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WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The patient he was treating in the Yale University-affiliated community health clinic was so much like him that Dr. Garth Graham thought he could almost be looking in a mirror. The man was African American, about his age, and lived near Graham's own home in New Haven, Conn.
But in contrast to Graham's good health, the man was coughing, feverish, and losing weight for no apparent reason. When Graham suggested that he take an HIV test, the patient got up and walked out of the treatment room without saying a word.
It would be nearly a year before Graham saw his patient again. By the time he did, in the year 2000, the man had been diagnosed with full-blown AIDS.
"We had so many similar characteristics," said Graham, who has directed the Office of Minority Health (OMH) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services since 2003 "He had two children, a family, and friends--and he died a difficult death. I couldn't help wondering what might have happened if he had taken that HIV test? By then, we already had medications that would have helped him, but his refusal to be tested meant he did not get the treatment he needed. His case reminded me that we are most vulnerable to HIV when we refuse to admit we might be at risk."
As a practicing physician and the director of OMH, Graham sees that vulnerability every day in his work to improve health outcomes for minority communities in the United States.
In the 26th year of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, African Americans and Latinos are increasingly at risk for HIV infection. Although both groups together make up less than 30 percent of the U.S. population, they make up nearly 70 percent of all new HIV/AIDS cases.
These numbers spur Graham and his staff to emphasize HIV testing and treatment for World AIDS Day, which is observed each Dec. 1.
"World AIDS Day is a chance for all of us to look back and remember the lives lost to AIDS," Graham says. "But it is also a time to look ahead to the lives we can save through prevention, testing, and treatment."
"HIV is preventable and treatable," Graham notes. "But to protect yourself and those you love, you have to know whether or not you are already living with HIV--and that means taking the test. Fortunately, finding an HIV testing location has never been easier--now you can go online (www.hivtest.org) and find one near your home or workplace."
Graham says, "HIV/AIDS is still a deadly threat--especially for African Americans and Latinos. My patient might be alive today if he had been able to admit he could be at risk for HIV and taken the test. People need to understand that ignorance is not bliss when it comes to HIV. Ignorance is a killer."
Most of all, Graham says, "People need to understand the risks, take the test, and protect their futures. My patient was young and had his whole life ahead of him -- but on this World AIDS Day, he isn't here for his children or his family. The loss of all his potential was a tragedy."
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Web Site: http://www.aids.gov/
http://www.hhs.gov/
http://www.hivtest.org/
http://www.omhrc.gov/
TORONTO, Canada, September 20/PRNewswire/ -- The Federal Commissioner of Patents issued today a compulsory licence for ApoTriavir under Canada's Access to Medicines Regime Program (CAMR) allowing Apotex to proceed with manufacturing of the product. This drug, a triple combination AIDS therapy, was the first product to be approved by Health Canada under the provisions of the CAMR. ApoTriavir was approved by Health Canada in August 2006 and is pre-qualified by the World Health Organization.
The CAMR was designed to help developing countries that have little or no pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity in their fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases.
Rwanda was the first African country to request ApoTriavir under this established process and the licence today opens the way for us to provide quality medicine at an affordable price to the Government of Rwanda. The delay between approval by Health Canada and issuance of the compulsory license highlights the problems with the process as it exists. It is unnecessarily complex and does not adequately represent the interests of those who require treatment. As it now stands the process is voluntary and controlled by the multinational pharmaceutical companies who hold patents for drugs like Apo-Triavir. In this case, Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK), Shire and Boehringer Ingelheim were the three patent holders and each put forward numerous conditions for issuing a voluntary license.
In the end, GSK and Shire did not oppose the application, but chose not to grant a voluntary licence, requiring Apotex to navigate the complexities of the CAMR. Boehringer Ingelheim was also not prepared to freely grant a licence.
This process of obtaining a license to produce a product has to be restarted every time a new country makes a request. There is no assurance that the patent holders will not attempt to once again delay the process and the supply of these vital medicines to developing countries in the future. "We are doing this on a not-for-profit basis and hope that this life-saving drug gets to the thousands of patients in Africa dying every month; the Canadian Federal Government must change the process to get quality affordable medicines to those who have no access", stated Jack Kay, President and COO of Apotex.
Apotex is Canada's largest pharmaceutical company with over 300 medicines exported to 115 countries and its planned R&D expenditures over the next 10 years are CND$2 Billion.
Source: Apotex Inc.
Statement by Dr. Kevin Fenton, Director OF CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, TB Prevention
On National HIV Testing Day at events across the United States, thousands of Americans will obtain a potentially life-extending piece of information: their HIV test result. Whether they test positive or negative, all of them will be taking an important step in protecting their health and the health of their loved ones and advance our nation's fight against the spread of HIV.
Of the more than 1 million Americans now estimated to be living with HIV, one-quarter do not realize they are infected. As a result, they do not receive medical care that could help them live longer, fuller lives. And without knowing it, they may also be transmitting HIV to others. CDC estimates that the majority of sexually transmitted HIV infections are transmitted by people who are unaware of their infection.
A combination of HIV testing approaches is needed to make sure all Americans learn whether they are infected with HIV. Everyone should have the opportunity to get tested when they visit a doctor, an emergency room, or some other health care provider. CDC recommends routine HIV screening for all patients aged 13 to 64 in health care settings. At the same time, we need innovative programs that take HIV testing and counseling services straight to people at risk, in their own communities. From testing events at local places of worship to outreach with mobile vans and testing at community events, efforts are underway across the United States.
National HIV Testing Day events offer an excellent opportunity to get tested for HIV. But an HIV test can be taken on any day and we should all resolve to take the test and take control of our health. To find an HIV testing site in your area visit http://www.hivtest.org/ or call 800-CDC-INFO.
PRNewswire-USNewswire -- June 21
Web site: http://www.hivtest.org
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
by George Sakalosky, Ph.D.
A POTENTIAL CANCER CURE FOR LEUKEMIA
(dedicated to Ed Bradley, CBS News)
Is there a place inside the human body, a central point, where disease begins? Do cancer, AIDS, and various viral infections start their killing spree in the human body at one, single, unique, spot? Is there an apparatus -- located in this one critical locus -- that can generate a life-killing action? Do deadly viruses go to this apparatus to give birth to their own kind? Are the elements in the apparatus arranged in precise positions that enable impacting radiation energy or an impacting virus or chemical to lock the apparatus into a destructive operation? Is there something about this uniquely located apparatus that can ultimately generate death? I think there is. Thus, I wish to present the TATA box in DNA.
The TATA box is an activation-deactivation machine. It can be turned on and off. It lies and operates as a regulatory mechanism in many places within the magnificent, huge, genetic macromolecule, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). As a regulator, this box can activate the gene to which it is attached and thus produce a required protein, or, as will be discussed, it can activate the entire body of DNA genes, the genome, and replicate the entire cell. It is in one sense a beautiful structure of atoms desiagned to perform a momentous life-extending task. But, how can just one of these wonderful machines, uniquely located in a critical site in the nucleus of the cell, be converted into such a deadly master? Thus, I wish to present the ozonide.
The ozonide is an assembly of three oxygen atoms linked to two carbon atoms. These five atoms energetically joined together inside the thymine nucleoside of the TATA box, will change the box immediately into a deadly master. With the thymine ozonide inside the thymine nucleoside, the box (nor replication) cannot deactivate itself. When its motor should be turned off and the box should lie quietly, the key that turns it off cannot do so. The lock is stuck on. The apparatus now becomes a deadly runaway machine; and, laboratory research over the years aimed at stopping runaway cell replication, as noted in cancer, has failed. Thus, I wish to present the K and Z compounds.
The K and Z compounds are designed specifically each to turn off the locked-on switch in the TATA box and deactivate the box. Each of the compounds is made up of four components, but one of the four components is vital to dissociating the bonds of the ozonide to deactivate the box. But, how does the compound reach the ozonide? This unusual compound has a physicochemical feature that can attract it to the ozonide, dissociate the chemical bonds of the ozonide, and deactivate the box. This deactivation function of the compounds can be considered a life-saving task. You might ask, is there only one TATA box in DNA? No, many TATA boxes are spaced along the DNA genome, and every one of these TATA boxes has a structure and properties capable of being activated by an ozonide. However, because the thymine dimer, a well known lesion like the ozonide in DNA, can be removed naturally by an enzymatic process in the cell, it appears that both lesions can be removed naturally. However, in the one particular TATA box that lies in a unique spot in the cell, in the replication origin, that has obtained an ozonide lesion, cannot have its ozonide removed naturally. Thus, I wish to present the cancer cell.
The cancer cell is well known, in part, by its replication capacity. It can replicate (duplicate) itself in vast numbers blocking normal cellular fdunctions in various organs of the body in a process that can destroy the entire living system. The cancer cell can move from one organ to another (metastasize) and thus spread itself throughout the living body. It can produce mutations in its gvenetic makeuip and so build and rebuild its own blood-supplying channels to keep itself alive. Its mutations can ectend its lifetime well beyond the lifetime of a normal cell, and its properties can cause it to hide quietly for periods of time. Its mutations can also allow it to defend itself against various chemotherapeutic compounds aimed at killing it. The cancer cell is a magnificent and complicated killer, equal to that of another killer. Thus, I wish to present the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
The HIV responsible for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is also a magnificent, complicated killer. It enters a normal cell as a Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) virus. But, it is readily converted into a Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) virus. By means of molecular modeling and the views of vcarious researchers, it is held that a virus can enter the nucleus of a cell and reach the DNA. It is herein speculated that the HIV thus can reach the uniquely located TATA box in the replication origin and attach itself to this box in order to replicate itself. It is also speculated that the virus can readily produce a lesion, the ozonide, in this particular box, which locks the box in its activation-of-replication mode and in this manner duplicates the virus in vast numbers. Thus, I wish to present supportive research for this concept.
The need for a lesion to activate the replication of HIV was determined by the research of Zmudzka and Beer, HIV researchers in the Radiation Biology Branch of the FDA, who reported, in 1990, their research conclusion, as follows: "These observations suggest that specific types of molecular lesions [in DNA] are needed to activate HIV." However, they did not identifyh any particular lesion in their research. Also, it has been noted in Dr. Sakalosky's study that the ozonide lesion is produced during normal cell replication when the TATA box is bent by the TATA Box Protein (TBP). He notes that the bending aligns the oxygen double bonds in the thymine nucleoside to enable, upon energy impact via radiation, virus, or chemical, the production of this particular lesion, the ozonide. This is consistent with the research by Drs. Thoma and Aboussekhra at the Institute for Cell Biology, Zurich, Switzerland. In reporting their research in 1999, they said "We demonstrated that TBP is sufficient in vivo and in vitro to generate [via ultraviolet radiation energy]a specific DNA lesion (6-4PP) within the bent part of the TATA box." However, their research did not allow them to pursue further and identify another type of lesion within the bent part of the TATA box, the ozonide! Regarding the presence of the TATA box in the replication origin, researchers Drew, et al., 1985; McClellan, et al., 1986; Murchie ... Lilley, 1987; and, Hunter, et al., 1993 reported that "TATA sequences are very easy to unwind, and are often found at the sites of origin of replication. In the case of the TATA sequkence, the conformational compatibility TA and AT can be relieved by unwinding the helix. This would explain the role of this sequence in originating replication." Thus, I wish to introduce the three potential cancer/AIDS therapeutic compounds.
Based on the physicochemical information gleaned by means of the Symmetry concept and model, Dr. Sakalosky designed three potential anti-cancer compounds to dissociate the chemical bonds of the ozonide lesion. He called the compounds: Bismuth Iodoscorbate, or B Compound; Potassium Iodoscorbate, or K Compound; and, Zinc Iodoscorbate, or Z compound. Laboratory research has reported that the compounds "are active in blood disorders including leukemias and variants of this blood disease that are typically unresponsive to conventional therapy. From our studies it appears that the compounds kill leukemia cells by a novel mechanism, making these agents attractive alternatives to chemotherapeutic drugs that currently deominate therapy for these diseases. During the screen of activity, we also detected a high degree of sensitivity toward cancer cells of the immune system called B-cell lymphoma. This type of cancer predominates among middle-aged Americans and currently there are no effective therapies of this disease...We have employed a model of a human ovarian tumor grown in immuno-deficient mice within the so-called peritoneal cavity, where women first present with ovarian cancer. Injection of the K compound into the peritoneal cavity after implantation of tumor cells resulted in improved survival of the mice, compared to non-drug-treated tumor-bearing controls. In fact, the improvement in overall survival was similar to that obtained with multiple doses of Taxol, the most prescribed anti-cancer drug in the world."
A POTENTIAL CANCER CURE FOR AIDS (dedicated to all children with AIDS worldwide)
During his cancer research using Compound K, Dr. Nicholas J. Donato, a distinguished cancer researcher at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, reported that "During the course of study of K compound activity on hematopoetic cells induced to resemble leukemia by transduction of an oncogene through retroviral vectors, it became possible that this compound may affect retroviral elements that drive gene expression." He then suggested that the K and Z Compounds be tested on HIV at a prominent HIV laboratory. The compounds were then tested as he had suggested, and the eminent HIV researcher, Dr. Jim Turpin</>, tested the compounds in his laboratory and emphasized that "The compounds were good inhibitors of HIV virus replication in cultured human blood cells, and some had activity against latently infected cells. This is very encouraging, since current AIDS therapies have not been able to eliminate the reservoir(s) of latently infected cells responsible for virus rebound and disease progression after patients discontinue or become resistant to their treatments."
Dr. Turpin also noted that the K and Z compounds were also shown to be active against a broad range of HIV-1 isolates, including HIV subtypes relevant to the AIDS pandemic. In fact, both K and Z compounds successfully inhibited the replication of all tested pediatric clinical isolates, viral subtypes (A,B,C,D,F,G, and O), SIV-isolates and HIV-2 strains, demonstrating the universalilty of the antiviral target for these pathogenic retroviruses. Thus, Dr. Turpin noted that the K and Z compounds represented to him to be "...a potentially novel non-vaccine chemotherapeutic intervention for HIV/AIDS therapy that, through their range of antiviral activity, makes them a potentially relevant therapy for all endemic HIV-1/AIDS viruses."
He is a biophysicist and radiation expert and has developed a new molecular modeling concept called Periodic Symmetry and an associate model called the Symmetry Analytical Model (SAM). Using the concept and model, he has designed and synthesized three potential therapeutic compounds which have had outstanding laboratory success in both cancer and HIV research. He has been awarded a patent on his cancer-associated compounds entitled Treatment for Cancer and Compounds for use Therewith. He also holds a patent on lung diseases entitled Methods and Compositions to Treat Lung Diseases.His intercollegiate, interdisciplinary doctoral program was conducted at MIT; Tufts Univ. School of Medicine; Boston Univ.; and Boston College. Received a doctoral degree at BC in 1975.George Sakalosky, Ph.D. may be contacted at http://www.thecancerlesion.com or alchem@mindspring.com
Unprecedented Event Organized By Pan African Children's Fund Founder Bishop Charles Blake
Caption: Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr., Ambassador Andrew Young and Ambassador Charles Stith (Photo: Business Wire)
July 2004 (Newstream) -- On the heels of the XV International AIDS conference in Bangkok, Thailand, 15 members of the African and African American diplomatic community and over 80 religious, political, business and community leaders gathered in Los Angeles (July 17 & 18) for a weekend of dialogue specifically addressing stronger communication between the black church and Africa. The weekend was organized by Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr., Pastor of the 24,000 member West Angeles Church and founder of the Pan African Children's Fund. Discussions focused on the devastating African AIDS pandemic in Sub Saharan Africa, home to 70% of all people living with HIV - some 25 million - and 75% of AIDS deaths globally.
Through his Pan African Children's Fund, Bishop Blake assembled the weekend, appropriately named "Pan African Sunday," to recognize the contributions of African and African American Ambassadors, as well as jumpstart a much needed dialogue among the communities affected by this destructive epidemic. The weekend included a private dinner, special services at the West Angeles Cathedral and a luncheon roundtable. Among the influential participants were African American U.S. ambassadors Andrew J. Young and Charles R. Stith.
"It is my view that U.S. black churches and religious bodies can serve as voices of conscience, social justice and healing in this global struggle. [The church] is uniquely positioned to increase the levels of education, advocacy, and humanitarian assistance needed to affect the lives of millions of children orphaned and affected by AIDS" said Bishop Blake.
Bishop Blake currently presides over more than 250 African American Churches in Southern California and is among the most respected Christian ministers in the world. The Pan African Children's Fund and its program, "Save Africa's Children," was founded in October 2001 to mobilize resources from black churches all across the country. The immediate goals are to fund AIDS orphan projects and AIDS research in sub Saharan Africa as well as initiate a comprehensive program that encourages African Americans to take an interest in and support efforts being taken to stop the AIDS epidemic in Africa.
The invitation list targeted Ambassadors representing countries hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic including Kenya, Swaziland and Zambia as well as Uganda which has successfully reversed its epidemic from 21% to 6% largely due to effective public campaigns and prevention efforts. At the dinner Bishop Blake outlined a broad comprehensive "Pan African" vision for engaging the black church in Africa policy.
Andrew J. Young and Charles R. Stith were guest speakers at the West Angeles Cathedral, addressing 8,000 congregants and visitors in two morning services. Ambassador Stith, former U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania and Director of the African Presidential Archives and Research Center at Boston University, urged the black church to educate its members on Africa and invest both political and financial resources in Africa. "African Americans have an aggregate income of close to 700 billion dollars annually - in a few years it is expected to be in the neighborhood of 850 billion annually. If ten percent or even one percent was used to purchase materials or merchandise produced on the continent, the impact would be awesome," said Stith.
Ambassador Young - former congressman, mayor of Atlanta and US Ambassador to the United Nations - likened the development of Bishop Blake's vision to the early stages of the Civil Rights Movement. "We didn't know what we were doing ... we were just young people, struggling to find out what God would have us do" said Young.
"Pan African Sunday" concluded with a luncheon roundtable moderated by the Reverend Eugene F. Rivers, III of Boston, Special Advisor to Bishop Blake, at which the African Ambassadors reflected on how the Black church can further assist the African diplomatic community in addressing a range of policy issues including education, advocacy, humanitarian assistance and trade and investment. "The purpose of this event is to lay the foundation for a new mobilization of black churches to stand in the gap for the poorest of the poor ...from Sudan to South Africa," said Reverend Rivers.
Next month Bishop Blake will lead a 70 person delegation of supporters and religious leaders on a two- week East African tour of Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia to meet with government leaders and visit PACF-funded AIDS orphans projects. In September Bishop Blake will convene a Capitol Hill policy dialogue for black church leaders across the U.S., issuing a challenge to presidential candidates to outline a new African foreign and development assistance policy agenda.
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August 2004 (Newstream) -- EPZICOM™, a new product combining two HIV medicines into one tablet dosed once a day (QD) with no food or fluid requirements, has been cleared for prescription use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). EPZICOM combines two widely-used nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), EPIVIR® (lamivudine, 3TC) and ZIAGEN® (abacavir sulfate, ABC) for use in combination with other antiretroviral drugs. The brand name, EPZICOM, is an acronym for EPIVIR and ZIAGEN in COMbination. EPZICOM Tablets are recommended for use in combination with antiretroviral drugs from different pharmacological classes and not with other nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), manufacturer of EPZICOM, announced today that it is initiating a voucher program for EPZICOM that will provide a 60 day supply of EPZICOM directly to patients at no cost. These vouchers will be available in limited supply through participating healthcare providers for a limited time. Vouchers can be used to initiate antiretroviral therapy for therapy-naïve patients or for therapy-experienced patients who require a change in regimen.
At a Glance:
For full prescribing information, please see www.treathiv.com.
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