Information Sheet

This information sheet is the fourth in a series of sheets on complementary/alternative (CAM) health care and HIV/AIDS. It considers different types of regulation: licensure, certification, and registration; the type of regulation used with conventional practitioners; and the fact that some conventional practitioners incorporate CAM therapies into their practice. The information sheet suggests some sort of professional code as a beginning for CAM practitioners who are not yet regulated.

This fact sheet provides organizations, government agencies, and educators with information about abstinence education and HIV/AIDS. The fact sheet reviews the content of abstinence-only sex education programs as well as the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS among adolescents in the United States. It compares abstinence-only educational programs to comprehensive sexuality/abstinence-plus sex education. It examines the concerns held by some parents and educators about comprehensive sex education and cites studies showing that most parents favor abstinence-plus education.

This information sheet discusses physician prescription of sterile syringes to injection drug users (IDUs) who continue to inject, in order to prevent the acquisition and transmission of HIV and other blood-borne diseases. Physician prescription of sterile syringes will not only help IDUs receive sterile syringes legally, but also can create links to other health care and social services that IDUs would not normally seek out. The example is given of a progam in Rhode Island that is examining the feasiblity of physician prescription in a community setting.

This information sheet discusses the STD, gonorrhea. It lists the symptoms for men and women; transmission methods (e.g., perinatal transmission); the long-term consequences of untreated gonorrhea; its effect on pregnant women and their infants; prevention measures, including consistent and correct use of a latex condom during sex; and treatment. Contact information is provided for state and national STD services.

This information sheet discusses the prevalence of HIV/AIDS among women. The sheet presents statistics on the number of women living with HIV/AIDS and notes that the majority of new AIDS cases are African American women and Latinas. Reasons for the higher proportion of women contracting HIV are discussed including the lack of an effective female-controlled method of HIV prevention, women are at-risk because they may not be aware of the high-risk behavior of their partners, and HIV is transmitted eight times more efficiently from men to women.

This information sheet discusses the impact of HIV/AIDS on communities of color. It reports that people of color have been disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS and represent the highest number of new AIDS cases and the largest number of people living with AIDS in the US. The information sheet discusses the reasons behind these statistics and some of the programs that have been developed in response.

This information sheet presents the federal budget request for domestic and global HIV/AIDS funding for fiscal year (FY) 2005. The budget request shows a $1.3 billion increase over 2004. The sheet explains the general funding categories and factors driving the budget increase. The fund categories are care, cash and housing assistance, prevention, research, and global. A chart of Federal funding for HIV/AIDS from FY 2003-2005 is provided.

This pamphlet discusses HIV testing for newborn infants. It explains that the state of New York requires all babies to be tested. The pamphlet also explains when the mother will receive the results of the test, how a baby can get HIV, the meaning of a positive test for a baby, what happens for a mother who has HIV, and for a baby who has HIV. The pamphlet emphasizes that the results of the baby’s HIV test are confidential and that doctors can only share that information with others who are providing health care.

This information sheet discusses the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) prevention needs of sex workers. The information sheet determines whether sex workers are at risk for HIV, discusses what places them at risk, the barriers to HIV prevention for this group, and what is being done and what should be done to promote HIV prevention for sex workers.