Washington Blade - October 15, 2004

NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenyan ecologist Wangari Maathai, just after winning a Nobel Peace Prize, defended a recent suggestion that HIV was made in a laboratory as a plot against Africans, according to Reuters and Agence France Presse. The first African woman to win the Nobel, Maathai earned recognition for helping the poor in an effort to plant trees and deforestation, media outlets reported. Speaking over the weekend, Maathai said her previous comments that the virus that causes AIDS was man-made were to promote an inquiring attitude to the disease among Africans and combat a fatalistic idea that it is a curse from God, news reports indicate. "Would you solve the problem if you believed it was a curse from God?" Maathai told the media. "I was encouraging people to ask questions, which is what I always do," Maathai said, according to news reports. A furor erupted in Kenya when she was quoted in August as alleging AIDS was a biological weapon targeting black people, media outlets reported.

Roche drug to fight HIV wins international award

NEW YORK - The HIV drug Fuzeon, launched last year and produced by Roche Colorado Corp.'s manufacturing plant, last week received international recognition, according to news reports. The product was chosen from among 12 major drugs for the 2004 International Prix Galien for the most innovative new medicine, the company announced. Fuzeon was co-developed by the Basel, Switzerland-based Roche and Trimeris Inc. and is a member of a new class of AIDS drugs designed to prevent the virus from entering a cell, news reports indicate. The drug is prescribed both for patients who have developed resistance to other HIV drugs and to help patients live about 18 months longer.

Chinese province offers free HIV tests to gay men

BEIJING - As part of the country's fight against the spread of the virus that causes AIDS, the southern Chinese province of Guangdong will offer free HIV tests to gay men, according to media reports. The move is part of the institute's research into the spread of HIV among Chinese gays, according to the China Daily and the Information Times of Guangdong. In Guangdong, HIV infection is believed to be spread largely through heterosexual sex and needle-sharing, said the center's deputy director, He Qun. There has been a rapid rise of HIV/AIDS cases across China. The World Health Organization estimates that at least 1.5 million people in the Western Pacific region, two-thirds of them Chinese, are living with HIV/AIDS, media outlets reported.

Gays warned by European officials about rare infection

LONDON - A new "enhance surveillance" program from the U.K.'s Health Protection Agency is designed to stop a rare sexually transmitted infection from becoming rampant among gay Europeans, Gay.com U.K. reported. The STI, lympogranuloma venereum (LGV), is treatable but is on the rise among gay and bisexual people in the Netherlands and France, according to media reports. Rotterdam was the location of a cluster of cases of LGV first seen in December 2003, and an outbreak spread quickly to Antwerp and Paris, with a total 157 cases in the three cities thus far, Gay.com UK reported. LGV is similar to chlamydia, causing painless genital lesions at first and, if untreated, causing lymph nodes around the sex organs to begin to swell and cause symptoms such as fever and decreased appetite, news reports indicate.

Melissa Etheridge diagnosed with breast cancer, cancels tour

LOS ANGELES - Lesbian rock musician Melissa Etheridge cut short

her North American tour to undergo surgery after she was diagnosed with breast cancer, her publicist said late last week, Reuters reported. In a statement, Etheridge, 43, said the cancer was detected early and she is "looking forward to a quick and full recovery," according to Reuters. "I am fortunate to be under a wonderful doctor's care and thankful that this was caught early," Etheridge told the media. According to the statement, doctors said her prognosis is "excellent," Reuters reported. Known for hits like "Come to My Window," the singer/songwriter canceled the rest of 11 dates on her upcoming tour, her publicist said, according to media reports. Refunds for tickets to shows including stops in Quebec, Washington, D.C., New York and California can be obtained where they were purchased, Reuters reported. Etheridge has sold more than 25 million records, with her latest album, "Lucky," released in February, according to Reuters.

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