Correction: AIDS commission

A recent article by William Booth on the President's AIDS commission (News & Comment, 16 Oct., p. 262) incorrectly states that commission member Cory SerVaas, publisher of the Saturday Evening Post, drives her AIDS Mobile around the country. SerVaas does not drive the traveling van that offers free AIDS testing. Rather, she often flies to meet it as it travels around the country, stopping at shopping malls and churches by prearrangement with local civic and religious groups. SerVaas denies saying that homosexuals are "deviants." "We have helped homosexuals for many years," she says, pointing out that although her group primarily tests people who have a low risk of being infected, such as recipients of blood transfusions and women who may become pregnant, members of high-risk groups such as homosexuals and drug addicts are not excluded.     

Race, ethnicity, and NIH research awards

We investigated the association between a U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 applicant's self-identified race or ethnicity and the probability of receiving an award by using data from the NIH IMPAC II grant database, the Thomson Reuters Web of Science, and other sources. Although proposals with strong priority scores were equally likely to be funded regardless of race, we find that Asians are 4 percentage points and black or African-American applicants are 13 percentage points less likely to receive NIH investigator-initiated research funding compared with whites. After controlling for the applicant's educational background, country of origin, training, previous research awards, publication record, and employer characteristics, we find that black applicants remain 10 percentage points less likely than whites to be awarded NIH research funding. Our results suggest some leverage points for policy intervention.     

AIDS: an international perspective

The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and infection with the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) constitute a worldwide public health problem. Whereas in Europe and in most of the Americas transmission of HIV-1 has occurred predominantly among homosexual men and intravenous drug abusers, in Africa a distinct epidemiologic pattern has emerged that indicates that HIV-1 infection is mainly heterosexually acquired. Heterosexual transmission appears to be increasing in some parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, and possibly in the United States. In addition to HIV-1, at least one other human retrovirus, namely HIV-2, has been implicated as a cause of AIDS in Africa and Europe. Factors that influence heterosexual transmission of HIV-1 include genital ulcerations, early or late stages of HIV-1 infection in the index case, and possibly oral contraception and immune activation. The rate of perinatal transmission is enhanced when the mother's illness is more advanced. AIDS and HIV-1 infection may have a significant impact not only on public health, but also on the demography and socioeconomic conditions of some developing countries. Programs for the prevention and control of AIDS should be an immediate priority in all countries.