LOS ANGELES (AP) – A condom shortage in Uganda has prompted Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation to pledge a donation of 1 million condoms to the African country’s Ministry of Health.

The organization, which operates free AIDS treatment clinics in the United States, Africa, Central America and Asia, announced the donation pledge to help the country in its battle against HIV infection and AIDS.

“Supply chain management continues to be a major obstacle in global anti-AIDS efforts and must be addressed quickly if we are to truly get a handle on this pandemic,” said Michael Weinstein, president of the organization. “It is our sincere hope that this shortage of condoms in Uganda is not a result of the Bush Administration’s preoccupation with ‘abstinence only’ prevention efforts.”

AIDS Healthcare Foundation operates 10 free AIDS treatment clinics in Uganda in conjunction with the Ugandan Ministry of Health.

Stephen Lewis, the U.N. Secretary General’s special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, said U.S. cuts in funding for condoms and a new emphasis on promoting abstinence had contributed to a condom shortage in Uganda, one of the few countries to succeed in reducing its HIV rate.

Mark Dybul, deputy U.S. global AIDS coordinator, dismissed Lewis’ claims as “nonsensical.”

He said the AIDS program in Uganda has three main components: abstinence, faithfulness to a sexual partner and condom use.

Ugandan officials have denied that there is a condom problem.

“It is not true that there is a condom shortage,” Health Minister Jim Muhwezi. “There seems to be a coordinated smear campaign by those who do not want to use any other alternative simultaneously with condoms against AIDS.”

Muhwezi said he was coordinating Uganda’s HIV prevention strategy with the U.S. government, but insisted that condoms remain an important part of their HIV prevention strategy. He said the recent discovery of problems with the quality of condoms imported into Uganda had led to a disruption in supply, but that the problem was sorted out.

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) – A bisexual fifth-grade teacher has sued his former school district claiming that administrators harassed him and forced him to quit.

Emmit Hancock, a former teacher at Willow Oaks Elementary School in Menlo Park, sued the Ravenswood City School District, seeking unspecified monetary damages.

In his filing in Santa Clara County Superior Court, the 27-year-old teacher said the harassment started after he told his students about his sexuality.

Hancock said he wanted to stop them from shouting gay slurs at each other on the playground. They later asked him to explain why he liked men.

“They wanted to know why, why do I love somebody of the same gender?” Hancock said. “I tried to change the subject as quickly as possible.”

When parents complained, Hancock said he was told to resign.

The district’s attorney said Hancock was not forced out and the district did nothing wrong. San Mateo County Counsel Tim Fox said Hancock resigned in January because his educational philosophy was at odds with what administrators wanted.

“He may think some things happened to him because he is gay,” Fox said, “but, in reality, it happened for other reasons.”

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Sacramento County supervisors have rejected a proposal that would allow pharmacies to sell adults hypodermic needles without prescriptions.

A new law allows pharmacies to sell as many as 10 needles at a time to adults, but only if the local government approves the program.

The board voted 3-2 to reject the plan. The vote followed testimony by several health officials, including the county’s public health officer, who said allowing needle sales without a prescription would reduce the transmission of diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C among drug users.

Law enforcement officials had asked the county to reject the proposal. They said it would lead to more discarded needles, which would put the public at risk.

“We can do better than this program,” Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan said.

Supervisor Roger Dickinson disagreed, noting that having clean needles available would decrease the spread of disease. He said he didn’t believe that allowing addicts to buy needles would encourage illicit drug use.

“When we say each and every day that we value life but we refuse to take steps that can save lives, what is the mixed message then?” he asked.

A dozen California counties have approved needle sales without a prescription, according to the state Department of Health Services.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Members of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut passed a resolution urging Bishop Andrew Smith to allow priests in Connecticut to preside at civil union ceremonies.

The resolution passed overwhelmingly at the diocese annual meeting, church officials said.

A law allowing same-sex civil unions in Connecticut took effect Oct. 1. But Smith reminded clergy in a recent memo that they are not authorized to officiate at blessings of same-sex unions. He said that won’t change at least until the House of Bishops meets in 2006.

The resolution, while not binding, gives the diocese, “a sense of this convention at this time,” Smith said. There will be other occasions to discuss whether priests should preside over civil unions or not, he said.

Gay and lesbian issues have divided the U.S. Episcopal Church and are at the center of an ongoing dispute between Smith and six priests who had asked to be supervised by a different bishop.

They disagree with Smith’s support for the Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the church’s first openly gay bishop.

Supporters of the resolution pitched it as a civil rights issue, saying just as it would be unthinkable to deny services to minorities, it is wrong to deny gay, lesbian bisexual and transgender people equality.

There should be “full inclusion” of all people, said the Rev. James Cooke of Meriden, who serves as a chaplain at Bridgeport Hospital. “This is what puts us on the edge of progressive Christianity.”

Those opposing the resolution, urged the gathering not to confuse civil rights with sexual rights.

“I would like to be able to preside over civil unions, but this issue should not destroy the unity of the church,” said Rev. Mark Delcruze, an attendee from Ridgefield.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – A strip club owner filed a lawsuit against Hillsborough County that says a policy banning county agencies from acknowledging, promoting or participating in Pride events is unconstitutional.

The Hillsborough County Commission passed the proposal June 15.

The lawsuit says that the policy violates Joe Redner’s First Amendment right under the U.S. Constitution to receive information at local libraries. He says the commissioners “imposed a ban on one particular group but not on any other groups” and their actions constitute a “prior restraint on protected speech” that fails to “further a compelling government interest.”

Redner is asking the court to declare the policy unconstitutional, issue an injunction until a trial is scheduled and require the county to pay court costs.

“They should have known they were violating the Constitution,” he said. “My goal is to show them they are liable for doing that. … Someone has to call them on it.”

“We’re going to look at it,” said Renee Lee, county attorney. “I will be really curious to see how the board’s actions have impacted [Redner] more than any other member of the public, because I don’t think it does. I want to look at the pleadings and see how he alleged standing to bring” such a case.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The growing number of Iowans with HIV requires new prevention and treatment strategies, state public health officials say.

Mary Jones, director of acute disease prevention for the Iowa Department of Public Health, said 1,594 Iowans are living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

“This number continues to grow by approximately 100 new infections each year,” Jones said at a conference of public health providers.

The number of HIV cases continues to rise, despite years of education campaigns about how the virus is passed on and how to prevent it, she said.

Medical advances that have extended the lives of HIV patients have created a need for long-term treatment for those people, Jones said.

Keynote speaker Marsha Martin, head of the HIV/AIDS program for the Washington, D.C., city government, said many times health care workers feel unable to discuss the disease and prevention.

“The politics of HIV have distracted our work,” she said.

The politics of HIV is in the spotlight as Congress looks to renew the Ryan White CARE law, which provides federal money to local agencies to treat the virus.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – A Unitarian minister filed suit against the Kentucky Farm Bureau, claiming the agency fired him for speaking publicly against a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

The Rev. Todd Eklof, a minister at Clifton Unitarian Church in Louisville, said the lawsuit was about more than getting his job back as a corporate video producer. It’s a way to keep the same-sex marriage issue in the public eye, he said.

“This lawsuit is about justice for all,” he said at a press conference held to announce the suit, which was filed in Jefferson County circuit court.

Eklof claimed in the suit that the Kentucky Farm Bureau dismissed him from his job in January, two months after he stood before his congregation and announced he would perform no marriages of any kind until same-sex marriage is legalized.

Kentucky Farm Bureau Communications Director Gary Huddleston, in a written statement, said Eklof was reassigned because his comments about same-sex marriage violated Farm Bureau policy against taking “a high profile position on a public issue.”

“The reason for the policy is that the public may get the impression that the employee’s personal position is Kentucky Farm Bureau’s position,” Huddleston said.

After Eklof was reassigned from his position as host of the TV show “Bluegrass and Backroads,” Eklof began to have attendance and performance issues resulting in his dismissal in January, Huddleston said.

Eklof called the reasons for the firing “trumped up.”

Kentucky was one of 11 states last fall that changed their constitutions to outlaw same-sex marriages. The amendment defined marriage in Kentucky as being something limited to one man and one woman. It also prohibited unmarried people from ever obtaining “legal status identical to or similar to marriage.”

Same-sex marriages were already prohibited under state law, but amendment advocates claimed the measure was needed to prevent such marriages from eventually being legalized.

Beth Wilson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, said Eklof paid the price for standing up against a vocal group pushing a discriminatory measure.

“He was willing to stand up for justice even when it would have been much easier to go on about his life,” Wilson told a crowd of about 50 in a downtown Louisville park.

Eklof said his announcement about marriages drew some media attention. After it was publicized, Eklof claims, his supervisors took several steps to force him out of the job.

“I will continue to be public, not political,” Eklof said.

ALBANY, New York (AP) – A state appeals court unanimously upheld a ruling barring a village mayor from performing same-sex marriages, saying he acted beyond his authority when he presided over two dozen such ceremonies last year.

A lawyer for Mayor Jason West promised to appeal to the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.

The ruling, issued by a five-judge panel of the state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division, upheld a lower-court ruling preventing West and other New Paltz officials from performing marriage ceremonies for couples without licenses.

A village board member sued after West presided over the same-sex marriages in February 2004.

West has maintained he was upholding the gay and lesbian couples’ constitutional rights to equal protection – and thus his oath of office – by allowing them to wed.

The higher court said West “clearly exceeded his role as mayor.”

“West robed himself with judicial powers and declared the marriage laws of this state unconstitutional,” Justice John Lahtinen wrote. “Having concluded that the Legislature violated the constitution, he then wrapped himself with that body’s power and drafted his own set of documents for licensing marriages.”

West was among the first public officials in the nation to marry same-sex couples, following San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. West was charged with violating the state’s domestic relations law, but the criminal charges were later dropped.

Officials, including Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Gov. George Pataki, have said same-sex ceremonies violate state law.

PITTSBURGH (AP) – A Duquesne University sophomore said he will risk being expelled for expressing his view that homosexuality is “subhuman” rather than write a 10-page essay the university has called for.

Ryan Miner, 19, of Hagerstown, Md., was sanctioned by the university for posting his view on an online forum not related to the university. He opposed an effort by other students to form a Gay-Straight Alliance group, an issue being debated by the Catholic university.

“I believe as a student that my First Amendment rights in the Constitution were subverted and attacked,” said Miner, who is Catholic.

After his comments appeared online, some students complained to the school. After a hearing, the office of judicial affairs found Miner guilty of violating the University Code which prohibits harassment or discrimination based on, among other groups, sexual orientation. The paper was assigned as punishment, which Miner said he will appeal.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Serono Laboratories agreed to pay $704 million and plead guilty to federal conspiracy charges that it increased the market for the AIDS drug Serostim by offering kickbacks to doctors and manipulating a test for AIDS patients.

Eighty-five percent of prescriptions written for Serostim, accounting for roughly $615 million in sales, were unnecessary, said Michael Sullivan, the U.S. attorney in Boston who led the four-year federal investigation into the marketing of the drug.

The cost of many of those prescriptions, $21,000 for 12 weeks of treatment, was paid by Medicaid, the joint federal-state health program for the poor, and other government insurance plans.

Serostim is used to treat AIDS “wasting,” an often-fatal condition involving severe weight loss. The demand for the drug diminished in the late 1990s with the advent of “cocktails” of AIDS drugs that made patients less susceptible to wasting.

Prosecutors began their investigation after several U.S. employees of Swiss-based Serono claimed fraud. The result, announced at the Justice Department, was the third-largest health care fraud settlement: a criminal fine of $136.9 million and civil penalties of $567 million.

“Serono put its desire to sell more Serostim above the interests of patients and the public,” Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said at a news conference.

As part of the plea, Serono Laboratories will be barred from participating in federal health programs for five years, although company officials said Serostim and other Serono products made by other company units will remain eligible for reimbursement under federal insurance programs.

Thomas G. Gunning, Serono’s vice president and general counsel in the United States, said, “The activities described in the settlement were confined to one unit in our U.S. operations and cover a brief period in our history.” The company’s U.S. headquarters is in Rockland, Mass., a half-hour south of Boston.

Serostim, which contains the human growth hormone Somatropin, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1996.

At about the time the FDA approved the drug, protease inhibitor drugs came on the market. Those drugs, when used in combinations or “cocktails,” sharply curtailed the AIDS virus in patients, making them less prone to AIDS wasting.

When the demand for Serostim also was greatly diminished, Serono’s U.S. operations sought to find new ways to get the costly drug into patients’ hands.

Serono offered doctors free trips to the south of France in return for agreeing to write up to 30 new prescriptions for Serostim.

The company also conspired to introduce a test for AIDS wasting, despite not having FDA approval. The test diagnosed AIDS wasting even without weight loss, Sullivan said.

Prosecutors saw no evidence that anyone who was prescribed the drug unnecessarily was made sicker by it, he said.

No doctors have been charged. Sullivan would not comment on whether the ongoing investigation is looking at doctors’ actions.

Five former Serono executives also have been indicted, he said. In addition, RJL Sciences, the company that made the testing devices, and its president, Rudolph Liedtke, pleaded guilty in April for their role in the conspiracy and are awaiting sentencing, Sullivan said.

Geneva-based Serono has eight biotechnology products on the market in the fields of reproductive health, neurology, dermatology and treatment of HIV-associated wasting and growth deficiencies.

The company earned $494 million on sales of $2.46 billion in 2004.

The federal investigation grew out of whistleblower lawsuits filed by U.S. employees of Serono. Five people will split $51 million as their share of the settlement, which is allowed under the federal False Claims Act, according to the settlement agreement.

The settlement is the latest in a series of whistleblower claims that have resulted in more than $3 billion in payments from drug companies in recent years.

Last month, GlaxoSmithKline PLC said it will pay $150 million to settle claims it overcharged the government for two anti-nausea drugs.

Federal and state officials are looking into 150 price and marketing fraud cases involving more than 500 drugs, according to Peter Keisler, assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.