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7A o @o NEWS/£t)e C^attotte Tuesday, May 18, 2006 Next wave of AIDS outbreaks expected to strike Continued from page 1A “There has been a general lack of attention to social sci ence and lai^e-scale issues of any kind in the conversation around AIDS,” he told IPS, addir^ that the focus has been on individual behavioral and medical interventions. Friedman, director of the Social Theory Core at the Center for Drug Use and HIV Research at the U.S.-based National Development and Research Institutes, and researchers fiom Argentina, Australia, South Africa and the U.S., have identified a number of larger social fac tors that may affect the spread of HIV and the world’s ability to respond to the changing global epidemic—at the cost of derailing the progress already made. The emerging challenges are outlined in an editorial review published in the April issue of the International AIDS Society’s official jour nal, AIDS. The paper outlines six major themes; “big events” like wars, political transitions, ecological or eco nomic disruption; large-scale HIV epidemics and their social consequaices; govern ment policies that ignore or defy available evidence; sta ble societies without gen^al- ized epidemics, which face distinctive challenges; emerg ing biomedical changes; and possible failure of previously effective therapies due to evo lution of the HIV virus. “There is a hi^ probability of massive political, ecological and social changes over the next few years,” the authors note. “These threaten large- scale disruption of existing social and risk networks, sex ual (and injection) mixing patterns, and sexual and injection behaviors that can impede or facilitate HIV transmission.” The relative lack of such large-scale research has weakened the response, both individual and societal, to the epidemic, states the editorial. It calls for funding agencies, individual researchers and students, non-govemmental and community organiza tions and the general public to become better informed about the bigger picture of the pandemic- The most important issue in many parts of the world is “preventing epidemics rather than simply preventing indi viduals getting infected one by one,” said ^h'. Friedman. “We do know that some of the biggest events in the epi- demiolcgy of AIDS in the last 15 yearn have came about partly because of big events,” said Friedman, pointing to the huge outbreak of HIV/AIDS in Central Asia and Eastern Europe follow ing the collapse of the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s. With an estimated 860,000 people HIV-infected in late 2004, Russia has the largest AIDS epidemic in Europe. The situation partly stems firom large-scale disruption of existing social networks and the demoralization of youth following the transition peri od, which led to changed sex ual, drug andinjection behav iors, he added. He cited “the continued cre ation of urban slums with no sanitary facilities and a great deal of exposure to various parasites and malnutrition,” as well as the myriad social problems caused or worsened by armed conflicts around the world, and the impact of a possible economic collapse. However, the authors note transmission, and the case of that such outbreaks are not the Philippines shows that inevitable. “Many African transitions need not lead to wars have not increased HIV outbreaks either,” they say. calling for further study of the specific social risk factors dri ving mV transmission. Changes possible for prescription drug program after deadline By Kevin Freking THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHING’rON - A pivotal Republican is joining the con gressional drive to eliminate the financial penalty for peo ple who missed Monday’s deadline for enrolling in the Medicare drug benefit, the latest sign of a growing rebel lion against President Btish on the issue. Rep. Nancy Johnson said she has talked to enou^ col leagues to beheve such a pro posal would pass, probably in the fall, and plans to intro duce legislation to waive the penalty “The bottom hne is this is a democracy and the Congress responds to the people and shapes the program so it’s good for them,” said Johnson, who heads the House Ways and Means’ subcommittee on health. ‘T think it’s fair and reason able to eliminate the penalty” for 2006, the Connecticut Repubhcan told The Associated Press in an inter view. It is also significant that the Republican chairman of die Senate Finance Committee is not ruling out an effort to block the penalty Sen. Charles Grassley oflowa said he will not consid^ changes to the prescription drug pro gram, in place since Jan. 1, imtil he goes over final enroll ment figures. “If I told you on April 15 you didn’t have to file your income taxes until April 30, you wouldn’t do it,” he said. Wth the endorsement by one of the program’s leadir^ supporters, Johnson joins the handful of GOP lawmakers in the House and Senate who have split publicly with the Bush’s administration’s posi tion that the enrollment deadline and late penalty should remain. The administration has made an exception for people who qualify for extra help because of their low income. Under current law, people who wait until December to enroll would have $2.31 per month added to their month ly premium. That amoimt would rise annually to reflect the national average premi um for that particular year. Johnson said the drive to waive the penalty does not reflect concerns about a pro gram criticized by Democrats as more beneficial to drug companies and insurers than to older people and the dis abled. “What is true, is absolutely true, is that seniors are sav ing a lot of money,” she said. ‘It’s lifting burdens off the back of retirees to a degree never imagined.” - Democrats pledge to keep pressing to ext^d the dead line and waive the penalty for people who sign up after Monday Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, says he hears nothing but complaints about the pro gram from his constituents. ‘I really think it’s a cruel thing to penalize people for what has been admittedly a very complex procedure in order to get the drugs,” he said. “Ib put a penalty for the rest of their lives on our old est citizens, I think, is just an improper and wrong thing to do.” Aroimd the coimtry thou sands of volimteers are help ing to enroll Medicare benefi ciaries into the program. 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May 18, 2006, edition 1
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