Washington Blade - Friday, December 5, 2003

WASHINGTON - Only 35 percent of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered adults report that they have ever been tested for HIV, a newly released study reported. Most heterosexual adults have never been tested for the AIDS virus, in spite of worldwide attention to the disease. The study found that 59 percent of heterosexual adults have never had an AIDS test. The nationwide Witeck-Combs Communications/Harris Interactive poll surveyed 2,056 adults. The study comes just as nations around the globe participated in World AIDS Day on Dec. 1. "We found that complacency about HIV risk continues to be widespread among all populations and demographics," said Darin Johnson.

Increase in HIV cases among gay men worries health officials

DENVER (AP) - Federal officials say more signs of "prevention fatigue" are reflected in the latest report on AIDS - a 17 percent increase in new HIV cases among gay men over the past three years. "HIV is not over in the United States," said Robert Janssen, director of the HIV/AIDS prevention division for the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. "The fight is as urgent as it was 20 years ago." Between 1999-2002, the CDC reported 18,843 men were diagnosed with the virus that causes AIDS, an increase of 7.3 percent over the previous three-year period. The CDC said the infection rate among heterosexuals and intravenous drug users did not change significantly. But the increase in HIV among gay men is worrisome. Earlier this year, the agency launched a campaign repeating the safe-sex message of condom use and discouraging needle sharing. And officials urged people at risk to be tested for HIV. "To some extent, there is some prevention fatigue," Janssen said. "It's driven by a sense that HIV has become a chronic and treatable disease."

Australian study takes first look at genetic makeup of transsexuals

MELBOURNE, Australia - In a search for genes that may influence whether a person feels male or female, Australian researchers have begun the world's first study of DNA in transsexuals, the Age reported. Vincent Harley, associate professor of Genetics at Prince Henry's Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, said transsexuals feel trapped in the wrong body, and scientists are searching for a genetic link. "From between three and five years of age they are convinced they are members of the opposite sex," he told the Age. An expert in the genetics of intersex disorders, in which one in 4,000 children are born with genitalia that are not clearly male or female, Harley said genital surgery now is done shortly after birth, the Age reported. "But it is very difficult to know whether they are being assigned the correct gender," Harley said. The Melbourne researchers will analyze the DNA from blood samples of 10 transsexuals for variations in three genes, the newspaper reported.

Woman honors brother's memory through AIDS awareness education

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - Gloria VanAlstine says the moment that defines her life came when her gay brother died from HIV-related complications. From that day in 1990, the nurse and health science technology teacher at Pioneer High School has made it her mission to educate youths about HIV and AIDS. On VanAlstine's classroom wall is a photo that serves as another daily reminder of that commitment: a picture of the AIDS Memorial Quilt block she and her family made years ago to honor her brother. "Because of the subject I teach, I am able to say, æThis has happened to my family,'" VanAlstine told the Ann Arbor News. "It personalizes it when I incorporate my brother into my lectures." The 3-by-6-foot panel made by VanAlstine's family is one of 45,000 that make up the memorial quilt. At Pioneer High School, the first week of December has been designated as AIDS Awareness Week. But VanAlstine said she tries to drive home the message about the disease on a daily basis to her students.

Judge gives medical marijuana workers probation, scolds prosecutors

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Three men who pleaded guilty to distributing medical marijuana to seriously ill patients received probation instead of a federal prison term after a judge expressed admiration for their work and called the prosecution "badly misguided." Scott Imler, Jeff Yablan and Jeffrey Farrington received one year of probation and up to 250 hours of community service. They faced up to 30 months in prison after striking a plea bargain with prosecutors. "Though it was hard to keep faith in the system throughout this process, I know mine was restored today," Imler said. Matz said the three men scrupulously adhered to rules established under Proposition 215, the nation's first medical marijuana law, which allows Californians with cancer, HIV and certain other chronic medical conditions to grow and use marijuana to ease nausea and other health problems if a physician recommends it.

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