence on AIDS Epidemic"
Washington Times (11/04/99) P. A17
Malawi's president, Bakili Muluzi, has spoken out against the
AIDS epidemic in his country. Last week, Muluzi held a public
meeting in Blantyre to discuss an aggressive five-year plan to
fight the disease. At the meeting, Muluzi said, "Our biggest
achievement today is that we have summoned the courage to speak
about this terrible HIV/AIDS pandemic publicly."
Boston Globe Online (11/03/99)
The number of inmate deaths from AIDS declined over 50 percent
between 1995 and 1997, according to the U.S. Department of
Justice. The report found that 48 of every 100,000 prisoners
died from AIDS in 1997, compared to 100 AIDS deaths per 100,000
prisoners in 1995. There were 538 inmate deaths caused by AIDS
in 1997, down from 907 in the previous year. The Justice
Department also noted that the number of HIV-infected inmates
decreased by 333 in 1997, for a total of 23,548 infections.
Washington Post (11/04/99) P. A10; Fehr, Stephen C.
President Clinton will be advised to veto the latest version of
the District of Columbia's budget that was passed by the House,
according to White House budget officials. The new budget bill,
the fifth version the House had passed since July, includes a
provision prohibiting private clinics that receive federal money
from distributing needles to drug addicts in order to stop the
spread of HIV. Budget officials suggested that the measure would
have been accepted by Clinton if the House had kept an earlier
version of the budget that permitted private clinics to
distribute needles without losing federal support.
Boston Globe Online (11/03/99); Cohen, Mike
Forty-five new United Nations programs--including anti-AIDS
programs in Madagascar, Jordan, and East Africa--will receive
millions of dollars from a charity funded by media mogul Ted
Turner. The U.N. Foundation is one of two organizations
established to administer Turner's $1 billion donation to U.N
causes in 1997. The foundation also plans to launch projects for
saving rainforests, eradicating polio, and preventing youth
smoking.
Fox News Online (11/04/99)
Dr. Mikhail Perelman of Russia's Health Ministry has said that
the poverty and homelessness that followed the fall of communism
have fueled a tuberculosis (TB) epidemic in Russia, making
infections harder to detect. Perelman suspects that about 10
percent of cases are not diagnosed. In 1998, the country's TB
infection rate was 76 cases per 100,000 people. Compared to the
West, Russian physicians use hospitalization and surgery more to
combat TB; however, Western experts assert that the expensive
hospital stays are wasting the limited available resources to
fight the dangerous disease.
Reuters (11/03/99); Reaney, Patricia
William Jacobs of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in New York
and colleagues have discovered that the bacterium that causes
tuberculosis (TB) needs to produce a lipid molecule called PDIM
in order to grow in the lungs. The researchers discovered the
lipid after creating mutant strains of the TB bacteria and using
them to infect mice. According to Jacobs, knowing more about how
TB functions could lead to better treatments. The study is
published in current issue of the journal Nature.
"US Opens Modern TB-HIV/AIDS Laboratory in Botswana"
Africa News Online (11/03/99)
A new high-tech laboratory built by the United States in Botswana
will work to fight the tuberculosis and HIV epidemics. At the
opening of the laboratory, U.S. Ambassador Robert Krueger noted
that "Botswana has perhaps the highest degree of HIV/AIDS
infection in the world and 44 percent of all its people who are
affected receive their death stroke by contracting tuberculosis."
The lab, built and equipped by the U.S. Department of Defense
Humanitarian Assistance Program and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, cost $858,000 to construct. The center
features facilities for training about tuberculosis diagnostics
and for epidemiological research.
Reuters (11/03/99); Sithole, Emelia
The American Chamber of Commerce and Lifeworks, a healthcare
consultancy firm, have developed an AIDS impact calculator that
will hopefully open the eyes of businesses that are affected by
the disease. The calculator will help firms in the United States
and South Africa manage and assess the impact of AIDS on their
organizations. The new program notes three areas in which
executives can intervene to manage AIDS-related costs in the
workplace. These areas are absenteeism, HIV prevention, and
medical care for individuals who are already infected.