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CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update 11/13/2009 (AEGiS.org)

Submitted by clarke on Sat, 11/14/2009 - 17:18

CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update 11/13/2009 (AEGiS.org) - CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update
For Friday, November 13, 2009
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 NCHSTP Daily News Summary should be cited as the source of the information. Copyright ? 2009, Information Inc., Bethesda, MD.

NATIONAL NEWS

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
MEDICAL NEWS
LOCAL AND COMMUNITY NEWS
NEWS BRIEFS

  
NATIONAL NEWS
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Housing and Urban Development Threatens to Cut Off D.C. AIDS Funding Next Year
Debbie Cenziper
Washington Post (11.12.09) - Friday, November 13, 2009
Federal housing authorities are threatening to withhold from the District of Columbia $12.2 million in assistance for people with HIV/AIDS next year unless city health officials comply with requests for improved oversight.
In a recent series of reports, the Washington Post found the District's HIV/AIDS Administration (HAA) paid more than $25 million to non-profit groups that provided inadequate care or documentation of services provided. Many cited were housing groups given US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grants.
"It is absolutely unacceptable that any single person suffers as a result of the District not being able to manage taxpayer dollars," said Mercedes M. M?rquez, HUD's assistant secretary. "This is where they pushed it to: No new money until you fix this."
At least since 2003, HUD monitoring reports have found the District has failed to provide strong oversight of non-profit groups providing housing. In 2008, the city had to return more than $600,000 in AIDS housing funds because it had not resolved problems that HUD monitors documented in 2003 and 2006. While HUD has since noted improvements in client care and housing, accountability still is lacking, the agency said.
HUD's 2009 monitoring found the city did not submit basic accounting records for non-profits, and it has since provided only a partial response to the records and accountability concerns, said housing officials. HAA must comply with HUD's requests, or next year's grants to provide housing for city residents with AIDS will be frozen, M?rquez said.


UNITED STATES: Black Churches Tackle Poverty, HIV; Activists from Across Country Meet to Map Out Strategies
Lolly Bowean
Chicago Tribune (11.13.09) - Friday, November 13, 2009
US black church leaders met recently in suburban Chicago to discuss how their ministries can help fight HIV/AIDS.
"We are Christians because we endeavor to be like Jesus. It is mandated that we minister to the sick. HIV and AIDS is no exception," said Tanya Bender Henderson, an educator from Mt. Jezreel Baptist Church in Silver Spring, Md.
About 120 religious activists from around the country gathered at the annual Black Church Conference to organize their response to social problems such as child poverty and social injustice in addition to HIV/AIDS. The meeting is 20 years old and was being held in the Chicago area for the first time in its history.
Conference participants recognized the particular challenges of taking on the issue of HIV/AIDS.
"HIV and AIDS is not a topic that is popular in the church. Because HIV and AIDS has a perception of sexual origin, a lot of people in the church don't want to deal with it," Henderson said.
At the same time, the leaders also recognized the disproportionate burden the disease inflicts on the African- American community. African Americans account for 49 percent of new AIDS cases although they represent only 13 percent of the population, according to CDC statistics for 2007.


CALIFORNIA: Keeping It Safe After the Clothes Come Off
Lisa Ling; Arash Ghadishah
ABC News (11.05.09) - Friday, November 13, 2009
Former adult-film performer Darren James, whose 2004 HIV diagnosis shut down California's porn industry for one month, is now part of a campaign to require the use of condoms on production sets to decrease the risk of infections. James said he does not know specifically how he acquired the virus, but he does know he unwittingly passed it to three female co-workers. "They're nice people and I felt bad," he said.
Inside the industry, condoms are considered a profit-killer by many, and performers understand that an insistence on using condoms would result in their getting little or no work.
"I have tried every possible way to convince a lot of companies to use condoms," said Sharon Mitchell, who runs the Adult Industry Health Care Foundation, an industry-sponsored clinic that screens performers for STDs and HIV every 30 days. "Still, a lot of people don't like to use them for personal reasons and some people don't like to use them for professional reasons."
"The truth is that when people watch adult movies, they're watching for the fantasy, and they don't want to see condoms," said Steve Hirsch, CEO of Vivid Entertainment. "Condoms in adult movies just don't sell well." Mandating their use would likely push the industry underground, he added.
Even so, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation is currently suing the Los Angeles County Public Health Department and major adult-film producers to require condom use. "I believe that every performer wants to wear condoms on set," said AHF President Michael Weinstein. "I believe that every producer should be required to have the workers on that set, the performers on that set" use condoms, he said. Weinstein noted that with other Hollywood actors, "you can't have them do stunts without protection."  
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
SOUTH AFRICA: Push for Routine Offers of HIV Tests
Tamar Kahn
Business Day (South Africa) (11.11.09) - Friday, November 13, 2009
In yet another break with the policies of the previous administration, South Africa's health minister is asking doctors and nurses to take the initiative and routinely suggest HIV tests to their patients.
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi also is leading a government effort to increase the acceptance of voluntary HIV testing among the public. The campaign seeks to address South Africa's daunting HIV burden: The country has 5.3 million HIV-positive residents, and it is believed only a small proportion know their status.
The effort comes in anticipation of World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, when President Jacob Zuma is expected to lead national officials in a massive and public HIV testing campaign. South Africa's religious leaders also are being urged to raise awareness about HIV, Motsoaledi said.
Zuma's administration succeeded that of Thabo Mbeki, who gained worldwide notoriety for denying that HIV causes AIDS and downplaying the gravity of the AIDS epidemic in his country. Mbeki's failure to embrace the cause of HIV prevention and care is blamed for the needless death of hundreds of thousands of South Africans.
Motsoaledi called for initiatives on the local level to cut HIV, citing the experience of the Western Cape. There, officials significantly reduced the AIDS-related infant mortality rate by breaking with the national government and implementing aggressive dual therapy for HIV-positive pregnant women.
Motsoaledi's call for increased testing came after assurances from the South African National AIDS Council that South Africa had the resources to provide both the testing and the services needed by those identified as HIV-positive. The call for provider- initiated testing also was supported by Francois Venter, president of the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society.  
MEDICAL NEWS
UNITED STATES: The NYC Condom: Use and Acceptability of New York City's Branded Condom
Ryan C. Burke, MPH; Juliet Wilson, MSc; Kyle T. Bernstein, PhD, MPH; Nicholas Grosskopf, EdD, CHES; Christopher Murrill, PhD, MPH; Blayne Cutler, MD, PhD; Monica Sweeney, MD; Elizabeth M. Begier, MD, MPH
American Journal of Public Health Vol. 99; No. 12: P. 2178-2180 (12..09) - Friday, November 13, 2009
In a high-profile media campaign launched on Feb. 14, 2007, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) introduced the "NYC Condom." This male condom - a standard-size, lubricated Lifestyles brand - was the first specially packaged condom unique to a municipality. The department distributed 5 million of the condoms to city organizations and businesses during the first month, and since has distributed an average of 3.4 million condoms each month. The researchers undertook the current study of sexually active New Yorkers "to measure awareness of and experience with the NYC Condom, and demand for and experience with other male condoms."
From July through September 2007, the researchers conducted a street intercept survey at seven large public events in the city where attendees were mainly persons of color and gay persons. City residents age 18 and older were eligible to participate. A time-space sampling methodology was used; respondents were offered a $4 transit card as an incentive.
In all, 933 people were approached; 464 answered screening questions; and 293 met all criteria for inclusion. Most participants (76 percent) had seen or heard of the condom, of whom 75 percent had picked one up. Among those who had acquired an NYC Condom, 68.5 percent had used it.
Respondents who had used the NYC Condom were asked to rate it on a scale of 1 (much worse than other male condoms) to 10 (much better). The resulting average rating was 6.55. Respondents were then asked what additional types of condoms they would like the department to provide. The most often named varieties were ultra-thin/extra-sensitive (22 percent), extra-strength (18 percent), and larger-size (14 percent).
"These results indicate that condom social marketing campaigns can successfully translate into condom use," the authors wrote. "Although this is the first large-scale condom distribution campaign conducted in a US city, other campaigns have documented that distributing free condoms promotes use."
"Data on use, acceptability, and preferences for various condom types can guide program planning and development," the authors concluded. "On the basis of these results, DOHMH began distributing alternative condoms in November 2008, including this study's most frequently named types: ultra-thin/extra-sensitive, extra-strength, and larger-size."  
LOCAL AND COMMUNITY NEWS
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Clergy Seek Answers to D.C. AIDS Crisis
Denise Rolark Barnes
Washington Informer (11.12.09) - Friday, November 13, 2009
The City Council recently met with area faith leaders, physicians, and health advocates in a discussion about the District of Columbia's HIV/AIDS rate and how to work collaboratively to reduce it.
"At the time we took over the committee four years ago, there hadn't been a hearing held about HIV/AIDS in two years," said David Catania (I-At Large), chair of the council's Health Committee. "Nothing was being done."
Since then, the District has increased health coverage for the HIV-positive uninsured, rolled out mandatory screening of jail inmates, and worked with non-profits on city initiatives, Catania said.
HIV/AIDS used to be considered a disease of gay white men only, said Council member and former Mayor Marion Barry (D-Ward 8). "The black, faith-based community had blinders on," Barry said. "Thank God that most pastors now can see beyond that. They see it is among their parishioners. This is a pandemic, and [since] it is, you have to act like it."
"Once something becomes a common disease, it doesn't take an extreme lifestyle to come in contact with it," said Shannon L. Hader, director of the city HIV/AIDS Administration. "We have a need to be loved and valued. The church can help promote respect and value in healthy relationships."
"With so many other problems including homelessness, no food, mental health issues, substance abuse, no job, and losing our children to violence, how do you have time to worry about HIV?" asked Patricia Nalls, who runs the Women's Collective. "And we also have to deal with the homophobia in the church."
The Black Leadership Commission on AIDS of D.C. and Vicinity is ready to lead in addressing the disease, said the Rev. Frank Tucker, its chair and pastor of First Baptist Church in Northwest. "We have made an intentional effort to include all faith groups, the medical community, and media."  
NEWS BRIEFS
GERMANY: Nobel Laureates Honor Annie Lennox
Agence France Presse (11.11.09) - Friday, November 13, 2009
In Berlin Tuesday at a summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, former Eurhythmics singer Annie Lennox received the 2009 "Woman of Peace" award in recognition of her work to fight HIV/AIDS. Since 2003, Lennox's "SING" campaign has raised $2 million to build awareness of the disease's impact on women and children. SING works in concert with South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign to provide HIV prevention information, testing, and treatment in communities there. Lennox said she was inspired to act after hearing ex-political prisoner and former South African President Nelson Mandela describe the African AIDS epidemic as "genocide." In receiving the award, Lennox said, "I honor all the women working around the globe to reduce the effects of this pandemic. This is for them; they truly deserve it." To learn more about SING, visit http://www.annielennoxsing.com/.


CALIFORNIA: HIV-Poz Group Holds 10-Year Reunion
Cynthia Laird
Bay Area Reporter (San Francisco) (11.12.09) - Friday, November 13, 2009
Stop AIDS Project's "Positive Living for Us Seminar" (PLUS) is holding a 10-year reunion and awards ceremony at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13, at the Swedish American Hall, 2174 Market St., San Francisco. PLUS is a weekend retreat that provides education and emotional support. "I think the program is incredible; it was a godsend for me," said Tony Lane, a participant from December 2006. "I realized that I was going to be OK and live a very long time." To RSVP for the reunion, telephone 415-575-0150, ext. 250.

Copyright ? 2009 - Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD. 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. Contact the sources of the articles abstracted below for full texts of the articles.
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