Newspaper Page Text
10A
April 5, 2007
HIV patient names to be
(AP) CHICAGO - The
names of people infected with
HIV will be tracked in all 50
states by the end of 2007,
marking a victory for health
officials and a quiet defeat for
AIDS advocates who wanted to
keep patienss’ names out of
state damh.ux
The states are bowing to fed
cral pressure so they will not
lose money for medicagons
and health scrvices for patients.
Thi.\ 18 rhc fir.\[ year fidnml
funding has been tied to
names-based surveillance of
HIV. More than $1.4 billion in
federal money will be distrib
uted this fiscal year based on
new formulas that include
numbers of people with HIV
counted by states using names.
In some states, millions of dol-
Jars arc at stake.
That is why advocates say
they have quit fighting —
although they sull worry that
collecting names will deter
some people from getting test
ed and secking treatment, and
about the possibility of names
being released due to secunty
breaches.
“ have patents who are very
King
Continued from page 1A
chairman of the State Bar of
Georgla's Intellectual Law
section, | assume she came
into the papers legally and
has the legal right to keep
them, but that doesn't
mean she has the right o
display or publish them.
The King family might own
!hc U)P)'l"i!:hl.n
Georgia State University
law professor Michael Lan
dau, an expert in intellectu
al property law, agreed that
if the woman received the
papers legally, she has the
right to sell them.
“The real key issue 1s how
the radio station got them
Jnd lmw she g()[ rhcm.“
Landau said. “If it is a situ
ation that they were given
to them by Dr. King or they
were left there by him, there
could be a claim that they
were abandoned.”
Golfers : It’s about building a base
Continued from page 1A
access to golf, whether through
country cubs, public courses
and driving ranges or profes
sional instruction. Those are
the traditional ways kids get
introduced to the game.
“I used to think, and naively,
15 years ago that the challenge
was access,” PGA Tour com
missioner Tim Finchem said.
Active kids learn better
(NAPSI)-Parents can help
their children take the right
steps toward fimess. That's a
articularly ~ good thing,
Eccxusc children today tend to
be less active than in genera
tions past. Twenty-five percent
of all children watch at least
four hours of television daily.
Most children sit on the bus or
in a car tfizol rather than
expcndlns if OWN energy to
gc;\tloh( an fi(})‘r;l sg\ool.
tho rec
ommcnlfhthat chm be
acdvcanhouraday,fcwudun
25 percent get even 30 minutes
of my acugv?ty
This decrease in physical
activity contributes s'gnih)gnt
z to America’s burgeoning
ildhood obesity rates. Nine
million American children are
ovcrw:i?‘\t, three times more
than in 1980.
The AIDS
Pandemic
high-profile individuals —
physicians in practice, people
who are politidans” who dont
want their real names reported,
said Dr. Dan Berger, medical
director of a clinic.
In a 2005 secunty breach in
Flonda, the names of 6,500
HIV and AIDS patients were
mistakenly c-mailed t 800
county health workers. Other
security breaches have occurred
in California and Kentucky:
Some worry that names
based reporting could have the
greatest effect on whether
minorities and the poor get
tested and treated because they
may be less likely to trust the
Tuskegee Airmen being honored for World War II service as first U.S. all-black aviation unit
By ANNIE BERGMAN
Associated Press Writer
i 1 ROCK,
Arkansas (AP) - Recog
nition has been a long
time C()millg for Milton
Crenshaw and other
members of the Tuskegee
Airmen, the first all
black unit in the Army
Air Corps.
But now, in the span of
one week, Crenshaw has
been honored by the
state of Arkansas, and he
and other survivors of
the unit will receive the
Congressional Gold
Medal for their work as
fighter pilots during
World War 11.
Without men like
Crenshaw, the unit
would not have been as
successful, Arkansas Gov.
Mike Beebe said Tuesday
as he presented Cren
shaw a plaque for his
dedication, service and
commitment.
“But ! learned that's only half of
it. The other half is interest. ...
Now we have one role model
among African-Americans,
although Tiger is multiracial.
But access in our game, you
cant do it overnight. You've got
to build on it.”
Beyond getting kids interest
ed, there’s the issue of support
ing up-and-coming players
once they try to go pro,
“Lets say a kids good, he
Schools are uniquely posi
tioned to reverse these a{arming
trends, and ensure that children
get the physical acavity and
physical education they need.
What's more, educators have
discovered the academic poten
ual of [fifm y kids out of their
scats. ysifi]y active students
have demonstrated higher test
scores, better concentration
and less disruptve behavior
even when dass tme has been
reduced to allow for extra fime
to be active.
Faced with pressure to
improve test scores, however,
some schools eliminated recess
to provide more dass time.
Often, parents are not aware
that schools aren't providing
adequate opportunities for
physical acuvity. In a ga:ns;‘al
survey, most ts thought
their difldmmodk were
AUGUSTA FOCUS
tracked in all 50 states by year’s end
government to keep their
names secret.
In a low-income neighbor
hoods, patients now are told
they must release their names to
the state to get medicatons.
Some dlients are apprehensive,
fearing their families or friends
will find out they're infected.
Reporting names “can affect
if (disadvantaged people) come
back for care and it can affect
how they describe to other peo
ple their experience of getting
[cstcd." .\‘:tid Cathcrinc
Hanssens of New York's Center
for HIV Law and Policy.
There are an estimated
40,000 new HIV infections
annually in the United States.
Methods of tracking cases
varied from state to state unal
recently. Some states, previous
ly tracked HIV with idenafying
codes that preserved anonymity
and were unique to cach
P‘.l[k'n[.
The US. Centers for Discase
Control and Prevention reject
ed code-based systems after
finding they could lead to dou
ble-counting and were a bur
den for health care providers.
“After many evaluations of
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“l don’t think there’s
any question that
nobody had a greater
s track record as a unit in
World War Il than the
Tuskegee Airmen,” Beebe
said. “Over 100 kills and
... not a single loss in
combat as a result of
enemy fire. That didn't
just happen, somebody
trained those guys to be
t]mt g(md.“
Two historians have
said research shows the
Airmen did lose some
£OCs to CA)"CgL', hc gt'rs out ()f
college, but he might not be
quite ready to take the next
step,” O'Neal said. “But he
needs ime. Maybe he wants to
play a mini tour to get to Q
school. You need $70,000 a
year to do that. And if you
dont have that, you're out of
luck. If you dont have the
financial backing, its not going
to happen.”
Access, interest, money.
doing a “good” to “excellent”
job making daily physical edu
cation avfiablc to :Lfi students,
Fewer than 8 percent of
schools, however, actually pro
vide students with daily physi
cal education. The survey was
conducted by Action for
Healthy Kids, a nonprofit
organization that works inclu
sively at the national, state and
locar levels to encourage sus
tained improvements in school
nutrition and physical activity
practices.
A federal mandate requires
most schools to implement a
Local Wellness Policy. Created
at dwpodliisqia lcm Well
ness oficies set r -
cal activity and physical c%huy;
tion, as well as nutrition educa
tion and nutrition standards for
foods available at school.
Action for Healthy Kids
code-based systems, it became
dlear that those systems do not
meet CDC standards for HIV
dara,” said Dr. Timothy Mas
tro, deputy director of the Divi
sion for HIV/AIDS Prevention
at the CDC. Discases such as
syphilis, tuberculosis and AIDS
already were tracked by patent
names, he said, making HIV
the exacpton.
Starting this fiscal year, the
CDC’s HIV numbers were
used, along with AIDS case
numbers, by the U.S. Depart
ment of Health and Human
Services to caleulate funding to
aties and states receiving for
mula grants through the Ryan
Whitc CARE. ACt. th(‘ g(wcrn
ments largest HIV/AIDS pro
gram. The formulas include
only HIV data from states
using names-based surveillance.
AIDS advocates, who argued
against collecting names of
HIV patients in the 19905, pre
ferred code-based systems to
protect the confidentality of
patenss and said the CDC
ignored evidence that codes
could work.
“I've not so much changed
my opinion as surrendered,”
planes to enemy fire dur
ing World War 11, and
one former bomber co
pilot said last year that
his plane was shor down
whilc‘ bcing Cscnrtt‘d b)’
the unit. Few would
question, though, that
the Tuskegee Airmen
made a powerful contri
bution.
Crenshaw, 89, never
flew a combat mission
himself, but he was
named Primary Flight
Instructor in 1942 art
Those are the same issues that
have bogged down the quest
for minority representation in
NASCAR for decades and are
now starting to infiltrate base
ball, as well, where the number
of blacks is dwindling.
Neither of those sports, how
ever, has a black icon such as
Woods. A Harris Poll from last
summer said Woods was
Americas favorite sports star.
He comes off as wholesome,
encourages parents to learn
about their children's school's
policy and find out how to
help. Here are a few dps:
Get Children to Move More
* Teach children to spot
opportunities to move, such as
parking at the end of a parking
lot.
* Bike or'walk wherever pos
sible. Use the car as a last resort.
* Establish an escorted "walk
ing pool” to replace the car pool
in your neighborhood.
¢ Promote Safe Routes to
School so children can walk or
* Join an Action for Healthy
Kids Team to promote student
wellness.
For more information, wvisit
said Ron Johnson, deputy exec
udvr dircctnr quid\‘ Acdnn n
Washington, D.C. 1 sall
believe code-based reporting is
valid and is preferable for HIV
reporting. It, for all practcal
purposes, has become a losing
battle.”
For now, public health offi
clals are trying to reassure peo
ple who test posiave for HIV
that stff sccunty measures pro
tect state databases of names.
In Ilinots, staff members
handling names take an oath of
confidenaality and get special
training. The names are in a
stand-alone computer system,
h(‘hind I( K‘.kcd d( YOTS,
“I've never been in that room
where theyre kept. The secunty
is that tight,” said Tom Hughes,
a deputy director with a
Department of Public Health.
Participating states strip
names and other identfying
informaton from their HIV
reports before transmitting
them in an encrypted form to
the CDC, Hughes and other
health officials said.
Berger said he has told some
patients not to give him their
real names. He has enrolled
Tuskegee Army Air Field
in Tuskegee, Alabama.
“l sent all the other
guys over there,” Cren
shaw said. “My job was
to shove them out and
make sure they had a
good understanding ... of
how to go out, fighr and
come back to home
base.”
On Thursday, he and
about 200 other sur
vivors of the Tuskegee
Airmen will receive the
Congressional Gold
Medal in the Rotunda of
the: Capitol, a venge
thvir race once wnu‘fd
have prevented them
from entering. The
medal is the highest
civilian award bestowed
by Congress, and also
may be awarded to mili
tary personnel.
As a Tuskegee flight
instructor, Crenshaw
trained the hundreds of
airmen who - despite
being treated like sec
rarely ousspoken or controver
sial. Hes a winner who has
transformed his sport.
“Hes brought it to complete
ly new levels,” said Thomas
Bjorn. “Everything that hap
pens in the game comes down
to what hc"s dnnc.u
So, the question becomes —
if other blacks aren'tt breaking
through now, then when?
panquet Faciljy,
A
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patients anonymously in med
ical studies of HIV drugs with
out reporting their names, he
said.
Health officials said it is
impossible to predict how
many doctors and patients are
finding ways of keeping names
out of databases, and whether
HIV case numbers will show
any dedline that can be con
nected to names-based report-
Ing.
With better drugs forestalling
the progression of HIV to
AIDS, people with no apparent
symptoms face knowing their
names will be on a state list for
decades —protected by security
measures, but nevertheless sub
ject to exposure,
“In many ways, its a different
world today than the world
that motivated people to insist
on anonymous systems for
tracking HIV," said Suzanne
G )]dhcrg, director of the Sexu
ality and Gender Law Clinic at
Columbia Law School in New
York. “A lot has changed, but
unfortunately not enough.”
ond-class citizens as
black pilots in a segregat
cd military — developed a
reputation of aggressive
ness, ()vcrcmnmg Pm)r
cquipment and the most
dangerous bomber pro
tection assignments.
r’\f‘(cr the war, Cren
shaw went back to
Arkansas and helped
dt‘\"k‘l()P an aviatiun pro
gram at Philander Smith
College. Later, he was
sent to Fort Sill, Okla
homa, to help integrate
the artillery there.
Though: he is now
retired, Crenshaw still
travels, telling students
about the Tuskegee Air
men and his involvement
in integrating the Army.
He said he tries not to
thinl\' too much abnut
the awards he has been
receiving, but he is still
excited and honored.
Im oup in the |
never expected it,' he
said.
“Itls sad,” O'Neal said. “But
thats the nature of how golf is.
[t all comes down to finances.”
McDaniel agrees.
“We've made incremental
steps at progress, but thats all
weve done,” he said. “In the
last 10 years, as far as the pro
fessional game is concerned,
we've actually gone backward.
It's shameful.”