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Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Releases
2003 Estimated
AIDS Death Statistics
 The
Centers for Disease Control released the
latest (2003) death statistics for AIDS and the new estimate is an
increase of 460 over the revised 2002 total. With AIDS deaths
in states plummeting (see California's 98% drop in newly
infected AIDS patients (2004) to 201 deaths
here),
we remain skeptical of these "estimates." The report includes
latest AIDS death statistics by race, gender, age and
transmission category 1999-2003.
Compare
The Director of the CDC:
Avian Flu Single Biggest Threat to the World
"This is a very
ominous situation for the globe," Dr. Julie Gerberding told a
meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science, calling the avian flu the "most important threat that
we are facing right now." Deaths from Avian flu--ever:
45.
Reuters story
Washington, DC HIV/AIDS Administration
under Investigation
 The
D.C. Office of the Inspector General faulted the city's
HIV/AIDS Administration for poor management of federal funds,
including poor accounting. Lydia Watts, senior deputy director
of the HIV/AIDS Administration, was
criticized for spending $450,000 on a luncheon and
promotional videos.
NIH
Scientists Threaten Litigation to Reverse New
Conflict-of-Interest Policy
 Following FAIR's
previous communications with Congress and the
Director of the NIH, Dr. Zerhouni, regarding the need to eliminate conflict
of interest issues
that arguably are biasing NIH funding decisions,
new rules were issued eliminating all such lateral payments between
scientists and drug companies. Senior scientists are now
planning litigation in order to retain their ability to take
payments from drug companies. Read of the fury directed at Dr.
Zerhouni in
this article from the Washington Post when Dr. Zerhouni
announced the new restrictions to them and the full story on
planned lawsuits by physicians and scientists
here.
FAIR's Rebuttal in Forbes Magazine
 In the Forbes February 2005 issue,
Thomas P. Stossel, M.D. laments the new conflict of interest
rules that restrict scientists’ interactions with
pharmaceutical companies.
Dr. Stossel and those employees may not feel these new rules
are needed, but we respectfully disagree.
FAIR's rebuttal was submitted to Forbes Magazine by our Founder,
Richard Darling, DDS, and by FAIR Board member, Leonard J.
Morse, M.D. It addresses the need to make these rules
permanent and the connection to disparity in funding for AIDS
versus all other diseases.
Japan Alarmed as HIV Infections Hit New
High
 What
has caused the Japanese to be alarmed and to broadcast
worldwide news of their new high in HIV infections. Is it
40,000 new cases as estimated for the USA, 20,000, 10,000? Read how many new
infections for this country of 130 million
people
here.
AFP:Agence
France-Presse, 2005
FAIR Members' Soapbox Alert
regarding
Prostate Disease and Alzheimer's Disease
 FAIR's members are continuing to utilizing a very
inexpensive service to contact
President Bush and VP Cheney for fair
allocations in research, and at the same time they are
alerting thousands on the need for
change. See a recent "Soapbox Alert" to citizens with prostate
disease and
families of Alzheimer's Disease patients
here
and send an alert President Bush today!
NIH AIDS Director States "AIDS is Not
the Only Show in Town"
 In a
presentation on the slow rate of funding for disease
research, the Director in charge of AIDS funding, Anthony
Fauci, MD, acknowledged the large (10%) funding for HIV/AIDS
and stated "In terms of infectious disease threats,
AIDS is not the only show in town." He stated that there are
many other problems that are vying for public attention, such
as the possibility of pandemic flu and SARS, but he did not
mention hepatitis B or hepatitis C. Latest
CDC
SARS update: there is no known transmission of SARS in the
world. The flu kills
twice as many as AIDS annually.
758 Scientists Protest NIH Research Policy
The
scientists, including two Nobel Prize winners said, "The
diversion of research funds from projects of high
public-health importance to projects of high Biodefense but
low public-health importance represents a misdirection of NIH
priorities and a crisis for NIH supported microbiologist
research." Full story
here.
FAIR Adds Amber Alerts
 Although
not a governmental research issue, The FAIR Foundation is
pleased to join the national campaign to save the lives of
abducted children by alerting the public when a child is
kidnapped. We have added time-sensitive Amber Alert messages to our
website
here.
Focus
Disease of the Month: Autism
-
What is autism?: Autism is a
developmental disability (brain disorder) that generally
appears between the ages of 15 and 20 months of age. Most
patients then begin to lose speech, social skills and
physical abilities and completely withdraw into a world of
their own. Autistic children cannot perceive fear or
dangerous situations, nor can they filter and ignore
stimuli. They typically have a host of biomedical and
neurological problems including chronic diarrhea because
their intestines are so damaged that they cannot absorb
vital nutrients, minerals, and vitamins. Liver and kidney
functions are impaired, and immune systems are compromised
and they cannot fight off simple infections.
-
Autism is common:
There are 1.77 million cases of autism
in the U.S., making it more prevalent than AIDS as
well as the following children's diseases combined: Down
Syndrome, childhood diabetes, and childhood cancer.
24,000 new cases are diagnosed annually; one every 20
minutes.
-
Autism is
costly: The economic impact of autism is
more than $90 billion and expected to more than double in
the next decade.
-
Autism and treatment:
There is no medical detection,
treatment or cure for
autism.
-
Diagnosing Autism: There is no
specific test that can diagnose autism. Several specialized
screening methods have been developed that are now used in
diagnosing autism. To see a description of several of these
methods
click here.
-
Autism and gender:
Boys are 4 times more likely than girls to have autism
-
Fairness? The NIH is spending only
$66 on each patient with
Autism in research versus
$3,084 on each AIDS patient.
-
Autism and all other diseases
except HIV/AIDS would receive significantly larger research
allocations under The FAIR Foundation's recommended policies
You have helped us grow rapidly, but we need more
members to change Congress and the NIH. Please
encourage new membership by
posting this in chat rooms, Blogs, internet support groups, and by
forwarding it to your associates, friends and relatives with your
recommendation that they join free
HERE.
With strength in numbers, we WILL achieve fair and equitable NIH
distributions for Autism as well as ALL
other diseases.
Autism statistics and information from
Autism
Speaks, the
Autism Society of America (their autism brochure is
available
here) and the
Travis LaBoy
Foundation.
The FAIR Foundation
78629 Bougainvillea Drive,
Palm Desert, CA 92211
E-mail:
FAIR@dc.rr.com
FAIR Mission Statement:
The FAIR Foundation is
dedicated to fair and equitable distribution of
research funds by the government for all diseases, including the 16
that kill a million more Americans than AIDS. A disease’s mortality rate
shall be given emphasis in determining allocations and other
secondary factors shall be utilized to insure diseases
that cause great suffering but have low mortality rates will
also receive significantly increased funding.
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