Washington Blade - July 19, 2002

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Gov. Mike Johanns' anti-gay attitude contributed to a missed deadline by a gubernatorial appointee for a federal grant benefiting AIDS patients, state Sen. Ernie Chambers said in a letter to Johanns mailed July 8. Chambers said he was distressed by Johanns' "cavalier, ho-hum acceptance of HHS's inexcusable incompetency." Ron Ross, director of the state Health & Human Services System, failed to sign an application in June for a $1.2 million federal housing grant targeting Nebraskans with AIDS. Ross said he had just one day to review the grant proposal, which he said was not enough time to get his questions about the proposal answered. Ross said the application sat for one week on the desk of Dr. Richard Raymond, the state's chief medical officer, while he was on vacation. Johanns defended Ross' actions, and said he was correct in not signing an application he thought was deficient. Ross promised July 9 to contact federal officials to see if an exception can be made so Nebraska's application could be considered. Chambers said Johanns' opinion of gays was obvious last year when he vetoed a bill banning real estate agents and brokers from discriminating based on sexual orientation.

Timely treatment key to HIV survival, study says

LONDON -- Too many HIV-infected people are waiting too long to go for treatment either out of fear or ignorance, dramatically cutting their chances of survival, researchers said. "It is not a matter of 'the earlier the better,' but there is a definite point of no return where the CD4 white blood cell count has gone too low," research team leader Matthias Egger told Reuters. "Five years ago, people delayed taking HIV tests because they were scared to find out as there was no treatment. But now with multiple drug, highly active antiretroviral therapy we have treatments that are really effective." Egger said data from 12,000 adult patients analyzed by his team and published in the Lancet medical journal proved conclusively that there was a cut-off point of 200 CD4 cells per microliter of blood. "Below 200 it is too late, but above 200 the survival rate is much higher," Egger said.

With help, human gene might block HIV attack

NEW YORK -- Scientists have discovered a human gene that might be used to defend the body against HIV. The gene, CEM15, is part of the body's natural defense against viral infections, researchers report in the July 14 online edition of the journal Nature. A team from the United States and Britain showed that CEM15 would normally stop HIV from reproducing, but the virus has developed a defense against the gene. HIV has its own gene that produces a protein, called Vif (virion infectivity factor), that blocks CEM15's protective effects. "CEM15 is a natural inhibitor of HIV," study co-author Michael H. Malim, professor of infectious diseases at King's College London in the U.K., said in an interview with Reuters Health. "And the virus encodes a gene that counteracts it. It's a double negative, if you will." Viruses like HIV use a cell's internal machinery to reproduce, Malim said.

Progress reported in hepatitis B fight

ATLANTA -- In the 20 years since a vaccine against hepatitis B was introduced, new infections in the U.S. have dropped to 80,000 a year from more than 200,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. The number of children infected each year has dropped even more sharply, according to an article in the agency's journal, the Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report. In 1986, nine children out of every 10,000 between the ages of 1 and 9 were newly infected; in 2000, that figure dropped to 1 per 10,000. The article called the reduction in the incidence of hepatitis B a significant public health achievement, though not one that came without controversy. The initial vaccination recommendation in June 1982 had been limited to three groups considered at high risk for exposure: men who have sex with men, intravenous drug users and heterosexuals with multiple sex partners. Along the way, concerns were raised over whether versions of the vaccine could cause HIV, multiple sclerosis or exposure to harmful levels of mercury. The article said reviews found no evidence to support those worries.

Gay medical group Receives advocacy grant

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Gill Foundation has provided the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association with its first challenge grant for advocacy at the federal level. The foundation will match donations to GLMA dollar for dollar, up to $30,000. "While major gains in LGBT health care were made in the previous U.S. presidential administration, many if not most stand to be lost without sustained advocacy efforts," said Maureen S. OÆLeary, GLMA executive director. The Gill Foundation was founded by Tim Gill, former chairman and chief technology officer at Quark Inc., in 1994. GLMA offers continuing medical education for health care professionals, operates a free on-line health care referrals program, and oversees the Lesbian Health Fund.

From staff and wire reports
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