Washington Blade - December 6, 2002

LOS ANGELES -- Larry Kramer, the award-winning playwright and ACT UP founder, lent his voice in support of a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the patent for AZT, the first AIDS drug. London-based GlaxoSmithKline holds the patent for the drug, which was initially created in 1964 in the U.S. as a possible cancer drug, and first shown to be effective against HIV by NIH researchers in the mid 1980s. "It is evil to possess a drug that you don't own and which can save lives and then deny it to the very dying people who need it," Kramer said. The lawsuit, brought by U.S-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation and supported by a coalition of more than 500 groups, seeks to invalidate GlaxoSmithKline's U.S. patent on AZT and other subsequent HIV drugs that include AZT as a component. Kramer, who is HIV-positive and 67, had a liver transplant last December, a unique procedure for people with the disease.

Powell urges ambassadors on leadership for AIDS fight

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Colin Powell is invited the entire diplomatic corps to the State Department Dec. 3 to deliver a message he hopes they will relay to their governments: Political leadership is an essential component in the struggle against HIV/AIDS, according to the Associated Press. It is believed to be the first time all ambassadors from governments accredited in Washington will have gathered to hear a message on a public health issue, says Jack Chow, who serves as the U.S. ambassador on the AIDS issue. "We know that national political leaders who are willing to speak out and commit their governments to a course of constructive action in combination with public health investment can make a difference," Chow said. There are 42 million cases of AIDS worldwide.

Women now account for half of HIV cases, UN says

LONDON -- For the first time in the 20-year history of the AIDS epidemic, as many women as men are infected with HIV, a United Nations report says. The report, made public last week, paints a dismal picture of a disease invading regions of the globe where it had for many years tricked experts into believing some populations might be less susceptible, or even immune, to infection, according to the Associated Press. "It's once more a sad story," said Dr. Peter Piot, executive director of the U.N. AIDS agency. The virus is spreading most rapidly in Eastern Europe, where nearly every country is experiencing a major outbreak. It has also marched swiftly across Central Asia and into China. Piot said the shift toward women will ultimately exacerbate the spread of HIV, because they can spread it not only through sex, but also through nursing and childbirth.

Spanish brochure on hepatitis released by gay health group

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Gay & Lesbian Medical Association created a Spanish-language hepatitis brochure targeting men who have sex with men to boost awareness of the disease. A recent GLMA survey shows that of 30 cities the organization visited, San Antonio scored the lowest in hepatitis awareness in gay and bisexual men, a population at the greatest risk. "We've been successful with our national campaign," said GLMA President Kenneth A. Haller, Jr. "But one piece was missing. Outreach in the non-English speaking areas of the U.S. is essential if we are to successfully reduce the transmission of hepatitis A and B among [men who have sex with men]. Now we have the ability to communicate to a community that might not otherwise have access to this information." Physicians, medical centers, public health departments and others may request both the English and Spanish versions of the brochure by logging on to the GLMA Web site at www.glma.org. The brochure was funded by drug company GlaxoSmithKline.

More men report having gay sex, report shows

NEW YORK -- A recent nationwide survey shows that a larger proportion of men say they are having sex with other men than in the 1980s, although whether that trend stems from an increase in same-sex activity or an increased willingness to report it remains unclear, according to Reuters Health. "Male-to-male sex is still a sensitive, stigmatized behavior, and is likely to be underreported to some unknown degree. Even though these recent estimates are somewhat higher than other surveys, they probably are still low," said Dr. John E. Anderson, a researcher at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention in Atlanta and the co-author of the report. Surveys collected since 1996 showed between 3.1 percent and 3.7 percent of men reported having sex with another man during the past year. This is a sizeable jump from 1988 estimates of between 1.7 percent and 2 percent, the report noted. The results from the current study are published in the November issue of Sexually Transmitted Diseases.

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