NEWS NOTES

Median AIDS Incubation Period Now Eleven Years

The San Francisco Department of Public Health, which maintains the oldest and probably the most accurate data on AIDS epidemiology, has published a study of HIV positive gay and bisexual men showing that the median incubation period from seroconversion to AIDS is eleven years. Dr. George Lemp is the principal author of the report, "Projections of AIDS Morbidity and Mortality in San Francisco," published March 16 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The results were collected in collaboration with the San Francisco City Clinic Cohort Study and the University of California at San Francisco and Berkeley.

Dr. George Lemp, Chief of Surveillance for the AIDS Office, said that "We anticipate the incubation period will become even longer as a result of earlier intervention with new treatment modalities." He also said that projections of the future of the AIDS epidemic -- essential for accurate planning for early intervention and other services -- have been hampered by lack of information on the distribution of HIV in the population.

Blue-Green Algae Production Contract from NCI

On February 28 Martek Corporation of Columbia, Maryland, a specialist in commercial production of algae under controlled, closed-culture conditions, announced that it has been awarded a contract by the U. S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) to scale up production of two strains of algae which produce sulfolipids, a class of chemicals found to have anti-HIV activity in the test tube. (For background information, see "Antiviral Found in Blue-Green Algae," AIDS TREATMENT NEWS # 87, September 8, 1989.) Martek will initially provide four kilograms of algae to the NCI, and it can provide much larger quantities if needed. The two species of blue-green algae are Lingbya lagerhemii and Phormidium tenue.

NOTE: In our September article, we suggested library (and possibly some laboratory) research to quickly determine whether it might be possible to obtain a significant dose of sulfolipids through blue-green algae or other plants which are already in use as food. Someone with a scientific background and no relation- ship to companies selling algae is needed. We have been unable to take on this project ourselves, and hope that someone can do so.


New York: Community Research Initiative Will Test MEK

The Community Research Initiative (CRI) has received funding of at least $300,000 from TNI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to test immune modulator methionine enkephalin (also known as MET- ENK, or MEK). The trial is expected to start in April. The funding was announced on March 16 by Dr. Nicholas P. Plotnikoff, chairman and founder of TNI, which holds patents on the use of MEK as a possible treatment in AIDS and cancer.


Jonathan Mann Forced Out at W. H. O.

Jonathan Mann, M. D., who built the Global Program on AIDS in the World Health Organization (W. H. O.) of the United Nations, resigned effective in June, citing policy differences with Hiroshi Nakajima, M. D., who has been director-general of W. H. O. since 1988. A March 17 New York Times report quoted officials as saying that Dr. Nakajima wants to de-emphasize AIDS to focus more on other diseases, and had vetoed Dr. Mann's staff appointments, transferred staff out of the AIDS program, delayed critical decisions for months, and prevented Dr. Mann from attending an AIDS conference he had organized in Eastern Europe.

The Global Program on AIDS, with a staff of 220, raises most of its $109 million annual budget itself, instead of taking the money from W. H. O. This fundraising had given it more autonomy than other programs within the health agency. Dr. Mann has concluded agreements to establish AIDS programs in 155 of the 166 countries in W. H. O.

Dr. June Osborn, chair of the National Commission on AIDS, called the resignation "a world tragedy": "From July 1986, when he didn't even have an office, to more than 150 useable, constructive agreements on such a sensitive issue is the most brilliant job of international creative work that I know of." (Dr. Osborn, quoted in The New York Times. March 17.)

California AIDS Office Leaves Money Unspent?

According to a March 10 story in the San Francisco Examiner, California's Office of AIDS has spent only $8 million out of $50 million available, in the first three quarters of its budget year. The article quotes experts and officials in other agencies as saying that excessive bureaucracy and other administrative problems have kept the office, with a staff of 143, from responding effectively to the epidemic. For example, a study by two associations of health officials found that a typical contract can be 60 pages long and take six to eight months for paperwork.

The office says that it has approved contracts worth $35 million, but that much less has been spent so far because
requests for payment often come in months later.


STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

AIDS TREATMENT NEWS reports on experimental and complementary treatments, especially those available now. It collects information from medical journals, and from interviews with scientists, physicians, and other health practitioners, and persons with AIDS or ARC.

Long-term survivors have usually tried many different treatments, and found combinations which work for them. AIDS Treatment News does not recommend particular therapies, but seeks to increase the options available.

We also examine the ethical and public-policy issues around AIDS treatment research and treatment access.