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Positively Positive - Living with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS News Archive - February 2023
FoodNOW project spotlights food and nutrition needs of those living with HIV and AIDS
Feb 28, 2023 - Increasing collective understanding of the nutrition and food programming needs of those living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in Nova Scotia is the main aim of FoodNOW, an MSVU research and community outreach project led by two Registered Dietitians in the Department of Applied Human Nutrition, Dr. Phillip Joy and Dr. Shannan Grant.
Established in 2021, FoodNOW (Food to eNhance Our Wellness) is a two-year four-phased community needs assessment project based in Kjipuktuk (Halifax), Nova Scotia, funded by Research Nova Scotia, New Health Investigator Grant Award (2021-2023).
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Socioeconomic factors play a role in detection, transmission and treatment of HIV
28FEB2023 - Those living in unstable housing conditions, such as hostels or informal dwellings and those who had not completed post-secondary studies were more likely to contract HIV in South Africa, according to a new study from McGill University. A team of researchers based at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) has reported survey results that show socioeconomic factors play a critical role in the detection, transmission, and treatment of HIV in regions of South Africa.
Roche joins forces with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to strengthen laboratory systems in the fight against the HIV and tuberculosis epidemics
BASEL, Switzerland, Feb. 28, 2023 - PRNewswire/ - Roche announced today the expansion of its collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to strengthen laboratory capabilities in countries greatly affected by the HIV and tuberculosis (TB) epidemics. Through the implementation of a public-private partnership (PPP), named "Lab Networks for Health," Roche and the CDC will seek to improve HIV and tuberculosis prevention, detection, and treatment outcomes in select countries of Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Western Hemisphere (e.g., Latin America, Central America, and Caribbean Regions).
Using trauma treatment to break down what one HIV patient calls 'stinking thinking'
February 28, 2023 – By Helen Adams - A woman who asked to be called Shirley to protect her privacy has been haunted both emotionally and physically by what began as a fun night out in 2001. “I had been partying and was back home when I got a phone call from a friend, and everybody was over by her house. So I wanted to go back out again. But she lived too far away to walk.”
HIV Reservoirs Are Established Earlier Than Expected
02/28/2023 – For the first time in humans, a research team has shown that, as early as the first days of infection, HIV is able to create reservoirs where it will hide and persist during antiretroviral therapy.
Until now, the scientific community did not know exactly when or how these viral reservoirs—the existence of which is a major obstacle to curing HIV—are established in human beings.
HIV IS NOT A CRIME AWARENESS DAY OBSERVED ON FEBRUARY 28, 2023
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF) observes today as the second annual HIV IS NOT A CRIME Awareness Day. The date is significant as it ties a symbolic bow to the closing of National Black History Month and the beginning of National Women's History Month - two demographics that are disproportionately impacted by both the HIV epidemic & HIV criminalization. This date is also a symbolic nod to the legacy of ETAF Founder, Elizabeth Taylor on the anniversary of her birthday. Elizabeth held a tireless commitment to raising awareness and fighting the stigma of HIV and AIDS globally. Today, we are honored to continue Elizabeth's legacy alongside all of our partners in HIV Is Not A Crime movement, notably The Sero Project, who piloted and established HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day in collaboration with ETAF.
HIV infections acquired while on injectable PrEP may take a very long time to be spotted
27 February 2023 - Gus Cairns - Delayed-diagnosis syndrome now has a name: LEVI
In people who acquire HIV despite taking injectable cabotegravir as PrEP, the course of infection is quite distinct to that seen in people who aren’t taking PrEP, Professor Susan Eshleman of Johns Hopkins University told the 30th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle last week. People may not feel unwell, viral load is often unusually low and the infection may not be picked up by diagnostic tests for several months, meaning there is a real risk of developing resistance to integrase inhibitors.
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George W. Bush's anti-HIV program is hailed as 'amazing' — and still crucial at 20
Feb 27, 2023 - By 2003, the global HIV/AIDS situation was reaching its deadliest peak. The previous year, 4.8 million people contracted HIV and 2.75 million died, making it one of the worst years of the HIV epidemic.
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HIV.gov FYI- HIV Criminalization Laws & HIV Is Not a Crime Day
Feb 27, 2023 - In HIV.gov's latest FYI video, Harold Phillips, the Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, talks about HIV criminalization laws and the barriers they creat to helping us end the HIV epidemic.
CROI 2023- HIV.gov Speaks with LaRon Nelson
February 23, 2023 - LaRon Nelson of Yale University spoke with HIV.gov about his presentation at CROI 2023. LaRon's presentation focused on long-acting injectable therapies and the hope they offer if they are implemented with an eye toward equity.
Former President George W. Bush Speaks on 20th Anniversary of Presidential AIDS Relief Plan
FEB 24, 2023 - Former President George W. Bush discussed the legacy of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and called for congressional reauthorization during a 20th anniversary celebration of the program in Washington, DC. Other featured speakers included Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Secretary of State Antony Blinken, One Campaign co-founder and musician Bono, and Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova. Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder, also delivered remarks on HIV/AIDS advocacy and PEPFAR’s impact on the world.
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Cure Chronicles Video Series Awarded for Telling “Powerful HIV Stories”
“The Cure Chronicles”, an American Gene Technologies® video series, won the BioBuzz Media Award!
February 23, 2023 - “The Cure Chronicles” American Gene Technologies video series launched this year and has featured over a dozen interviews with a variety of guests, including people living with HIV, medical experts, HIV education advocates and influencers so far.
Dr. Deborah Birx on fight against HIV/AIDS, future pandemics and trust in scientists
FEB 24, 2023 - This year marks 20 years since then-President George W. Bush enacted the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Dr. Deborah Birx served as the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, implementing PEPFAR programs around the world. She joins "CBS Mornings" to discuss where we stand in the fight against HIV/AIDS and what work stills needs to be done.
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ViiV Healthcare announces positive data demonstrating long-acting injectable Cabenuva (cabotegravir, rilpivirine) is as effective as daily oral Biktarvy (BIC/FTC/TAF) for the treatment of HIV-1
London, 23 February 2023 - 12-month findings from the SOLAR study showed that the every-two-month regimen of CAB+RPV LA demonstrated non-inferior efficacy compared to continuation of daily oral BIC/FTC/TAF
90% of participants who switched from BIC/FTC/TAF to CAB+RPV LA preferred the complete long-acting regimen to daily pills
ViiV Healthcare, the global specialist HIV company majority owned by GSK, with Pfizer and Shionogi as shareholders, announced yesterday positive 12-month findings from the SOLAR study. SOLAR is the first head-to-head, Phase IIIb study of the first and only complete long-acting injectable regimen Cabenuva (cabotegravir, rilpivirine [CAB+RPV LA]) compared against complete daily oral regimen Biktarvy (bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide [BIC/FTC/TAF]).
Case Western Reserve University completes exclusive license agreement with Atlanta-based RORA Biologics Inc. for cancer and HIV therapy technologies
Feb. 23, 2023 – Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) has completed an exclusive license agreement with Atlanta-based RORA Biologics Inc. (RORA-Bio) for intellectual property to develop new therapies to treat HIV and certain kinds of cancer.
The agreement gives RORA-Bio exclusive international rights to T-cell memory stem-cell (RORA cells) technologies developed by Rafick Sekaly, formerly a professor at the CWRU School of Medicine, and co-director of the Center for AIDS Research Proteomics and Systems Biology Core.
Immunocore announces initial Phase 1 safety and pharmacodynamic activity data with first soluble TCR therapy for people living with HIV
(OXFORDSHIRE, England & CONSHOHOCKEN, Penn. & ROCKVILLE, Md., US, 22 February, 2023) – Data from the single ascending dose part of the Phase 1 trial shows IMC-M113V is well tolerated
Immunocore Holdings plc (Nasdaq: IMCR), a commercial-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of a novel class of T cell receptor (TCR) bispecific immunotherapies designed to treat a broad range of diseases, including cancer, autoimmune and infectious diseases, has presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infection (CROI) the first safety and activity data with IMC-M113V, a bispecific soluble TCR therapy built on Immunocore’s ImmTAX® technology which is being developed for the treatment of people living with HIV (PLWH).
National AIDS Memorial Announces Recipients of the Mary Bowman Arts in Activism Award
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Feb. 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE)- Applications available March 1, 2023 for the next awards for the HIV/AIDS arts and social justice program funded through the support of ViiV Healthcare
The National AIDS Memorial announces that Bobbi-Angelica Morris, currently at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., and Joseph Taylor, at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, are the most recent recipients of the Mary Bowman Arts in Activism Award. Now in its fourth year, the Award honors the life of Mary Bowman, the poet, advocate, author and singer who passed away from AIDS in early 2019 at the age of 30.
Gilead Presents Positive Proof-of-Concept Data for Investigational Combination Regimen of Lenacapavir with Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies as a Potential Twice-Yearly Approach for the Treatment of HIV
FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE) -- February 22, 2023 - Study Demonstrates the Potential of Lenacapavir in Combination with Broadly Neutralizing HIV Antibodies Teropavimab and Zinlirvimab
Findings Support Further Evaluation of the Investigational Combination as a Long-Acting HIV Treatment Option in a Phase 2 Study
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced data evaluating lenacapavir in combination with broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) teropavimab and zinlirvimab as a potential long-acting treatment regimen with twice-yearly dosing.Results fromthe Phase 1b clinical trial demonstrated the investigational combination was generally well tolerated with high efficacy in select virologically suppressed participants living with HIV. These data were presented at the 30th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI).
ViiV HEALTHCARE RECEIVES EU MARKETING AUTHORISATION FOR TRIUMEQ PD, THE FIRST DISPERSIBLE SINGLE TABLET REGIMEN CONTAINING DOLUTEGRAVIR, A ONCE-DAILY TREATMENT FOR CHILDREN LIVING WITH HIV IN EUROPE
London, 22 February 2023 - Triumeq PD is the first dispersible single tablet regimen containing dolutegravir for children living with HIV
The authorisation is an important step to meet ViiV Healthcare’s commitment to bring paediatric formulations to children living with HIV
ViiV Healthcare, the global specialist HIV company majority owned by GSK, with Pfizer and Shionogi as shareholders, today announced the European Commission has granted Marketing Authorisation for Triumeq PD, a dispersible tablet formulation of the fixed dose combination of abacavir, dolutegravir and lamivudine for the treatment of paediatric patients weighing 14 kg to <25 kg with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). This authorisation includes the label extension of Triumeq tablet, lowering the minimum weight that a child with HIV-1 can be prescribed this medicine from 40 kg to 25 kg.
Clinicians identify severe form of mpox with high mortality in people with advanced HIV
21 February 2023 - An international collaboration of clinicians, led by Queen Mary University of London and the Fight Infections Foundation/Hospital Germans Trias of Barcelona, has identified a severe, necrotising form of mpox with a high mortality in immunosuppressed people living with HIV.
The authors are calling for this form of mpox be added to the World Health Organization and Center for Disease Control list of severe infections that are considered particularly dangerous to people with advanced HIV disease. They also recommend that all people with mpox be tested for HIV.
Mpox Often Leads to Severe Illness, Even Death, in People With Advanced H.I.V.
Feb 21, 2023 - By Apoorva Mandavilli - The death rate among these patients is about 15 percent, researchers reported. The virus should be added to the list of opportunistic infections seen in patients with advanced H.I.V., scientists said.
In people with advanced H.I.V. disease, the mpox virus — formerly known as monkeypox — often causes severe illness, with a death rate of about 15 percent, researchers reported on Tuesday.
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Successful cure of HIV infection after stem cell transplantation
February 20, 2023 - An infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was previously considered incurable. The reason for this is that the virus “sleeps” in the genome of infected cells for long periods of time, making it invisible and inaccessible to both the immune system and antiviral drugs. The "Düsseldorf patient", a 53-year-old man, is now the third person in the world to be completely cured of the HI virus by a stem cell transplant.
German man remains free of HIV nearly 10 years after stem cell transplant
20 February 2023 - Liz Highleyman - A man in Düsseldorf, Germany who received a stem cell transplant using HIV-resistant donor cells nearly a decade ago and stopped antiretroviral therapy more than four years ago has no detectable HIV and has finally been declared cured, according to a report today in Nature Medicine, coinciding with the annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI).
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African leaders unite in pledge to end AIDS in children
ADDIS ABABA, 20 February 2023 - African leaders and partners have joined together at a high-level event on the side-lines of the 36th Session of the African Union to commit to a set of actions to boost progress towards ending AIDS. The event, Health Financing and Sustaining Action to End AIDS and Related Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases, was co-hosted by the African Union, NEPAD, UNAIDS and PEPFAR.
Montreal slammed by community organizations over 'inaction' on HIV/AIDS
Feb 19, 2023 - Erika Morris - Advocates say city must sign on to Paris Declaration, rethink policing
Organizations dedicated to fighting HIV/AIDS are slamming the city of Montreal and cutting ties with the Montréal sans sida initiative over its "increasing disengagement" and failure to sign the latest Paris Declaration on HIV.
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Rory O’Neill says some people living with HIV have ‘never told a single soul’
February 18 2023 - Seoirse Mulgrew - Irish gay icon Rory O’Neill has said there is still a stigma attached to HIV as people still believe it is the “life-ending condition” it was once thought to be.
The 54-year-old, is best known for his drag persona, Panti Bliss, said it is now an "easily manageable condition.” He was diagnosed with HIV at the age of 27.
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New vaccine platform could aid in fight against deadly viruse
February 17, 2023 - Researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health have developed a new, highly adaptable vaccine platform that could potentially be a powerful tool in the fight against viral pathogens including influenza, HIV, and SARS-CoV-2.
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How the myth of ‘patient zero’ was made
February 17, 2023 - By Grant Hill - In the spring of 1982, epidemic intelligence officers were almost a year into a troubling investigation. Residents of three major American cities, mostly gay men, were dying young and no one knew why. A handful of researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were tasked with traveling the country to interview patients and spot patterns.
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R.I.P. Lesbian AIDS Activists Mary Lucey and Nancy Jean MacNeil
February 17, 2023 - By Trent Straube - The couple, who helped launch the ACT UP Los Angeles Oral history Project and fought for women’s issues, died within hours of each other.
AIDS activists in Los Angeles expressed “shock and deep sorrow” at the death of Mary Lucey and Nancy Jean MacNeil, two lesbian warriors who joined ACT UP Los Angeles in 1990 and elevated the issues of women, prisoners and HIV. The two were together for over 30 years and eventually married. Both died Saturday, February 11, 2023. A cause of death was not listed in a statement from ACT UP Los Angeles Oral History Project.
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We have the resources: Let’s finish the job of ending AIDS
02/17/23 - BY WAFAA EL-SADR - “Twenty years ago, under the leadership of President Bush and countless advocates and champions, we undertook a bipartisan effort through PEPFAR to transform the global fight against HIV/AIDS,” Biden said. “It’s been a huge success.”
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National AIDS group looking to distribute 200,000 HIV testing kits to Indigenous People
Feb 16, 2023 - By Roman Hayter - A survey conducted by First Nations communities in Saskatchewan and Alberta found that Indigenous Peoples living with HIV were less likely to know their status than the general population.
The Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange, or CATIE, is part of a strategy by the federal government to distribute 200,000 HIV self-testing kits.
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Australian-first queer museum Qtopia opens as Sydney WorldPride kicks off
February 16, 2023 - By Declan Bowring - Australia's first dedicated queer museum has opened its doors to the public, coinciding with the first day of Sydney WorldPride.
The museum is located at Green Park in Darlinghurst, across the road from St Vincent's Hospital, and at a space at the National Art School.
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First permanent consumption and treatment site in London, Ont. opening soon
February 16, 2023 - By Andrew Graham - An opening date has finally been set for Carepoint, London, Ont.’s first permanent consumption and treatment site.
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HIV Treatment and Prevention in Zambian Prisons May be Model for Prisons Worldwide
15-Feb-2023 - Newswise - A recent study performed in Zambia by University of Maryland School of Medicine’s (UMSOM) Institute of Human Virology researchers found that high uptake of HIV preventative medicine, known as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), is possible in prison populations with adequate resources and support from the criminal justice health system.
More than 100 years after the first TB vaccine, why are we still waiting for a second?
February 15, 2023 - It has been more than 100 years since the first and only tuberculosis (TB) vaccine – theBacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine – was used for the first time medically in 1921. With an estimated 1.6 million people dying from TB in 2021, there is an urgent need for new vaccines to help stem the never-ending pandemic.
Black Canadians at higher risk of dying from HIV, cancer than white people: study
February 15, 2023 - By Heidi Lee - Black Canadians are more likely to die from HIV/AIDS and certain types of cancer than their white counterparts, a new Statistics Canada report has found.
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THE ELIZABETH TAYLOR AIDS FOUNDATION AND THE HIV IS NOT A CRIME CAMPAIGN WIN BIG AT THE ANTHEM AWARDS
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF) announces today the news of multiple wins at the Anthem Awards for their HIV IS NOT A CRIME campaign. The awards will be handed out in New York City on February 27th, one day before the second annual HIV IS NOT A CRIME Awareness Day.
The Awards are being given for the short play NIGHT OVER AMERICA which was performed in Washington DC and New York as a tool to bring awareness to the HIV IS NOT A CRIME campaign whose goal is to modernize laws in 30 states that still criminalize people living with HIV.
ACTG to make 29 presentations at CROI 2023
Los Angeles, Calif. - 14-FEB-2023 - Presentations focus on COVID-19; HIV cure, pathogenesis, treatment and long-term complications; tuberculosis; hepatitis C; and contraception
The AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG), the world’s largest HIV research network whose focus has expanded to include evaluating outpatient treatment for COVID-19, will present four oral presentations, two themed discussions, and 23 poster sessions at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2022), which will be held February 19-22, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. CROI is the premier global HIV research conference and ACTG’s robust presence at the meeting demonstrates its continued leadership in HIV and related fields.
ViiV Healthcare to present first head-to-head data for long-acting HIV treatment Cabenuva against daily oral Biktarvy at CROI 2023
London, 14 February 2023 - Other key data to be presented from ViiV Healthcare’s innovative pipeline and portfolio include new HIV prevention findings for long-acting cabotegravir and predictors of response to broadly neutralising antibody N6LS
ViiV Healthcare, the global specialist HIV company majority owned by GSK, with Pfizer and Shionogi as shareholders, today announced the presentation of key abstracts from the company’s diverse portfolio of industry-leading innovative HIV treatment and prevention options alongside next-generation pipeline advancements at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2023) being held in Seattle, Washington from 19 – 22 February 2023.
Gilead at CROI 2023 – The Next Wave of Innovation in Virology Research
February 14, 2023 - Key upcoming presentations include: HIV, COVID-19, Viral Hepatitis.
Gilead has announced new clinical and real-world data from the company’s HIV, COVID-19 and viral hepatitis research and development programs that will be presented at the 30th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) from February 19-22.
Pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention – priorities for action in the European region
February 14, 2023 - ECDC published an evidence brief which summarises key issues and priorities for action in the European Region on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). It is largely based on data collected between February and March 2022 by ECDC, to monitor the implementation of the 2004 Dublin Declaration.
Andrea Ammon, ECDC Director, declared: “PrEP is a powerful tool to reduce HIV transmission. Although the provision of PrEP in the European Region has increased since 2016, there is still a great deal of variation among countries in terms of the scale of implementation.”
IAS announces global rotation of all its conferences
14 February 2023 (Geneva, Switzerland) - Munich, Germany, will host AIDS 2024; the IAS will invite bids from Africa for IAS 2025 and from Latin America and the Caribbean for AIDS 2026
IAS – the International AIDS Society – today announced that the International AIDS Conference, the IAS Conference on HIV Science and the HIV Research for Prevention Conference will rotate to all regions of the world and that conferences will continue to offer virtual participation.
The in-person component of IAS conferences will rotate among five world regions – Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the US and Canada – and will not take place consecutively in any region.
Charity drag show aims to reduce stigma around HIV, AIDS
FEBRUARY 14, 2023 - Alex Flood - This year’s ECCMID congress will take place in Denmark’s capital Copenhagen from April 15-18, and present the latest news from all areas of infectious diseases.
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The European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2023), Copenhagen and online, 15-18 April
February 13, 2023 - The European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2023), Copenhagen and online, 15-18 April.
In addition to the central congress program which covers 15-19 April, there are several pre-ECCMID congress days covering various themes (taking place on Feb 15, 16 and March 15, 16), and also two post-ECCMID days on 24, 25 May.
Thai government shuts down key-population led PrEP services
13 February 2023 - Bobby Ramakant Shobha Shukla Roger Pebody - Mounting pressure on government to reverse policies jeopardising HIV prevention services for men who have sex with men, transgender women and sex workers
Thailand’s government has stopped the country’s leading pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services from operating, jeopardising an approach that has attracted international attention and is at the heart of Asia’s largest PrEP programme.
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Bay Area lawmaker looks to improve access to preventative HIV medication PrEP
SAN FRANCISCO - FEBRUARY 13, 2023 - CBS/BAY CITY NEWS SERVICE - State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, introduced a bill Thursday to improve access to PrEP, the preventative HIV medication.
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International Condom Day: A brief history of rubbers
February 12, 2023 - Carla Bleiker - Condoms are pretty great, preventing both diseases and unwanted pregnancies. They were first used in 3000 BC. Ancient Egyptians color-coded theirs while the Romans supposedly made them from the muscles of fallen enemies.
No one can agree on what should be considered humanity's greatest invention. The wheel? Antibiotics? The dishwasher? All valid contenders. But today we are looking at another scientific innovation that, although perhaps innocuous, has transformed life on Earth: The condom.
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Mississippi sees 900% rise in number of infants born with congenital syphilis
12 Feb 2023 - Maya Yang - Medical professionals attribute the increasing cases of disease to inadequate prenatal healthcare and understaffed workforce
Mississippi has registered an alarming rise in the number of infants being treated for congenital syphilis.
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Victory! Lambda Legal Secures $372k Settlement in California HIV Medical Data Breach Case
(San Francisco, CA, February 10, 2023) - The settlement will provide $4,000 in compensation to 93 low-income Californians whose HIV status may have been accessed in a potential breach under a state-run medication program.
Lambda Legal today announces Final Approval of a $372,000 settlement for 93 low-income Californians living with HIV whose confidential medical records – including their HIV status – may have been compromised by a data breach of A.J. Boggs & Company’s online enrollment system for the California AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). ADAP is operated by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and 30,000 low-income Californians rely on ADAP for life-saving medication. In 2016, CDPH contracted with A.J. Boggs to administer the enrollment program.
SCDC-UNC Collaboration Yields Potential Long-term HIV Protection
CHAPEL HILL, NC - February 9, 2023 - Rahima Benhabbour, PhD, MSc, associate professor of Biomedical Engineering, led a successful effort to create an injectable implant that can release effective HIV PrEP medications into the body for six months in non-human primates.
For people at high risk of contracting HIV, missing doses of their daily HIV prevention pills can have big consequences. In some cases, missing a pill can lead to lack of protection against the virus.
Stigma, lack of support limit HIV testing in Côte d’Ivoire
February 8, 2023 - by Michael McCarthy - Collaboration finds that improved training and support of community health workers are needed to improve HIV testing.
o improve HIV testing rates in the West African country of Côte d’Ivoire, community health workers need more training and support, researchers from the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle and the Institute de Recherche et Actions en Afrique, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire report in a new study. The scientific paper appears in the Feb. 8 issue of the journal PLOS ONE.
Bush demanded billions for AIDS in Africa at his 2003 State of the Union. It paid off.
February 7, 2023 - By Benjamin Ryan - President George W. Bush stunned the world by proposing what many thought impossible: providing wide access to HIV treatment in poor countries devastated by AIDS.
President George W. Bush’s reputation may have been forever complicated by 9/11 and war, but a proposal he made in his 2003 State of the Union address became a historic humanitarian success, one that resulted in 25 million lives saved from AIDS, 20 million people with HIV provided antiretroviral treatment and 5.5 million babies born to HIV-positive mothers but free of the virus themselves.
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African migrants living in France less likely to benefit from antiretroviral innovations than people born in France
7 February 2023 - Alain Volny-Anne - A French study reveals large differences in antiretroviral therapy prescriptions between people with HIV born in sub-Saharan Africa and those born in France. It also shows that these differences exist both at the time of starting treatment and after long-term viral suppression, without any clinical, virological or immunological justification.
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HIV diagnoses up slightly in D.C. after testing dipped during pandemic
February 7, 2023 - By Jenna Portnoy - Case numbers are still down significantly from historic highs
New HIV cases in D.C. remain far below historic highs, but in 2021 the city saw an uptick in diagnoses that public health experts say is likely to continue until testing and treatment return to pre-pandemic levels.
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HIV cases up 21% in 2022
MANILA, Philippines - February 6, 2023 - Mayen Jaymalin - More Filipinos are getting infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) each day at a rate that is 21 percent higher in 2022 than in the previous year, the Department of Health (DOH) said.
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HIV testing: Free DIY home kit offered in England
February 6, 2023 - By Michelle Roberts - Free HIV tests that can be done at home are being offered this week to people in England.
It is part of a government drive to improve diagnosis, which dropped off during the Covid pandemic.
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Fauci talks HIV vaccine research after most recent trial failure: 'I don't give up on it'
February 4, 2023 - Rebecca Corey - In an interview with Yahoo News, Dr. Anthony Fauci discussed the state of HIV vaccine research after the recent failure of a late-stage trial funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
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R.I.P. David Sanford, Reporter With AIDS Who Wrote His Own Obit in 1995
February 3, 2023 - By Trent Straube - Writing for The Wall Street Journal in 1996, Sanford detailed how a new class of HIV meds turned his health around.
In 1995, esteemed journalist David Sanford disclosed to his colleagues at The Wall Street Journal that he had AIDS and expected to die within a year. He even penned his own obituary. “I’m a features editor on Page One…so I certainly didn’t want anybody else writing it,” he noted in a separate article. And yet, he continued working for the next 20 years, earning a Pulitzer Prize for his HIV coverage and retiring from the paper in 2015. Sanford died earlier this year, reports Talking Biz News. A cause of death was not listed.
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Discovery of “cross-reactive” antibodies could aid treatment of viral co-infections
Feb. 2, 2023 - by Bill Snyder - More than a million people in the United States are living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. One-fifth of them have been co-infected by the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which attacks the liver.
Curative drugs for HCV are available, but many people don’t know they’ve been infected. And if they also have HIV, for which there is no cure, co-infection appears to accelerate liver damage, including cirrhosis and liver cancer, both of which are on the rise in the United States.
Last week researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported a paradigm- breaking discovery that potentially could transform the treatment of HIV/HCV co-infection — antibodies that are “cross-reactive” and can attack both viruses at the same time.
Anal cancer cases down among gay and bisexual men with HIV in the Netherlands
2 February 2023 - Keith Alcorn - Screening for precancers enabled earlier anal cancer diagnosis and better survival
Anal cancer is being diagnosed less often in gay and bisexual men with HIV in the Netherlands since 2013, but rates of diagnosis have hardly changed in other groups of people living with HIV over several decades, and Dutch HIV specialists say that screening and treatment for anal precancers should be offered to all people living with HIV.
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African leaders unite in pledge to end AIDS in children
DAR ES SALAAM, 1 February 2023 - Ministers and representatives from twelve African countries have committed themselves, and laid out their plans, to end AIDS in children by 2030. International partners have set out how they would support countries in delivering on those plans, which were issued at the first ministerial meeting of the Global Alliance to end AIDS in children.
The meeting hosted by the United Republic of Tanzania, marks a step up in action to ensure that all children with HIV have access to life saving treatment and that mothers living with HIV have babies free from HIV. The Alliance will work to drive progress over the next seven years, to ensure that the 2030 target is met.
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