[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 16 (Friday, January 24, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 3707]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-1713]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Consensus Development Conference on Interventions To Prevent HIV
Risk Behaviors
Notice is hereby given of the NIH Consensus Development Conference
on ``Interventions to Prevent HIV Risk Behaviors,'' which will be held
February 11-13, 1997, in the Natcher Conference Center of the National
Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
The conference begins at 8:30 a.m. on February 11, at 8:30 a.m. on
February 12, and at 9 a.m. on February 13.
One in 250 people in the United States is infected with the human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS; AIDS is the leading
cause of death among men and women between the ages of 25 and 44. Every
year, an additional 40,000 to 80,000 Americans become infected with
HIV, mostly through behaviors that are preventable.
In the United States, unsafe sexual behavior and drug abuse among
gay men and men who have sex with men still account for the largest
number of cases, but women are becoming infected at a rate higher than
that of men. The percentage of AIDS cases caused by unsafe heterosexual
contact increased by 21 percent from 1990 to 1991 and continues to
escalate. In nearly one-third of Americans infected with HIV, injection
drug use is a risk factor.
The purpose of this conference is to examine what is known about
behavioral interventions for the three modes of transmission--sexual
behavior, substance abuse, and transmission from mother to child--that
are effective with different populations in different settings. Experts
will also discuss the international and national epidemiology of HIV
and the history of AIDS prevention efforts.
Research has led to significant progress in understanding how to
help individuals change their AIDS-related risk behaviors. These
interventions are based on a variety of models of behavior change,
including social learning theory and related health and substance abuse
models; they begin with AIDS and substance abuse education, but also
include skill acquisition, assertiveness training, and behavioral
reinforcement components. Recent research indicates that aggressive
promotion of safer sexual behavior and prevention of substance abuse
could avert tens of thousands of new HIV infections and potentially
save millions of dollars in health care costs. To date, however, there
has not been widespread agreement among health professionals as to
which interventions are most effective in which settings and among
which populations.
Behavioral interventions are currently the only effective way of
slowing the spread of HIV infection. Vaccines selected for future
trials may have modest or unknown efficacy, and therefore the trials
will need to include behavioral interventions. Recommendations coming
from this conference will have immediate implications for service
delivery in health care settings, including substance abuse treatment
programs; sexually transmitted disease clinics; inner-city health
programs reaching disenfranchised high-risk women, men, and
adolescents; and mental health programs that serve high-risk,
chronically mentally ill people. Knowing which behavior change
interventions are most effective will assist public health personnel in
allocating energy and resources.
The conference will bring together behavioral and social
scientists, prevention researchers, statisticians and research
methodologists, clinicians, physicians, nurses, social workers, mental
health professionals, other health care professionals, patients, and
members of the public.
Following 1\1/2\ days of presentations and audience discussion, an
independent, non-Federal consensus panel will weigh the scientific
evidence and write a draft consensus statement that it will present to
the audience on the third day. The consensus statement will address the
following key questions:
--How can we identify the behaviors and contexts that place
individuals/communities at risk for HIV?
--What individual-, group-, or community-based methods of intervention
reduce behavioral risks?
--What are the benefits and risks of these procedures?
--Does a reduction in these behavioral risks lead to a reduction in
HIV?
--How can risk-reduction procedures be implemented effectively?
--What research is most urgently needed?
In addition, the panel will consider how the conference
recommendations can influence implementation of prevention programs
throughout the public health system.
The primary sponsors for this conference are the National Institute
of Mental Health and the NIH Office of Medical Applications of
Research. The conference is cosponsored by the National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism, the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute on
Drug Abuse, the National Institute of Nursing Research, the NIH Office
of AIDS Research, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and
the Health Services Research Administration.
Advance information on the conference program and conference
registration materials may be obtained from Hope Levy Kott, Technical
Resources International, Inc., 3202 Tower Oaks Blvd., Suite 200,
Rockville, Maryland 20852, (301) 770-3153, or by sending e-mail to
confidept@tech-res.com.
The consensus statement will be submitted for publication in
professional journals and other publications. In addition, the
statement will be available beginning February 13, 1997, from the NIH
Consensus Program Information Center, P.O. Box 2577, Kensington,
Maryland 20891, phone 1-888-NIH-CONSENSUS (1-888-644-2667) and from the
NIH Consensus Development Program site on the World Wide Web at http://
consensus.nih.gov.
Dated: January 15, 1997.
Ruth L. Kirschstein,
Deputy Director, NIH.
[FR Doc. 97-1713 Filed 1-23-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M
