CDC releases data on U.S. HIV transmission rates
FDA panel unanimously backs new female condom
Photojournalism documentary raises money for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS
Court finds state of California negligent for failing to implement program providing care to HIV-positive people
CDC releases data on U.S. HIV transmission rates
In a letter published ahead of print in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released updated estimates of HIV transmission rates in the U.S. Written by researchers from the CDC and Johns Hopkins University, the letter suggests that the U.S. HIV transmission rates have decreased by 89% since 1984 and 33% since 1997. Researchers also estimate that roughly 5% or less of people living with the virus will transmit it to another person in any given year, according to the letter.
The data in this letter were based on CDC data that were announced earlier this year, which estimated that 1.1 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV and that approximately 56,300 new infections occur annually. While this figure is significantly higher than previous estimates of infection rates over the past several years, it is thought to provide a more accurate picture of the HIV epidemic in the U.S. It also reflects a data collection system that was previously flawed rather than an increase in actual new infections since last year’s reporting cycle.
“[These declining transmission figures] really show that people living with HIV are taking steps to be responsible and protect others,” said Richard Wolitski of the CDC. He adds that this significant decrease in HIV transmission rates is likely the result of a combination of prevention efforts that include “HIV testing, prevention programs for people who are living with HIV and those who are at risk for HIV, as well as the effects of HIV treatment that have prolonged the lives of so many people living with HIV.”
Although these data suggest “success” in lower transmission rates, Wolitski was quick to point out that health officials must continue to be mindful of the fact that new HIV infections are continuing to increase among men who have sex with men, and that African Americans and Hispanics continue to contract the virus at disproportionate rates. “The fight against HIV,” says Wolitski, “is far from over.”
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FDA panel unanimously backs new female condom
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel recently voted 15-0 in favor of the approval of a potentially less costly version of Female Health Co.’s condom for women called FC2.
Unanimous panel support of the FC2 came at the urging of more than a dozen health advocates who argued that its use will be critical in helping more women to protect themselves from HIV and other sexually transmittable infections. Female condoms, unlike those designed for men, can be inserted by users up to two hours before sexual intercourse actually begins.
“Female condoms are the only women-controlled method of safer sex,” said American Social Health Association Vice President Deborah Arrindell. Access to the already approved version of this product, however, has been limited by cost. While male condoms come in many different brands and sell for as little as 50 cents apiece, the price of the currently available Female Condom averages between $2.80 and $4 each.
The newer version is made of synthetic rubber, as opposed to polyurethane, which will allow for a drastic reduction in price. The product also uses a process similar to male condoms, making it more appealing to women as a result.
“When I talk to my patients…the biggest concern they have is that it’s noisy…a ‘snap, crackle, pop’,” said Paula Hillard, a gynecologist at Stanford University Medical Center. The use of synthetic rubber rather than polyurethane should eliminate this problem.
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Photojournalism documentary raises money for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS
I Am Because We Are is a powerful new work of photojournalism by award-winning photographer Kristen Ashburn, which documents the AIDS pandemic in Southern Africa. A companion piece to Madonna’s documentary film by the same title, I Am… takes an intimate look into the lives of seven of the 1 million Malawian children who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS.
The film will run on the Sundance Channel until December 17th, and the book can be pre-ordered at PowerHouse Books. It contains a foreword by Madonna, and all author proceeds will go directly to Raising Malawi, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing community-based assistance to Malawian orphans.
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Court finds state of California negligent for failing to implement program providing care to HIV-positive people
The Los Angeles County Superior Court recently ruled that California’s Department of Health Care Services has failed to enact a six-year-old state law, known as AB 2197, which called for the implementation of programming that would provide medical care to low income Californians living with HIV who are already enrolled in the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program.
The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed last year by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which claimed that the DHCS failed to expand coverage under the state’s Medicaid program (Medi-Cal) to HIV-positive residents who had not developed AIDS. Judge James Chalfant declared that California had not fulfilled its statutory obligation to enact some of the measures mandated by the legislature, while insufficiently completing others.
“[It is] clear [that the department] simply has not done the necessary outreach and awareness activity to encourage AIDS patients on Medi-Cal to adopt managed care,” said Chalfant. Additionally, the department made a decision against contacting patients directly, citing that federal medical privacy laws prohibited such action, and were not compliant with the law’s requirement to make a determination regarding how much it would reimburse Medi-Cal providers for treating HIV-positive patients, or even to calculate the potential savings of moving people living with AIDS into managed care.
In addition, Chalfant ruled that the Department failed to seek other methods for covering the costs of care for these patients, and rejected potential revenue sources brought to its attention. The judge ordered AHD to construct a plan, to be submitted on December 17th, for helping DHCS to comply with the law. .
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