Washington Blade - September 15, 2006

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) - South Africa's government scaled back the influence of its minister for AIDS policy, pilloried for questioning the effectiveness of anti-retroviral drug treatments and promoting beetroot, garlic and African potatoes as ways to fight AIDS. A group of international scientists called for Health Minister Dr. Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, nicknamed "Dr. Beetroot," to be fired and they labeled South Africa's program "inefficient and immoral." Government spokesman Themba Maseko defended the minister, but said Sept. 8 the cabinet had appointed a committee to oversee implementation of the country's AIDS program. "We need to shift focus from saying the problem in the program is the minister of health," Maseko said. In an open letter to President Thabo Mbeki on Sept. 6, 81 international AIDS scientists called for an end to South Africa's "disastrous, pseudoscientific policies" and urged Mbeki to remove the health minister immediately.

Israeli lesbians set precedent with surrogacy pregnancy

JERUSALEM - Israel's Health Ministry is setting precedent by allowing a lesbian surrogacy in which one woman will be implanted with the fertilized egg of her partner, according to the Israeli news website Ynetnews.com. Before now, same-sex partners could create families with an anonymous sperm donor or a sperm donor the couple knows, according to in vitro fertilization regulations in Israel, the website reported Sept. 7. Health Ministry advisor Mira Hivner-Harel said the case is not a precedent for all lesbian couples and that each case will be examined individually. In a "regular" case of surrogacy, the woman donating the egg is the biological mother of the baby, so the Health Ministry ruled both mothers will have to adopt the child to have legal custody.

Finland blames Thailand for doubling of HIV

BANGKOK - Finland is likely to see a double the number of HIV cases over the next five years due in part to men contracting the virus while vacationing in Thailand, according to a report published by the Finnish health ministry. News of the report was published in the Sept. 6 edition of the Bangkok Times. More than 100 new HIV cases are expected by the end of 2006 in Finland, compared to 53 cases in 2001, according to the report. Finland has a population of 5.2 million. "In a growing number of cases, people contract the disease abroad, particularly in Thailand," said Merja Saarinen, health ministry adviser. Approximately three out of four of the HIV positive people in Finland are male. The rate of infection in Thailand is highest in northern provinces, which are also popular tourist destinations.

Mayo Clinic discovers HIV dependent on protein

ROCHESTER, Minn. - A specific human protein is essential for the HIV virus to integrate into the human genome, according to a discovery by virologists at the Mayo Clinic. The research shows that when HIV inserts itself into a chromosome, a key step that establishes a "safe haven" requires the protein known as LEDGF/p75(p75) to form a molecular "tether" between chromosomes and HIV's integrating protein, according to a Sept. 10 article posted on the website MedicalNewsToday.com. "It's critical to understand this better because permanently integrated viruses in long-lived cells prevent elimination of HIV," said Eric Poeschla, the Mayo Clinic virologist who led the research. If the connection can be disrupted in the future, it might lead to new therapy for HIV or safer methods of gene therapy, he explained.

Pfizer on track to get FDA approval for new HIV drugs

NEWARK, N.J. - Pfizer officials said Sept. 7 they will apply later this year for Food & Drug Administration approval of a new class of HIV/AIDS drugs, the New Jersery Star-Ledger reported. Pfizer wants approval for the tablet called Maraviroc, which belongs to a new class of HIV/AIDS drugs, called CCR5 entry inhibitors. While the pill doesn't target HIV, it attempts to block the virus from infecting healthy cells. HIV most often uses the CCR5 receptor to gain entry to healthy cells. The drug would be used in combination with existing antiretroviral treatments and is in the final stages of testing. Pfizer is in a race to win FDA approval of the drug with Schering-Plough, which is developing its own CCR5 pill called Vicriviroc, according to the report.

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