[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 
[email protected].
    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