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THIS ISSUE AVAILABLE ONLINE WITH EXPANDED INFORMATION AND PHOTOS
AT:
www.hhs.gov/news/newsletter/weekly
IN THIS ISSUE:
1) HHS expands information for American Indians and Alaska natives
on consumer-oriented Healthfinder web site
2) HHS announces approval of new rapid HIV test
3) Secretary Thompson affirms HHS support for women's health efforts
in Afghanistan
4) Secretary Thompson on World Diabetes Day
5) NIH looking to enhance immune system player to improve cancer
vaccines
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HHS expands information for American Indians and Alaska natives on consumer-oriented Healthfinder web site
In recognition of National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson launched a new resource section on the department's Healthfinder Web site devoted to these communities. Available at www.healthfinder.gov/justforyou/, the easy-to-use consumer resource provides a central point for up-to-date health information of special interest to American Indians and Alaska Natives.
"American Indians and Alaska Natives are affected disproportionately by diabetes, tuberculosis, injuries, and other serious health problems. By providing resources especially selected for these populations, with their input, we have designed a gateway to help them learn about preventing and treating illness and developing a healthy lifestyle," Secretary Thompson said.
According to the 2000 census, there are more than 4 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. The special Healthfinder section highlights more than 20 of the most important topics of interest for these populations, based on discussions with American Indian and Alaska Native community leaders, patients, and students. In addition to specific wellness and disease topics such as nutrition and diabetes, these include elder care and traditional healing. More than 170 topics are available in total in the section for American Indians and Alaska Natives. The full Healthfinder site brings together information on more than 1,100 topics from more than 1,700 government agencies and nonprofit organizations.
Healthfinder is spearheaded by the HHS Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP). ODPHP worked with the Indian Health Service; the department's Office of Minority Health; the American Public Health Association's American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian Caucus; and the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, to improve health information for American Indians and Alaska Natives on Healthfinder.
For more information about National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, visit www.ihs.gov/PublicInfo/heritage/index.asp.
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HHS announces approval of new rapid HIV test
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced an important step in America's war against HIV/AIDS: the FDA approved of a remarkable new rapid HIV test. The OraQuick Rapid HIV-1 Antibody Test, manufactured by OraSure Technologies, is a marked improvement over previous HIV tests, which required a vial of blood and a wait of several weeks for results. The new test uses only one drop of blood, and in just 20 minutes it can detect HIV antibodies with 99.6 percent accuracy.
"This is a wonderful advance that will save countless lives. Extraordinary cooperation between HHS and the manufacturer helped expedite getting this OraQuick test to market. The FDA deserves high marks for the unprecedented speed and diligence with which they reviewed the OraQuick application," Secretary Thompson said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one-fourth of the up to 950,000 HIV-infected people in the U.S. are not aware that they are infected. That means that more than 225,000 Americans don't know that they have this life-threatening viral infection - an infection that they may unwittingly pass on to others.
Each year, 8,000 HIV-infected people who take an HIV test do not return one or two weeks later get their test results. The OraQuick test will help reduce that number by giving a result in less than 30 minutes.
This test will also be a great help in identifying HIV-positive women during labor who were not tested during pregnancy. It will mean that they and their newborns can quickly receive the drugs necessary to help prevent the newborns from becoming infected.
This approval is the product of departmental cooperation, including the FDA, CDC, and CMS. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is actively working with public health officials, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is offering technical assistance and training to testing personnel and laboratories interested in providing this test.
The Bush Administration is committed to doing everything possible to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS. Overall HIV/AIDS spending by the U.S. government has increased from $14.2 billion in fiscal year 2001 to more than $16 billion for fiscal year 2003. That includes a doubling in international HIV/AIDS funding over the same period.
And the Administration is devoted to finding a cure and an effective vaccine. That's why it has allocated unprecedented resources to the National Institutes of Health. The NIH budget request for fiscal year 2003 includes $2.8 billion for HIV research - a more than $500 million increase over 2001.
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Secretary Thompson affirms HHS support for women's health efforts in Afghanistan
New York - HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced the construction of a U.S.-supported women's health clinic in Kabul and affirmed HHS support for women's health efforts in Afghanistan at a news conference with representatives of CDC and UNICEF on Wednesday, Nov. 6.
"Make no mistake - helping Afghanistan means helping its women. Because I've seen firsthand the devastation in Afghanistan - and because UNICEF and so many others have worked so hard to expose its plight to the world - I'm proud to tell you today that we're taking a critical first step toward making the lives of Afghan women better and more humane," Secretary Thompson said.
The news conference coincided with the release of a CDC/UNICEF report on Afghan women's health that found Afghanistan to be "one of the worst places in the world to be pregnant." In provinces outside Kabul, such as Kandahar and Badakshan, most women die from the complications of childbirth. The vast majority of these deaths - not only from childbirth, but also from infection, disease, and trauma - are preventable. Secretary Thompson made clear his determination to reverse these statistics.
"Because I've seen firsthand the devastation in Afghanistan - and because UNICEF and so many others have worked so hard to expose its plight to the world - I'm proud to tell you today that we're taking a critical first step toward making the lives of Afghan women better and more humane. The Department of Health and Human Services, in cooperation with the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and USAID, is committed to building and staffing a new women's health clinic in Kabul. And we're going to start construction this month," Secretary Thompson said.
Once construction on the clinic is completed, women in Kabul will, for the first time in years, have access to health care such as ultrasounds; medical procedures in a clean environment; prenatal care; childbirth assistance; and lifesaving medicine. And, most important for the long run, the clinic will enable Afghan health workers to get the training they need, setting the stage for future expansions of women's health care in other parts of the country.
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Secretary Thompson on World Diabetes Day
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson is dedicated to fulfilling HHS' commitment to fighting diabetes in America and abroad. This commitment is especially relevant on the eve of the annual World Diabetes Day on Nov. 14.
Today, about 17 million Americans have diabetes - about one out of every twenty people. And the risk factors for diabetes have only increased.
"All of these facts are too troubling to ignore and too grim to just accept. This was once considered a disease of the middle-aged and elderly - and now we're seeing it in our children. But I'm proud to say, this Administration is not simply accepting them - we're acting to change them, and acting boldly and with energy and focus," Secretary Thompson said.
HHS is working to educate the public through targeted efforts, including campaigns designed to help at-risk minority populations understand what they can do to help prevent diabetes and heart disease. The Secretary's prevention campaign, which educates Americans about the benefits of preventive efforts such as a healthy diet, exercise, and doctor's visits, is also a key component of this effort.
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NIH looking to enhance immune system player to improve cancer
vaccines
HHS's National Cancer Institute researchers have discovered that a molecule has the ability to activate key cells in the immune response system. This newly discovered function, reported in the Nov. 1, 2002, issue of Science, suggests the molecule, a called ß-defensin 2, may be useful in the development of more effective cancer vaccines. Scientists have found that ß-defensin 2 initiates a chain of events leading to the growth and multiplication of T cells, components of the immune system that recognize and kill foreign cells that have invaded the body.
Defensins are known to be an important component of the body's immediate response to infection. ß-defensin 2 attacks and destroys a broad range of bacteria as part of the innate immune system, the body's first line of defense against such infections. The new finding links ß-defensin 2 to the second arm of the immune system, adaptive immunity. The adaptive immune response combats pathogens that evade the body's initial defense mechanisms. Unlike innate immunity, the adaptive immune system develops specifically in response to an infection, changing as needed to ward off each invader.
"This link between the innate and adaptive immune systems is important for our understanding of the body's ability to detect infection," said Arya Biragyn, Ph.D., National Cancer Institute (NCI) staff scientist and first author of the study. "ß-defensin 2 is likely to play an important role in the immune system's ability to recognize protein fragments from the body's own cells, including tumor cells."
Working in both mice and laboratory cell cultures, scientists found that ß-defensin 2 directly activates immune cells known as dendritic cells. Once activated, dendritic cells interact with other components of the immune system to recognize and destroy infected cells and tumor cells. Researchers hope to take advantage of this property by incorporating ß-defensin 2 into cancer vaccines.
Cancer vaccines are an investigational therapy designed to program the body's own immune system to attack a tumor. The vaccine does this by training T cells to recognize cancerous cells. Scientists hope that adding ß-defensin 2 to such vaccines will promote the growth and multiplication of the tumor-destroying cells, improving patient response to the therapy.
Similarly, researchers hope that ß-defensin 2 will also be useful in
improving AIDS vaccines in the future
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