HAVEN  Newsletter   Volume XII, Issue No. 8                                                                                                                                         SEPTEMBER,  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.

 

In June of 1992, we got word that Ryan White funding was available for a 3-bed supportive housing program we named OUR HOUSE.  We set up an Advisory Board, rented a house, stripped it of a huge dumpster-load of junk left by the previous tenants, furnished it completely with donations, hired a Resident Manager and a Relief Manger, and had all three beds filled by Labor Day!

 

Last month, we welcomed our 49th Resident.  And both managers are still with us!  I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize the enormous contribution that Sharon Dawson and Joyce Allman have made in the lives of those 49 people.  HAVEN may not be rich with dollars, but it is rich beyond description with the value of their service. 

 

Diane Goforth

 

 

 

 

By Tony Teano

 

Enclosed please find a flyer about the Crab Feast on Sept. 16 (rain date Sept. 17), hosted by Pete Peterson and Diane Goforth.  This is a signature event not to be missed!  Visit at Diane and Pete’s with old friends and new.  Play cards or Hillbilly Golf.  Sail on Sullivan Cove. 

 

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS to help set up, clean up, cook, drive, sail, etc.  If you can help, please call me at 410-224-2437.  Any amount of time you can give is greatly appreciated.  If a lot of people step forward to volunteer, it will be great and very manageable special event.  Thank you!

 

Remember, some folks may bring guests who don’t know about HAVEN, what it is about, or their HIV status.  Many folks think it is a church picnic or another fun event.  Please be mindful that not everyone has told all of their family members or loved ones just yet—especially children—and that some discretion is advised.  So use your best judgment in talking about treatment updates, HIV/AIDS stories and HAVEN-related or any confidential matters.  Thank you.

 

Submitted by Jason S.

 

The following bullets come from the 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, published by UNAIDS, the Joint U.N. Programme on HIV/AIDS:

 

• In 2005, 1.2 million people were living with HIV in the United States.  This is the highest level ever reported and represents 0.6% of the total adult population. 
• Of adults living with HIV, one-quarter are women. 
• Half of all HIV infections diagnosed in 2004 were in men who have sex with men and several studies have identified a resurgence of high-risk behavior in this group as contributing to a rise in new infections.
• AIDS is the leading cause of death among African-American women aged 25-34 years; 78% of whom were infected through heterosexual transmission.
• African-Americans make up just over 12% of the population in the United States but account for 50% of all new HIV diagnoses.  Further, African-Americans are only half as likely to be receiving antiretroviral therapy as other population groups.

 

This workshop is for HIV+ people covers: integrating medication regimens into daily life; dealing with difficult emotions; communication skills; evaluating symptoms and treatments; and more.  A flyer about the PSMT workshop is enclosed this issue.  Feel free to contact Raymond Shattuck to find out more info (410-626-2834), or go to or gffonline.org or patienteducation.stanford.edu/programs/.  

 

 

By Tony Teano

 

A great deal of news is still being reported from the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, and I urge folks to google online for more emerging data.  Here’s a sample of the groundbreaking coverage that Tim Horn from Poz.com reported about Etravirine (TMC-125) on August 15th:

“Researchers at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto have reported 48-week results from a phase II clinical trial of etravirine (TMC-125), Tibotec's experimental non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI). The new data… indicate that etravirine may offer long-term effectiveness to patients who have tried and failed other HIV treatments, including currently approved NNRTIs….

“By week 48… rebounds in viral load were only seen in 9% of the patients…. As for CD4 counts (T cell counts), there was a 61 cell increase in the 800mg etravirine group and a 58 cell increase in the 400mg group…..

“Looking only at patients in the etravirine groups, approximately 22% experienced diarrhea, 20% experienced some type of rash, 20% experienced injection-site reactions (caused by administration of Fuzeon®), and 20% experienced fever. Other reported side effects, occurring in greater that 10% of patients on an etravrine-containing combination, included fatigue, headache, and insomnia.

“These data, Dr. Cohen reported, are encouraging. The results of etravirine's larger phase III clinical trials, which are being conducted to support the anticipated 2007 approval of the drug, are eagerly anticipated.”

By Tony Teano

 

Poz.com featured a story about an article in the August 1 issue of Clinical Infection Diseases revealing that viral load levels may predict kidney failure.  “The HIV-1 RNA level may help distinguish HIV-associated nephropathy (HIVAN) from non-HIVAN renal pathology.” 

 

TheBody.com reported that the Group of Eight industrialized nations, which held a summit in Russia recently, pledged to step up the worldwide fight against infectious diseases, including HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. Reduced tariffs for medications in developing countries, investment in HIV vaccine and microbicide research, and setting a goal toward universal access to HIV treatment, prevention and care programs by 2010 were elements of the pledge. However, critics noted that the G8 did not flesh out the barebones pledge, and that they avoided any concrete talk about reducing global poverty—one of the major factors fueling the HIV pandemic in developing nations.

 

Medscape.com presented Dr. Vincent Soriano’s report, “Highlights of the XV International HIV Drug Resistance Workshop.”  A printed copy of the report is available to read and copy at the office for your convenience if you cannot access it online.

 

Poz.com reported that the 17-member International AIDS Society-USA Panel updated its treatment recommendations for adult HIV infection.  A story about this topic is in the August 16th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, where in Columbia University’s Dr. Hammer, a spokesperson for the panel, said, "We focused on the four classic questions of antiretroviral therapy: when to start; what to start with; when to change -- because of toxicity or poor response -- and what to change to."

 

TheBody.com stated that the US Health Department’s revised treatment guidelines for HIV+ pregnant women, including a recommendation that resistance testing be provided to all pregnant women who are not currently on HIV meds, as well as pregnant women on HIV meds whose regimens aren't suppressing HIV effectively. Also, the new guidelines advise against the use of single-dose Viramune in pregnant women who are already taking a potent HIV treatment regimen.

 

Washingtonpost.com on July 17, 2006 featured a story with interesting, great links—including an online HIV facts quiz—and the story itself highlights how the filmmaker of Sister Act 2 starring Whoopi Goldberg came to Northeast D.C. to find other stars—young African American women living with HIV/AIDS.  Robert Samuels story, “Area Women With HIV Profiled in Documentary” explored the filmmaker’s passion;  Bill Duke’s granddaughter acquired HIV.  Having hit home personally, Bill Duke decided to create the hour long film “Faces” focusing on HIV.  Six women in DC were featured in the movie, and Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington helped Duke bring it to Northeast to premier.  Duke said that HIV “could bring about the extinction of black people.”

 

TheBody.com reported on a study that shows many HIV-positive women who use injection drugs don't routinely use condoms with their HIV-negative partners, according to a recent study in several large U.S. cities. The findings highlight the many ways in which drug use among HIVers may contribute to the further spread of HIV.  "Forty percent of the HIV-positive women in our sample were having sex with at-risk male partners, and more than half of the time, condoms were not used consistently," said lead investigator Dr. Mary H. Latka of the Center for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa.  The study sampled 426 HIV+ women who were injection drug users living in Baltimore, Miami, New York or San Francisco. The study findings are reported in the June issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

 

SFGate.com featured The San Francisco Chronicle’s Leslie Fulbright’s July 16, 2006 piece, “NAACP confronts AIDS crisis in black community: Convention opens with HIV tests, health symposium.”  On July 15, NAACP President Bruce Gordon and Chairman Julian Bond went to get HIV tests as part of the organization's 97th annual convention.  The NAACP Convention opened with an on-site HIV rapid testing center and a health symposium, "State of Emergency: Our Emergency: The HIV/AIDS Crisis in the Black Community." African American leaders called fighting HIV "the new civil rights movement." They urged others in attendance to get tested on site and return home to address HIV in their communities. The NAACP’s new national health coordinator Myisha Patterson stated, "This is an issue we can no longer afford to ignore… We must promote personal dialogue on this issue, encourage testing, and support additional programs that will literally save our lives."

 

By Tony Teano

Case files from Stanford University’s Medical Center prompted medscape.com to raise an interesting question based on an interesting observation.  “Primary HIV drug resistance is often observed in newly infected patients. How should clinicians approach management?” In response to questions like this, the US Department of Health and Human Services this year recommended that drug resistance testing be performed prior to the initiation of antiretroviral therapy.  Ideally, this testing would be conducted at initial diagnosis.  There are many reasons for genotypic testing now, including reducing risk of treating patients with drugs that will not work on their strain of HIV, reducing risk of wild-type HIV variants, and cost-effectiveness of choosing an appropriate initial therapy. 

The US Department of Health and Human Services has excellent guidelines for highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on standard HIV strains. However, experts are studying possibilities in this newly emerging area of HIV treatment on those strains with drug resistance, and hope to develop new guidelines for what are now persons with wild-type viruses.

 

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)