Washington Blade - July 18, 2003

PARIS (AP) - Secretary of Health & Human Services Tommy Thompson said Tuesday he is confident lawmakers will approve at least $2 billion this year to launch President Bush's emergency AIDS relief plan for the developing world. Bush announced in his State of the Union address in February a plan to spend $15 billion over five years to combat HIV and AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean. Congress approved the plan earlier this year, and legislation that would make the money available each year is now being developed for fiscal year 2004, which begins Oct. 1. "The process is working. It is moving faster than it has in a long time in Congress," said Thompson, speaking on the sidelines of an international AIDS conference in Paris. He said it was "obvious" U.S. lawmakers would come through.

Study raises possibility of safe breastfeeding for HIV mothers

PARIS (AP) - New research has raised the possibility of safer breastfeeding for HIV-positive mothers in the developing world, experts said Tuesday. Programs aimed at preventing mother-to-child transmission of the AIDS virus in poor countries involve treatment during pregnancy and only up to one week after childbirth. That halves the risk of the babies getting HIV, but many of those gains are lost when the infants later contract the virus through breastfeeding. Experts say findings presented Tuesday at the biggest AIDS research conference of the year indicate that giving babies a daily AIDS drug from birth through the entire breastfeeding period could reduce the rate of HIV infection through breast milk significantly. However, specialists say persuading mothers in poor countries not to breastfeed is impractical on a wide scale because they can't afford or find infant formula and women who do not breastfeed are stigmatized because such unusual behavior raises suspicions of HIV infection.

Officials worry about high American Indian STD rates

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - High rates of reported sexually transmitted diseases in South Dakota's American Indian population have health administrators worried about the potential for a large HIV outbreak if the disease is introduced into certain behavioral groups. "All it takes is introducing someone with HIV, and we'll have a fairly large outbreak on our hands," Sarah Patrick, a contract epidemiologist for Indian Health Service, said. She said the high number of sexually transmitted diseases reported in American Indians in South Dakota is an indication of unhealthy behaviors that are ideal for nurturing an HIV outbreak. STDs are diagnosed in Indians in South Dakota at a rate higher than the rest of the population, according to a South Dakota Department of Health report. The report indicates that in 2002, Indians had 46 percent of the reported chlamydia cases and 48 percent of the reported gonorrhea cases in South Dakota, even though they comprise 8.3 percent of South Dakota's total population, according to the 2000 census.

House rejects conservative bid to block four federal grants for sex

WASHINGTON (AP) - The House handed a narrow defeat last week to conservatives who wanted to forbid the National Institutes of Health from giving grants to researchers conducting four sexual research projects, including studies of older men and of San Francisco's Asian prostitutes and masseuses. The 212-210 vote derailed an effort led by Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) to block the grants for next year, which are expected to total $1.4 million. The debate recalled fights waged in Congress a decade ago over arts projects financed by the National Endowment for the Arts. Conservatives led by former Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) argued that taxpayers should not finance objectionable works of art, a controversy that resulted in the endowment revamping the way it decides which projects to back. "I ask my colleagues, who thinks this stuff up?" Toomey said of the sexual research projects.

Armstrong charity donates to lesbian cancer group

AUSTIN, Texas - The Lance Armstrong Foundation, a philanthropic organization dedicated to funding cancer-related public-service groups, recently gifted $5,000 to the Mautner Project, a lesbian cancer organization, according to a press statement released by the Mautner Project. LAF grants are extremely competitive, according to the statement, and this is the first gay or lesbian organization to receive funding from the five-year-old foundation, dedicated to supporting cancer-survivor organizations. The Mautner Project cares for lesbian, bisexual or transgendered women who are living with cancer or providing support for the victim or her survivors. "We are proud to partner with LAF in their quest to improve the quality of life for all cancer survivors and their families - regardless of their sexual or gender orientation," said Mautner Project Executive Director Kathleen DeBold. "There is so little funding available for lesbian health that it makes no sense for any group to waste time and money starting from scratch. "Lance Armstrong, the world's top cyclist, founded his charity after surviving testicular cancer.

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