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From: leroyblue on 28 Jun 2010 22:54
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7082454.html

Houston's new, highly touted routine HIV testing program has
diagnosed 900 people with the virus in less than two years,
leaving some medical experts concerned about the region's
capacity to treat hundreds of new patients.

Screening and other efforts to reduce the spread of HIV have
been priorities for the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, HIV/AIDS groups, as well as the nation's state and
local health departments. The efforts are highlighted today,
which is annual National HIV Testing Day.

More than 1 million people in the United States are living with
HIV and about 200,000 of them are unaware of their status,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An
estimated 3,500 to 4,500 Houston-Harris County residents are
living undiagnosed.

"We need to find these people because they are infecting other
people, but what are we going to do with all these folks?" said
Dr. Shannon Schrader, a Houston family medicine physician and
HIV specialist. "We certainly need more providers in this city
because they are dwindling, or they can't handle the loads
forever that they have now."

Universal opt-out testing � the CDC-recommended practice of
screening youth and adult patients in all health care settings
for HIV unless they decline - is expected to increase patient
volume by 20 to 50 percent nationwide, according to federal
health projections.

Complicating factors
Thousands of new patients nationwide translates into "severe
workforce capacity challenges to effectively treat people living
HIV/AIDS," according to the federal Health Resources and
Services Administration. An April report said the shortage is
caused by three main factors: More demand for HIV services, a
declining supply of experienced HIV clinicians and stable or
falling insurance reimbursements for HIV care.

Several of Houston's HIV physicians said that medical schools
aren't producing enough doctors interested in caring for people
living with the virus. In addition, HIV specialists are
retiring, reducing their patient loads and leaving for higher-
paying fields.

"There is no one coming behind me to take the burden of HIV
treatment," said Dr. Joseph Gathe, an HIV specialist who has
been involved with the epidemic since the 1980s. He works with
an experienced physician assistant to treat about 3,000
patients. "I've been looking for 10 years for someone to come to
work with me. They don't want to do this - even to see what it's
like."

Gathe believes a tough, but effective, solution would be to
withhold federal money from medical schools that don't produce
at least two HIV-treating physicians in every graduating class.

Challenging target
Many area institutions would struggle with that mandate. The
University of Texas Medical School at Houston, for example, had
about 15 people complete its HIV medicine training program in
the last decade, according to a spokeswoman.

Schrader is among the Houston doctors who have downsized their
practices. Three years ago, he had 5,000 patients and about half
were HIV-positive. Now he has 600 - almost all of whom have the
virus - and he continues his volunteer work treating HIV-
positive patients at Legacy Community Health Services.

"Because I was working seven days a week and not enjoying life
or my health, I decided to make this change," he said. "I get to
spend more time with these patients and educate them. � I can
leave here at the end of the day and know that I've probably
done a better job because I can teach and listen - not feel like
I missed something potentially."

The American Academy of HIV Medicine and the HIV Medicine
Association have recommended policy changes for the government
and medical schools including loan forgiveness for doctors who
enter the field, creating a pipeline by exposing medical
students to HIV care and increasing Medicaid and other insurance
payments to providers. A 2009 academy survey of 1,783 HIV
clinicians found that 20 percent intend to stop practicing HIV
medicine in the next decade and most were concerned about the
future provider shortage. Only one in three students interested
in HIV medicine plan a career in the field.

Marlene McNeese-Ward, who leads the Houston health department's
HIV prevention efforts, said the region doesn't lack HIV
providers - yet.

"Part of what I think the challenge will be moving forward is
ensuring that all of the people we diagnose are indeed linked to
available care," she said. "Moving ahead, we've got to have some
really intensive strategy to ensure we have treatment capacity."

Some options
Filling the gap includes training more primary care physicians,
nurse practitioners and physician assistants in HIV care.

"Can primary care physicians do this? Yes, because HIV is
becoming more of a primary care disease," Schrader said. "But,
if you don't keep up with this, you may actually do harm to a
patient."

One of the newest HIV specialists on the local scene is Dr.
James Carroll, who came to Houston in 2007 after more than
decade caring for HIV patients in Louisiana. He recently left
Legacy to start an private practice.

"There's a lot of stress in treating patients with HIV," said
Carroll, a Texas director for the American Academy of HIV
Medicine who has trained family practice doctors. "It's just a
matter of finding people who are inspired by HIV and the disease
process. When you're treating someone with HIV, it takes longer
to get that patient what they need. It's not five minutes."

From: Stan-O on 29 Jun 2010 23:27
On Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:59:48 -0500, Uncle Vic <address(a)withheld.com>
wrote:

>One fine day in alt.atheism, Bill Allen <Bill(a)Knowspam.org> wrote:
>
>
>>
>> Willy just willingly offered up his willy to another man.
>> Looks like he's just come out.
>>
>
>Heh... Like this?
>
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKv68n5Ur70

I wouldn't trust someone else to do this if I were wearing
light-colored pants...;)

From: "(�`�.�Craig Chilton�.���) www.LayoffRemedy.com>" on 3 Jul 2010 19:16
On Tue, 29 Jun 2010 04:54:32 +0200,
"leroyblue" <leroyblue(a)billon.net> wrote:


> Self-destructive Faggots overwhelm Houston
> HIV testing program.

Hmmm. FIREWOOD that's capable of spontaneous
combustion? Interesting!! Who knew THAT could be
possible?

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