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 February 27, 2009
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Swiss Court Overturns HIV Exposure Conviction
The Geneva Court of Justice has overturned the ruling of a lower court against an HIV-positive man convicted of HIV exposure, aidsmap.com reports. The court acquitted the man based on testimony from one of the authors of the consensus statement by the Swiss Federal Commission for HIV/AIDS, which states that the risk of HIV transmission during unprotected sex by people on successful HIV treatment is 1 in 100,000.
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February 26, 2009
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Calif. High School Stages Rent Despite Controversy
After officials at Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach, California, canceled a toned-down version of the musical Rent, citing concerns over its content, an outcry from bloggers, students and alumni convinced the school to allow the show to go on, the Los Angeles Times reports.
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Colo. Senator Calls HIV a Consequence of “Sexual Promiscuity”
Speaking out against a bill requiring pregnant women in Colorado to be tested for HIV, Sen. David Schultheis (RColorado Springs) said February 25 that such a law would wrongly protect women and their children against the consequences of “sexual promiscuity,” The Denver Post reports.
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Obama Names New AIDS Office Head
The White House announced today, February 26, that Jeffrey Crowley will be the director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, Reuters reports.
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February 25, 2009
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Scotland Launches New HIV Prevention Campaign
With the city of Edinburgh accounting for roughly half of Scotland’s rising number of new HIV infections—the majority of which are among men who have sex with men (MSM)—the Scottish government is pooling more resources to increase awareness, education and early diagnosis in the country’s highly populated Lothians region, the Edinburgh Evening News reports.
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Obama Reiterates Commitment to Accessible Health Care
In a joint session of the U.S. Congress on February 24, President Barack Obama said his budget plan for the 2010 fiscal year to be released this week would include a “down payment on the principle that we must have quality, affordable health care for every American,” Reuters reports.
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February 24, 2009
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Advocates in Connecticut Rally to Restore AIDS Funding
In response to a 40 percent reduction in state funding for AIDS services, the Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition held a press conference last week in an attempt to restore the $2.7 million lost in the state’s 20092011 budget proposal, The New Haven Register reports.
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Report on U.K. Blood Scandal Doesn’t Blame Companies, Medical Staff
A report investigating the deaths of 2,000 hemophiliacs in the United Kingdom—who had contracted HIV and hepatitis through contaminated blood products since the 1970s—did not specifically blame individual pharmaceutical companies or medical staff for what it calls a “horrific human tragedy,” reports The Associated Press.
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February 23, 2009
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AIDS Activist Cleve Jones Reacts to Milk Oscar Success
At the 81st Academy Awards on February 22, Sean Penn was honored with an Oscar for Best Actor for his role in Milk in which he portrayed assassinated gay rights activist Harvey Milk. During his acceptance speech, Penn thanked Milk’s protégé and founder of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and NAMES Project Foundation, “the great Cleve Jones.”
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Calif. Prevention Campaign Follows Black Teens
A Fresno, California, nonprofit has created a database to follow the progress of African-American teens who participate in a new HIV prevention campaign, reports The Fresno Bee. The database will help track whether the teens have been tested and are helping spread the message of awareness among their peers.
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February 20, 2009
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Zimbabwe’s Health System Breakdown May Worsen HIV Crisis
Zimbabwe’s collapsed health care system and its cholera epidemic will soon worsen other epidemics and further the spread of HIV/AIDS in that country, predicts international humanitarian group Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) as reported in the Los Angeles Times.
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February 19, 2009
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Connecticut Researchers Receive Accolades for HIV Work
While Connecticut is considering cutting back on funding for HIV/AIDS programs, the state’s public heath researchers are being praised for their innovations in counseling for people living with HIV, The Day reports.
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February 18, 2009
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Texas Bill Will Expand Routine HIV Testing
Lawmakers from two Texas cities with the highest incidence of HIV in the state filed legislation February 17 that will make screening for the virus part of routine checkups, The Associated Press (AP) reports.
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WHO: Health Services in Asia Are Failing MSM
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the HIV/AIDS epidemic may get worse in Asia unless countries immediately expand access to services to men who have sex with men (MSM), Xinhua News Agency reports.
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HIV Infection Rate Triples Among Brazilian Women Over 50
Brazil’s Health Ministry will distribute 66 million condoms—10 million more than last year—during this month’s carnival festivities due to a spike in the HIV infection rate among woman over 50, the Inter Press Service news agency reports.
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February 17, 2009
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Majority of States Adhere to CDC Testing Recommendations
After the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended in 2006 that health care providers make HIV testing routine for all patients ages 13 through 64, researchers have found that most states have been open to those proposals, MedPage Today reports. As of November 1, 2008, only 16 states have one or more laws that act as barriers to so-called “opt-out” HIV testing.
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Uganda to Reintroduce Female Condoms
After almost one and a half years since the Ugandan government stopped distributing the female condom due to a poor reception, the prophylactic is being reintroduced at government health centers, IRIN PlusNews reports.
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February 13, 2009
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Wisc. Clinic Sued for Refusing Surgery on HIV-Positive Woman
Melody Rose, who is HIV positive, has filed a federal lawsuit against a doctor who refused to remove her gallbladder because of her status, PinkNews reports. Her suit was filed in the Eastern District of Wisconsin and is supported by Lambda Legal, which advocates on behalf of the LGBT community and those living with HIV, and the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin (ARCW).
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French First Lady to Visit Burkina Faso, Africa, for Global Fund
On her first trip as goodwill ambassador for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, France’s first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy will visit mothers and children living with HIV/AIDS in the West African country Burkina Faso, Agence France-Presse reports. The visit is scheduled for February 18.
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February 12, 2009
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Former Botswana President Advocates Circumcision as HIV Prevention
Former president of Botswana Festus Mogae is urging African leaders to promote male circumcision as a form of HIV prevention, AllAfrica.com reports. He is heading a delegation from Champions for an HIV-Free Generation, an organization comprised of African heads of state and other prominent figures.
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February 11, 2009
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Ex-Girlfriend Claims Former Met Is Positive, Had Unsafe Sex With Her
Ex-New York Met Roberto Alomar is being sued for $15 million by a former girlfriend who claims that he has "full-blown AIDS" and insisted on having unprotected sex with her, The New York Daily News reports. The 41-year-old baseball star—who retired from the sport in 2005 due to health issues—has not revealed publicly whether he is, in fact, HIV positive.
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February 10, 2009
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New Orleans Jail to Provide STI Testing, Treatment to Inmates
A new program at the Orleans Parish jail in New Orleans will provide inmates with testing and treatment for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. The program will also guide inmates to clinics so they can access health care after their release.
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NYC to Hand Out City-Branded Free Condoms for Valentine’s Day
In celebration of Valentine’s Day, the New York City Health Department will issue and distribute new NYC-branded condoms, The New York Daily News reports. In addition, the city is launching a Facebook page devoted to safe sex, where New Yorkers can order the free condoms and get instructions on using them.
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February 09, 2009
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Condom Price Hike in Ukraine Worries AIDS Advocates
An increase in the price of imported condoms in Ukraine has led many advocates, particularly nonprofit organization Anti-AIDS, to worry that young people may abandon the costly prophylactics, which could fuel an upsurge in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as HIV, Russia Today reports.
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New HIV Infections in U.S. Highest Among Blacks
African Americans account for almost half of all new HIV infections and nearly half of Americans living with the virus, even though they make up only 12 percent of the U.S. population, according to a statement released by Anthony Fauci, MD, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and reported on by Reuters. Fauci pointed out that in Washington, DC, alone, one in 20 African Americans has HIV while one in 50 has AIDS.
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San Francisco Aims to Diagnose HIV Sooner
San Francisco is launching a cutting-edge program this month designed to diagnose new HIV infections shortly after they occur, when the risk of transmission is highest, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. For the past decade, about 800 to 1,000 new infections have occurred annually in San Francisco. The goal of the two-year project is to reduce by half the number of new HIV cases.
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February 06, 2009
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U.K. Study Recommends MSM Get Rectal Chlamydia Tests
Men who have sex with men (MSM) should receive routine rectal examinations for chlamydia, according to a study published in the online edition of Sexually Transmitted Infections as reported by aidsmap.com. Researchers found that more MSM respondents had rectal chlamydia than urethral chlamydia or rectal gonorrhea; in addition, more than one third of the men with rectal chlamydia were HIV positive.
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Young Black Gay Men Found to Share Common HIV Risk Factors
A study examining HIV risk and testing behaviors among young black gay men has found that many of them had three common risk factors, according to an article in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and written about in Reuters.
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February 05, 2009
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Study: South Africa’s Condom Distribution Laws Are Confusing
The South African government is enacting condom distribution laws in order to reduce the country’s HIV infection rate—the highest in the world. But a new study published in the online journal PLoS Medicine finds that the laws are creating confusion among parents, educators and health officials, Voice of America News reports.
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Texas ASO Develops Innovative Treatment Model
A Texas AIDS service organization, the Valley AIDS Council, has developed a new treatment model to save money, increase access to care and encourage its patients who can manage HIV with minimal support to become more self sufficient, reports the Valley Morning Star.
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California Nonprofit Ends Ryan White-Funded Services
A nonprofit in San Bernardino, California, that provides support services to people living with HIV/AIDS will no longer provide services funded through the federal Ryan White Program, the San Bernardino County Sun reports.
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February 04, 2009
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Health Officials Respond to Unsafe Injections in Non-Hospital Settings
In response to a hepatitis outbreak at two Las Vegas endoscopy clinics last year, which was linked to staff reusing syringes and medication vials, The Wall Street Journal today examines recent efforts to improve injection practices in health care settings to prevent the spread of blood-borne illnesses such as hepatitis and HIV.
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Mass. Man Donates $100M to AIDS Vaccine Research
A Massachusetts technology entrepreneur has gifted $100 million to create an AIDS research center in the hopes of encouraging collaboration among various specialists and reinvigorating the search for a vaccine that can slow the further spread of HIV/AIDS, The Boston Globe reports.
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February 03, 2009
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Senate Cuts HIV Prevention Funding From Stimulus Bill
A provision in President Barack Obama’s massive economic stimulus bill to allocate $400 million to HIV and STI prevention and screening was cut from the most recent draft of the bill on February 2, The Associated Press reports. The bill is expected to be under review in the Senate until next week.
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Tom Daschle Withdraws HHS Secretary Nomination
Tom Daschle, who was tapped by President Barack Obama to become secretary of Health and Human Services, withdrew his nomination for the post earlier today, citing his widely publicized failure to pay $146,000 in back taxes, The Washington Post reports.
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February 02, 2009
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NY Times Highlights Search for New PEPFAR Head
After Mark Dybul resigned from his post as George W. Bush’s appointed global AIDS coordinator and director of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) on January 22, it was unknown who President Barack Obama’s administration would choose to take his place. In a January 31 piece, The New York Times examines the search for a new AIDS czar and some of the names being discussed as possible candidates who would helm the multibillion dollar effort to fight the virus overseas.
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LGBT Conference Revives Community Focus on HIV/AIDS
While political issues such as marriage equality and discrimination protection have been on the minds of most LGBT activists as of late, last weekend’s Creating Change Conference called for the community to refocus on AIDS, reports The Denver Post.
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