HIV 1 News and Research

RSS

Russia should abandon 'zero-tolerance' approach to drug use and implement proven prevention strategies

Why have effective, "simple tools such as Medication Assisted Therapy and clean needle-exchange services" -- methods that are "very effective in decreasing drug abuse and reducing risk of infection with HIV, hepatitis C and other diseases" – "had so little impact on the policies and programs of the Russian Federation?" Bertrand Audoin, executive director of the International AIDS Society, and Chris Beyrer, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, write in this New York Times opinion piece.

6 Mar 2012

Zimbabwe parliamentarians lauded for undergoing voluntary HIV counseling, testing and male circumcision

"More than 170 of Zimbabwe's parliamentarians from across the political divide have resolved to undergo voluntary counseling and HIV testing in a bid to encourage the grassroots to follow suit," and "the 150 male members in the 175-member group have also resolved to be circumcised," a Herald editorial states.

6 Mar 2012

WHO reports more than 900,000 lives saved because of HIV/TB care and prevention guidelines, releases updated version

"An estimated 910,000 lives were saved globally in six years due to guidelines intended to ensure that people living with HIV/AIDS are protected from tuberculosis [TB], the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) said today, releasing an updated policy on joint prevention, diagnosis and treatment of both diseases," the U.N. News Centre reports.

6 Mar 2012

AIDS advocacy groups ask Obama to reconsider FY13 budget request for PEPFAR

"Nine global HIV/AIDS advocacy organizations sent a letter [.pdf] to President Obama Thursday asking him to rethink his fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget recommendation to slash $546 million in funding from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports.

6 Mar 2012

Ukraine Security Secretary says HIV, TB remain threat to nation's security, encourages cooperation with Global Fund

Speaking about two bills concerning Ukraine's cooperation with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Ukraine Secretary of National Security and Defense Council Andriy Kliuyev said "the epidemics of AIDS and tuberculosis [TB] remain a threat to national security in Ukraine and require redoubled efforts to treat and prevent these diseases," Interfax reports.

5 Mar 2012

Bill Gates meets MTBVAC TB vaccine researchers in Spain

On 21 February Bill Gates met with Dr. Carlos Martin of the University of Zaragoza and members of his team in Madrid, Spain. The scientists are working on the development of MTBVAC, a new vaccine against tuberculosis (TB). Gates showed great interest in the scientific background of MTBVAC, the most advanced vaccine based on attenuation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

5 Mar 2012

Inovio's SynCon vaccine for HPV types 6 and 11 induces CD8+ T cells in mice

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that its SynCon therapeutic vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6 and 11, which are associated with head & neck cancers and genital warts, among other conditions, induced strong antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in mice.

5 Mar 2012

GVDI develops PERCUGUARD needlestick prevention device

Golden Valley Development, Inc. is pleased to announce the development of the PERCUGUARD needlestick prevention device, a tool currently unavailable in the medical and dental industries, exceeding 1 billion potential annual applications worldwide.

5 Mar 2012

Chinese government pledges greater support for organizations fighting HIV/AIDS

"Organizations involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS will get greater government support," Yu Jingjin, director of the disease prevention and control bureau under China's Ministry of Health, said, China Daily reports.

3 Mar 2012

Zimbabwe's Mugabe urges lawmakers to be tested for HIV, publicly reveal status as part of new initiative

In an announcement launching the Zimbabwe Parliamentarians Against HIV (ZIPAH) in Harare on Thursday, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said since he came to office in 1980 "quite a number of" his cabinet ministers have died of AIDS-related causes, and he challenged government officials to get tested for HIV and publicly reveal their status, the Zimbabwean reports.

3 Mar 2012

HIV rate drops among needle-drug users

About 1 in 10 needle drug users tested positive for HIV in 2009, a steep drop from the rate recorded in the 1990s, which was 1 in 5.

3 Mar 2012

Roundup: Iowa lawmaker urges waiting on exchange bill until court rules; Calif. group finds way to recycle medicine

Democrats and Republicans disagree about whether the Legislature needs to approve a health insurance exchange this spring. At a Statehouse forum on the issue Thursday, state Sen. Brad Zaun noted that the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this summer on whether major portions of the health reform law are constitutional. Zaun, an Urbandale Republican who opposes the overall law, said it makes sense to wait until after that decision before deciding whether to move ahead with the exchange.

3 Mar 2012

WHO criticized for not efficiently communicating recommendations on HIV, contraception to African women, PlusNews reports

"HIV organizations, researchers and activists have criticized the WHO and UNAIDS for not clearly communicating guidelines on HIV and hormonal contraception to African women, who remain the most affected by the continent's high HIV prevalence rates," PlusNews reports.

3 Mar 2012

Safe sex apps anyone?

As part of National Condom Week (Feb. 14 - Feb. 21), Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest distributed 55,000 condoms throughout western Washington. The condom packaging contained QR codes, barcodes that can be scanned by smart phones which direct users to a mobile website. The website is www.WhereDidYouWearIt.com, a geo-location service website that allows users to “check-in” their safe sex activity. The site is intended to promote healthy sexuality and encourage social media users, to “be proud to wear protection,” Planned Parenthood said in a written statement. “Wheredidyouwearit.com is like Foursquare for people who don’t want a sexually transmitted infection,” PPGNW said on its website.

2 Mar 2012

HIV among injection drug users declines

U.S. health officials say the rate has dropped by half since the 1990s. The decline may be related to a growth in needle exchange programs. For the report more than 10,000 drug users in 20 metropolitan areas were surveyed and tested for HIV in 2009. About 1 in 10 tested positive for the virus. In the '90s, roughly 1 in 5 did. Addicts who inject heroin, cocaine or other drugs have been one of the groups hit hardest by AIDS.

2 Mar 2012

Europe conference to discuss on new HIV indicator diseases

Today, heterosexuals in Europe are at particular risk of carrying HIV for so long that they remain undiagnosed until their immune system starts to fail and they become ill. An international study under the leadership of the HIV in Europe initiative has now revealed that a number of diseases, including herpes zoster and certain forms of cancer, should be on the list of indicators for having HIV - and thus serve to prompt health care professionals to suggest an HIV-test to their patients.

2 Mar 2012

CDC official speaks about HIV, TB work in Africa, Haiti

As part of its series of interviews with CDC staff working on global HIV and tuberculosis (TB) research and development, the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog spoke with Jordan Tappero, "who is currently serving as director for the Health Systems Reconstruction Office in the Center for Global Health, an office opened in response to the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti."

2 Mar 2012

Longer looks: Romney's evolution on abortion; The birth of the HIV epidemic

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney began his political career as a pro-choicer. In the story he tells, he had an epiphany, a flash of insight, and committed himself thereafter to protecting life. But that isn't what happened. The real story of Romney's conversion-;a series of tentative, equivocal, and confused shifts, accompanied by a constant rewriting of his past-;paints a more accurate picture of who he is.

2 Mar 2012

March issue of WHO Bulletin available online

The March issue of the WHO Bulletin features an editorial on global shortages of medicines; a public health round-up; an article on breast cancer awareness; a research paper on interventions for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa; and a paper on the global burden of cholera.

2 Mar 2012

Women need more contraception options that protect against pregnancy, HIV

In this Huffington Post "Black Voices" opinion piece, Vanessa Cullins, vice president for external medical affairs at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, responds to an announcement by the WHO in February that the agency would not revise its contraception guidelines for women living with and at risk of HIV infection based on a "study suggesting that hormonal contraception increases women's risk of acquiring and transmitting HIV to their partners."

2 Mar 2012