Washington Blade - August 8, 2003

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Officials at the two charity hospitals in New Orleans are considering the closure of nine operating rooms, an HIV clinic and 20 psychiatric beds to meet $40 million in mandated budget cuts, according to a published report. The cuts are part of an overall $70 million reduction at the nine charity hospitals managed by the Louisiana State University Health Care Services Division. Charity Hospital and University Hospital, operating as the Medical Center of Louisiana, deliver the majority of care to the indigent and uninsured in and around New Orleans. The New Orleans Times-Picayune said it obtained a copy of a draft plan outlining the cuts. "There are going to be Draconian cuts," said Bernie Boudreaux, Gov. Mike Foster's executive counsel and one of 16 members of the LSU Board of Supervisors who are charged with making the final decision on the charity system's budget. "The legislature has mandated that the system cut $70 million. My comment is, we don't know where yet. I don't think any cut is a good cut in health care." The board's Health Education & Services Committee is scheduled to debate the charity budget Aug. 21. The full board is scheduled to take up the spending proposal the following day.

Researchers: Cases of HIV on the rise at N.C. colleges

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Researchers are alarmed by a recent outbreak of HIV among college students in North Carolina in which 53 male students - most of them black - have contracted the virus. UNC-Chapel Hill and state researchers say the figures for the first time in two decades of HIV research identify college campuses as high-transmission areas for the virus that causes AIDS. "This is a first indication that there may be a resurgence of HIV happening in a vulnerable population, in this case young black men in the South," said Christopher Pilcher, a co-author of the report and an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill medical school. "We think this is a clear indication that more attention should be focused on HIV prevention and education." Researchers made the discovery after checking the results of a new HIV test that county health departments and private clinics started to give this past November. The new tests can detect HIV within about two weeks of infection instead of about three months with traditional tests. "We're really, really concerned because it's potentially just the tip of the iceberg," said Peter Leone, an associate professor at the UNC-Chapel Hill medical school and medical director of the HIV prevention branch of the N.C. Department of Health & Human Services.

Georgia gets millions in AIDS drugs funding

ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia will receive nearly $2.9 million for life-saving AIDS drugs, federal officials said last week. The state will receive nearly $2.9 million in Health & Human Services funding under the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act. Georgia will match the grant with more than $722,000 of its own funds. The Hall County Board of Health in Gainesville also will receive $50,000 from the government to help the health district prepare to provide comprehensive HIV primary health care services. Federal officials estimated that 9,775 Georgians lived with AIDS last year.

Landfill workers being tested after finding hospital waste

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) - Landfill workers are being tested for infection including HIV after finding used needles, blood and other hospital waste at the city landfill. Altru Health System spokeswoman Julie Jeske said the waste should have been put in special red bags and sent to Fargo for incineration. She said Altru is trying to make sure its employees understand how to properly dispose of it. "They're running a series of tests on us for hepatitis A, B and C and HIV because of some of the stuff that's come in here," said Brian Kroese, a heavy equipment operator at the city landfill. The Grand Forks landfill is not a hazardous material site and it rejects infectious waste, public works director Todd Feland said. That includes bodily fluids, sharp instruments and body parts that could carry disease, he said.

Brazil threatens to break patents for AIDS drugs

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - Budgetary restrictions are driving Brazil's government to once again threaten to strip AIDS drugs patents if pharmaceutical companies do not cut prices, officials said. The move seeks to protect its AIDS treatment program, which provides free drugs to about 135,000 AIDS patients and has won praise across the developing world. Ministry officials met last week with representatives from drug companies Merck & Co., Roche Holding AG and Abbott Laboratories, whose three drugs account for 63 percent of the total program costs, said Alexandre Grangeiro, AIDS program coordinator at the health ministry. They were told to cut the prices of their drugs, which are currently imported, or relax patents to allow the government's laboratory, Far-Manguinhos, to manufacture them locally, he said. If they don't agree, the government will either begin producing the drugs itself, or import cheaper generic drugs from India, he said.

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