HAVEN  Newsletter   Volume XII, Issue No. 10                                                                                                                                         NOVEMBER,  2006 HIV/AIDS Volunteer Enrichment Network P.O. Box 514, Arnold, MD 21012; (410) 224-2437; (410) 571-9328 – Fax HAVENINC@aol.com           http://www.havenannapolis.org/ The next newsletter deadline is close of business on the second Friday of the month.  Submissions should be submitted by email as an MS Word document.

 

By Tony Teano

In late September, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) called for routine HIV testing as apart of medical care for Americans aged 13 to 64 years old.  The test would be administered as regularly as cholesterol tests, and the CDC’s officials say that patients should have the right to refuse to take the HIV test if they don’t want it.  The CDC estimates that more than 250,000 Americans are HIV+ and don’t know it.  "Making voluntary HIV screening a routine part of health care will help to remove the stigma associated with testing while helping us to identify infected individuals early in their disease," Duke University’s Dr. Sanders said.  There is a growing debate around these recommendations that includes privacy rights as well as access to qualified counseling when the test is administered, among other things.  The CDC recommends simplified testing procedures that would eliminate pretest counseling and written consent.   Yet, many experts widely hail the new CDC recommendations as long overdue and essential to increased quality care and to stemming the flow of the epidemic.  See related article in this newsletter on “Debating the CDC’s Proposed Guidelines” by Stephanie Rodriguez.

 

By Tony Teano

 

Many people have asked if HAVEN is part of the United Way giving campaign because they want to donate through their workplace.  HAVEN does not have a United Way number per se, but you can still give through United Way if you like!  All you have to do is write in: “HAVEN, PO Box 514, Arnold MD 21012.”  Thanks for thinking of us in this special way!

 

By Tony Teano

 

HAVEN has many stellar individuals in a constellation of brilliant volunteers.  Fran Wright is one of them, and he was recently nominated as the “Volunteer of the Week” for the Capital!  The cameo is anticipated to appear in print very soon—so look for the article in your paper around the time you receive this newsletter in the mail!  Thanks to Fran and volunteers like him, Newsroom runs well, folks get to and from appointments, and special events are indeed special. 

Also, you may have noticed a fabulous article in the Capital in early October about HAVEN and our call for volunteers.  That article included quotes from Mary Walmsley, Lisa Gibboney, Hillard Harrison and Helen Golembieski.  Again, these folks are warm, bright stars in our community.    Humble, courageous everyday unsung heroes like these folks are owed our enduring thanks!  A clipping about HAVEN’s call for volunteers appears in this edition of the newsletter.  Please do HAVEN a great big favor and pass them along to a friend who might be interested in volunteering. We are having another volunteer training on the evening of November 16^th in Glen Burnie that your friend can attend. 

Special thanks go to our friends at the Capital, Lori Phelan and to Vanessa Franko, for taking the time to craft such beautiful pieces about our community and our stars!

 

By Stephanie Rodriguez

Ever since HIV has come out of the shadows and into the public eye, the gay community has been at war with the idea that HIV is a disease only affecting homosexuals. The fight has been going well, as people recognize that safety against HIV is a concern for everyone. Yet in Los Angeles, there are billboards over highways that shout in bold lettering, "HIV is a gay disease." Even more shocking is that the organization behind these startling messages is the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center.   They claim that they started this campaign in hopes to shift some of the stigma about HIV and gay men back on them. The Gay & Lesbian Center feels that without the focus of HIV safety on homosexuals, modern gay men have developed a false sense of security, and they hope their billboards will remind them that HIV does still affect gay men in harsh numbers. In Los Angeles County, nearly 75% of HIV positive cases are of men who have had sex with other men.   Nationwide, men who have sex with men account for 45% to 50% of recent transmissions, according to the national Center for Disease Control.  Michael Weinstein, head of the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation applauds their effort to reach out to homosexuals about HIV, but thinks that "...this is not the way to achieve it." He continued, "AIDS is not a gay disease; it's not an African American disease; it's not a Latino disease. It is a disease of the immune system."

 

The following noteworthy headlines appeared recently at POZ.COM.

U.S. Cuts Circumcision Program--The U.S. Agency for International Development announced that it would stop subsidizing circumcisions in Swaziland; research shows this program helps prevent new HIV infections.

Bono and Oprah to Launch RED--Rock star and activist Bono kicked off the U.S. launch of Product RED with an interview on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Brands including GAP, Armani Exchange and Converse have designed special RED products (already on sale in the UK) to benefit the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. 

By Tony Teano

 

On October 16^th, Jeff Getty, 49 passed away.  A longtime courageous individual of national acclaim as an HIV/AIDS activist, Jeff Getty gained international attention in 1995 when he received an experimental bone marrow transplant from a baboon.  He tested positive in the 80’s, and he worked with ACT UP Golden Gate and Survive AIDS, among other groups.  His contributions to the field of HIV/AIDS will be missed by many colleagues, friends and family.

 

By Jason Stevens & Tony Teano

 

The results are in on a study of SIV/SHIV-infected Indian rhesus macaques and chronic morphine exposure.  Reported in the October 10, 2006 issue of Virology, the study was conducted at the AIDS Research Program at the Ponce School of Medicine, Puerto Rico.  It is important to note that the study was a small sample of nine monkeys—six test and three control subjects.  Also, the virus studied were genetically manipulated in the laboratory—none were authentically wild-type virus.  Nonetheless, the data from the study may validate some suspicions about drugs used by humans such as morphine and chemically similar drugs.  The study showed that “chronic morphine exposure causes pronounced virus replication in cerebral compartment and accelerated onset of AIDS.”

 

By Stephanie Rodriguez

 

Horrifying new statistics have turned the heads of the federal Center for Disease Control. Nationally, about 1 of every 4 new HIV diagnoses comes when the patient's disease has already progressed to AIDS. That means that, on average, the infection went untreated and undetected for a decade.
As a result, the CDC has adopted a new aggressive strategy on HIV testing and prevention. They say that HIV screenings should become a part of every routine check up in a doctor's office. The agency argues that finding more infections would save lives.  The CDC guidelines say that all adults and adolescents should be tested, and that people in high risk groups (according to statistics) should be tested at least once a year. They say doctors should inform patients of the tests, but not ask for permission. Patients can refuse, but there should be no written consent or counseling. Consequently, lawmakers and health professionals are turning their heads. Kemp Hannon, a Republican from New York says that he's open to arguments that the law should change, but is remaining cautious. Some people think that forced screenings for HIV would be a breech of civil liberties.  Julie Davids, executive director of the Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project says, "The CDC recommendations might lead to more people being tested, but is that going to get them connected with the system of care? The connection has to be made quickly and sensitively, or you'll lose them, and they won't get treatment."

By Tony Teano

Recently, health officials issued a plea for the young and old alike to get their annual flu shots, especially those with compromised immune systems.  Dr. William Schaffner, Vice President of the National Foundation for Infectious Disease, said, "We anticipate having more influenza vaccine available this season than ever before. This makes an informed and educated public all the more important, to make sure the vaccine does not go unused. Vaccine that remains in the refrigerator cannot prevent influenza."  His organization conducted a study the results of which show that only half of the American public plan to get vaccinated this season, largely because folks perceive that it isn’t severe enough to require immunization.  In reality, more than 36,000 Americans die of the flu and its complications each year, according to CDC statistics, and an additional 200,000 people are hospitalized.  The flu peaks in December, January and February—and the season can sometimes last as long as March.  Now is not too late to get your flu shot.  For more information, call the Anne Arundel County health department’s Flu Line 410-222-7343 or check the health department’s website at http://www.aahealth.org/.

 

By Tony Teano

A recent article in Sexually Transmitted Infections investigated the relationship between smoking and becoming HIV positive.  In general, cigarette smoking has already been linked to an increased risk of infection, including sexually transmitted infections.  Of the six initial studies examined by researchers, five found smokers were at increased risk of contracting HIV.  The increased risk ranged from 60 percent higher in smokers to a more than tripling of the risk.  The researchers examined another 10 studies to look at the relationship between smoking and the progression to AIDS.  Only one of the ten studies concluded that smokers were at increased risk.

By Tony Teano & Jason Stevens

 

The September 27, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association includes an article on a study that shakes the ground on which the use of viral loads have been used as an indicator in HAART therapy for more than a decade.  According to a study of approximately 3,000 individuals, “HIV levels in the blood are poor predictors of the rate at which the virus is destroying an infected individual’s immune system…. This challenges influential reports from a decade ago that link so-called plasma viral load levels to the onset of AIDS and death,” said Science Magazine editors in their September 29^th issue.  “It’s important because it means that things are not as obvious as we previously thought,” says Daniel Douek, an immunologist at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Bethesda, Maryland, who studies HIV pathogenesis. “There’s more going on than just viral load causing problems.”

 

By Wayne Schwandt

 

World AIDS Day is on December first.  Please join the 18^th annual Candlelight Walk and Interfaith Gathering in downtown Annapolis to observe this international event to keep the conversation about HIV/AIDS alive in our communities.  Gather at the City Dock between 6-6:15PM to join the Candlelight Walk to the Stanton Center.  This year’s walk will include part of State Circle as we seek to expand our visibility in the community.  This year’s Interfaith Gathering will feature guest speaker Angela Jackson, who has been living with HIV/AIDS for 22 years.  She is a wife, mother and grandmother, in addition to being an HIV testing counselor, educator and activist.  Her inspirational presence and message calls people into service and action.  Her new book will be available during the reception after the gathering.  During the service, an offering will be accepting to support the work of the sponsoring organization, the Anne Arundel World AIDS Day Committee.

 

Bob Davis

Board President

703-841-4460 email: bdavis@caci.com

or: write to P.O. Box 514, Arnold, MD 21012

or: Diane or Tony can have him call you

 

Diane Goforth

Executive Director
(410) 544-2244

Tony Teano

Director of Volunteers & Client Services
(410) 224-2437

 

Vance Larson

Housing Director & Buddy Services Coordinator
(410) 672-7571

 

Sharon Dawson

Our House Resident Manager
(Reach through Vance or Diane)