AFRO-NETS> Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report - Wed, 16 Jan 2002

[Cecilia Snyder <csnyder@ccmc.org>]

Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report - Wed, 16 Jan 2002
-----------------------------------------------

* Sen. Bill Frist Discusses AIDS, Debt Relief During African Tour
* South African Medical Association Endorses Use of Post-Exposure
  Treatment for Rape Survivors
* NBA Star Dikembe Mutombo Featured in New U.N. Office for Drug Con-
  trol and Crime Prevention, UNAIDS HIV/AIDS Awareness Ads

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Sen. Bill Frist Discusses AIDS, Debt Relief During African Tour

Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), while on a tour of four African countries, 
has met with a number of African officials to discuss the continent's 
AIDS crisis, the AP/Nashville Tennessean reports. During his "medical 
mission to Africa," Frist is traveling through Uganda, Sudan, Tanza-
nia and Kenya. He met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, telling 
him that he was "pleased at how well Uganda was using" the $120 mil-
lion in U.S. aid the country received to fight HIV/AIDS. Frist also 
"praised" Museveni's efforts in fighting the epidemic and applauded 
him for mentioning the epidemic in "almost all of his speeches." 
Frist also met with U2 lead singer Bono yesterday to discuss AIDS and 
debt relief issues. Frist said it was "too early to say what legisla-
tive ideas might develop from his trip" (AP/Nashville Tennessean, 
1/16). In June, Frist introduced legislation that would appropriate 
$700 million over two years to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuber-
culosis and Malaria (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 6/14).


--
South African Medical Association Endorses Use of Post-Exposure 
Treatment for Rape Survivors

The South African Medical Association, which represents 17,000 doc-
tors, two-thirds of whom work in the public sector, on Tuesday an-
nounced its support for physicians who prescribe post-exposure pro-
phylaxis antiretroviral treatment for rape survivors, despite the na-
tional government's policy against such treatment, the South African 
Press Association reports. Public hospitals and clinics are not per-
mitted to distribute the drugs to people who have been raped because 
the government says there is "no evidence" of the drugs' effective-
ness in reducing the risk of HIV transmission. However, SAMA said 
yesterday that PEP therapy was a "worthwhile exercise" and noted that 
it would be "unethical" not to inform patients of the possible bene-
fits of the treatment. "Doctors are obliged to act in the best inter-
ests of their patients. Government policy does not determine medical 
ethics," Dr. Anant Chetty, chair of SAMA's human rights, law and eth-
ics committee, said. The organization also said in a statement that 
it supports the right of HIV-positive pregnant women to receive anti-
retroviral medications to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission, 
adding that it would stand behind any member who faced legal trouble 
for prescribing the drugs. The announcement comes a week after oppo-
sition politicians "expressed disgust" with the Northern Cape govern-
ment because provincial Health Minister Dipuo Peters chastised hospi-
tal officials for allowing a physician to provide AZT to a nine-
month-old infant who was gang raped last year. In turn, the hospital 
sent a letter to doctors reiterating national and provincial govern-
ment policy against PEP therapy for rape survivors (South African 
Press Association, 1/15).


--
NBA Star Dikembe Mutombo Featured in New U.N. Office for Drug Control 
and Crime Prevention, UNAIDS HIV/AIDS Awareness Ads

Philadelphia 76er Dikembe Mutombo, a four-time NBA defensive player 
of the year, is featured in a new worldwide campaign designed to edu-
cate young people about the link between HIV/AIDS and drug use, ac-
cording to a U.N. release. The campaign, sponsored by the U.N. Office 
for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, UNAIDS and the NBA, features a 
public service announcement filmed in English and French and dubbed 
in Portuguese and Swahili to be aired during all international NBA 
broadcasts and through other U.N. television outlets. "Using condoms 
and not sharing needles are intelligent decisions that can help you 
live a longer, healthier life. Through education we can learn more 
about the prevention of HIV and AIDS and together we can help stop 
the spread of this epidemic," Mutombo, who is a native of the Democ-
ratic Republic of Congo, says in the ad. The campaign also produced a 
poster featuring Mutombo and the slogan "Sports. Not Drugs." UNAIDS 
Executive Director Peter Piot praised Mutombo's participation, saying 
his "stature and popularity among basketball fans make him an ideal 
person to carry these messages to youth, not only in his home country 
of Congo, but around the world" (U.N. release, 1/14).

--
The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, 
a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, by National 
Journal Group Inc. © 2002 by National Journal Group Inc. and Kaiser 
Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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