Washington Blade - December 24, 2004

VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican established a foundation last week to fund Catholic organizations assisting AIDS patients, urging people to contribute even if they object to the church's opposition to the use of condoms to fight the spread of the disease. Pope John Paul II has set aside $132,000 for the Good Samaritan Foundation and is asking "all people of goodwill, particularly those in the economically advanced nations, to contribute," said Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan. The Catholic Church has repeatedly rebuffed campaigns for it to endorse the use of condoms in the fight against AIDS. The Vatican holds that condoms cannot be used to help prevent the spread of the disease because they are a form of artificial birth control. The pope repeated the Vatican position in a message for the church's World Day of the Sick in September, saying cases of AIDS spread via intercourse "are best avoided above all through responsible conduct and the observance of the virtue of chastity."

Study: Married people healthier than singles, divorcees, others

WASHINGTON (AP) - A government study has concluded it's healthy to be married. Overall, married people are sick less often and more active. They smoke and drink less and in general feel better than single, divorced, never married or even folks just living together. The National Center for Health Statistics report didn't name the reasons why married people are healthier. But health statistician Charlotte Schoenborn said married couples may have advantages in economic resources, social and psychological support and encouragement of healthy lifestyles. A second possibility, she said, is marital selection - "the theory that healthy people get married and stay married, whereas less healthy people either do not marry or are more likely to become separated, divorced or widowed." "Overall, this association between marital status and health persists regardless of socio-economic status, education and poverty, where people were born or their ethnicity," Schoenborn said.

Ignorance of AIDS among Chinese gays hinders prevention: report

SHANGHAI, China (AP) - Widespread ignorance about HIV/AIDS among gay men in China is undermining the country's efforts to fight the spread of the disease, the official Xinhua News Agency said last week. About 80 percent of male Chinese gays believe they can't get AIDS or seriously underestimate the risk of infection, Xinhua said, citing a study by the Chinese Center for Disease Control. While drug users' shared needles are the primary route of HIV transmission, infection rates among gays - now about 1.35 percent - are expected to skyrocket, the report said. "The gay community is one of the most vulnerable groups, but they have long been ignored in China," Lu Fan, chief of the Chinese AIDS control and prevention unit, was quoted as saying.

Alaska health officials investigate flare of syphilis among gay men

ANCHORAGE (AP) - State health officials are investigating an outbreak of syphilis spreading mainly in men having unprotected sex with other men. Six cases of infectious syphilis were reported between Sept. 15 and Dec. 10, according to the state Section of Epidemiology. Five of the infected men live in Anchorage and one in southeast Alaska, according to a health bulletin issued by the office this week. Syphilis has been declining nationwide for a decade, although rates started increasing for the early stages of the disease in 2001 and 2002. The increase occurred only in men. A number of major cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, reported recent outbreaks among men having sex with men, the health bulletin said. Infectious cases have been rare in Alaska, so the six reported in less than three months is an "unusual event," said Dr. Beth Funk, acting state epidemiologist.

Alabama has long-term wait list for public-funded AIDS drugs

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - A new report says Alabama is the only state with a long-term wait list of people needing financial aid to buy AIDS drugs and that assistance is running out. "We've never been able to provide for everybody who needs the service," said Jane B. Cheeks, the state AIDS director. "We just don't have enough money." The report released last week by the Kaiser Family Foundation was based on surveys of all 50 states, which found 18 states had waiting lists at some period from July 2002 until last month. Alabama was the only state that reported a waiting list during each survey. The number of people waiting ranged from a high of 395 in May 2004 to a low of 89 in August 2003.

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