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Hindus and Muslims less likely than Christians and Jews to have premarital sex

Hindus and Muslims are less likely than Christians and Jews to have premarital sex, and Muslims are the least likely among people of these religious groups to have extramarital sex, according to a new study that analyzed data on premarital and extramarital sexual behaviors in over 30 developing countries around the world.

19 Oct 2012

Zimbabwe to allow trained nurses to prescribe, administer ARVs

PlusNews examines challenges and concerns over an announcement by the Zimbabwean government that it plans to train nurses to prescribe and administer antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) to people living with HIV in the country.

19 Oct 2012

TB Alliance and FIND partner to promote development of TB drugs and diagnostics

A new partnership announced today will increase efforts to coordinate the development of complementary novel tools to fight TB, including drug-resistant TB, and identify emerging drug resistance trends around the globe.

19 Oct 2012

Global anti-tuberculosis campaign now ‘at a crossroads’

Tuberculosis care and control has improved dramatically over the last two decades, but numbers of cases and deaths are still high and multidrug resistant-TB is an under-reported and ever-increasing problem, suggest findings from the World Health Organization Global TB Report 2012.

18 Oct 2012

HIV infection has been major driver of anal cancer burden

Rising rates of anal cancer among men in the USA have been heavily influenced by the HIV epidemic since the 1980s, a study shows.

17 Oct 2012

Global Fund invites Myanmar to apply for additional funding

"Health workers in Myanmar are confident that efforts to narrow the country's huge gap between access to, and need for, life-saving medicines to treat HIV/AIDS are back on track after the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria invited the country to apply for additional funding," IRIN reports.

17 Oct 2012

Peace Corps, USAID, Coca-Cola Company announce WASH training initiative

"The Peace Corps has announced a strategic partnership with the Water and Development Alliance (WADA) -- a long-standing public-private partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Coca-Cola Company (Coca-Cola) -- to improve local capacity to deliver sustainable water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services for the reduction of waterborne disease around the world," a Peace Corps press release reports.

17 Oct 2012

BioLineRx completes pre-clinical development of BL-8020 for HCV

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical development company, announced today that it has successfully completed the pre-clinical development of BL-8020, an orally available, interferon-free treatment for the Hepatitis C virus (HCV), and plans to commence a Phase I/II safety and efficacy study for BL-8020 in Europe during the first quarter of 2013.

17 Oct 2012

Adults with HIV can benefit from cognitive training exercises

As more effective antiretroviral therapy has evolved over the past 30 years, HIV/AIDS has shifted from an acute to a chronic condition. But as patients live longer, research indicates that they are experiencing cognitive impairments at a higher rate than people without the disease.

17 Oct 2012

Offering methadone treatment to drug users significantly reduces HIV infection, transmission risk, study shows

Offering methadone treatment to people who use injection drugs "substantially reduces the risk that they will get HIV or give it to anyone else," according to a BMJ study published this month that pools data from studies done in nine countries, the New York Times reports.

17 Oct 2012

Hepatitis C rapid and point of care tests highly accurate and reliable

Timely screening and diagnosis is critical to the success of new treatments and ultimately to the survival of hepatitis C patients. A new study led by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC) is the first to show that hepatitis C rapid and point of care tests with a quick turnaround time are highly accurate and reliable as conventional first-line laboratory tests.

16 Oct 2012

U.N. report shows francophone African countries lag behind in AIDS Treatment; NGOs call for increased funding

"Despite great progress within a short time, the 29 French-speaking countries of sub-Saharan Africa are lagging far behind other states in the region in the battle against HIV/AIDS and need a massive increase in international aid, according to a United Nations report" released Friday, the U.N. News Centre reports.

16 Oct 2012

HIV agent offers HER2-positive breast cancer hope

A drug used to treat HIV infection may be a new treatment line for patients with an aggressive type of breast cancer, US researchers believe.

15 Oct 2012

Environmental factors affect pneumonia hospitalization in HIV

Hospital admissions for Pneumocystis pneumonia in HIV-infected individuals are significantly more common in the summer months, US research shows.

15 Oct 2012

U.S. can draw lessons from PEPFAR success to address epidemic in black America

"Thirty years ago, the CDC reported the first cases of HIV/AIDS in New York and Los Angeles," Foreign Policy In Focus columnist Kwei Quartey writes in the Huffington Post World Blog, noting, "Since the beginning of the epidemic, over 600,000 people have died of AIDS in the United States, and 1.2 million people are currently living with HIV."

15 Oct 2012

Indonesia issues order to override patents on 7 HIV, hepatitis drugs

"Indonesia's government has quietly issued an order to override the patents on seven important medicines used to treat people with HIV and hepatitis B and allow cheap versions to be made by local drug companies," Guardian Health Editor Sarah Boseley reports in her "Global Health Blog."

15 Oct 2012

PEPFAR launches training initiative for HIV/AIDS organizations in Bahamas

"On Wednesday, October 10, U.S. and Bahamian officials attended the official launch of 'The Caribbean Grant Solicitation and Management Program,' a new PEPFAR initiative that will be executed locally by the U.S.-based nonprofit World Learning through USAID," a press release from the U.S. Embassy in Nassau, Bahamas, reports.

15 Oct 2012

Tanzania investigating circulation of fake HIV drugs, stops local ARV production

BBC News reports on an investigation into the circulation of fake HIV drugs in Tanzania, writing, "Analysts say there is concern about the quality of locally made drugs given widespread corruption in political circles in the East Africa nation."

15 Oct 2012

Global Fund, Churches Health Association of Zambia sign grant agreement worth $102M

"The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria signed a grant agreement worth $102 million with the Churches Health Association of Zambia [CHAZ] Wednesday," Devex's "Development Newswire" reports.

13 Oct 2012

Mexican government, NGOs working to expand access to clean syringes to prevent HIV among IDUs

Inter Press Service examines how Mexico's government and non-governmental organizations are working to stem the spread of HIV among people who use injection drugs. "According to a project financed by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria since 2011, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Mexico is 5.77 percent among intravenous drug users ... compared to 0.24 to 0.3 percent in the general population aged 15 to 49," IPS writes, noting HIV prevalence among drug users is highest in "northern Mexico, one of the areas in the country hit hardest by drug trafficking."

13 Oct 2012