Washington Blade - September 5, 2003

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - State lawmakers, health officials and some national health groups are calling on condom makers to stop using a spermicide they say may actually increase the risk of AIDS and urinary tract infections. Citing several peer-reviewed scientific studies, the coalition asks the federal Food and Drug Administration to order condom manufacturers to end production of condoms with nonoxynol-9. Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson and Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, were among nine state lawmakers who signed onto an open letter that states, "Evidence now shows that the addition of Nonoxynol-9 to condoms and lubricants increases users' risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and urinary tract infections and provides no benefit." AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein and Sonja Herbert of the National Women's Health Network also signed the letter, along with 30 other national and local organizations.

Study: Interrupted drug treatment harmful for some AIDS patients

SAN FRANCISCO - A new study finds that temporarily stopping AIDS treatment is ineffective and even dangerous as a strategy for controlling drug-resistant HIV, the Associated Press reported. Many people being treated for AIDS carry mutant versions of the virus that are resistant to drugs in the three major classes of medicines used to subdue HIV. While many often stay outwardly healthy despite this, they are at increased risk of AIDS-related complications, and doctors would like to eliminate all traces of the virus from their blood. In one experimental approach, doctors withdraw all medicine for a few months, then resume it. In theory, the drug-resistant viruses die off and are replaced by ones that are susceptible to the medicines. The results of the largest study on the theory, directed by Dr. Jody Lawrence of the University of California, San Francisco, were published in last week's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

WTO to let poor countries import cheap HIV/AIDS drugs

GENEVA (AP) - Following an impassioned appeal from Africa, the World Trade Organization sealed its agreement to allow poor countries to import cheap copies of patented drugs for killer diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The breakthrough followed a meeting in which representatives of many African countries pleaded with other diplomats to stop trying to win last-minute advantages for their own nations. A joint statement by the Africans said 2,184,000 Africans had died from AIDS and other killers diseases since the issue became deadlocked last Dec. 16 following a U.S. holdout. U.S. Ambassador Linnet Deily hailed the agreement as a demonstration that WTO members "can and do come together to promote the greater good." Under WTO rules, countries facing public health crises have the right to override patents on vital drugs and order copies from cheaper, generic suppliers. However, until now they could only order from domestic producers - a frustrating loophole for the huge majority of developing countries that have no domestic pharmaceutical industry. U.S. pharmaceutical research companies were concerned that the deal would be abused by generics manufacturers.

W.Va. AIDS drug program overburdened, low on funds

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - West Virginia's AIDS Drug Assistance Program stopped taking new patients almost seven months ago. Since then, three West Virginians have died waiting to get the free HIV/AIDS drugs provided by the federally funded drug assistance program. And another 14 are still waiting. The problem is that the program can't stretch its funds far enough. "People are now starting to die while they're on the waiting list," said Dr. Faisal Khan, director of the state's HIV/AIDS/STD program. "It is a crisis that will continue." The program provides expensive anti-retroviral drugs free to people infected with HIV who meet income requirements but don't qualify for Medicaid or other drug programs. It also provides drugs to fight infections that can develop once a person's immune system is damaged by the virus. For patients who must take a combination of anti-retroviral drugs, taking just three of the drugs costs about $14,000 a year. Some are prescribed four or five.

United States cuts off funding for AIDS program in Africa, Asia

WASHINGTON (AP) - The State Department has cut off funding for an AIDS program benefiting African and Asian refugees, saying it believes a group taking part in the program supports involuntary abortions and sterilization in China. State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said funds were offered to six of seven groups that received money from the department's Bureau of Population, Refugees & Migration. But the consortium of groups turned down the funding after the department excluded the seventh group, Marie Stopes International. The group was excluded because of its partnership in China with the United Nations Population Fund, a group the Bush administration said had violated a 1985 law against supporting forced abortion or sterilization. The State Department admitted that it did find that the group did not knowingly support abortions and sterilizations by force.

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