Questions & Answers
What has been done to prevent the spread of
AIDS in the hemophilia community?
The following measures have been or are being taken:
What else has been done to respond to HIV disease in the hemophilia community?
What is the blood industry doing? The blood industry has been very active in its efforts to eliminate the risk of AIDS in patients receiving its product. Efforts have been directed toward producing safer products through a number of improved methods of viral inactivation, and by eliminating donors who might transmit HIV. The industry is also funding its own research on AIDS; the development of highly purified blood products; other blood-product processing methods that destroy viruses; and the use of recombinant DNA-produced (synthetic) clotting factors.
What is the government doing? The federal government is involved in AIDS research and preventive services, and funding has been increasing in the past several years. At the urging of NHF, the Public Health Service, with the involvement of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), issued a series of recommendations to discourage blood donations from high-risk groups. Physician education is also supported by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) has funded NHF's AIDS Education and Preventive Services(A-EPS) and the hemophilia and AIDS/HIV Network for the Dissemination of Information (HANDI).
Q:
What is NHF doing?
A:
To meet the demand for education, preventive
services and information about HIV infection, AIDS, and
hemophilia, NHF developed the A-EPS department. With
funding from MCHB and others, this program is
dedicated to providing education and support for those
in the hemophilia community living with HIV disease.
HANDI has been developed through funding provided
by MCHB to distribute information on all aspects of
hemophilia and HIV infection/AIDS. HANDI has been set
up to respond to inquiries from treatment centers,
chapters and individuals.
The Department of Clinical Research and the AIDS
Treatment Working Group of NHF have made clinical
trials more widely available through the hemophilia
treatment center network. Recently, NHF has become
an AIDS Clinical Trial Unit (ACTU), making government
sponsored drug treatment trials much more accessible
to local treatment centers. In addition, information
about how to get drugs through the expanded access
program has been communicated to all chapters and
treatment centers. The NHF AIDS Task Force has
provided more than 100 advisories to chapters and
bulletins to health- care providers on all major
HIV/AIDS-related developments since 1982.
NHF has testified before numerous Congressional
committees and the Presidential Commission on AIDS.
Numerous treatment center professionals and
consumers have served as consultants to federal
agencies to participate in the development of policies and
programs serving populations at risk, including the
hemophilia community.
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