 February 29, 2008
|
Name-Based Reporting Doesn't Discourage HIV Testing
New York State’s policy of name-based HIV reporting and partner notification, which was instituted in 2000, has not caused a decline in HIV testing or the willingness of “high-risk” individuals to be tested for the virus, reports Reuters Health/Yahoo News.
|
|
|
Transport Sector Fueling Spread of HIV in Asia
On February 28, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced that its lending to Asia’s transport sector may be contributing to the spread of HIV on the continent, reports Agence France-Presse.
|
|
|
Reused Syringes Put 40,000 at Risk
A Las Vegas clinic was found to have reused syringes and medical vials, putting 40,000 patients at risk for hepatitis and HIV, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
|
|
|
In Uganda, Home is Where the HAART Is
Providing antiretroviral treatment for HIV-positive Africans in their own homes has proven to be an effective strategy for combating the virus, cutting AIDS-related deaths from the virus by more than 90 percent, BBC News reports.
|
|
|
February 28, 2008
|
Malawi Law Cracks Down on False AIDS Cure Claims
Malawi has drafted a new law aimed at stopping traditional healers from proclaiming they have a cure for AIDS and preventing religious leaders from encouraging HIV-positive people to give up treatment for prayer, reports Reuters Africa.
|
|
|
PEPFAR Bill May Push Funding to $50 Billion
A bill authorized February 27 by both the White House and House leaders will more than triple funding for the President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to $50 billion over the next five years, The Washington Post reports.
|
|
|
February 27, 2008
|
Suing to Keep an AIDS Site Open
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is suing the Los Angeles Housing Department to prevent the closing of a former AIDS hospice turned case management office, the Los Angeles Times reports.
|
|
|
Gwyneth Paltrow, Roger Moore in HIV Film
Celebrities including actors Sir Roger Moore and Gwyneth Paltrow have united to create a four-minute UNICEF film that aims to draw attention to HIV in developing countries, reports Marie Claire, UK.
|
|
|
Positive Canadians Dying Without Treatment
Forty percent of people in the Canadian province of British Columbia who died of AIDS-related illness between 1997 and 2005 were not on antiretroviral treatment, The Vancouver Province/Canada.com reports.
|
|
|
February 26, 2008
|
Egyptian Police Allegedly Hunt Positive People
According to two international human rights groups, Egyptian police have allegedly arrested four more men suspected to be HIV positive and gay, reports the Associated Press (AP)/ FoxNews.com.
|
|
|
25 Percent of Positive Women Want Babies
According to an Ohio State University study, around one in four women living with HIV want to become pregnant, reports Asian News International (ANI)/Thaindian News.
|
|
|
New Mexico Offers Three New HIV Drugs Through ADAP
The New Mexico Department of Health has added three new HIV medications to its list of drugs distributed by the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), the Associated Press/Las Cruces Sun-News reports.
|
|
|
February 25, 2008
|
Rectal Microbicide Sees Positive Results in Trial
According to data unveiled at the 2008 Microbicide Conference in New Delhi today, the future finally looks bright for rectal microbicide gels as an effective way of preventing transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, Aidsmap reports.
|
|
|
Microbicide Proven Safe for Women
Scientists from the United States and India announced today that a vaginal microbicide gel currently in the trial stages is safe for daily use, Agence France-Presse reports.
|
|
|
February 22, 2008
|
Bush Returns From Six-Day African Journey
To increase support for his proposed $30 billion five-year budget for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), United States President George W. Bush embarked on a six-day, five-country trip across sub-Saharan Africa, which he completed Thursday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
|
|
|
The Money’s in the Medicine
HIV meds have become Big Pharm’s biggest profit maker in the United States, outselling those for any other ailment, the Los Angeles Times reports.
|
|
|
February 21, 2008
|
Researchers Uncover Future “Hot Spots” for Disease
A study conducted by the Consortium for Conservation Medicine at Wildlife Trust revealed this week that infectious diseases are more likely to emerge in specific “hot spots” across the globe, the Associated Press (AP)/MSNBC reports.
|
|
|
Indian Advocates Fight for HIV Legislation
The Indian Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) is readying a 20,000-signature petition urging Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to pass new legislation that would protect the rights of people in India living with HIV/AIDS, The Hindu reports.
|
|
|
HIV Doc Under Fire for Prescribing Combination Therapy
Supporters of Colin Pfaff, MD—a South African AIDS doc—are rallying in his defense, reports the Associated Press (AP)/Fox News (foxnews.com, 2/18). Pfaff, a staff member at a rural hospital in the city of KwaZulu-Natal, is facing disciplinary actions for giving a pregnant HIV-positive patient a combination of two ARVs as opposed to the hospital’s standard, a single-drug therapy.
|
|
|
February 20, 2008
|
GSK Drops Price on 14 HIV Drugs
On February 19, pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world’s largest producers of HIV medications, announced that it is cutting the prices of 14 antiretroviral drugs sold in developing countries, the Wall Street Journal reports.
|
|
|
Mathematical Model Maps Out Drug-Resistant HIV in San Francisco
A mathematical model unveiled by the University of California, Los Angeles AIDS Institute shows that drug-resistant strains of HIV will continue to impact San Francisco’s men who have sex with men (MSM) population over the next five years, ScienceDaily reports.
|
|
|
HIV Ads “Get REAL” and Get Real Graphic
While many HIV prevention campaigns utilize graphic imagery to portray the reality of HIV and the side effects caused by some of the medications used to treat it, some experts question the efficacy of such shock tactics, EDGE New York City reports.
|
|
|
Positive Ugandans With Disabilities Need Better HIV Info
In an opinion piece in Ugandan newspaper The New Vision/AllAfrica.com (allafrica.com, 2/19), Nassozi Kiyaga, executive director of Deaf Link Uganda, says that more attention needs to be paid to giving people with physical, sensory or disabilities valuable HIV/AIDS information.
|
|
|
February 19, 2008
|
African Microbicide Trial Disappoints
On February 18, researchers announced that a trial of a new vaginal microbicide, Carraguard—the first microbicide to proceed to late-stage testing—has yielded disappointing results, The China Post reports.
|
|
|
Half of Brazil’s AIDS Cases Diagnosed Late
Almost half of AIDS cases in Brazil are detected after individuals display exterior signs of immune deficiency, the country’s AIDS program coordinator, Mariangela Simao, said on February 14.
|
|
|
February 18, 2008
|
Traditional Herbalists in Ghana Search for AIDS Cure
A leading health official in Ghana has said that the Ghana AIDS
Commission (GAC) is open to herbal practicitioners who are working to
find a cure for HIV/AIDS, reports weekly newspaper Public
Agenda/AllAfrica.com.
|
|
|
Bono’s $42.5M Valentine to the Global Fund
An art auction organized by Sotheby’s, U2 front man Bono and artist
Damien Hirst raised $42.5 million Valentine’s Day evening. The funds
were donated to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria,
the Associated Press reports.
|
|
|
February 15, 2008
|
PEPFAR Saves Thousands in Kenya
While the Kenyan village of Uranga was once overwhelmed by HIV/AIDS, President George W. Bush’s PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) has drastically improved the lives of HIV-positive individuals in the village and throughout sub-Saharan Africa, reports the Los Angeles Times.
|
|
|
Fighting HIV and Sexual Violence in Massachusetts
The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts has announced a $270,400 grant to begin a program to address the issues of HIV/AIDS and sexual violence in women, reports the Worcester Telegram & Gazette News.
|
|
|
February 14, 2008
|
Illinois Colleges Reject Free Valentine's Day Condoms
An Illinois-based HIV/AIDS awareness group, which currently seeks to promote safe sex at colleges throughout the state by passing out free condoms, has been turned down by two local schools, reports Fox 2 News, KTVI in St. Louis.
|
|
|
February 13, 2008
|
Bush Reiterates Commitment to Fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa
While meeting with Malian President Amadou Toumani Touré at the White House yesterday, United States President George W. Bush pledged his continued support to the Western African country’s fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria, poverty, illiteracy and other ills, Agence France-Presse/Google reports.
|
|
|
An AIDS Education Jackpot in Chicago
The proceeds from a new instant Lottery ticket available on February 15 in Chicago will go to HIV/AIDS prevention and education in Illinois, local CBS affiliate WBBM Newsradio 780 reports.
|
|
|
HIV-Positive People Want Sex and Children
Many current HIV programs ignore both the sexual needs of HIV-positive people and motherhood desires of HIV-positive women, said a group of positive women during the third Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights, held in Abuja, Nigeria, the week of February 4, reports the global news agency Inter Press Service (IPS)/AllAfrica.com.
|
|
|
Federal AIDS Funds Reduced for Maryland
Though Maryland has one of the country’s highest AIDS rates, the state is facing a 40 percent reduction in federal HIV/AIDS funds, reports The Baltimore Sun.
|
|
|
February 12, 2008
|
HIV Advocate Congressman Tom Lantos Dies
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), known for his human rights work and advocacy for people living with HIV/AIDS, died February 11 of complications from esophageal cancer, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
|
|
|
Massachusetts Activists Lobby for AIDS Funds
AIDS activists in Massachusetts are lobbying state officials for an additional $6 million to provide HIV/AIDS programs and services in the state, reports local newspaper the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
|
|
|
Black Women Unite Against AIDS
A group of all-women community leaders, politicians and health care professionals in Macon, Georgia, announced February 7 that they had formed a new organization aiming to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, particularly among black women in the area.
|
|
|
New Text Message...About HIV
A new program in Uganda hopes to use cell phones as a tool for creating awareness about HIV/AIDS in the country, reports Uganda’s Daily Monitor.
|
|
|
February 11, 2008
|
Benefits Counseling, a Phone Call Away
Earlier this month, the AIDS Legal Council of Chicago (ALCC) and the Illinois Department of Public Health launched a statewide toll-free hotline for HIV-positive people in need of public benefits counseling.
|
|
|
Researchers Discover New HIV Receptor
A team of researchers—led by Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases—has discovered a new human receptor for HIV, which may help pave the way to new treatment options, The New York Times reports.
|
|
|
HIV-Positive Russian Prisoner Moved to Clinic
An HIV-positive former oil executive in Russia, who is currently on trial for fraud and tax-evasion charges, has been transferred from prison to a specialist clinic after a public campaign to get him proper HIV treatment.
|
|
|
February 08, 2008
|
STD Cases on the Rise in Utah
Rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in Utah, though low relative to the rest of the United States, are quickly rising, reports The Salt Lake Tribune (sltrib.com, 2/3).
|
|
|
Creative Ways to Curb HIV Infections
Though an effective HIV/AIDS vaccine has not been developed, researchers say that creative uses of HIV drugs may help prevent the spread of the virus, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
|
|
|
PEPFAR Proposals Cause Stir Among Republicans
With President George W. Bush traveling to sub-Saharan Africa this month to rally for a $15 billion increase for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)—bringing total proposed spending on the program to $30 billion over the next five years—a Democrat-supported bill calling for a bigger increase and plan revisions has caused a stir among conservative groups, the Associated Press (AP)/StarTribune.com reports (startribune.com, 2/7).
|
|
|
February 07, 2008
|
Sweden’s New HIV Infections on the Rise
Health officials announced on February 5 that the number of new HIV infections in Sweden rose by 20 percent in the past year, Agence France-Presse/Google reports (afp.google.com, 2/5). Total new HIV infections in 2007 were around 500, compared with 390 the previous year.
|
|
|
Black Advocacy Groups Fight Needle-Exchange Ban
On National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, February 7, the NAACP, the National Urban League and other black advocacy groups convened to rally for an end to the 20-year ban on federally funded needle-exchange programs, reports The Seattle Times.
|
|
|
February 06, 2008
|
Who’s Educating Sex Ed Teachers?
A recent survey of middle school and high school sex education teachers in Illinois has found that many do not give comprehensive instruction on abstinence, birth control, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, Reuters Health/Yahoo News reports.
|
|
|
Neighbors Blast South African AIDS Orphanage
A woman in South Africa who opened an AIDS orphanage in a Johannesburg suburb last week has received complaints from neighbors who feel that the orphanage is depreciating the value of their property, reports South African newspaper The Star/IOL News.
|
|
|
Egyptian Authorities Allegedly Torture HIV-Positive Men
The global humanitarian organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) has announced that it is investigating charges that two HIV-positive men in Cairo were chained to beds and tortured for up to 23 hours a day while awaiting their court date, Agence France-Presse/IC Publications reports.
|
|
|
(Product)RED's Balance Sheet
Since its 2006 launch, Bono and Bobby Schriver’s Product(RED) campaign has put more than 30,000 people on antiretroviral therapy and has provided counseling and treatment to more than 300,000 HIV-positive pregnant women, but its strongest critics find its message misleading, The New York Times reports.
|
|
|
February 05, 2008
|
President Bush Releases FY 2009 AIDS Budget Proposals
On February 4, President George W. Bush released his proposed $3.1 trillion budget for the 2009 fiscal year, which offers both funding increases and cuts for programs aimed at people living with HIV/AIDS, the Associated Press reports.
|
|
|
Hundreds Rally for Sub-Saharan Positive Women
In a February 4 rally, hundreds gathered in the sub-Saharan African nation of Burkina Faso to protest abuse directed at women living with HIV/AIDS, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo News reports.
|
|
|
The Politics of PEPFAR
As the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) comes up again for Congressional renewal, political tensions are also being renewed, reports the Associated Press (AP)/Yahoo News.
|
|
|
Twice Weekly Use of Antiretrovirals May Be Effective as PrEP
New results from a federal study by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirm that monkeys given drugs used for the treatment of HIV-positive patients on a daily basis were mostly prevented from contracting a monkey version of HIV. The study also found that it was possible for monkeys to be protected from contracting the virus if they received the drugs only twice a week, reports The San Jose Mercury News.
|
|
|
February 04, 2008
|
Does Male Circumcision Raise Women’s HIV Risk?
Recent studies have shown that circumcision can help reduce the risk of HIV infection in men. However, new research suggests that male circumcision offers no benefit to women during intercourse and potentially increases the HIV risk for women if couples resume having sex before the circumcision wound heals, reports The New York Times.
|
|
|
New York Times Editorial Urges Funding, Staffing for FDA
In a February 3 editorial, The New York Times evaluates the United States’ Food and Drug Administration, calling for increased funding and talent after the agency’s former chief counsel, Peter Barton Hutt, announced last week that the FDA was “barely hanging on by its fingertips."
|
|
|
Halting the Asian HIV Epidemic
Only one in 30 intravenous-drug users in Asia has access to HIV education, Australia’s The Sydney Morning Herald reports (smh.com.au, 2/1). However, the director of the UNAIDS Asia Pacific regional support team J.V.R. Prasada Rao reports that health officials are working to increase Asian IV-drug users’ access to AIDS information availability of these programs.
|
|
|
Probiotic Yogurt Settles Africa’s HIV-Positive Stomachs
A new study by African and Canadian researchers has found that probiotic supplements may help ease the diarrhea and nausea suffered by some HIV-positive people, reports food and beverage development news website Foodnavigator.com.
|
|
| |
