| March
10, 2006
This Week in Washington
1. AIDS Action Issues Statement for National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS
Awareness Day
2. Senators Frist and Clinton and U.S. NGO’s Honor Global AIDS
Leader
In the News
1. Researchers Connect Incarceration of African American Men to
Increasing Rates of AIDS Diagnoses among All African Americans
2. Drug Use May Place People Living with HIV at Greater Risk of
Opportunistic Infections, Disease Progression, and Death
Announcements
1. “AIDS Forum” on Bronx Treatment, Survival, and Community Issues
This Week in Washington
1. AIDS Action Issues Statement for National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS
Awareness Day
AIDS Action released the following statement to mark the first
annual National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Friday,
March 10, 2006:
The first annual observance of National Women
and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is long overdue. Women have been
affected by the HIV epidemic in the United States since its beginnings
in the early 1980s. Over time, the epidemic’s demographics have
shifted to include ever-growing numbers of women. According to
the latest official estimates, women account for nearly 27% of
all AIDS cases—a twenty-point increase from 1985.
This trend of rising infections affects women
of color more acutely, particularly African American women. It
is estimated that African American women account for 67% of AIDS
diagnoses while representing only 13% of the U.S. female population.
Still more jarring, the CDC reported in 2002 that HIV is among
the top four causes of death for African American women aged 25–54
years. It was the number one cause of death for African American
women aged 25–34 years.
Raising awareness of the rising number of women
living with, and dying from, HIV infection is essential. Women’s
unique needs in HIV prevention, treatment, and care are often
overlooked in discussions of the epidemic. Yet the true test is
not simply what we reflect on today, but what we—as AIDS service
providers, advocates, individuals with HIV, and people committed
to the health of our communities—do to demand that our federal
government act swiftly and decisively to reverse the tide of this
nationwide health crisis.
In this spirit, we encourage everyone to contact
their elected officials to urge them to support the following:
- Government-funded campaigns that are multilingual,
culturally sensitive, and age-appropriate, and that inform women
of what places them at risk for
infection, and promote women getting tested and using evidence-based
prevention methods;
- Making HIV screening a routine part of primary
care and increasing access to HIV testing beyond clinical settings;
- Reauthorization of a strengthened Ryan White
CARE Act, which provides much-needed services and support to
people living with HIV who lack adequate health insurance and
resources—many of whom are women.
- Greater availability of information that
explains why women, especially young women, are biologically
more susceptible to HIV infection, and the gender-specific ways
the virus manifests in women;
- Funding for microbicide research to provide
women with a tool to protect against HIV infection even when
unable to negotiate sex.
2. Senators Frist and Clinton
and U.S. NGO’s Honor Global AIDS Leader
On Tuesday, March 7, an event to celebrate the 10th anniversary
of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and
to honor its executive director, Dr. Peter Piot, was sponsored
by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and Senator Hillary
Rodham Clinton (D-NY) as well as the Global Health Council, Family
Health International, International Center for Research on Women,
and World Vision. AIDS Action staff attended this event which
featured tributes to Dr. Piot by Ambassador Randall Tobias, U.S.
global AIDS coordinator; Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Terje Anderson,
former executive director of the National Association of People
with AIDS, and Senator Clinton.
All of the speakers focused on Dr. Piot’s exceptional
dedication to his work. Ambassador Randall Tobias called his “contribution”
to the global HIV response “incredible.” According to Ambassador
Tobias, Dr. Piot has been instrumental in ensuring that HIV programs
around the globe are coordinated with one another, monitored,
and evaluated.
Dr. Anthony Fauci called Dr. Piot “one of the
most extraordinary individuals” that he has met. He emphasized
the fact that Dr. Piot’s work in HIV preceded his post at UNAIDS
by many years and he credited Dr. Piot’s early research and clinical
work with laying the groundwork for much of the world’s understanding
of HIV today.
Terje Anderson spoke about Dr. Piot’s unwavering
dedication to people living with HIV. According to Mr. Anderson,
Dr. Piot valued their input, whether they were in positions of
leadership or simply everyday individuals with no formal organizational
or governmental ties.
Dr. Piot thanked everyone in attendance for
being the “inspiration” for his work. He said that people working
in the field of HIV continually inspire him to keep working. He
then pointed out that this is an important time for HIV. It is
the 25th anniversary of the discovery of the virus and ten years
since HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy) became the
standard for HIV treatment. He predicted that these anniversaries
will open up “space in the media” to discuss HIV. He urged attendees
to stop thinking about HIV as something that will go away and
to move beyond “crisis management.” However he recognized that
such a shift will be not be easy, and it will take an unprecedented
commitment by stakeholders around the world. This commitment will
be required to build the “broadest coalition possible.”
In addition, Dr. Piot stressed the essential
role that U.S. leadership must play in this coalition. “The leadership
of the U.S. cannot be replaced by any other group…It is vitally
important,” he said. In closing, he made the following recommendation:
When discussing HIV and the response to the epidemic, leaders
should not focus on “gloom and doom.” Instead, they should highlight
achievements in the response to HIV.
Following Dr. Piot, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
took the podium to praise his service. The Senator lauded the
perseverance of his work for UNAIDS. She also reminded attendees
that we cannot forget the devastation that HIV continues to cause
in the United States. She said that it is not time “to pat ourselves
on the back…There is still work to be done.”
In the News
1. Researchers Connect Incarceration of African
American Men to Increasing Rates of AIDS Diagnoses among All African
Americans
On March 9, Washington Post columnist Richard Morin wrote
that between 1982 and 1996, African Americans became nine times
as likely to be diagnosed with AIDS as whites—something he calls
a “puzzling mystery.”
He then draws attention to the work of two researchers
from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of
California, Berkeley. Rucker C. Johnson and Steven Raphael discovered
from an analysis of Census data that the surge in the AIDS rate
among African Americans coincided with increased rates of incarceration
for African American men. What’s more, Mr. Morin added, Steven
Raphael explained that the correlation remained strong even after
researchers controlled for factors associated with HIV infection,
including the use of crack cocaine.
Part of the reason for the rapid rise of AIDS
cases among African Americans is that so many black men spend
time behind bars, according to Mr. Johnson. About one out of 12
black men are in jail or prison, Mr. Morin added. “[A]t current
rates, a third of all black males born today will do time.”
Mr. Morin reported that “the percentage of prisoners
who were black increased from 40 percent in 1982 to well over
half in 1996.” In this same period, sentencing policies became
stricter, he noted, which resulted in more than a doubling of
the U.S. prison population. Combined, these two trends led to
greater numbers of HIV infections among black men who, upon release,
transmitted the virus to black women, he observed. According to
2004 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
women account for 67 percent of AIDS diagnosis among women.
To read the column and study on which this news
brief is based, link to The Washington Post at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/08/AR2006030802201.html
and Effects of Male Incarceration Dynamics on AIDS Infection
Rates among African-American Men and Women at http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~ruckerj/johnson_raphael_prison-AIDSpaper81105.pdf
2. Drug Use May Place People
Living with HIV at Greater Risk of Opportunistic Infections, Disease
Progression, and Death
According to a study published in the American Journal of
Epidemiology, using cocaine and heroin persistently puts
individuals living with HIV at greater risk for opportunistic
infections, disease progression, and death.
HIV positive individuals who use these drugs
intermittently face a similar risk of opportunistic infection
during periods of active use. However, during periods of abstinence,
this risk drops to become comparable to those who never used drugs.
Similar associations were observed for HIV disease progression,
Reuters revealed on March 9.
How the Study was
Conducted
Dr. Gregory M. Lucas of the Johns Hopkins University School of
Medicine and his associates surveyed participants every six months,
beginning in 1998. For these surveys, the researchers used confidential
computer-based interviews, Reuters reported.
Reuters also reported that the 1,851 participants
were divided into three groups: 1,028 nonusers, 588 intermittent
users (defined as using drugs an average of 14 days in the past
six months), and 235 persistent users (defined as using drugs
an average of 27 days in the past six months).
Three years into the study, the estimated survival
rates for these three groups were 87 percent for nonusers, 80
percent for intermittent users, and 68 percent for persistent
users, according to Reuters. Moreover, the risk of death was almost
two-fold in intermittent users and close to three-fold in persistent
users.
Conclusion
As noted by Reuters, the authors of the study theorize that the
effects of drug use on the progression of HIV disease may contribute
to biological effects, such as increased HIV replication and impaired
lymphocyte function. Drug use may also be a factor in reduced
access to care and poor adherence to therapy.
Recommendations
For HIV positive individuals who use cocaine or heroin, emphasis
should be placed on a combination of HIV, substance abuse, and
psychiatric treatment.
To read the abstract and article on which this
news brief is based, link to the American Journal of Epidemiology
at http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/163/5/412
and to Reuters at
http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-03-06T202051Z_01_COL673233_RTRUKOC_0_US-DRUG-USERS.xml
Announcements
1. “AIDS Forum” on Bronx Treatment, Survival,
and Community Issues
On Friday, March 17, Cutting Edge: The Bronx Treatment, Survival,
and Community Issues AIDS Forum will be held in the Cherkasky
Auditorium (first floor) of the Montefiore Medical Center from
9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. The forum is presented by Health People:
Community Preventive Health Institute, and co-sponsored by the
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx CREED Project, and
the Bronx HIV Care Network. Unrestricted educational grant provided
by Gilead Sciences, Inc.
During this day-long event, clinicians
and advocates will present on a range of issues related to HIV
care, treatment, and programs and policy. The keynote, Treating
for Long Term Survival: Best Practices for Today, Best Hopes for
Tomorrow, will be delivered by Brian Boyle, M.D., J.D., associate
professor of Medicine, Division International Medicine & Infectious
Diseases, Weill Medical College of Cornell University
.
Montifiore Medical Center is located at 111 East 210 Street, Bronx,
NY. Sign-in begins at 8:30, and lunch is from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m.
Lunch spots can be reserved by contacting Jann Baxter at 718-585-8585
ext.237 or JannBaxter@HealthPeople.org
The AIDS Action Weekly Update
The Weekly Update is written with
a mind toward the interests of our members. If you are interested
in membership with AIDS Action, we invite you to contact members@aidsaction.org.
AIDS Action works
to end the HIV epidemic by advancing public policies that
prevent new infections, provide care for people living with
HIV, and support the search for a cure. AIDS Action serves
as the national voice for people living with HIV and represents
AIDS service organizations, health departments, and a diverse
network of community-based organizations across the country. |
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