CDC on Friday announced a proposal to recommend that all people born between 1945 to 1965 get tested for hepatitis C virus. Baby boomers comprise more than 2 million of the estimated 3.2 million Americans thought to have HCV, but many do not know they are infected. CDC officials hope testing all baby boomers will help 800,000 get treated and prevent more than 120,000 deaths.
“The CDC views hepatitis C as an unrecognized health crisis for the country, and we believe the time is now for a bold response,” said Dr. John W. Ward, director of CDC’s Division of Viral Hepatitis.
From 1999 to 2007, US deaths from HCV-related illnesses nearly doubled, recent research found. CDC said more than 15,000 Americans die annually of HCV-related disease, even though two new HCV drugs promise to cure many more patients than was possible before.
Officials think hundreds of thousands of people were infected with HCV each year during the 1970s and 1980s, and many were young adult baby boomers. CDC estimates that 3 percent of boomers test positive for HCV, and most are active, dangerous infections, Ward said.
As many as a quarter of baby boomers with HCV do not remember what put them at risk. The kinds of experiences that might have exposed a person to the blood-borne virus may not ring a bell for many patients or physicians, experts said. Many are diagnosed by happenstance, such as when they donate blood or get tested for a life insurance policy, said Dr. Ryan Ford, an Emory University hepatitis specialist.
The proposed recommendations are expected to become final later this year.
[PNU editor’s note: For more information, visit: http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/.]
Most states now offer LGBT-friendly screening facilities for those with or at-risk for cancer, according to a new directory made available by the National LGBT Cancer Network.
Liz Margolies, the network’s executive director, said facilities were included if they have “proven cultural competence in respecting the bodies, histories, and families of LGBT patients.” The hope is to expand the list so that every lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender person in the United States is within driving distance of a safe and affordable screening site, she said.
“These facilities stand out from other medical facilities that conduct cancer screenings, at which LGBT patients often face a combination of ignorance and discrimination in accessing health care,” said Margolies, noting one in five transgender persons has been turned away by a health care provider.
The resource includes a number of facilities that do not require health insurance, Margolies added. This is important because a number of people in the LGBT community are uninsured.
“As a population, LGBT people are at increased risk of cancer, not due to any physiological differences, but behaviors, many of which result from the stress of living as sexual and gender minorities in this country,” Margolies said.
To access the listing, visit http://cancer-network.org/screenings/facilities.
On Sunday, Queensland officials announced a decision to cut $2.5 million (US $2.47 million) in funding to Healthy Communities, saying the LGBT service’s HIV prevention initiatives are not effective. New infections in the state have risen by 50 percent in the last year. Health Minister Lawrence Springborg said an advisory committee will be established to help guide outreach efforts.
Dr. Richard Kidd, president of the Australian Medical Association Queensland, could not say whether pulling funds from Healthy Communities was the correct decision, but the doubling of new diagnoses requires a rethinking of prevention approaches in the state. “If we just keep doing what we’ve always done we’re just going to get the same result, and at the moment that result is that it’s increased by 50 percent,” he noted.
“What I’m pushing for is more funding quite urgently to go into looking quite quickly but comprehensively at why we’re seeing this increase,” Kidd said.
Healthy Communities Executive Director Paul Martin questioned Springborg’s move, saying he did not consult Queensland Health in cutting support to the service. A ministerial spokesperson rejected that claim. “It [the funding cut] has been done with the full consultation under the department’s guidance,” said the spokesperson.
A rally to protest the cut is planned for May 30 in Brisbane.
Medical News
SOUTH AFRICA: "'There's Evidence that This Really Works and Anything that Works Is Good': Views on the Introduction of Medical Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention in South Africa"back to top AIDS Care Vol. 24; No. 4: P. 496-501, (04..2012) Cecilia Milford; and others
The partial efficacy (40 percent to 60 percent) of surgically conducted medical male circumcision (MMC) in preventing HIV transmission to circumcised men has been demonstrated in three clinical trials. “This research formed part of a larger study exploring the importance of integration of sexual and reproductive health with HIV services,” the authors wrote, noting the objective of eliciting key informants’ views on the introduction of MMC for HIV prevention in South Africa.
Semi-structured interviews were used to ask 21 key informants - representing the South African Health Department, local and international non-governmental organizations and universities - about their view on the issue. The interviews were transcribed, and all MMC discussions were coded for analysis using NVivo 8.
Most of the interviewees were knowledgeable about MMC for HIV prevention and indicated that making it available in South Africa was a good idea. Some recommended immediate introduction; others felt MMC should be introduced with caution.
Participants listed numerous factors that should be given consideration. These included culture, the impact of MMC on women, the possibility that behavioral disinhibition might increase risky sexual behavior, and that MMC might become another vertical health service program. Most interviewees felt that MMC should be undertaken in neonates; however, they acknowledged concerns regarding cultural responses to this. MMC implementation recommendations ranged from integrating services at the primary health care level to MMC provision by private medical practitioners.
“In conclusion, MMC is viewed as a key HIV prevention strategy,” the authors wrote. “However, there are numerous factors which could hinder introduction and uptake in South Africa and in the region. It is important to explore and understand these factors and for these to be aligned in the national MMC policy.”
Mayor Ed Lee said Thursday he will use city funds to restore more than $6 million in federal HIV/AIDS cuts to San Francisco.
San Francisco faced Ryan White reductions of about $4.6 million in fiscal year 2012-13 and CDC cuts of around $3.1 million, causing concern among city officials and service providers. Lee is able to restore $6.6 million “because of a smaller reduction than expected” from the city’s Ryan White Part B award, spokesperson Francis Tsang said in an e-mail.
Supervisor Scott Wiener said Thursday he has been working “very closely” with the mayor and his staff for six months to backfill federal funds for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention. At a town hall on the city budget in April, Lee said his administration had not come to a decision, but was working to pay for the cuts with local dollars. “It is up to us to find that money,” Lee said.
“Tax revenue has been trending up,” said Wiener, noting San Francisco has a projected budget shortfall of $150 million, down from an expected $170 million. “The wild card in all this” will be the state and federal governments, he said, referring to Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent announcement that he wants to cut more than $8 billion from California’s budget to help close a gap of nearly $16 billion.
Lee is due to submit his budget proposal to supervisors on June 1, said spokesperson Christine Falvey. The mayor has asked HIV/AIDS-related organizations to begin looking at 2013-14 cuts during the next few months, she said. The mayor wants “an open dialogue” with these groups using the same “collaborative approach that resulted in this funding restoration,” she said.
Although teen births have dropped in Bexar County since the mid-1990s, nearly 3,000 county females age 19 or younger gave birth last year, yielding a teen pregnancy rate almost 50 percent higher than the nation’s. On May 2, more than 100 people gathered at Central Library to discuss the latest data and re-energize locally coordinated efforts to address the problem.
“A lot of progress has been made in the last couple of years,” said San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro. A new position has been created at the Project Worth, the city’s teen pregnancy prevention program, Castro said. The project works with Health Futures of Texas on workshops for parents and on sex education in some area schools.
“We need effective programs in schools, because education is the key to success and the way to escape poverty,” said state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, noting teen pregnancy costs Texas $1.2 billion annually.
“Teen pregnancy has a tremendous impact on teens coming into the criminal justice system,” said Susan Reed, Bexar County district attorney. “We know it creates a lot of stressors for individuals and leads to things like child abuse and domestic violence.”
The University of Texas Health Science Center’s Sex Education Program has worked to address teen pregnancy on the Southside since 2010, with community involvement driving the process, said Dr. Kristen Plastino, its director. SEP participants include fifth- through 12th-grade students from the Harlandale, Southside, South San Antonio, Somerset and Southwest school districts.
“A lot of teens think that once they get pregnant, there’s nothing they can do, but there are still ways to make the situation better for families,” said German Cervantes, a Harlandale High senior and a member of the UT Teen Health Teen Advisory Board.
Some 200 students from 21 universities gathered Sunday at Beijing’s University of International Business and Economics to take part in a ceremony marking the 29th annual International AIDS Candlelight Memorial. “The campaign we launched this year is different from previous ones, as it is the first time we held the memorial on campus,” said Ye Dawei, vice secretary-general of the China Red Ribbon Foundation, which held the gathering with UNAIDS and the China Alliance of People Living with HIV/AIDS. “I have learned more about the living conditions of AIDS patients by participating in the memorial service,” said Wang Yuanyuan, a student at UIBE. In his remarks, UNAIDS official Guy Taylor said he hopes China will devote greater effort to protecting the privacy and equality of those living with HIV/AIDS.
A trainee employee at Dixie Donuts on N.C. 268 West, just west of Wilkesboro, has been diagnosed with a confirmed case of hepatitis A, according to a release issued Thursday evening by the Wilkes County Health Department. The times of potential exposures are 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 8 and 9; and 2-8 p.m. on May 10 and 12. “Those potentially exposed could experience symptoms as early as May 22 and as late as June 23,” the release stated. “Those who have had a hepatitis A infection or hepatitis A vaccine are protected from the virus and do not need to take additional actions.” Others, however, are counseled to receive hepatitis A vaccine or a preventive injection within 14 days of exposure. Debbie Nicholson, the department’s director of nursing, said the ailing employee is not working at Dixie Donuts and will not return until she or he is no longer contagious. For more information, telephone the department at 336-651-7573. To learn more about hepatitis A, visit www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/A/index.htm.
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