Positively Positive - Living with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS News
HIV and AIDS News from around the world
Worldwide 88.4 million people have been infected with HIV.
Worldwide 42.3 million people with HIV have died.
Practicing Safe Sex is our best resource in preventing HIV infection through sexual contact.
Sexual contact accounts for 95 percent of all new HIV infections worldwide.
Safe Sex = Disease Prevention – STAY SAFE!
Use A Condom Every Time!
“HIV needs to be in the media each and every day as most people only see snippets of news and these are not effective enough. For this reason, in 2007, I decided to include an HIV/AIDS News page where people could find information on many HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) related issues, Infectious Disease,
and more.
I collaborate with individuals, groups, and organizations throughout the world, to include their HIV/AIDS news articles, press releases, events, workshops, conferences, and more on PositivelyPositive.ca. News items stay on the HIV/AIDS News page for a month,
and then News items go into the HIV/AIDS News Archives.”
Bradford McIntyre
UK Aids Memorial Quilt to be shown at Tate Modern
April 21, 2025 - By Jess Warren - BBC News - The UK Aids Memorial Quilt collection is to be displayed in the Tate Modern later this year.
A combination of 42 quilts and 23 individual panels, which represents about 385 people who lost their lives to HIV/Aids in the UK, will be displayed in the art gallery's Turbine Hall.
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‘People still think it’s a death sentence,’ Toronto play reveals what life is like for a person living with HIV today
April 20, 2025 - By Devon Banfield - NOW Toronto - A play hitting the stage in Toronto explores what life is currently like for someone living with HIV.
Toronto playwright and actor Mark Keller says that he was inspired to write his award-winning play POZ after he was diagnosed with HIV ten years ago.
Determined to do anything other than sit with his pain, Keller had the idea for POZ, a 70-minute stage play that dives into a personal story about his life with HIV. But it took ten years for POZ to come to fruition, with Keller saying he needed to experience life with HIV before he was able to create a play about it.
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Campaigners and charities horrified by revelations about impact of Trump’s ‘reckless’ USAID cuts
18 April 2025 - By David Maddox - The Independent - Trump has been accused of giving ‘millions of people a death sentence’ after The Independent exposed the reality of the cuts on the ground
Donald Trump has been accused of “giving millions of people a death sentence” following revelations in The Independent about the impact on the Aids pandemic of his decision to dismantle USAID.
Veteran LGBT+ and HIV campaigner Peter Tatchell joined leading politicians and charities in expressing his disgust at the massive cuts by the White House, which are facing a legal challenge in the US.
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Political action group ACT UP Cleveland meets for the first time in over 20 years amid threats to HIV/AIDS funding
April 17, 2025 - By H.L. Comeriato - The Buckeye Flame - ‘We have lived this nightmare before.’
The Cleveland chapter of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) drew nearly 100 people to its first public meeting in more than two decades.
With massive cuts to federal AIDS programs looming, longtime activists and organizers joined dozens of young people interested in reviving the group, widely known for acts of civil disobedience and direct political action around AIDS in the late 1980s and 1990s.
On the second floor of the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, in the city’s Gordon Square Neighborhood, ACT UP veteran and long term HIV survivor Gil Kudrin addressed the crowd.
‘We have to plan for the worst and hope for the best’
Apr 16, 2025- words and images by Mark S. King - Positively Aware - An air of anxiety at the 2025 Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit
The Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit, an NMAC project that serves as an annual gathering of public health workers, community advocates and researchers focused on HIV prevention, might be forgiven if there was an odd disconnect between its program agenda and the topics that were most prominent in the minds of its attendees.
After all, the 2025 Summit, which ran April 10–12 in Atlanta, was designed before the dismantling of huge swaths of federal assistance programs, before the freezing of billions of dollars of HIV programs, before NIH research grants were rescinded, and before governmental web pages devoted to HIV were taken down and any mention of transgender people was wiped away.
And so, the summit’s array of workshops and presentations on making PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) more available, injectable medications, digital health, and HIV testing programs became an eerie snapshot of life as we knew it as HIV advocates only a few short months ago, before the public health landscape changed swiftly and dramatically.
Gary Dell'Abate on His Decades of Activism in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS on Behalf of Late Brother
April 16, 2025 - By Chris Gardner - The Hollywood Reporter - Ahead of receiving the Elizabeth Taylor Commitment to End AIDS Award, Dell’Abate talks his history in fight on behalf of his late brother Steven.
In New York City on May 8, the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation will honor veteran actress Rosie Perez and The Howard Stern Show icon Gary Dell’Abate by shining a light on their decades of activism on behalf of the cause. It will surely be a big night for the pair, and if Dell’Abate’s mother were still alive, he knows exactly what she would say.
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UNAIDS reacts to WHO Member States reaching Pandemic Agreement consensus
GENEVA, 16 April 2025 - UNAIDS - Delegates at the World Health Organization (WHO) Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) have today reached a consensus on the Pandemic Agreement. Negotiations began in 2021, with an aim of building a framework for pandemic preparedness, prevention, and response that learned from the COVID-19 and AIDS pandemics.
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and other stakeholder played an important role in supporting the process by advocating for an agreement that centres equity and human rights.
In response to the news of the consensus Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, stated:
“During COVID-19, we at UNAIDS watched in horror as the world failed to learn the lessons of AIDS, a pandemic we have been fighting for decades. The consensus reached today is a critical first step towards ensuring the world never makes the same mistakes again – and proof that, in a time of instability, global cooperation can deliver for humanity.”
ELTON JOHN AIDS FOUNDATION JOINS FORCES WITH BRANDI CARLILE’S LOOKING OUT FOUNDATION TO RAISE $1 MILLION TO PROTECT HIV CARE AROUND THE WORLD
NEW YORK, April 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - ELTON JOHN AIDS FOUNDATION - Following their collaborative studio album “Who Believes In Angels?”, the two iconic artists and longtime friends announce their initiative to deliver life-saving HIV care and services
Today, the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Looking Out Foundation announced a landmark initiative—the “Who Believes In Angels?” Campaign—to address the urgent global humanitarian crisis caused by recent cuts to HIV/AIDS funding in the United States.
The partnership, spearheaded by global superstar Elton John and multi-Grammy-winning artist Brandi Carlile, is bringing their communities together to raise funds for the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s lifesaving work globally and its Rocket Response Fund. This emergency initiative will help Elton John AIDS Foundation’s partners maintain essential services following significant cuts in funding due to the termination of USAID support. The Rocket Response Fund will direct resources to reopen clinics, restore access to essential medications, and maintain prevention services — ensuring people around the world continue to receive the vital HIV care they need.
Preventive care may no longer be free in 2026 because of HIV stigma – unless the Trump administration successfully defends the ACA
April 15, 2025 - The Conversation - Many Americans were relieved when the Supreme Court left the Affordable Care Act in place following the law’s third major legal challenge in June 2021. This decision permitted widely supported policies to continue, such as ensuring health coverage regardless of preexisting conditions, allowing coverage for dependents up to age 26 on their parents’ plan, and removing annual and lifetime benefit limits.
But millions are still at risk of losing access to lifesaving medicine and preventive services, following the Supreme Court’s decision to hear another case – Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. v. Braidwood – that has been working its way through lower courts for several years.
Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, HIV/AIDS pioneer, memorialized at Judson
April 14, 2025 - By Gay City News - Patients, colleagues, and friends gathered at Judson Memorial Church on April 12 to remember the life and work of early HIV/AIDS trailblazer Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, who died in London in 2021 at the age of 88.
Sonnabend was a native of South Africa who grew up in what is now Zimbabwe before training in London and moving to New York City, where he was a medical researcher with a practice in Greenwich Village. He was known for sounding the alarm about what would become HIV/AIDS at a time when health authorities were slow to respond to it.
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At 1.27%, Punjab’s sero-positivity rate for HIV exceeds nat’l average
April 14, 2025 - Chabigarh News - Times of India - Chandigarh: Amid its ongoing struggle with drug addiction, Punjab now faces another pressing health concern—an alarming rise in HIV/AIDS cases. The state continues to report HIV sero-positivity levels significantly above normal average, raising red flags among public health officials.
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Haunted by hopelessness: 12 Zambians share their stories as HIV drugs run out
April 14, 2025 - By Gabrielle Emanuel, Rebecca Davis - Goats and Soda - NPR - People are falling ill because the U.S.-funded clinics where they got their HIV medications and care have suddenly been shuttered. The staff is gone. The electricity has been shut off. Some patients have already run out of their daily pills that keep HIV at bay — and they have started to feel the physical consequences of the virus surging back.
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Nova Scotia House by Charlie Porter review – a headlong rush through the turbulent Aids era
13 April 2025 - By Nick Duerden - The Guardian - Porter’s urgent prose propels the reader into the gay scene of the 1980s and early 90s as his protagonist’s life is torn apart by the HIV crisis
he humble comma, normally so easily overlooked within a page of text, is clearly Charlie Porter’s weapon of choice for his debut novel. Here, he wields it to propel his narrative forward in the kind of urgent, endless staccato rush that sometimes requires the reader to look briefly up and away, if only to gulp at some fresh air.
Nova Scotia House, the 51-year-old journalist’s first work of fiction after two books on fashion, tells the story of living through the Aids crisis of the 1980s and early 90s, and how those who survived it will be forever accompanied by the ghostly presence of those who didn’t.
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Eliminating worm infections as a key strategy for HIV/AIDS prevention
11 April 2025 - German Center for Infection Research - Researchers from the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at the LMU University Hospital Munich, the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) – Mbeya Medical Research Center (MMRC) and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), together with colleagues from Bonn, have discovered a risk factor for HIV infection that has received little attention to date. In an earlier cohort study conducted in Tanzania, they had demonstrated for the first time that infection with the worm Wuchereria bancrofti increases the risk of contracting HIV. This link has now been further investigated in the context of a national program in Tanzania to eliminate W. bancrofti—the causative agent of lymphatic filariasis. The follow-up study confirms that the containment of this worm infection leads to a reduction in new HIV infections. The results of the RHINO study have now been published in the journal The Lancet HIV.
Expert Says Tariffs & USAID Cuts Could Lead to Job Losses, Rollback of HIV/AIDS Gains & Greater China Influence in Lesotho
Newswise - 11 April 2025 - by College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign - Before President Donald Trump abruptly changed course on tariffs, Lesotho--the 12th smallest African nation--was near the top of the list of countries whose products would be taxed at the U.S. border. Charles Fogelman, a professor of Global Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an expert on the politics of Lesotho, describes how the ever-changing tariff news and the cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development will affect this tiny nation.
Trump’s Revenge on Public Health
April 11, 2025 - By Katherine J. Wu - The Atlantic - The attacks on HIV research are just the beginning of unraveling decades of progress.
If the United States learned any lesson from HIV, it should have been that negligence can be a death sentence. In the early 1980s, the virus’s ravages were treated as “something that happens over there, only to those people,” Juan Michael Porter II, a health journalist and an HIV activist, told me. But the more the virus and the people it most affected were ignored, the worse the epidemic got.
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Healio begins live coverage of European ID conference
April 11, 2025 - By Gerard Gallager - Healio - Healio will have live coverage of this year’s ESCMID Global, one of the largest medical conferences dedicated to infectious diseases and clinical microbiology in the world.
The conference, known informally for years as ECCMID, was renamed last year for the organization that runs it — the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) — and to reflect its global focus, organizers said.
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WISHstory: Ryan White barred from attending school due to AIDS diagnosis, pushes back (1985)
Apr, 10, 2025 - WISH-TV - Ryan White, a teenager from Kokomo, Indiana, was diagnosed with AIDS in Dec. 1984 following a blood transfusion.
The teenager was being kept out of the Western Middle School in Howard County as parents and teachers feared AIDS.
This story aired on July 31, 1985, and was WISH-TV reporter Leslie Olsen's first coverage of Ryan over five years.
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Trump administration plans to remove all members of HIV advisory council
April 10, 2025 - By Dan Levine - Reuters - April 9 - The Trump administration plans to remove all the members of a presidential advisory council on HIV/AIDS and provided no timeline for replacing them as the government overhauls its prevention and treatment efforts for the disease.
The 30-year-old Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) had more than 30 members before U.S. President Donald Trump's inauguration in January, according to an archived version of its web page.
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HHS closes CDC lab that tracks STIs, alarming experts
April 09, 2025 - Healio - The Trump administration has shut down a CDC laboratory dedicated to tracking STIs, which experts said could weaken the country’s ability to keep an eye on drug-resistant infections, including gonorrhea.
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Uncovering HIV’s Hiding Places
April 9, 2025 - By Jeffrey Laurence, MD - amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research - Researchers scour blood and tissues in search of an elusive marker for HIV reservoir cells
HIV reservoirs persist in multiple cell types and tissues despite effective antiretroviral therapy (ART), presenting the primary obstacle to curing HIV. Revealing such HIV hiding places is thus critical to eradicating the virus.
One approach involves cellular labels, so-called phenotypic protein markers, several of which have been reported by multiple research groups as being enriched among HIV reservoir cells. Some of these proteins could also shield those cells from immune recognition and destruction and promote their survival, thus offering clues to novel types of ART.
Ranking Member Frankel Statement at PEPFAR Hearing
April 8, 2025 - Congresswoman Lois Frankel - Appropriations Committee Democrats - Congresswoman Lois Frankel (D-FL-22), Ranking Member of the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the subcommittee's hearing to assess the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR):
Good morning.
Thank you to our witnesses, Dr. Mark Dybul and Ms. Catherine Connor, for joining us today to discuss the future of PEPFAR—one of the most effective and most bipartisan global health achievements in American history.
Since its launch under President George W. Bush in 2003, PEPFAR has saved more than 26 million lives, supported HIV testing for over 71 million people, prevented 5.5 million babies from being born with HIV, and provided care to 7 million orphans and vulnerable children. It has trained over 330,000 healthcare workers and helped build health systems that serve more than 50 countries across Africa, developing countries in Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
People Living With HIV Still Face Discrimination In Malaysian Hospitals, Says MAC
KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 - By Alifah Zainuddin - CodeBlue - Discrimination against people living with HIV (PLHIV) in both public and private hospitals remains an issue in Malaysia, says the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC).
Many cases of discrimination go unreported due to fear of stigma, lack of awareness about patient rights, and reluctance to file formal complaints.
MAC president Assoc Prof Dr Raja Iskandar Shah Raja Azwa said some health care workers continue to hold outdated fears about HIV transmission, leading to inappropriate practices such as double gloving, unnecessary additional precautions, refusal to perform medical procedures, delayed treatment, and breaches of confidentiality.
“Discriminatory practices, such as refusing treatment, making unnecessary referrals, or avoiding physical contact, violate medical ethics and professional conduct guidelines,” Dr Raja Iskandar told CodeBlue in an email response. “Every patient deserves access to dignified, non-judgmental health care.”
TOMORROW: Media Briefing on the Global State of Malaria: New Research, Evolving Risks, and Silver Linings
Newswise - 8 April 2025 - by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health - The live briefing will take place from 9:00 to 9:30 a.m. EDT (1:00 to 1:30 p.m. GMT // 4:00 to 4:30 p.m. Nairobi) on Wednesday, April 9, via Zoom, and will feature two experts from the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Jane M. Carlton, PhD, and George Dimopoulos, PhD, MBA, will discuss the latest research, the need for sustained investment, why malaria is so challenging to eradicate, and how modifying mosquitoes may be a way to combat the disease.
Public Health will host an expert briefing for the media about efforts to control and prevent malaria around the world. Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that in 2023 took nearly 600,000 lives in 83 countries, the majority being children under age 5 in the WHO African Region.
In the U.S., the risk of contracting malaria remains low; however, continued vigilance is needed to prevent increases in both domestic cases from foreign travel and, as occurred in 2023 for the first time in 20 years, locally transmitted cases.
Here’s What Parents Need to Know About a Measles Outbreak
Newswise- 7-April-2025 - by Children's Hospital Los Angeles - Measles is one of the world’s most contagious diseases. Thankfully, modern medicine provides an extremely effective tool against outbreaks, severe illness, and death.
A recent study estimates that, over the last 50 years, the measles vaccine has helped prevent more than 93 million deaths globally. But while high vaccination rates nearly eliminated measles in the U.S. in the 2000s, outbreaks have become more common in recent years due to lower vaccination levels in some communities.
Michael Smit, MD, MSPH, is the Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. He’s spent his career exploring how infections spread, and how outbreaks can be prevented.
“If your goal is to avoid catching measles—and spreading it to others—the vaccine is your best bet,” he says. “I recommend the vaccine to everybody eligible to receive it.”
Here's what parents need to know about staying safe and healthy in a measles outbreak.
SA scientists release promising HIV cure trial results
5 April 2025 - By Lyse Comins - The Mail & Guardian - South African scientists have released the findings of the first HIV cure trial in Africa with promising results showing viral suppression in 20% of women who stopped taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) after 18 months.
The study involved 20 women who tested positive for HIV at the Females Rising through Education, Support and Health (Fresh) clinic in Umlazi, KwaZulu-Natal, and started taking antiretroviral treatment a day after knowing their status.
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Do You Feel Love?
Apr 5 2025 - By Mark S. King - My Fabulous Disease - More than ten years ago, when pop icon Donna Summer died, I wrote a tribute to the impact her music had made on me as a young gay man growing up in Louisiana in 1977.
A few weeks ago, producer Becky Ripley at BBC Radio 4 in Bristol, UK somehow ran across that essay and read it. She was working on a new episode of their long-running show and podcast, “Soul Music” that would focus on the Donna Summer song, “I Feel Love.” She booked me for an interview in-studio.
That episode, released today, allows me to tell the story of finding my tribe during a time when feeling love was anything but a given, so early in the gay pride movement were we that self-love was a hard-earned journey. But Donna’s song, and its invitation to the dance floor and, for me, to a community that embraced me, was a soothing balm to my longing.
Find HIV Where it Hides – UCSF Grad Slam 2025 1st Place and People's Choice Winner, Sophia Miliotis
April 4. 2025 - UC San Fran - Sophia Miliotis presents her winning Grad Slam talk, "Finding HIV: A Swipe in the Right Direction," about her research to find latent HIV virus in the body and kill it.
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It’s time to ACT UP for HIV long-term survivors!
April 4, 2025 - The Reunion Project - To fight back, consider joining one of hundreds of events taking place tomorrow, April 5, for a mass mobilization and say, Hands Off! Enough is Enough! For more information go to handsoff2025.org.
Over the past several weeks we have seen drastic and devastating cuts to HIV treatment, prevention and care programs here in the U.S. The Reunion Project recognizes that these cuts have the potential to undo decades of progress. According to a statement issued by NMAC, "As part of a broad restructuring ordered by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the entire staff of the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP) has been laid off. The Office of Minority Health has been dissolved, and major HIV prevention programs at the CDC have been slashed, forcing state and local health departments, community-based organizations, to severely curtail and in some cases eliminate services in the most underserved communities."
We must fight back against these cuts and demand protections for all people living with and vulnerable to HIV.
How Your Immune System Plays Matchmaker to Find and Kill HIV
Graduate students present research about how to track down HIV, fight brain tumors with T cells, and treat brain disorders prenatally.
April 04 2025 - By Trudy Ring - UCSF - What do the Tinder dating app and our immune system have in common? They are both committed to swiping candidates to screen for the perfect match. However, instead of love, our immune system is looking for signs of viruses in cells that should be destroyed, according to Sophia Miliotis, a UC San Francisco PhD student and winner of UCSF’s 2025 Grad Slam, the university’s annual PhD student research communication competition.
But, there’s a catch with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, Miliotis pointed outs. It doesn’t play by the matchmaking rules. HIV evades immune detection by rapidly mutating and generating millions of unique pieces of the virus, called peptides, that our immune system can’t recognize. As a result, some HIV-infected cells escape and lay dormant for decades, possibly coming to the surface if medication is interrupted.
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Liias’ bill codifying Apple Health coverage for HIV antiviral drugs signed into law
OLYMPIA - April 04, 2025 - Bipartisan legislation ensuring the state’s Medicaid program continues to cover HIV antiviral drugs without prior authorization was signed into law Friday.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Marko Liias (D-Edmonds), requires the Health Care Authority continue covering all HIV antiviral drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration without prior authorization for clients enrolled in Apple Health, the state’s Medicaid program. The Legislature appropriated funds for this coverage in the 2023-25 operating budget, and the bill codifies the requirement in state law.
“This brings us one step closer to eradicating HIV and AIDS in Washington. Now patients statewide will continue to have access to antiviral drugs without any unnecessary barriers,” Liias said. “We know this is policy reduces transmission and keeps people healthy, and I’m thrilled to see it signed into law.”
Social Security demands that gay activist living with AIDS repay $200k in benefits
The federal agency claims Paul Aguilar has been overpaid.
April 04 2025 - By Trudy Ring - ADVOCATE - Paul Aguilar, an AIDS activist in San Francisco, has received a letter from the Social Security Administration demanding that he repay about $200,000 in disability benefits he has received.
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Unprecedented Cuts Across Health and Human Services Put Lives in Peril
New York, NY, April 3, 2025 - amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research - More than one million people living with HIV in the U.S. rely on services that can only be provided by a fully funded HIV response
amfAR is gravely concerned by budget and staffing cuts that will significantly weaken the United States’ domestic and global response to the HIV epidemic. Investments in HIV prevention, which increased during President Trump’s first term with the creation of the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative, have resulted in a decrease in new HIV infections. Reductions across the Department of Health and Human Services will erode all the major progress that has been made since 2019 and significantly undermine decades of bipartisan progress and risk reversing hard-won gains in HIV prevention, treatment, and research.
Grant cancelations at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) threaten to curtail innovation, slowing development of new treatments not only for HIV, but for a range of other diseases as well. Staffing reductions at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will delay the approval of life-saving interventions. And cuts to HIV prevention and surveillance at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will severely hinder the ability of public health professionals to monitor and control the spread of HIV in the U.S.
Russia bans Elton John Aids Foundation over its support for LGBTQ+ rights
Apr 3 2025 - By Pjotr Sauer - The Guardian - Designation as ‘undesirable organisation’ exposes nonprofit’s staff and partners to possible criminal prosecution
Russian authorities on Thursday banned the Elton John Aids Foundation (EJAF), which focuses on HIV/Aids prevention, citing its support for LGBTQ+ rights as a reason for the move.
Founded by the British singer and songwriter in 1992, the organisation funds HIV treatment programmes in countries including Russia. It also advocates for LGBTQ+ people, who have faced years of brutal persecution in Russia.
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Continued decline in new HIV cases in 2024 reflects success of prevention and control efforts in Hong Kong
Newswise - Apr.2,2025 - by American Public Health Association (APHA) - - The Department of Health (DH) today (April 3) summarised the situation of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and released the findings of a survey on HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among female sex workers (FSWs) in Hong Kong in 2024. The decline in the number of new cases of HIV infection in Hong Kong for the ninth consecutive year and a prevalence rate well below the global average reflected the success of Hong Kong's prevention and control efforts. However, due to the high proportion of late presentation, the DH encouraged the public to undergo HIV antibody testing, and to use condoms regularly and correctly to minimise the risk of HIV infection.
In the year of 2024, the DH received 365 new HIV cases, including 297 males and 68 females aged between 14 and 89. Among the cases with a reported route of transmission, 312 cases (99 per cent) acquired the infection through sexual contact, including 216 through homosexual or bisexual contact and 96 through heterosexual contact. Almost half of the cases (44 per cent) were reported by public hospitals, clinics, and laboratories, followed by Acquired Immuodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) service organisations. The cumulative total of locally reported HIV infections since 1984 is 12 403. The prevalence of HIV infection among the general public in Hong Kong remained at 0.1 per cent, well below the global average, demonstrating the effectiveness of AIDS control and prevention in Hong Kong," said the Consultant (Special Preventive Programme) of the Public Health Services Branch of the Centre for Health Protection of the DH, Dr Bonnie Wong.
Over 100 Public Health Leaders—Including Former HHS Secretaries, CDC Directors, U.S. Surgeon General, Governors, and State Health Officials—Urge Congress to Reject Trump Administration’s Dismantling of CDC and Public Health Programs
April 3, 2025 - Government Information Centre “GovHK (www.gov.hk)” - More than 100 of the nation’s most respected public health leaders—including former U.S. Secretaries of Health and Human Services, a former U.S. Surgeon General, multiple former CDC directors, former Governors, and retired state health directors and commissioners of health, as well as corporate and non-profit leaders—have issued a forceful open letter urging Congress to stop the Trump administration’s sweeping efforts to dismantle the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and undermine the country’s public health infrastructure.The letter, organized by For Our Health, was released in direct response to drastic actions recently announced by Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy. The administration’s plan would eliminate 10,000 full-time public health positions, restructure core CDC functions and transfer key responsibilities to a newly created “Administration for a Healthy America”—a move public health leaders warn will seriously compromise the nation’s ability to prevent and respond to health emergencies.
The signatories span political administrations and levels of government, having served under Presidents Carter, Clinton, George W. Bush, Biden and the first Trump administration. Their message is unified and urgent: the Trump administration’s actions pose a grave threat to the health and safety of the American people.
Global Fund Secures First Eighth Replenishment Pledge – A Historic Private Sector Commitment from Children’s Investment Fund Foundation
LONDON - 02 April 2025 - Global Fund - The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) today announced the first pledge to its Eighth Replenishment Campaign – and it comes from the private sector. The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) has made a groundbreaking US$150 million commitment, a five-fold increase from its previous contribution. This historic pledge not only underscores CIFF’s unwavering commitment to global health, but also sets a powerful precedent for private sector leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria.
B.C. doctor worries USAID cuts will lead to 6 million more HIV deaths over 4 years
April 2, 2025 - CBC - Dr. Julio Montaner, who is the physician-in-chief for the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, says that he is dumbfounded and devastated by the U.S. administration's decision to cut funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Montaner says the decision will lead to a significant uptick in HIV cases across the globe.
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USask research explores benefits of donor breast milk for HIV-exposed babies
April 2, 2025 - By Matt Olson - University of Saskatchewan (USask) - As the World Health Organization prepares to spotlight World Health Day on April 7 by kicking off a year-long campaign on maternal and newborn health, University of Saskatchewan (USask) health researchers are examining the benefits of donor breast milk for HIV-exposed infants.
he USask-led project is exploring both the accessibility and feasibility of using donor breast milk to supplement the feeding of babies born to a mother with HIV, or “HIV-exposed infants.”
Chloe Langen, a Master of Science student in the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, is helping to co-ordinate the project that will provide pasteurized human donor breast milk to HIV-exposed infants.
The hope of the project is to determine the efficacy of not only regularly supplying donor breast milk for HIV-exposed infants, but also the logistics of getting caregivers the donor milk.
Novel Point-of-Care Technology Delivers Accurate HIV Results in Minutes
Apr 2, 2025 - By Win Reynolds - Engineering News | Northwestern University - The low-cost test builds on existing platform that assesses COVID-19 and water quality
A team of Northwestern University scientists spanning disciplines has developed new technology that could lead to the creation of a rapid point-of-care test for HIV infection competitive with traditional lab-based HIV testing in a fraction of the time and without the need for a stressful wait while results are processed or confirmed in a clinical laboratory.
HIV-diagnostic technology traditionally relied on the detection of HIV-specific antibodies that form several weeks after infection. This has limited their use in early detection, complicating patient care and HIV prevention efforts. Newer tests that detect both HIV antibodies and the p24 antigen (an earlier marker of HIV infection) are now the gold standard for diagnosis, but require clinical labs to run results, contributing to longer processing times, higher costs, and the need for multiple patient visits.
The technology described in a study published April 2 in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics uses a nanomechanical platform and tiny cantilevers to detect multiple HIV antigens at high sensitivity in a matter of minutes. These silicon cantilevers are cheap and easy to mass produce and can be readily equipped with a digital readout. Built into a solar-powered device, this technology could be taken to hard-to-reach parts of the world where early detection remains a challenge to deliver fast interventions to vulnerable populations without waiting for a lab.
With risk on the rise and funding on decline, uOttawa-led team examines punishing costs of TB care across the globe
OTTAWA, On. (April 2, 2025) - University of Ottawa - Research team focuses on the true cost of global tuberculosis care as foreign aid is slashed and millions of people are more at risk from this top infectious disease killer
These are uniquely challenging times in the fight against the enduring and accelerating scourge of tuberculosis (TB) – an airborne illness caused by bacteria that kills more people than any other infectious disease despite the fact it’s preventable and curable.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a serious setback in TB progress as health resources were diverted. The slashing of foreign aid by the U.S. government, which had largely propped up international TB prevention and treatment efforts, threatens to hobble access to care for this chronic disease and provide new chances for TB to propagate and spread drug resistance. The result: Millions of people — especially the world’s most vulnerable – are more at risk.
Middle East and North Africa experiencing ‘escalating HIV epidemic’
2 April 2025 - By Katherine Hearst - MIDDLE EAST EYE - A new report from Frontline AIDS finds that cases in the region have surged by 116 percent since 2010 amid war and little funding
Frontline AIDS, a global organisation, has analysed HIV prevention and response strategies in its Prevention and Accountability Report for the Middle East and North Africa, finding that across Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia cases have risen by 116 percent since 2010, compared to a 39 percent decrease in new infections globally over the same period.
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FACT SHEET: Trump, Musk, & RFK Jr. Hollow Out HHS, Threatening Americans’ Health and Wellbeing
Washington, D.C. - 04.01.25 Minority News Release | United States Senate Committee on Appropriations - Trump carries out mass firings across HHS and subagencies today
Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), responded to the Trump administration’s mass firings across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its many subagencies, which are responsible for protecting Americans’ health and delivering essential health and social services.
“Today, two billionaires are making good on their vow to take a wrecking ball to the Department of Health and Human Services and put Americans’ health and wellbeing at serious risk–and Republicans are letting them,” said Senator Murray. “These firings make a lot of sense if you believe measles spreading like wildfire is good–or think we should be slashing cancer research. While Republicans work to pass more tax breaks for billionaires, Trump, Musk, and RFK Jr. are ripping essential health services away from the American people and decimating our country’s ability to prevent outbreaks and keep families safe. There’s no two ways about it: this is the type of carelessness that gets people killed.”
The Trump Administration Just Gutted U.S. Health Institutions. What Will That Mean for Americans?
Apr 1, 2025 - By Alana Semuels - TIME - Employees of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) knew that mass layoffs would be coming on April 1. But many did not expect the cuts to be so deep—or the implications of the layoffs to be so potentially detrimental to the health and wellbeing of American families.
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Palm Springs HIV advocates navigate uncertainty after federal health agency cuts
April 1, 2025 - By Kendall Balchan - THE PALM SPRINGS POST - Recent mass layoffs at U.S. health agencies have created significant anxiety in Palm Springs, which has one of the nation’s largest populations of HIV-positive individuals.
Jeff Taylor, executive director of HIV+ Aging Research Project – Palm Springs (HARP-PS), said he woke up Tuesday morning to a torrent of phone calls and messages from people looking for reassurance amid the news of the day that the Trump Administration began mass layoffs of 10,000 staffers at U.S. health agencies, including the FDA, CDC and National Institutes of Health (NIH).
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HIV Activists March in NYC to Protest “Death by 1,000 Musk Cuts”
April 1, 2025 - By Trent Straube - POZ - “Tesla = AIDS”: The action marked the 38th anniversary of ACT UP, the activist group whose lifesaving HIV triumphs are now threatened.
Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Elon Musk has got to go!” “Put him in a K-hole.” “Medicaid cuts killed me.” “Death by DOGE.” “Trans people exist. Billionaires shouldn’t.” “Telsa = AIDS.&rdquo So declared the chants and handmade posters at the “Death by 1,000 Musk Cuts” protest Saturday, March 29, in Manhattan, setting the tone for the day’s action.
Spearheaded by HIV activists, the demonstration began at the AIDS Memorialin Greenwich Village and ended with a die-in at a Tesla showroom. The action drew over 2,000 people, according to ACT UP/NY, one of the organizers, and included HealthGAP, Housing Works, Metro New York Health Care for All, the NYDocs Coalition, Physicians for a National Health Program, Rise and Resist, Planet Over Profit and others.
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FAU Secures $1.3M NIH Grant for HIV Self-Test Technology Breakthrough
Newswise - 1-Apr-2025 - by Florida Atlantic University - Engineering and Biomedical Researchers Will Develop Rapid, Easy-to-Use, Low-cost HIV Testing Platform
A new modelling study published in The Lancet HIV journal highlights the alarming potential impact of significant reductions in international funding for HIV prevention and treatment programmes. The research estimates that, globally, between 4.4 to 10.8 million additional new HIV infections and 770,000 to 2.9 million HIV-related deaths in children and adults could occur between 2025 and 2030 if funding cuts proposed by the top five donor countries, including the USA and the UK, are not mitigated. The most affected populations will likely be in sub-Saharan Africa, and marginalised groups who are already at a higher risk of acquiring HIV, such as people who inject drugs, sex workers, and men who have sex with men, as well as children.
U.S. Measles Cases Continue to Grow; Cases of Vitamin A Toxicity Reported
March 31, 2025 - By Marie Rosenthal - Infectious Disease Special Edition (IDSE) - Since the CDC’s health alert was announced on March 7, the number of measles cases has grown 444 in Texas and New Mexico alone, and the number of states that have reported cases have increased to 20.
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N.L. professor named Canadian ‘pharmacist of the year’ for her work advancing HIV care
Mar 29, 2025 - By Elizabeth Whitten - CBC News - Debbie Kelly says pharmacists can do more on the front line of health care
A pharmacist in Newfoundland and Labrador has received a high honour for her role in providing HIV care, improving health equity and advancing pharmacists' scope of practice.
On Wednesday, pharmacist and Memorial University professor Debbie Kelly was named the 2025 Canadian Pharmacist of the Year by the Canadian Pharmacists Association.
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‘I fear I’ll be dead before I get justice for my son’
March 29, 2025 - By Sian Vivian & Wyre Davies - BBC - Victims of infected blood are dying “two a week” while awaiting compensation for the biggest scandal in the history of the NHS, campaigners say.
More than 30,000 people in the UK were given treatments infected with HIV and Hepatitis C between the late 1970s and early 1990s, resulting in more than 3,000 deaths.
Tony Summers, 89, whose son died after being given infected blood products, said he was told he may not receive compensation until 2029 and fears he might be dead before then.
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BREAKING: RFK Jr. to shut down HHS Office of Infectious Diseases & HIV Policy
Workers expect notice Friday and over the weekend.
March 28 2025 - By Trudy Ring - ADVOCATE - Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, issued this statement:
“Today the Trump administration continued its decimation of our nation’s response not only to HIV, but to hepatitis and STIs. While we wait to learn specifics on how many staff who support CDC’s HIV and hepatitis prevention programs will be eliminated, all staff at the government’s central coordinating office which develops strategic plans, coordinates agency actions, collects and communicates vital data, administers the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, and oversees the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, have been fired.”
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Opinion | ‘Without these drugs, our children will not only die, they will suffer.’ I went to a Kenyan orphanage for kids with HIV. Cuts by Elon Musk and Donald Trump are putting their lives at risk
March 28, 2025 - By Lisa LaFlamme, Contributor - TORONTO STAR - A week ago, I found myself on the outskirts of Nairobi, where a dusty road leads to a quiet, almost forgotten cemetery behind Nyumbani, a home for orphaned or abandoned children living with HIV/AIDS.
There, more than 60 simple wooden crosses stand in silent testimony to the lives of children whose names I won’t soon forget — among them, Samson, 9; Joan, 6; Rose, just a year old; and Irene, who made it to age 13. All but eight of these children died before 2004 — a turning point in the availability of lifesaving drugs.
Now, another turning point that once again puts the children of Nyumbani — and the future of thousands of Kenyan children — at great risk.
That’s because U.S. President Donald Trump has frozen all U.S. foreign aid and moved to abruptly shut down USAID entirely. Just. Like. That.
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Nearly 3M HIV deaths due to foreign aid cuts, study forecasts
Researchers warn that decades of progress in HIV treatment and prevention could be undone.
March 27, 2025 - By Claudia Chiappa - POLITICO - Over 10 million more people could be infected with HIV and nearly 3 million people could die by the end of the decade because of foreign aid cuts by Western governments, new research published today found.
The study, published in The Lancet HIV, estimates the potential public health impact of planned or proposed cuts by the top five donor countries — the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Netherlands — which currently account for 90 percent of all international HIV funding.
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HIV risk decreases in transgender individuals receiving hormone therapy, U-M study shows
March 27, 2025 - University of Michigan News - Transgender people receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy have a 37% lower chance of acquiring HIV, and for people living with HIV, hormone therapy appears to offer a 44% lower chance of the virus remaining detectable in blood, according to a University of Michigan study.
Overall, the research found that hormone therapy for patients receiving medical care to align their physical characteristics with their gender identity improved all HIV-related health outcomes for transgender, nonbinary and gender diverse people.
The study, published in The Lancet HIV, examined health records of more than 8,000 transgender and gender diverse patients who received primary care at community health centers in Boston and New York City between 2013 and 2019.
Cuts to the CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention Will Lead to Dramatic Rise in Infections, Deaths, and Costs
March 27, 2025 - amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has led a concerted effort to curb the spread of HIV in the U.S. over the past 15 years. An amfAR analysis shows increased funding to the CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention has been associated with a nearly 20% reduction in new HIV infections across the U.S. between 2010 and 2022.
New study highlights the potential impact of funding cuts on the HIV response
26 March 2025 - World Health Organization (WHO) - Critical need for sustained global support for HIV programmes
A new study published in The Lancet HIV conducted by the Burnet Institute and WHO highlights the potential impact of international funding cuts on the global HIV response. The research underscores the urgent need for sustained financial support to prevent millions of new HIV infections and deaths in the coming years.
The study, which analysed data from 26 countries, found that if international support declines, an additional 4.43 to 10.75 million new HIV infections – including up to 880 000 in children – could occur by 2030. In the same period, 770 000 to 2.93 million more people could die from HIV-related causes, with up to 120 000 of these deaths affecting children.
Foreign aid cuts could mean 10 million more HIV infections by 2030 – and almost 3 million extra deaths
March 26, 2025 - The Conversation - In January, the Trump administration ordered a broad pause on all US funding for foreign aid.
Among other issues, this has significant effects on US funding for HIV. The United States has been the world’s biggest donor to international HIV assistance, providing 73% of funding in 2023.
A large part of this is the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which oversees programs in low- and middle-income countries to prevent, diagnose and treat the virus. These programs have been significantly disrupted.
What’s more, recent funding cuts for international HIV assistance go beyond the US. Five countries that provide the largest amount of foreign aid for HIV – the US, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Netherlands – have announced cuts of between 8% and 70% to international aid in 2025 and 2026.
THE LANCET HIV: Proposed cuts to foreign aid could result in millions of HIV deaths and soaring rates of global HIV infections, new modelling study estimates
March 26, 2025 - The Lancet - New modelling analysis suggests that proposed funding cuts by major donor countries to foreign aid could undo decades of progress made to end HIV/AIDS as a public health threat and new infections and deaths could surge back to levels not seen since the early 2000s.
A new modelling study published in The Lancet HIV journal highlights the alarming potential impact of significant reductions in international funding for HIV prevention and treatment programmes. The research estimates that, globally, between 4.4 to 10.8 million additional new HIV infections and 770,000 to 2.9 million HIV-related deaths in children and adults could occur between 2025 and 2030 if funding cuts proposed by the top five donor countries, including the USA and the UK, are not mitigated. The most affected populations will likely be in sub-Saharan Africa, and marginalised groups who are already at a higher risk of acquiring HIV, such as people who inject drugs, sex workers, and men who have sex with men, as well as children.
Theratechnologies Receives FDA Approval for EGRIFTA WR™ (Tesamorelin F8) to Treat Excess Visceral Abdominal Fat in Adults with HIV and Lipodystrophy
MONTREAL, March 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New, improved formulation set to replace EGRIFTA SV®
Theratechnologies Inc. (“Theratechnologies” or the “Company”) (TSX: TH) (NASDAQ: THTX), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Company’s supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for the F8 formulation of tesamorelin for injection. The Company will commercialize the new formulation under the tradename EGRIFTA WR™.
Tesamorelin for injection is the only medication approved in the U.S. for the reduction of excess abdominal fat in adults with HIV who have lipodystrophy. The new formulation, EGRIFTA WR™, is a daily injectable but only needs weekly reconstitution. It requires less than half the administration volume as the current F4 formulation, sold in the U.S. as EGRIFTA SV®, which is reconstituted daily. Pharmacokinetic studies have shown bioequivalence of EGRIFTA WR™ to the original F1 formulation of tesamorelin for injection (previously sold under the trade name EGRIFTA®). The most commonly reported adverse reactions of EGRIFTA WR™ include arthralgia, injection site reactions, pain in extremity, peripheral edema, and myalgia.
COVID-19 vaccination reduces risk of ‘long COVID’ in adults
Stockholm, 25/3/2025: - European Centre for Disease Prevention - COVID-19 vaccination reduced the risk of developing ‘long COVID’ by approximately 27% in adults fully vaccinated before infection, according to a literature review carried out by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
The review focused on studies conducted in Europe and similar regions. Given the very wide range of definitions for ‘long COVID’, the review focussed on those studies that specifically applied the World Health Organization’s clinical case definition for post COVID-19 condition (PCC). It found seven high-quality studies in adults, of which six reported a statistically significant reduction in the risk of PCC for vaccinated adults compared to those who were not vaccinated. However, there is still limited evidence on whether vaccination reduces the duration of PCC symptoms, or the risk of developing PCC in children, adolescents, and immunocompromised individuals.
‘An important takeaway from this review is that vaccination not only protects against severe outcomes of acute illness during a pandemic but may also help reduce the risk of significant long-term effects,’ said Edoardo Colzani, ECDC Head of Respiratory Viruses and Legionella.
Childhood tuberculosis cases rise by 10%: a disturbing wake-up call for Europe
Stockholm / Copenhagen, 24 March 2025 : - European Centre for Disease Prevention - World TB Day 2025
The 2025 ‘Tuberculosis surveillance and monitoring report’, released today by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe shows that children under 15 years of age accounted for 4.3% of those with new and relapsed tuberculosis (TB) in the WHO European Region*, representing a worrying 10% surge in paediatric TB for 2023, compared to the previous year.
Similarly, children under 15 years accounted for 4.3% of all TB cases in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA), signifying an increase for the third year in a row.
Trump’s Moves Threaten People with HIV Worldwide
March 24 2025 - By Liz Highleyman - POZ - Interrupting HIV treatment even briefly can lead to viral load rebound, raising the risk for HIV transmission and drug resistance.
Policy and funding changes during the first several weeks of Donald Trump’s administration are imperiling people living with HIV. On the day of his inauguration, Trump signed executive orders to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization and halt funding for foreign aid, including PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which provides HIV treatment for more than 20 million people worldwide. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration and other health agencies were told to suspend external communications, and their websites were scrubbed of content related to “gender ideology.” This was followed by employee layoffs across federal agencies.
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Global AIDS program teetering after Trump admin’s shock-and-awe
03/23/2025 - By Carmen Paun - Politico - President Trump is taking apart one of George W. Bush’s proudest achievements.
America’s most celebrated global health program is on life support, former U.S. government officials and global health advocates say.
President Donald Trump’s decision to suddenly halt and then terminate most U.S. foreign aid, and GOP concerns that organizations receiving government grants to combat HIV and AIDS were performing abortions, have key congressional Republicans broaching what was once unthinkable: ending PEPFAR, the program President George W. Bush created to combat HIV and AIDS in the developing world. Bush has long championed it and the 25 million lives it’s saved as the best example of his “compassionate conservatism.”
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There are daily pills to prevent HIV — but injectable options could change what prevention looks like
Mar 22, 2025 - By Alison Northcott - CBC News - The next challenge is making HIV prevention medication completely free, advocates say
Once a day, Tim Lagman takes a pill that reduces his risk of contracting HIV, a precaution he's taken since 2017.
Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is part of the daily routine for a growing number of Canadians at risk of exposure to HIV through sex or injection drugs.
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‘Putting the unvarnished history out there’: art and activism during the Aids crisis
22 Mar, 2025 - By Veronica Esposito - The Guardian - A new series of events and exhibitions aim to remember the art made during a devastating time, centered on the powerful Aids quilt
In the 1980s, while the Aids pandemic ravaged the LGBTQ+ population of the United States, then president Ronald Reagan failed to help. He didn’t even acknowledge the illness existed until 1985, four years into the outbreak, and research has shown that Reagan’s government spent four times as much researching cures for Legionnaire’s disease than HIV (in spite of the former having an infection and death rate that was dwarfed by Aids).
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The $100,000 Glenn Gould Prize will go to Elton John this year
Mar 21, 2025 - The Canadian Press - CBC - ‘I am awestruck and honoured to receive this award,’ the British star said upon receiving the biennial honour
Elton John will receive this year’s Glenn Gould Prize, a $100,000 award for an artist whose work has “enriched the human condition.”
The biennial award administered by the Glenn Gould Foundation goes to an artist whose work demonstrates excellence and has been influential “either on their discipline or the broader culture.” The award was established in 1987 by the Glenn Gould Foundation to honour Canadian pianist Glenn Gould, who died in 1982 at 50 years old.
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Beyond HIV/AIDS: Face to Face’s Non-Judgmental Mission
March 21, 2025 - Northern California Public Media - Guests in this episode:
Lorie Violette, Program Director at Face to Face
Gary Saperstein, Development Director at Face to Face
Sonoma County’s Face to Face was born in 1983, a lifeline during the AIDS epidemic. Now, decades later, they're on the frontlines of a new public health crisis. We dive into how this non-profit organization has evolved to tackle rising STIs, housing instability, mental health challenges, and the devastating impact of the opioid epidemic, especially fentanyl. Compassion leads their commitment to community health.
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Charlie Porter’s Debut Novel Reclaims What Queer Life Lost to the AIDS Crisis
March 21, 2025 - By Anna Cafolla - aidsmap - There’s a moment in Charlie Porter’s debut novel, Nova Scotia House, when a character relates that she has attended 14 funerals that year. It’s the mid-’90s in London, and the AIDS crisis is pulsating, but in 1996, anti-retroviral medications would be made available that meant it was possible to live a full life with an HIV diagnosis.
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Quebec becomes 1st province to cover new HIV prevention drug
Mar 21, 2025 - CBC News: The National - Quebec is now the first province in Canada to publicly cover part of the cost of a new HIV prevention drug experts call a much-needed intervention. Apretude is a long-acting injectable drug that could replace daily oral pills.
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I’ve been able to live a happy life after my AIDS diagnosis. Trump could upend that.
March 21, 2025 - By Dorian-gray Alexander, AIDS activist living with HIV - MSNBC - Federal funding has helped make my HIV undetectable and restored me to health. But I'm afraid funding for my medications will dry up during Trump's administration.
As a person who was diagnosed with HIV and AIDS in 2006, I’m dreading what comes next. Just how far will any of this go or end? When I was diagnosed, I was prescribed antiretrovirals, and, within months, my viral load dropped to undetectable levels. The virus has remained undetectable since then, and I am now healthy and thriving. I’ve come a long way from the opportunistic infections I was constantly dealing with at the time of my diagnosis.
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National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2025
March 20 2025 - By Laura Schmidt - POZ - #NNHAAD2025 aligns with the first day of spring, March 20. This year’s Native American HIV theme is “Walking in Tradition, Anchored in Culture.”
Thursday, March 20, 2025, marks the 17th annual National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NNHAAD). This year’s theme, “Walking in Tradition, Anchored in Culture,” highlights the importance of culture in efforts to address the HIV epidemic.
This day presents an opportunity to increase awareness of the impact of HIV and AIDS on American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians (AI/AN). The event encourages all Native communities to organize events to promote HIV testing, education, prevention and treatment. It is also serves as day to honor those living with or affected by HIV, including those who have passed because of AIDS-related complications.
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Why Folks Nationwide Are Heading to D.C. on March 31 to Advocate for HIV/AIDS
March 20, 2025 - By AIDS United - POZ - AIDSWatch is AIDS United’s annual convening in Washington, D.C., of people living with HIV/AIDS and their allies.
We don’t need to tell you that the landscape for everything related to HIV/AIDS is especially fraught right now. The new presidential administration has frozen HIV/AIDS funding globally and either frozen or complicated funding here in the U.S. in myriad ways.
Meanwhile, Congress is considering big cuts to programs that people living with (or at risk for) HIV here in the U.S. rely on, such as Medicaid and the Ryan White CARE Act. Now more than ever, folks living with HIV and their allies have to stand up and tell their elected leaders in Washington, D.C., the importance of these life-saving programs.
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Beyond cholesterol: statins may protect heart health in people with HIV through multiple mechanisms
20 March 2025 - By Keith Alcorn - aidsmap - Statin treatment may reduce cardiovascular risk in people with HIV not only by lowering cholesterol but also by reducing coronary plaque and inflammation, Professor Steven Grinspoon told the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2025) in San Francisco last week.
He was reporting results from a substudy of the REPRIEVE trial, the international study which showed that daily use of pitavastatin by people with HIV reduced the risk of a major cardiovascular event such as stroke or heart attack by 36% in people judged to have a low-to-moderate risk of heart disease.
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Attacks on HIV Programs Hurt Young People
03.19.2025 - Advocates for Youth - The Trump Administration is expected to drastically cut and possibly eliminate HIV programs and funding at CDC, including in the Division of HIV Prevention (DHP).
In response, Debra Hauser, President of the national youth reproductive and sexual health organization Advocates for Youth, issued the following statement:
“With this attack on federal HIV programs, the Trump Administration puts countless lives at risk and exacerbates existing and inequitable barriers to HIV treatment, prevention, and care. It also means losing millions in funding for PrEP (a medication to prevent HIV).”
Congresswoman Gwen Moore Slams CDC Ending HIV Programs in Wisconsin, Calls on Decision to be Reversed
Washington - March 19, 2025 - Congresswoman Gwen Moore - “After nominating an HHS Secretary who doesn’t believe that HIV causes AIDS, this Administration is now eliminating life-saving HIV prevention programs. Make no mistake, the most vulnerable will suffer for this decision.”
Emory research connected to second patient in sustained remission of HIV
Mach 19, 2025 - By April Hunt - Emory News Center - Emory University - Emory University’s pioneering work with a class of small molecules known as JAK (janus kinase) inhibitors continues to generate interest into how HIV might be cured after a second patient who received the treatment was declared to be in long-term remission.
The use of JAK inhibitors against HIV began with a ground-breaking discovery led by Christina Gavegnano, an assistant professor with appointments in the Emory School of Medicine and the Emory College of Arts and Sciences Center for the Study of Human Health.
The announcement, involving an individual known as the “Oslo patient,” was shared at a conference earlier this month. Doctors said the patient received ruxolitinib, a first-generation JAK inhibitor, for complications following a stem cell transplant from a sibling to treat cancer.
 
HIV and Syphilis Testing Just Got Faster: bioLytical Launches the 1-Minute INSTI® Multiplex HIV-1/2 Syphilis Antibody Test in Australia
RICHMOND, British Columbia, March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - bioLytical Laboratories Inc. - The fastest rapid dual test for HIV and syphilis is now available in Australia, expanding access to reliable and accessible screening.
A Major Step Forward in Infectious Disease Screening
bioLytical Laboratories Inc. (“bioLytical”), a global leader in rapid infectious disease diagnostics, announces the launch of its INSTI® Multiplex HIV-1/2 Syphilis Antibody Test in Australia. Now included in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG number: 482706), this dual HIV-syphilis test provides results in just 60 seconds, helping healthcare professionals diagnose HIV and syphilis efficiently and connect patients to care faster.
“Access to fast, reliable rapid testing is critical to eliminating infectious diseases as public health threats,” said Robert Mackie, CEO of bioLytical. “We’re proud to bring our dual HIV-syphilis test to support Australia’s public health initiatives. We know that expanding access to testing enables faster diagnoses and plays a key role in reducing transmission and improving treatment outcomes. We remain committed to offering a vital tool for healthcare professionals in Australia and worldwide.”
‘They want us dead’: Ohio AIDS activist makes desperate call to action amid federal funding cuts
Mach 18, 2025 - By H.L. Comeriato - The Buckeye Flame - ‘They are not coming for your pronouns. They are coming for your life.’
On the evening of Feb. 27, longtime HIV/AIDS activist Gil Kudrin stood before a packed audience at Trinity Cathedral in downtown Cleveland.
Beneath the harsh lights of the sanctuary, Kudrin issued a desperate call to action around federal cuts to HIV/AIDS funding:
“There are thousands of people in this county, in this city, who rely on the Ryan White CARE Act for their very survival,” Kudrin said. “They are not coming for your pronouns. They are coming for your life.”
‘It’s back to drug rationing’: the end of HIV was in sight. Then came the cuts
March 18, 2025 - By Kat Lay - THE GUARDIAN - The abrupt halt to US funding threatens to undo decades of advances, dramatically increasing infections and deaths, but some see an opportunity for Africa to lead the response
There is a risk, says Lewin, director of the Doherty Institute, a joint venture of the University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital, and past president of the International Aids Society, of “dramatic increases in infections, dramatic increases in death and a real loss of decades of advances”.
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Nigeria and Kenya among nations running out of HIV drugs - WHO
March 18, 2025 - By Wycliffe Muia - BBC - “After nominating an HHS Secretary who doesn’t believe that HIV causes AIDS, this Administration is now eliminating life-saving HIV prevention programs. Make no mistake, the most vulnerable will suffer for this decision.”
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Trump administration considers plan to eliminate CDC's HIV prevention division
March 18, 2025 - By Berkeley Lovelace Jr. - NBC NEWS - If the administration does move forward with the plan, the CDC’s HIV prevention work could move over to another department under HHS.
N6LS, a broadly neutralising antibody from ViiV Healthcare, could potentially be a partner for cabotegravir (Vocabria) in a long-acting HIV treatment regimen, according to results from the EMBRACE study presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2025) in San Francisco.
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ECDC and Africa CDC discuss deeper collaboration for global health security
Stockholm, 18 March 2025 - European Centre for Disease Prevention - ECDC and Africa CDC are responsible for protecting almost 2 billion people from infectious diseases
ECDC Director Dr. Pamela Rendi-Wagner and H.E. Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) met at ECDC’s offices in Stockholm to discuss deepening collaboration between the two CDCs.
The meeting was an opportunity for ECDC and Africa CDC to take stock of ongoing areas of cooperation and look ahead to future efforts to enhance African, European and global health security. Since 2021, both agencies have partnered on a project, funded by the European Commission, to contribute to health security in Africa and globally by strengthening emergency preparedness and response, surveillance, epidemic intelligence, and workforce capacity-building.
Machine learning could help predict adherence to HIV treatment in adolescents
17 Mar 2025 - BYLINE: Beth Miller - Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) - Nearly 85% of the 1.7 million adolescents with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa, along with half of the nearly 40 million people in the world living with HIV. Although the government in Uganda provides antiretroviral treatment (ART) for free, adherence to the regimen by adolescents ages 10-16 is low, increasing the potential for the virus to further spread.
Claire Najjuuko, a doctoral student at Washington University in St. Louis, saw this firsthand while working as a data manager at the International Center for Child Health and Development (ICHAD) in Uganda, founded by Fred M. Ssewamala, the William E. Gordon Distinguished Professor in the Brown School at WashU. Now earning a doctorate in WashU’s Division of Computational & Data Sciences, Najjuuko, who is co-advised by Ssewamala and Chenyang Lu, the Fullgraf Professor in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering, wanted to use artificial intelligence and data science to help improve adolescent compliance with the treatment in low-resource areas. Results of the research were published online Feb. 25, 2025, in AIDS.
Unlocking the secrets of HBV: new hope for chronic hepatitis B cure
Newswise - 17 Mar 2025 | by Chinese Academy of Sciences - Hepatitis B virus infection remains one of the leading causes of liver disease, including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Despite widespread vaccination and antiviral treatments, millions of people still suffer from chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The primary challenge in curing the disease lies in the persistence of covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), a stable viral DNA form that resides in the nucleus of infected liver cells. Current therapies, such as nucleos(t)ide analogues and interferons, fail to eliminate cccDNA, allowing the virus to rebound after treatment is stopped. These challenges underscore the need for novel therapeutic strategies that specifically target cccDNA to achieve a functional cure.
Broadly neutralising antibody N6LS could be part of long-acting HIV treatment
17 March 2025 - By Liz Highleyman - aidsmap - N6LS, a broadly neutralising antibody from ViiV Healthcare, could potentially be a partner for cabotegravir (Vocabria) in a long-acting HIV treatment regimen, according to results from the EMBRACE study presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2025) in San Francisco.
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US evangelical groups urge Trump to spare HIV/Aids program from aid cuts
17 Mar 2025 - by Chris McGreal - The Guardian - Christian organizations helped create Pepfar, credited with preventing 25m early deaths, particularly in Africa
Christian evangelical organizations instrumental in creating the US program that has saved millions of lives from HIV/Aids are pressing the Trump administration to rescue the scheme from crushing cuts to foreign assistance.
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amfAR Raises $3.8M for HIV Research at Fourth Annual Gala in Palm Beach
Palm Beach, FL, March 16, 2025 - amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research - Martha Stewart and Andrea and Steve Wynn Honored
Ricky Martin Performed
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, held its fourth annual Palm Beach fundraising gala on Saturday, March 15, 2025, thanks to the generosity of philanthropist and supporter Ken Griffin. The event raised $3.8 million in support of amfAR’s lifesaving biomedical research programs and included presentations to honorees Andrea and Steve Wynn and Martha Stewart, as well as a performance by multi-Grammy Award-winning artist, Ricky Martin.
Supermodel Coco Rocha, the evening’s host and a longtime amfAR supporter, kicked off the night by noting that 2025 marks the 40th anniversary of amfAR’s founding by Dr. Mathilde Krim and Dame Elizabeth Taylor. She highlighted the incredible progress made over the past four decades, including groundbreaking research and the development of medications that have enabled people living with HIV to lead long, healthy lives. Rocha also emphasized the organization’s ongoing efforts to ensure these treatments reach the 40 million people living with HIV worldwide.
The Ripple Effect of U.S. Funding Cuts on South Africa’s HIV Response
March 16, 2025 - by Sizwe Dlamini - Capetown.today - Recent cuts to U.S. funding, especially from PEPFAR, are causing serious trouble for South Africa’s fight against HIV. Many health facilities have closed, and thousands of crucial healthcare workers have been let go, leading to fewer tests and treatments for people living with HIV. Vulnerable groups, like sex workers and the LGBTQ community, are at risk of losing the specialized care they need due to the shutdown of welcoming centers. Without immediate action, these funding cuts could lead to a steep rise in HIV-related deaths, leaving many without the support they desperately require.
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40 Years Ago I Tested HIV Positive. We Must Take the Streets Again.
Mar 14 2025 - By Mark S. King - My Fabulous Disease - Forty years ago, on March 15th, 1985, I received my HIV positive test result. Reaching this milestone is beyond anything I could have imagined as a frightened 24-year-old, and I have written about the experience, and about the many eventful years since, many times.
That is not the story I want to tell you, not again. What I want you to know, what I must absolutely convince you of, is that the time has come to lay our bodies on the line again. Not since the 1980s has there been a more perilous time to be a person living with HIV, to mention nothing of being an American.
“Highly preventable” measles infections see almost tenfold increase in EU/EEA - ECDC urges action to close immunity gaps
March 14, 2025 - European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) - The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control warns that a decline in vaccination uptake has led to an almost ten-fold increase in the number of measles cases in the EU/EEA and around the world.
The warning comes after 32 265 people in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) were diagnosed with measles in 2024, a significant rise from 3 973 the previous year. Europe continues to experience recurring outbreaks of measles despite a highly safe, effective and accessible vaccine included in all EU/EEA national immunisation programmes.
Turn PEPFAR funding freeze crisis into opportunity
14 March 2025 - Story Niémah Davids - University of Cape Town - Withdrawing the United States (US) president’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) support in South Africa without effectively transitioning to supported services will lead to an estimated 601 000 HIV-related deaths and 501 000 new infections in the next 10 years.
This was according to a research article co-authored by the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Professor Linda-Gail Bekker and published in the Annals of Medicine – a peer-reviewed medical journal, also published as an editorial in the South African Medical Journal (SAMJ) this week. Professor Bekker is the director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre and the CEO of the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation. She is a globally renowned physician-scientist in the field of HIV and tuberculosis (TB).
Inside an HIV Cure Trial
March 14, 2025 - By Jeffrey Laurence, MD - amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research - Learning from participant experiences in an amfAR study
Two years ago, amfAR reported preliminary results from a University of California, San Francisco-amfAR cure trial. It was complex, combining five interventions over 34 weeks: an HIV DNA vaccine, the immune hormone IL-12, a vaccinia boost vaccine, broadly HIV neutralizing antibodies, and a drug to activate the immune protein TLR9.
The study established proof of concept that combination immunotherapy may induce post-treatment control by altering facets of the virus or the immune response to it.
As efficacy of any such trial can only be proven in people living with HIV (PLWH) themselves, an analytic treatment interruption, or ATI, was also required. In an ATI the participant agrees to stop taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) at the trial’s conclusion to determine if or when HIV reappears. The researchers emphasized then that little was known about the personal experiences of PLWH enrolled in such trials, including psychological stressors and the need to change sexual behaviors to protect themselves and their sexual partners.
Mount Sinai Researchers Develop Method to Identify Dormant Cells That Carry HIV
Newswise — (New York, NY – March 13, 2025) - Mount Sinai researchers have developed a method to uncover the hidden immune cells that harbor the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a discovery that brings medical experts one step closer to a cure for the infection affecting nearly 40 million people globally. The findings were published in Nature Communications on March 6.
HIV is a virus that attacks cells in the body fighting off infections, thus weakening the immune system. Antiretroviral therapies can treat the HIV infection by halting the spread of the virus and protecting the immune system, but do not cure the virus. Mount Sinai researchers have developed a method to genetically mark immune cells that carry HIV, an important milestone that could potentially lead to approaches that eliminate the dormant HIV-infected cells and cure the virus.
Blood sharing in Fiji fueling HIV outbreak | The Pacific | ABC News
Mar 13, 2025 - ABC News In-depth - Fiji declared an outbreak of HIV earlier this year after recording more than 1000 cases in 2024. As many as 50% of new HIV cases are from intravenous drug use.
But the scale of the problem is feared to be even larger than reported, putting the entire Pacific region at risk. Lice Movono brings us this story.
Funding awarded to examine racism and colonialism in Manitoba institutions impacting HIV/STBBI outcomes
March 13, 2025 - UM NEWS - University of Manitoba - The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has award $125,000 in funding for a community-led project that aims to tackle the harmful effects of racism and colonialism in Manitoba’s systems that are leading to increased HIV risks.
UM researcher Dr. Rusty Souleymanov, associate dean and associate professor, faculty of social work, and director, Village Lab, is leading a team of stakeholders, scholars, and community leaders from across Canada in research that will drive structural change by fostering policy reforms, anti-racist health systems, and community-led solutions.
This project titled “Community-Led Structural Interventions to Improve HIV/STBBI Outcomes and Dismantle Structural Racism and Colonialism Affecting Indigenous, Black, and Racialized Communities in Manitoba” was ranked top 3rd in applications submitted to CIHR’s Moving Upstream: Structural Determinants of Health – Catalyst Grants.
Black Gay Men to Lead Two of the Most Powerful HIV Organizations in the U.S.
Mar 12, 2025 - By Ace Robinson - TheBody - For people living with or impacted by HIV, these past few weeks have been devastating. The current presidential administration has created numerous roadblocks to maintaining life-sustaining HIV prevention and care in the USA and around the planet. However, many Black folx in the HIV field found a momentary reprieve in two announcements that left me feeling unfettered joy.
During Black History Month, two Black gay men chose to lead two of the largest and most influential HIV organizations in America. Travis Gayles, M.D., Ph.D., (he/him) has been announced as the incoming CEO at Howard Brown Health in Chicago beginning in March. And Carl Baloney Jr. (he/him) will be promoted as president and CEO of AIDS United beginning in July to succeed the organization’s first Black gay man in the same role: Jesse Milan Jr., J.D.
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42-year HIV survivor tells CROI she has gone ‘from fear to courage’
SAN FRANCISCO - March 12, 2025 - By Caitlyn Stulpin - Healio - Rebecca Denison has lived with HIV for 42 years and has actively taken part in the evolution of understanding the disease.
She calls clinicians to share survivors’ stories to provide hope and education.
During the opening day of the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, Rebecca Denison, a decades-long HIV survivor, addressed conference attendees and discussed her experiences of living with HIV.
The presentation, titled “40+ Years of HIV: What’s Changed, What Hasn’t, What Shouldn’t, What Must,” gave Denison the opportunity to discuss the evolution of HIV from her unique perspective as a person who has lived with HIV for over 40 years.
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How researchers were able to enroll adolescents in landmark HIV trial
SAN FRANCISCO - March 12, 2025 - By Stephen I. Feller - Healio - A landmark HIV trial found that twice-yearly shots of lenacapavir can prevent HIV in adults and adolescents.
The FDA will decide by June whether to approve lenacapavir as PrEP.
Researchers here described how they were able to safely and ethically enroll adolescents in a landmark trial of a drug that could transform the landscape of HIV prevention.
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HIV Researchers and Advocates Rally to Save Our Sciences
March 12, 2025 - By Liz Highleyman - POZ - Speakers oppose the Trump administration’s funding cuts to the NIH, PEPFAR and Medicaid as well as attacks on communities most vulnerable to HIV.
Several hundred researchers, clinicians, advocates and people living with HIV gathered Monday, March 10, to “Save Our Sciences” in the face of the Trump administration’s cuts to research and health services in the United States and around the world. The rally, organized by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s HIV Advocacy Network, coincided with the annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2025), taking place this week in San Francisco.
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Gilead Presents New HIV Treatment and Cure Research Data at CROI 2025, Including an Investigational Long-Acting, Twice-Yearly Therapy Option
FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- March 12, 2025 - Gilead - Long-Term Outcomes Reinforce the High Efficacy of Biktarvy® in People with HIV and HBV Coinfection
Investigational Long-Acting, Twice-Yearly Treatment Regimen of Lenacapavir and Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies (bNAbs) Meets Primary Endpoint in Phase 2 Study and Gains Breakthrough Therapy Designation
Late-Breaker Oral Presentation of Phase 2 Results from the First HIV Cure Clinical Trial Conducted in South Africa
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced the presentation of late-breaking data and multiple oral presentations from its innovative HIV treatment portfolio and pipeline at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2025). The new findings reflect a transformative portfolio and a rapidly advancing forward-looking pipeline focused on expanding choices and enhancing outcomes for those with HIV, while continuing to reach towards a cure.
“Gilead is fueling the next wave of innovation in HIV to help end the epidemic globally,” said Jared Baeten, MD, PhD, Senior Vice President, Virology Therapeutic Area Head. “Our contributions to CROI spotlight our dedication to scientific discovery, reflect our commitment to addressing the diverse treatment needs and preferences of communities affected by HIV and underscore the vital importance of catalyzing research reaching towards a cure.”
Biktarvy Demonstrates High Rates of Viral Suppression in People with HIV/HBV Coinfection
Two more people with HIV may be cured after stem cell transplants
March 12, 2025 - By Liz Highleyman - aidsmap - Two more people appear to be free of HIV after stem cell transplants for cancer treatment, according to a pair of posters presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2025) this week in San Francisco. If the men remain in remission, they will be the eighth and ninth cases of a functional cure after the procedure.
The first man, dubbed the 'Chicago patient', experienced viral rebound after an initial antiretroviral treatment interruption but remains in remission 10 months after stopping antiretrovirals a second time. The second man, the 'Oslo patient', received a stem cell transplant from a sibling and used the immunosuppressive drug ruxolitinib to treat severe graft-versus-host disease (GVHD); he remains in remission two years after stopping antiretrovirals.
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Half the men in an HIV cure study stayed off treatment for nearly a year after a two-antibody shot
March 12, 2025 - By Gus Cairns - aidsmap - Similar results from a South African study in young women, CROI hears
The day before the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2025) opened in San Francisco on Sunday, there was a community workshop on HIV cure science, at which Dr Michael Peluso, a local HIV physician and cure researcher, flagged up two studies to look out for.
“One is the RIO study,” he said. “This studied up to 70 people using a bnAb [broadly neutralising antibody] strategy. We don't know how many people achieved viral control in that study, but I think we're going to find out in a couple of days.
“The other is the FRESH/Gilead study, which is done in South African women living with HIV, most of whom have subtype C virus. This is a really different population and it’s critically important for the global cure agenda.”
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From TB to HIV/AIDS to cancer, disease tracking has always had a political dimension, but it’s the foundation of public health
March 11, 2025 - The Conversation - Federal datasets began disappearing from public view on Jan. 31, 2025, in response to executive orders from President Donald Trump. Among those were the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which asks respondents about their gender identity and sexual orientation and tracks behaviors like smoking and drug use; CDC’s HIV dataset; and CDC and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease registry’s Environmental Justice Index, which tracks pollution in communities, and Social Vulnerability Index, which identifies communities at high risk for disease and disability.
The collection of public health surveillance data has never been politically neutral. It has always reflected ideas about individual rights. With our colleagues James Colgrove and Daniel Wolfe, we have written about the history and ethics of surveillance. Despite controversy, it remains public health’s foundational tool.
Surveillance typically involves tracking individuals with diseases by name for the purpose of direct action, including isolation, quarantine and treatment. It allows health officials to identify environmental threats and evaluate treatments. It allows governments to direct prevention and treatment resources where they are needed most, be that to a region or a group at highest risk. By the early 20th century, public health officials argued that without surveillance, they worked “in the darkness of ignorance” and “might as well hunt birds by shooting into every green bush.”
Three major controversies in the history of public health underscore what is at stake with the collection and maintenance of this information.
‘I have a deal for him’: Head of UNAIDS offers deal to President Trump to end AIDS
March 11, 2025 - Amanpour - CNN - Head of UNAIDS, Winnie Byanyima, speaks to Bianna Golodryga about the impact of USAID funding cuts to the global fight against AIDS.
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‘Act Up. Fight Back.’ Hundreds of Scientists and Clinicians Protest Funding Cuts
March 11, 2025 - By Marie Rosenthal - Infectious Disease Special Edition (IDSE) - Hundreds of researchers, clinicians and scientists joined HIV activists in San Francisco during CROI 2025 to protest President Donald Trump’s cuts to research funding, including defunding PEPFAR (the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief).
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New study in the Lancet HIV highlights gaps in HPV-related cancer prevention for people living with HIV
11-Mar-2025 - Estonian Research Council - A new study published in The Lancet HIV reveals gaps in knowledge surrounding the prevention of HPV-related cancers in people living with HIV and outlines future research priorities. A literature review, conducted by a team of international experts underscores the need for further research and highlights existing disparities in healthcare for this vulnerable population.
HPV-related cancers are preventable, primarily through vaccination. However, a Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Tartu and one of the study’s authors Anneli Uusküla said that the study found a lack of evidence on the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine in HIV-positive individuals who were vaccinated in childhood before becoming sexually active. “We assume that there is at least a partial effect among HIV-positive individuals similar to that observed in HIV-negative individuals. Though, the weaker immune response to vaccination in people living with HIV compared to the general population warrants further investigation and clinical consideration,” said Uusküla.
First Clinical Data for Gilead’s Investigational Once-Yearly Lenacapavir for HIV Prevention Presented at CROI 2025 and Published in The Lancet
FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- March 11, 2025 - Gilead - Phase 1 Data Indicate Potential for Use of Once-Yearly Lenacapavir for HIV Prevention, with Plans to Launch a Phase 3 Trial in 2H 2025
Also at CROI: New PURPOSE 1 Data Showcasing Preference for Twice-Yearly Lenacapavir vs. Once-Daily Orals and In-Depth Look at Adolescent Pharmacokinetic, Safety and Efficacy Data
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today presented the first data from its ongoing Phase 1 study investigating two novel, once-yearly formulations of lenacapavir, the company’s injectable HIV-1 capsid inhibitor, for the investigational use of HIV prevention as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The data were presented during an oral abstract session at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2025) and were also published today in The Lancet. Data will support the future development of once-yearly lenacapavir for PrEP, for which Gilead plans to launch a Phase 3 study in the second half of 2025.
The view from Canada—In support of our neighbours to the south
Mar 11, 2025 - by Bradford McIntyre, guest contributor - Positively Aware - OP-ED: ‘We’ve already lived through the plague years of HIV,’ says one Canadian long-term survivor. He doesn’t want to see the U.S. go through it again
From 1987 through the 1990’s, Canadians collected, sent and delivered unused HIV medications to the United States. We had accumulated these medications as a result of having developed drug resistance or changing medications, and from our friends, boyfriends and life partners who had died from complications of AIDS.We hid the HIV drugs in our luggage to avoid detection when crossing the border into the U.S. Many Americans who had HIV were without healthcare or access to medication. In contrast, here in Canada, my HIV medications are covered. HIV medications are provided to anyone with HIV.
Some Canadians are still sending HIV medications to the U.S. We’ve already lived through the plague years of HIV; we shouldn’t have to go through it again because of Donald Trump and his policies.
Trump is cancelling a Republican project to wipe out Aids – putting millions of lives at risk
March 10, 2025 - By Michael Jennings, SOAS, University of London - The Conversation - Enormous progress has been made in tackling the global HIV epidemics over the past two decades. The number of people dying from HIV-related causes has fallen by 51% since 2010; and the number of annual new infections has fallen from 2.1 million new infections in 2010 to 1.3 million in 2023 (a drop of 39%).
This is the impact of the roll out of massive global programmes for prevention and treatment in this period. In 2003, around 400,000 people living in low and middle-income countries were able to access the life-saving anti-retroviral therapy drugs to manage the virus. Today it stands at more than 25 million people.
With sadness and respect – Dakota Descoteaux
March 10, 2025 - PAN -
Dakota (Brian) Descoteaux
February 10, 1958 – March 6, 2025
With deep respect and sadness, I share the passing of our cherished PLDI trainer and community leader, Dakota Descoteaux.
In mid-December, Dakota faced the return of cancer—less than six months after undergoing extensive surgery in the hope of overcoming it. Though he had always cherished life, his quality of life had significantly declined in recent months.
What to expect at CROI—A top HIV researcher speaking at CROI talks about the chaos facing the conference in San Francisco
Mar 10, 2025 - by Tim Murphy - Positively Aware - Federal employees won’t be attending CROI, says Duke’s Dr. Chris Beyrer, and presenters aren’t sure what they can say
The annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI, or simply “Retrovirus”), opened March 9, one of the biggest annual HIV science conferences, where researchers from all over the world discuss the latest findings related to prevention, treatment and cure of HIV and related diseases. But this year’s CROI has been thrown into upheaval by the Trump administration’s hacking away at virtually every corner of HIV research and care access—decimating the U.S. global relief programs USAID and PEPFAR (the HIV program that is closely interwoven into USAID), censoring federal research related to highly HIV-impacted LGBTQ+ people (especially transgender people) and pressuring a right-wing Congress to slash funding for programs in the ongoing budget process, which will likely include key healthcare platforms like Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
It appears that many federal researchers and officials who would normally be at CROI won’t be attending. There is also fear and confusion about what content federally funded researchers can even present, especially if it relates to Trump targets like trans people or racial equity in healthcare.
POSITIVELY AWARE spoke on February 27 with Chris Beyrer, MD, MPH, director of Duke University’s Global Health Institute and a longtime global HIV researcher, who is scheduled to give a plenary address at CROI on Monday, March 10, on the state of efforts to end the global HIV pandemic. He spoke about how the Trump attacks have thrown the conference into disarray, what those who work in his field are doing to address the attacks—and what they might have to do if the situation continues and grows.
National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2025
March 10, 2025 - By Trent Straube - POZ - The 20th anniversary theme of #NWGHAAD is “Hope, Health and Healing: Overcoming Barriers to HIV/AIDS Treatment for Women and Girls.”
Monday, March 10, marks National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (#NWGHAAD) 2025. This year is also the 20th anniversary of the event. It’s an opportunity to “shed light on the impact of HIV and AIDS on women and girls and to show support for those at risk of and living with HIV,” notes the Office on Women’s Health, a division of the Department of Health & Human Services, which spearheads NWGHAAD.
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With U.S. global assistance all but gone, AID for AIDS needs unused HIV meds
Mar 9, 2025 - by Tim Murphy - Positively Aware - ‘We’ve had to go back to our roots’ redistributing U.S. meds to other nations, says Jesús Aguais, the group’s founder
Venezuelan-born New Yorker Jesús Aguais started his group AID FOR AIDS International (AFA) in 1996 in order to get the new, effective HIV drugs that U.S. patients had but could no longer use (due to side effects or resistance) into the hands of people in other, poorer nations who needed them. This was before the U.S. became the single largest supplier of HIV meds and other HIV prevention and treatment resources to poorer nations globally via the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program started by President George W. Bush in 2003, working in concert with USAID.
Coming into power in January, the Trump 2.0 administration has swiftly and almost entirely dismantled USAID and has thrown PEPFAR into dysfunction and chaos. Overseas organizations and clinics receiving aid from PEPFAR have been told their funding has been spared, but despite lawsuits and rulings in U.S. courts, they have still not been able to access assistance. That’s left clinics shuttered, staffers out of work and recipients around the world without their HIV or PrEP (HIV prevention) medications. Additionally, the new administration has banned the distribution of PrEP via these channels to all but pregnant and breastfeeding women—yanking PrEP away from people in other groups who are highly vulnerable to HIV such as men who have sex with men, transgender women, sex workers, migrants and people who use drugs.
“Lift the Freeze”: HIV/AIDS Advocates Win Supreme Court Victory in Fight over Trump Foreign Aid Cuts
March 6, 2025 - Democracy Now! - The Supreme Court has rejected a request by the Trump administration to continue refusing to pay out nearly $2 billion for work completed by USAID, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the court’s three liberal justices in the majority. However, the court's decision did not specify when the money must be released, allowing Trump’s team to further dispute the issue in lower courts. We speak to two people involved in the lawsuit brought by the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, or AVAC. The Trump administration’s decision to unilaterally slash foreign assistance, including funding critical to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, “for no good reason and with no clear strategy,” was an unlawful “abuse of executive power,’ says attorney Nicolas Sansone, who serves as counsel for the plaintiff. “People will die,” adds Mitchell Warren, the executive director of AVAC. Warren condemns the “willful ignorance” and “disregard of science” being promoted by Trump and his allies, many of whom are former supporters of bipartisan global health initiatives.
Widespread Salmonella outbreak in the European Union/European Economic Area linked to sprouted seeds
Stockholm, 06/03/2025: - European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) - Public health and food safety authorities across Europe are investigating prolonged and widespread outbreaks of Salmonella infection linked to the consumption of sprouted alfalfa seeds, as detailed in a joint Rapid Outbreak Assessment by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Between January 2023 and January 2025, 509 people were reported with salmonellosis in nine EU/EEA countries. The most affected country was Norway, with 257 cases, followed by Sweden, Finland, and Germany. The outbreak is ongoing, and cases of salmonellosis may continue to be found until the point(s) where the seeds were contaminated is identified and properly controlled.
amfAR Announces Chief Executive Officer Succession Plan
New York, NY, March 6, 2025 - amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research - Kevin Robert Frost to Retire at End of 2025;
Kyle Clifford to be Elevated to CEO
amfAR today announced that Kevin Robert Frost will retire at the end of 2025 after more than 30 years of service to the organization, the last 18 as its Chief Executive Officer. Last year, Frost informed the Board of Trustees of his intention to retire to spend more time with his family and the board immediately began a search for his successor. The Foundation has named Kyle Clifford, Chief Development Officer and a member of amfAR’s management team since 2020, to be Chief Executive Officer beginning on January 1, 2026.
Third measles case confirmed in B.C’s Lower Mainland since February
March 6, 2025 - By Charles Brockman - CityNews Vancouver - Health authorities in B.C.’s Lower Mainland have confirmed a new case of a person infected with measles.
Fraser Health says the virus infected a resident who travelled abroad to Southeast Asia.
Last month, two people, one in the Fraser Health region and one in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, who travelled together to Southeast Asia also tested positive.
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Philippines' LGBTQ+ groups seek options to U.S. aid
MANILA - Mar 06, 2025 - By Mariejo Ramos, Thomson Reuters Foundation - The Japan Times - LoveYourself, a Philippines-based group providing free HIV testing and treatment services, was receiving aid from the United States like innumerable groups promoting health and LGBTQ+ rights around the world.
But unlike so many of those organizations that were forced to close clinics when U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 90-day freeze on all foreign assistance on Jan. 20, LoveYourself kept 40 of its staff members affected by the freeze, and its doors stayed open.
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Patients speak out after thousands exposed to infection risk at Toronto gynecologist
Mar 06, 2025 - by lia Ricci - CBC News - Toronto Public Health says around 2,500 patients of Dr. Esther Park notified
Public health officials are warning some 2,500 people they may have been exposed to blood-borne infections at a Toronto gynecology office where medical tools were not properly cleaned.
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Shaping the Future of HIV Research
March 5, 2025 - amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research - The amfAR Interview: Dr. Melanie Ott
Melanie Ott, MD, PhD, is Director of the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Senior Vice President of the Gladstone Institutes, and a professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco.
Dr. Ott’s work has focused on HIV and hepatitis C and expanded into other viruses such as Zika, influenza, and SARS-CoV-2. She has focused much of her work on HIV transcription and identifying new molecular targets for treatments and cure, new diagnostics, and the potential for pan-viral therapeutics. A regular reviewer of grant applications for amfAR, Dr. Ott is a recipient of NIH MERIT and DP1 Avantgarde Awards, an elected member of the Association of American Physicians, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.
Quebec becomes first province to publicly reimburse APRETUDE for HIV-1 Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)
MONTRÉAL, March 5, 2025 /CNW/ - ViiV Healthcare - ViiV Healthcare, the global specialist HIV company majority owned by GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK), with Pfizer Inc. and Shionogi as shareholders, is pleased to announce that Quebec has become the first province to publicly reimburse APRETUDE (cabotegravir tablets and extended release injectable suspension) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV-1 infection in at-risk individuals who are HIV-1 negative.1
ViiV Healthcare commends the Quebec government for its decision to grant timely access to APRETUDE for at-risk individuals who could benefit from PrEP. APRETUDE is now listed under the Régie de L'assurance Maladie du Québec (RAMQ). With cases of HIV continuing to rise across Canada, including in Quebec where cases have increased 37 per cent between 2019 and 2022,2 this decision will have a meaningful impact on HIV prevention efforts in the province.
APRETUDE is the first and only long-acting injectable approved in Canada to help reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV-1 infection in at-risk adults and adolescents aged 12 years and older, and weighing at least 35kg.1 Findings from two real-world evidence studies (OPERA and Trio Health cohorts) showed more than 99 per cent effectiveness of APRETUDE for PrEP in nearly 1,300 individuals.3,4 APRETUDE for PrEP has demonstrated superior efficacy to daily oral emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (FTC/TDF tablets) in reducing the risk of HIV acquisition in two clinical trials, providing more options for PrEP for Canadians.1
Bacteria resistant to key antimicrobials still routinely found in humans and animals
Stockholm 5 March 2025 - European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) - Recent surveillance data reveal that resistance to commonly used antimicrobials — such as ampicillin, tetracyclines, and sulfonamides — remains persistently high in both humans and animals for key pathogens including Salmonella and Campylobacter. Resistance in E. coli is also frequently observed in animals, although resistance of Salmonella in laying hens is low. These are the main findings of a report issued today by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
According to Carlos Das Neves, EFSA Chief Scientist and Piotr Kramarz, ECDC Chief Scientist: ‘A comprehensive One-Health approach is essential to tackling AMR. Robust surveillance systems, prudent antimicrobial use, and cross-sector collaboration are critical to mitigate the risk posed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can spread between animals and humans.’
New HIV vaccine candidate discovered with help from Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source
March 4, 2025 - By JARED SAGOFF - Argonne National Laboratory - Vaccine helps to create a kind of “broadly neutralizing antibody”
Though not a full vaccine yet, discovery shows important proof of concept that can neutralize a third of the strains of HIV in the U.S.
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is one of the most common and deadly viruses known to mankind. Approximately 40 million people around the world are living with HIV, and tens of millions worldwide have died from AIDS — the condition HIV leads to as it progresses — since the epidemic began in the early 1980s.
Although there are currently available antiretroviral medications for HIV, the silver bullet for it does not yet exist: an HIV vaccine. Scientists have been working on an HIV vaccine for a number of years but have had very limited success because the virus mutates so rapidly.
Measles Outbreak: NV-387 Promises To Be An Effective Drug To Treat Patients; We are Ready To Work With HHS, Says NanoViricides President Dr. Anil Diwan
SHELTON, CT / ACCESS Newswire / March 4, 2025 / - NanoViricides, Inc. - The HHS Department Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote an Opinion piece in the FoxNews entitled "Measles outbreak is call to action for all of us". He identifies an important issue that, "…there is no approved antiviral for those who may be infected…"[1].
Parents of children who are suffering, and the doctors who are treating them, are frustrated with the lack of any treatment. Mr. Kennedy clearly understands that the plight of suffering patients cannot be relieved without a drug to treat measles.
"We applaud Secretary Kennedy for recognizing the urgency of the situation and taking all possible steps including promoting vaccination in response to this outbreak, while clearly recognizing the deficiency in the response to be the lack of an effective treatment for measles viral disease," said Anil R. Diwan, PhD., President of NanoViricides, Inc.
NanoViricides believes that NV-387, the Company's flagship broad-spectrum antiviral, would be a potentially effective treatment for measles, and is worth evaluating during the current emergency situation created by the spreading outbreak. This belief has a strong rationale as explained below.
NV-387 is a broad-spectrum antiviral drug that has been found to be effective against many distinctly different virus families that use heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPG) during attachment to infect cells, including RSV, Influenza, COVID/Coronaviruses and Mpox/Smallpox[2].
Pepfar funding to fight HIV/Aids has saved 26 million lives since 2003: how cutting it will hurt Africa
March 4, 2025 - The Conversation - The US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief has been a cornerstone of global HIV/Aids prevention, care and treatment for over two decades. Pepfar has enjoyed broad bipartisan support in the US, but its future is now uncertain. Public health scholars Eric A. Friedman, Sarah A. Wetter and Lawrence O. Gostin explain Pepfar’s history and impacts, as well as what may lie ahead.
Many people today have forgotten the sheer devastation that the Aids pandemic wrought on the African continent, first spreading widely in east Africa in the 1980s. By the end of the 20th century, life expectancy in the region had decreased from 64 to 47 years.
aidsmap returns with reporting from the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI)
4 March 2025 - aidsmap - News reporting by aidsmap will be restarting next week, under the new stewardship of Terrence Higgins Trust.
As you probably know, in July 2024, the trustees of NAM Publications, publishers of aidsmap.com, decided that the charity was no longer financially sustainable. The trustees sought proposals from other UK charities to take on aidsmap’s assets and maintain access to the website. Following careful consideration and debate, the trustees selected Terrence Higgins Trust as that partner.
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‘People will die,’ says Canadian charity in Kenya as Trump's USAID cuts threaten HIV medications
Mar 4, 2025 - by Natalie Stechyson - CBC News - Kenya has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world with a prevalence of 3.7 per cent
In Nanyuki, a market town just northwest of Mount Kenya, some foreign aid workers and volunteers are worried what U.S. President Donald Trump's dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development will mean for the people there.
“It’s a concern. It’s a real issue,” said Rex Taylor, co-founder and president of The Small Project, a registered Canadian charity that helps send kids to school in rural Kenya.
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Shared Pathways in HIV and Aging May Contribute to Heart Failure Risk
Mar 3, 2025 - By Melissa Rohman - Northwestern University - Feinberg School of Medicine - Scientists have discovered a unique protein signature expressed in the blood of persons living with HIV that is also associated with aging and higher risk for heart failure, according to a recent study published in Nature Communications.
The findings may help identify new therapeutic targets for heart failure among both people living with and without HIV, said Frank Palella, MD, the Potocsnak Family — C.S.C. Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and a co-author of the study.
An estimated 40 million people globally are currently living with human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, according to recent data from the World Health Organization.
Accessible HIV science is vital in an age of disinformation
3 Mar 2025 - aidsmap - Terrence Higgins Trust is exploring a future for leading HIV website aidsmap
With deep regret the trustees of NAM Publications, publishers of aidsmap.com, decided in July 2024 that the charity was no longer financially sustainable. While honouring their commitment to staff, partners and service users, the trustees set about ensuring a longevity for the assets aidsmap had built up over four decades.
HIV Lens –which maps the impact of HIV across England – was transferred to National AIDS Trust. Proposals were sought to host aidsmap.com alongside the other resources developed by the organisation. This was with the intention of ensuring the core HIV content did not fall into disrepair and the resources could continue to be used. Following careful consideration and debate, the trustees selected Terrence Higgins Trust as that partner.
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