Federal Judge Orders NYC to Halt Cuts to HIV/AIDS Services
A federal judge on April 27 ordered New York City to halt its plans to cut funding to the HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA) that would eliminate 254 case managers, according to the Housing Works blog.
Whitman-Walker Clinic Becomes Whitman-Walker Health The Washington, DC-based Whitman Walker Clinic, a nonprofit community health center, has changed its name to Whitman-Walker Health (WWH), according to a WWH statement.
J&J Urged to License HIV Drugs to Medicines Patent Pool
The French charity Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontièrs (MSF) published an open letter to Johnson & Johnson (J&J) CEO William C. Weldon urging the company to license all relevant HIV/AIDS patents to the Medicines Patent Pool.
S.C. Limits Medicaid Access to Brand-Name HIV Drugs
South Carolina senators approved budget measures that will affect the state’s Medicaid program, making it tougher for people with mental illnesses or HIV/AIDS to get name-brand drugs, GoUpstate.com reports.
HHS Alleges Florida Mismanaged Its ADAP Funds
A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report alleges that Florida’s Bureau of HIV/AIDS mismanaged its state and federal funds while administering its AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), The Florida Independent reports.
April 27, 2011
HUD Grants $23M for HIV/AIDS Housing in 18 States More than 1,000 extremely low-income people living with HIV/AIDS will receive permanent housing as a result of $23 million in grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), according to a HUD statement.
Proposed Abstinence-plus Sex Ed Sparks Debate in Florida
A public forum in Florida about offering an abstinence-plus sex education curriculum, which includes safer-sex messages, has sparked a debate among parents, teachers and students, The Dayton Beach News-Journal reports.
Elton John to Stage The Normal Heart in U.K.
Elton John and his partner David Furnish plan to bring the critically acclaimed Broadway play The Normal Heart to the United Kingdom, the Herald Sun reports.
Improving Diabetes Care for HIV-Positive U.S. Veterans The quality of diabetes care for veterans living with HIV could be improved, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and reported by aidsmap.
Only Half of HIV-Positive Latin Americans Get Treatment
Only about 50 percent of people with HIV in Latin America receive treatment, Xinhua reports. Currently, there are about 600,000 people in the region living with the virus.
False Negative HIV Test Linked to Death of U.K. Woman An
inquest has revealed that the death in 2010 of Karen Goodridge, a 56-year-old
U.K. woman, might have been prevented if she had not received a false negative
on an HIV test in 2009, the Reading Post
reports.
Mandatory HIV Testing of Health Workers Considered in Alberta After
a University of Alberta hospital employee tested positive for HIV and hepatitis
C, the Canadian province’s health minister is looking into the methodology used
for screening health workers, the Winnipeg
Sun reports.
April 22, 2011
Arkansas Group Seeks to Legalize Medical Marijuana Arkansas for Compassionate Care (ACC) is seeking statewide support for a proposed voter initiative that would legalize marijuana for medical use, The Times Record reports. ACC has until July 6, 2012, to collect 62,507 signatures from registered voters to qualify the proposal for the November 2012 general election ballot.
U.S. Children Born With HIV Since Mid 1990s Faring Well
A new study shows that children born with HIV since the mid 1990s in the United States have been faring well into adolescence and adulthood, according to a Tulane University statement. The study was coauthored by Russell Van Dyke, MD, an infectious diseases expert at Tulane University. Advances in treatment have nearly eradicated mother-to-child transmission of HIV in the United States.
April 21, 2011
New Erection-boosting Condom Awaits Approval
A new
erection-enhancing condom, informally dubbed "the Viagra condom," is awaiting
regulatory approval in Europe and could appear on the shelves of European
pharmacies and supermarkets by the end of the year, The Wall Street Journal reports.
CDC Faults Porn Industry for Not Cooperating With Public Health Agencies
A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) faults the adult film industry after an HIV scare in 2010 for not cooperating with public health authorities and for not providing information needed to conduct a quick and thorough investigation, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Global Fund Malaria Drugs Worth Millions of Dollars Stolen An internal investigation by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has determined millions of dollars of its donated malaria drugs have been stolen in recent years, The Associated Press (AP) reports.
Deported HIV-Positive Stripper Denied Return to Canada Suwalee Iamkhong, a former stripper and sex worker, was denied the chance to return to Canada after being deported to Thailand for transmitting HIV to her ex-husband, the Toronto Sun reports.
Abbott to Pay $52M in Settlement With Direct Drug Buyers
Abbott Laboratories, which makes HIV meds Norvir and Kaletra, has agreed to pay $52 million to resolve a class action lawsuit by direct drug buyers, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports.
The Normal Heart Debuts on Broadway The Normal Heart, Larry Kramer’s critically acclaimed 1985 play about the rise of HIV in New York City in the 1980s, debuts on Broadway April 19, Playbill reports.
Juvenile Offenders Need Better HIV Prevention Interventions Juvenile offenders, a group at increased risk for contracting HIV, need more intensive, possibly family-based, HIV prevention interventions, according to a study published in the Journal of Correctional Health Care by researchers at the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center (BHCRC).
iCondom Locates Free Condoms in Philadelphia The Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) and iCondom have launched iCondom Philly, an iPhone application that locates free condoms in Philadelphia.
'HIV Positive' T-shirts Target Stigma in Chicago
Chicagoans are being invited to buy and wear T-shirts with the words "HIV Positive" on them as part of a yearlong anti-HIV-stigma campaign, the Windy City Times reports.
Young Adults Born With HIV Facing Lifelong Complications
Despite 85 percent being on antiretrovirals (ARV) and having undetectable viral loads, young adults who were born with HIV are experiencing lifelong complications such as higher rates of hospital admissions, comorbidities and lipodystrophy, according to a study by St. Mary’s Hospital in London and reported by aidsmap.
GeoVax Labs Expands HIV/AIDS Vaccine Program
GeoVax Labs Inc. announced the expansion of its preventative HIV/AIDS vaccine development program in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), according to a GeoVax statement.
Florida Proposes Restricting ADAP Eligibility In the face of the growing AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) crisis in Florida, the HIV/AIDS Bureau of that state’s health department has proposed restricting ADAP eligibility, The Florida Independent reports.
Rangel Introduces Bill to Fight HIV Among Blacks
U.S. Congressman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) has introduced a bill that focuses on expanding and increasing HIV/AIDS programs in the African-American community, according to a statement released by Rangel's office.
A New Push to End Ban on HIV-Positive Organ Transplants While it's currently illegal in the United States to transplant organs from HIV-positive donors, various health officials and scientific experts recommend changing the law so that HIV-positive people can receive organs from HIV-positive donors, The New York Times reports.
Gilead Raises Costs of HIV Meds Despite the ADAP Crisis Even as the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) crisis continues to grow (7,745 people are on waiting lists), Gilead Sciences has raised prices of its HIV meds, change.org reports.
April 08, 2011
Hustler Video Fined $14K for Not Using Condoms in Porn Larry Flynt’s Hustler Video is facing up to $14,175 in fines for failing to ensure the use of condoms or other protective equipment to protect its adult film stars, which is a violation of California State workplace safety rules, reports The Associated Press.
Philly Unwraps “Freedom Condom” and STI Campaign
Philadelphia Mayor Nutter unveiled
the Freedom Condom as part of a new campaign to prevent sexually transmitted infections
(STIs) among young people, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
More U.S. Families Adopting HIV-Positive Kids The past five years has seen a surge in American families adopting, or seriously considering adopting, HIV-positive children, The Associated Press reports.
Landlords Can’t Evict HIV-Positive Tenant, Support Dog
The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) ordered landlords to pay $25,000 for trying to force HIV-positive tenant Richard M. Blake to get rid of his emotional support dog or move out of his Brighton apartment, The Boston Globe reports.
HIV/AIDS Advocate Mark Colomb Dies HIV/AIDS advocate Mark A. Colomb, PhD, died March 24 at his home in Mississippi, The Clarion-Ledger reports.
NASTAD Studies HIV Epidemic Among Latino Gay Men
The National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) has released a report focused on the response of health departments and community organizations to HIV/AIDS in the Latino gay men (LGM) community.
More U.S. Doctors Going to Africa to Fight HIV The number of U.S.-based doctors traveling abroad to help fight the HIV epidemic in countries sorely lacking health care workers is on the rise, The New York Times reports.
More Research Needed to Improve LGBT Health Data on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are lacking—and more research about them is needed in order to improve LGBT health, according to a report covered by Reuters.
HHS Makes Progress in Improving LGBT Health The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has made progress in improving LGBT health, according to an HHS statement.
April 01, 2011
Porn Wikileaks Breaches HIV Test Database
The patient database of the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation (AIM)—which provides the majority of the porn industry with testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections—has been breached, Gawker reports.
