#Africa

Highlights from the research presented at the 9th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science in Paris.

Highly precise analyses of diagnosis and treatment statistics in hard-hit Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi reveal crucial disparities.

But the median CD4 count at treatment start is below 350, which means work is needed to catch up to World Health Organization guidelines.

A package of enhanced antimicrobial prophylactic medications cut the death risk in those starting HIV treatment with fewer than 100 CD4s.

A trial of long-acting cabotegravir given every eight weeks found that it yielded adequate drug levels and was well tolerated.

Maintaining funding at only existing levels, which appears likely, would probably stall progress in combating the virus worldwide.

Circumcising men reduces their risk of contracting the virus from women by 60 percent, which research suggests also benefits women overall.

The agency has issued an urgent call to nations to implement steps to ward off this threat to progress in fighting the epidemic.

A massive national campaign to step up testing as well as viral suppression achieved phenomenal results in just five years.

For the first time, more than half of people with HIV are taking meds. The analysis also shows troubling trends in the former Soviet region.

PrePex is making nonsurgical adult male circumcision easier across Africa.

Numerous low- and middle-income nations have taken great strides in getting their HIV populations on antiretrovirals more promptly.

Foreign groups, including AIDS organizations, that even discuss abortion as a form of family planning will not receive U.S. money.

With a major new HIV vaccine trial under way, cautious optimism is stirring that the vaccine will prove effective enough for a rollout.

The 90-90-90 targets are likely unattainable because of the high proportion of those living with HIV in remote areas in Africa.

An unacceptably high rate of mother-to-child transmission of HIV still occurs in many African nations, often through breast feeding.