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Positively Positive - Living with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS News Archive - January 2016
Study Finds Increase in Drug Resistance to HIV Drug
January 31 2016 - A new study released on Friday in the Lancet suggests that there is an increasing HIV resistance to the antiretroviral drug, Tenofovir, also known as Viread.
Tenofovir is an antiviral agent that can reduce HIV viral load and is a popular treatment option for HIV-positive patients. Tenofovir has also been used to treat hepatitis B and is sometimes used as a PrEp treatment.
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Zimbabwe intensifies efforts to fight HIV
January 30 2016 - ZIMBABWE – The government of Zimbabwe is intensifying its efforts to fight HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Officials are collecting data from about 15,000 randomly
selected households to measure the burden of HIV across the African country and the impact of HIV prevention, care and treatment services.
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Drug Resistance To Popular HIV Treatment Could Spell Trouble
01/29/2016 - The second-line drugs are more expensive and have more side effects.
"I think that if these trends continued . . . and you found a lot of HIV infections had resistance, then you would find the efficacy of PrEP is compromised," said Gupta, referring to pre-exposure prophylaxis, which is the practice of having uninfected people take anti-HIV drugs to try to avoid getting the virus.
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Science hasn't answered all the questions on HIV
January 29, 2016 - Dr Kimberly Smith, vice president of medical strategy at ViiV Healthcare, shares her experiences of a career spent working to find a cure for the disease
Dr Smith has devoted her entire career to fighting HIV. Back in what she calls “the bad old days” of the 1980s when the disease first emerged, she was appalled at how patients were treated.
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London sexual health clinics step up their support for people buying PrEP online
29 January 2016 - Several large sexual health clinics in London and Brighton have responded to the growing numbers of people importing PrEP medications from overseas by offering free safety monitoring to PrEP users. This is in a context of increasing frustration with the slowness of the official NHS process to approve PrEP – no decision will be made until June at the earliest.
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2016 Presidential Candidates Respond to GMHC's Survey Asking About Their Plans to End HIV and AIDS
January 28, 2016 - New York, NY: - 3 Democrats Respond to Survey; No Responses from Republican Field or Green Party Candidate
Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) - the world's first and leading HIV and AIDS service organization - sent all of the candidates running for president a survey asking about their plans to end the HIV and AIDS epidemic
on December 3, 2015. The purpose of the survey was not to endorse a candidate, but rather to ask to hear each candidates' polices on ending the epidemic and giving each of them equal opportunity to communicate these positions on HIV and AIDS to the public.
Gay-Unfriendly Zimbabwe Hosts International AIDS Conference
January 28 2016 - In the hours before the opening ceremony of the 18th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) last November 29, there was lots of hallway chatter about the possibility of activists staging a disruptive protest. Normally, this would be a dog-bites-man story: An international AIDS conference without an activist zap would be like a World Cup
match without fans. But this year’s ICASA, the largest AIDS conference held on the continent hardest hit by HIV, took place in Harare, Zimbabwe, and President Robert Mugabe was famous for not tolerating dissent—especially when the main protesters were expected to be from the lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, and intersex (LGBTI) community.
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Viread resistance common in many low-, middle-income countries
January 28 2016 - Viread resistance appears to be emerging frequently among HIV patients facing virologic failure, with resistant strains affecting as many as 60% of sub-Saharan Africans with the infection, according to the recently published results of a multicenter retrospective study.
Furthermore, the study also suggested that many affected patients frequently develop resistance to other drugs in their combination ART regimen, and that Viread (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, Gilead Sciences)-resistant HIV strains may have similar infectivity to nonresistant strains, the researchers wrote.
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HIV is still growing, even when undetectable in the blood
January 28 2016 - A team of international researchers including scientists from Oxford University has found that HIV is still replicating in lymphoid tissue even when it is undetectable in the blood of patients on antiretroviral drugs.
The findings provide a critical new perspective on how HIV persists in the body despite potent antiretroviral therapy.
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US study shows importance of access to chemotherapy for HIV-positive patients with Hodgkin lymphoma
28 January 2016 - HIV is associated with poorer outcomes in patients diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, according to US research published in AIDS. Analysis of the National Cancer Data Base revealed a 66% five-year survival rate for patients with HIV compared to 80% for the general population.
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STUDY: 'Elite Controllers' Immune System Give Researchers Clues for an HIV Vaccine
January 27th, 2016 - Elite controllers, or people with HIV whose disease never progresses, have offered yet another secret as to how their body keeps HIV in check.
Published earlier this month in PLOS Pathogens, Margaret E. Ackerman of Ackerman Lab at Trayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth and colleagues show “a more functionally coordinated innate immune-recruiting response was observed” in infected elite controllers.
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Gilead Faces Fights Over Hepatitis C and H.I.V. Drugs
JAN. 27, 2016 - The attorney general of Massachusetts said on Wednesday that she had opened an inquiry into whether Gilead Sciences had violated state consumer protection laws by charging too much for its hepatitis C drugs.
The notification, which was contained in a letter to the company from the attorney general, Maura Healey, is the latest challenge to the practices of Gilead, which has become the largest and most profitable biotechnology company by dominating the market for drugs used to treat both H.I.V. and hepatitis C.
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With HIV cases climbing, Florida Democrats push for responsible sex education in public schools
January 27, 2016 - With Florida leading the nation in new HIV infections, Democratic lawmakers say now more than ever the Legislature should do away with what's commonly referred to as "abstinence-only" sex education in the state's 4,300 public schools.
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Haitian AIDS Patients' 10-year Survival Equal to American Patients
January 27 2016 - One of the first groups of AIDS patients to receive free HIV drugs in a public health setting in the developing world is living as long as those in the United States, according to research conducted by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.
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Stories of people living with HIV among 27th Annual GLAAD Media Awards nominees
January 27 2016 - Among the nominees for the 27th annual GLAAD Media Awards, several included stories of LGBT people living with HIV.
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People taking a large number of non-HIV-related medications more likely to stop or change HIV drugs
27 January 2016 - HIV-positive patients who are taking a large number of medications for the treatment of non-HIV-related conditions are at increased risk of stopping or changing their antiretroviral therapy (ART), according to Canadian research published in AIDS Patient Care and STDs. A third
of patients were taking five or more non-HIV-related medications (polypharmacy) and 37% of patients with polypharmacy stopped/changed HIV therapy compared to 30% of patients taking fewer non-HIV medications.
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HIV protein manipulates hundreds of human genes to advance progression into AIDS, UT Southwestern study shows
DALLAS - Jan. 26, 2016 - UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have deciphered how a small protein made by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS manipulates human genes to further its deadly agenda.
The findings, published in the online journal eLife, could aid in the search for new or improved treatments for patients with AIDS, or to the development of preventive strategies.
RED: A Positive Day to support B.C. HIV/AIDS community through night of fashion
Jan 26, 2016 - The number sounds big: 5,700. That’s how many HIV-positive members are part of B.C.’s Positive Living Society. Now, the Vancouver community will have the opportunity to offer their support by showing up for RED: A celebration of colour, couture community, and caring.
The HIV/AIDS community will be putting on the evening show at the Commodore Ballroom on February 20 so raise money for the Positive Living Society which supports people living with HIV across the province, and empowers them to manage the social, medical and legal challenges of living with HIV.
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This California community set out to test everyone over 12 for HIV — here's what happened
Jan 26, 2016 - Across the country, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly 13% of people living with HIV/AIDS don't know they have it.
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The Kremlin Shows the World How to Make an AIDS Crisis Worse
26-Jan-2016 - A combination of widespread intravenous drug use, ignorance of or disregard for the perils of unsafe sex, and the conservative policies that have held sway in the Kremlin since Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency in 2012 have sent HIV infection rates soaring in Russia. New HIV infections have
slowed dramatically throughout the world in recent years, including in much of sub-Saharan Africa—the region worst hit by the AIDS-causing virus—but Russia is a deadly exception.
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Depression in the Aging HIV Infected Population
January 26 2016 - Depression is the most common of mental health disorders in all people infected with HIV, with some studies suggesting that older HIV patients have increased risk for both depression and cognitive impairment.
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Antiretrovirals may increase risk for ESLD, HCC in patients with HIV
January 26 2016 - The cumulative use of several antiretrovirals, including d-drugs Zerit, Videx, Viread and Agenerase, were independently associated with increased rates of end-stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma among adults with HIV.
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AIDS Vancouver Island's 30 Year Celebration
Join us for an evening of remembrance and celebration Friday, January 29th
Friday, January 29, 2016 from 6pm-9pm
Featuring musical talent, performances, a silent auction and vibrant speakers the evening will finish with honouring the people who have made the achievements of AVI possible, a moment
of remembrance for those we’ve lost, and the premiere of the final video of the 30/30 Campaign series (a video project highlighting 30 stories of people connected to AVI throughout its history).
A European Alliance dedicated to accelerating new concepts in HIV Vaccine research
26-Jan-2016 - The European Commission has granted over 22 million Euros to the European HIV Vaccine Alliance (EHVA) to develop a multidisciplinary platform
to evaluate novel preventive and therapeutic vaccines. The grant is supplemented with additional 6 million Euros from the
Swiss government for the Swiss project partners.
AIDSWatch 2016 to Honor Elizabeth Taylor's HIV Activism Legacy
January 26, 2016 - AIDSWatch organizers are thrilled to announce The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF) as Presenting Sponsor for AIDSWatch 2016. AIDSWatch, the largest
constituent-based HIV advocacy event in the U.S., will bring hundreds
of HIV advocates to Washington, D.C. from across the country to educate Congress about the policies and resources needed to end the HIV epidemic. In tribute to Elizabeth Taylor’s legacy as an activist in the fight against
HIV/AIDS, ETAF will be named presenting sponsor and contribute $100,000 to the event, which is organized by the
Treatment Access Expansion Project (TAEP), AIDS United, and the US People Living with HIV Caucus. AIDSWatch 2016 will take place February 29 - March 1, 2016, in Washington D.C.
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Possible mechanism explains increased HIV risk caused by progestin-only contraceptives
January 25, 2016 - Recent findings published in The Lancet showed that injectable progestin-only contraceptives and high endogenous progesterone use are both associated with an increased number of HIV target cells at the cervix, which may help explain the reported increase of HIV in women with
high exposure to progestin.
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New amfAR Grants Spur Innovative HIV Cure Research Collaborations
NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2016 - In a move that adds extraordinary new dimensions to the field of HIV cure research, amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, has recruited the expertise of a world-renowned physicist and a leading polymer chemist.
The Foundation has awarded $1 million each over four years to Harvard physicist Dr. David Weitz and bioengineer and polymer scientist Dr. Alexander Zelikin of Aarhus University in Denmark. The two will bring their expertise to bear in the effort to eradicate the viral reservoir
that is considered the principal barrier to curing HIV.
Belarus' progress in fighting HIV/AIDS praised
MINSK, 25 January (BelTA) - The Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) praises Belarus' achievements in fighting HIV/AIDS. Permanent Representative of the Republic of Belarus to the United Nations Office and
other international organizations in Geneva Yuri Ambrazevich met with UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe to discuss cooperation prospects, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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Florida leads the U.S. in new HIV cases for the third year
24 Jan 2016 - Tallahassee - According to data compiled by Florida Health, the state has the highest number of new HIV infections across the country, as approximately more that 6,000 new cases were diagnosed during 2015.
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Bill Gates and Bono Team Up to Fight AIDS
1/22/2016 - Bill and Melinda Gates join forces with Bono to raise awareness and funds to help eliminate HIV/AIDS in Africa.
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Scientists overcome missing data to demonstrate ART effectiveness in HIV-infected infants
PHILADELPHIA--(Jan. 22, 2016) - Successfully accounting for gaps in data could help scientists understand how to develop better treatment strategies that can be initiated shortly after birth
Recent clinical trials conducted in South Africa have established that babies born with HIV should be treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART) as early as possible, since earlier treatment significantly decreases their
mortality and morbidity rates. However, scientists were unsure whether infants treated with ART eventually develop a "normal" immune system. Knowing how an infant reacts to ART could help determine how to design curative strategies, but studying
these infants can prove challenging due to inconsistent adherence to the study's schedule and the difficulty of collecting sufficient specimens in infants.
More evidence HIV/AIDS fight requires multiple approaches
Jan 22, 2016 - A currently available pill could significantly curb new HIV infections among gay and bisexual men in the UK, if prevention and treatment programs are also expanded, researchers say.
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Politics of Blood : Indigenous Communities in Canada Confront an HIV/AIDS Epidemic
January 21st, 2016 - As expected of a developed country with a highly effective healthcare system, Canada has one of the lowest HIV/AIDS rates in the world, with less than 0.5 percent of Canadians living with the virus. However, a completely different
reality exists within certain Canadian indigenous communities where up to one in every twentyfive people has HIV, a rate higher than some sub- Saharan African countries. These rates are increasing: one in eight new Canadian cases are attributed to indigenous people who only compose 3.8 percent
of Canada’s total population.
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my personal journey of living with HIV for more than 33 years
Published on Jan 21, 2016 - David Patient
Insite gets stamp of approval from Canada’s health minister
January 21st, 2016 - VANCOUVER — The Globe and Mail - Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott has given a heartfelt stamp of approval to the work of Vancouver’s Insite supervised-injection site, a dramatic shift in tone from the previous Conservative government on harm reduction strategies that could have consequences across the country.
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D:A:D study: long-term treatment with tenofovir associated with increased risk of serious liver disease
21 January 2016 - Long-term therapy with the antiretroviral drug tenofovir increases the risk of end-stage liver disease and liver cancer, according to data from the D:A:D study published in the online edition of AIDS. Five-year cumulative use of the drug increased the relative risk of serious liver disease by 46%.
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Iatrogenic transmission fueled early spread of HIV pandemic in Africa
January 21, 2016 - The association of blood-borne viruses and previous IV procedures among aged residents of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, may suggest the rapid emergence of HIV in this region during the mid-20th century was driven by iatrogenic transmission, according to a recently published study.
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Getting Pregnant While HIV-Positive in 2016
January 21st, 2016 - In many ways, one of our greatest success stories in the fight against HIV/AIDS to date has been our ability to reduce dramatically the rate of new HIV infections being passed from mother to child.
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Suits 7th Anniversary Dinner
January 2016 - January 25th - 6 pm to 9 pm - Milestones in Yaletown
Join other men and celebrate Suits 7th Anniversary where it all started at Milestone's in Yaletown!
Started in January 2009, the SUITS POZ GAY WORKING MEN'S DINNER GROUP began in response to a need for a support program for HIV-positive working men. The program, run by and for gay poz working guys.
Electrocautery ablation only partially effective as a treatment for high-grade pre-cancerous anal lesions in HIV-positive gay men
20 January 2016 - Electrocautery ablation is only partially effective as a treatment for high-grade pre-cancerous anal lesions in HIV-positive gay men and has a high regression rate, investigators from Barcelona report in HIV Medicine.
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Russell T Davies will leave Margaret Thatcher out of new AIDS drama
20th January 2016 - Queer as Folk director Russell T Davies has said his new TV drama about the AIDS crisis won’t focus on the government’s poor handling of the issue.
The outbreak of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s claimed the lives of thousands of people across the UK, amid a wider global epidemic.
Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has been criticised even by her own former ministers for her handling of the crisis, and failure to tackle the issue early on.
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Breakthrough agreement to accelerate HIV cure research achieved
January 20, 2016 - Geneva, Switzerland - Common Material Transfer Agreement will accelerate the search for a cure
The International AIDS Society (IAS) today announced the finalisation of a Common Material Transfer Agreement (cMTA) for the donation and use of antiretroviral drugs for preclinical studies in HIV cure research.
This major achievement is the result of more than a year of negotiation with leading pharmaceutical companies.
CytoDyn Announces HIV-Patients Approaching 17 Months of Complete Viral Suppression With PRO 140 Monotherapy
VANCOUVER, Wash., Jan. 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - CytoDyn to file an additional Phase 3 Protocol for HIV Monotherapy
Investment Community Conference Call Scheduled for January 21, 2016
CytoDyn Inc. (OTC.QB:CYDY), a biotechnology company focused on the development of new therapies for combating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, today announced that its ongoing extension study of PRO 140 monotherapy in a cohort
of HIV-infected patients has shown complete viral-load suppression for well over a year with some patients approaching 17 months. The Company believes that complete virologic suppression through treatment with a single agent, PRO 140, a safe and efficacious antibody,
rather than through the widely used HAART combination therapy, could present a significant opportunity to treat HIV patients.
Sexually active U.S. teens, young adults not getting HIV tests
Jan 19, 2016 - (Reuters Health) - The results are troubling because 44 percent of adolescents and young adults with HIV don’t realize they have it, the highest percentage of any age group, the researchers note. Without testing and diagnosis, they can’t get treatment that may improve their own health and also lower the risk of transmission to others.
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Long-term thrivers
January 19, 2016 - The Reunion Project in Palm Springs examines the issues faced by long-term survivors
More than 75 long-term HIV survivors met in Rancho Mirage, California on November 3 for The Reunion Project, a daylong summit on living well with HIV as we get older.
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Global coordinator pushes for stronger, more focused anti-HIV efforts
January 19, 2016 - According to U.N. AIDS predictions, if more drastic measures are not taken, there will be 28 million additional people who have HIV infections by 2030.
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Hodgkin’s lymphoma therapy, survival disparities seen in patients with HIV
January 19, 2016 - Poor overall survival rates for HIV-associated Hodgkin’s lymphoma was linked to a lack of treatment, particularly among male patients who were black or white Hispanic, and poor prognosis in a subgroup of patients with undetermined histology, according to recent findings published in AIDS.
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Ageing & HIV – London forum
19 January 2016
- The Bloomsbury Clinic Patients Network is holding a forum on ageing for people living with HIV on Thursday 28th January, 6-7.30pm.
Many people living with HIV in the UK are over 50. As we age, we may be more likely to develop other health conditions, and we may need to start using non-HIV services.
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Panel on Jews and HIV sheds light on lingering stigma
January 18, 2016 - “Why, in 2016, are we still talking about HIV?”
That was the question posed by Justine Apple, director of the Jewish LGTBQ group Kulanu Toronto, in introducing a Jan. 14 panel on seeing HIV through a Jewish lens.
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The Forgotten AIDS Crisis in Russia
January 18, 2016 - NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia -In Moscow the situation for AIDS/HIV sufferers is bad. In the provinces, it can be desperate.
Officially, 986,657 Russians are HIV/AIDS patients, “but non-officially, it is more likely up to 1.5 million people,” Krasovsky said.
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PrEP, plus increased testing and treatment, could prevent nearly half of HIV infections in gay men in the UK by 2020
18 January 2016 - Model finds PrEP is the most powerful single intervention but cost-effectiveness not calculated
A new British mathematical modelling study published in The Lancet HIV has found that adding pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for gay men at high risk of HIV to relatively modest increases in HIV testing, and immediate treatment for those diagnosed, could substantially cut the number of gay men infected by 2020.
The researchers conclude that without these interventions, the number of gay men acquiring HIV is unlikely to decrease by 2020, even if the UK achieves the ‘90-90-90’ target of 73% of all people with HIV virally suppressed by this time.
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NYC Public Library release pictures showing ACT UP's protests during the AIDS crisis
18 January 2016 - When AIDS was a political football: Newly released pictures from NYC Public Library reveals the passionate protests against Federal healthcare cuts as the HIV epidemic ravaged the Big Apple in the early 1980s
Images released by the New York Public Library earlier this month shed light on an organization's theatrical public protests during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s through 1990s.
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Why We Need Law to Relieve Effects of HIV Meds
January 18 2016 - A Massachusetts bill could offer medical insurance relief to people with lipodystrophy, the stigmatizing signature of early HIV medications.
As the director of a public-health consulting firm in Boston, Andrew Fullem is an expert on the long-term effects of HIV, and he understands how lipodystrophy, the disfiguring medical condition caused by the use of the earliest
antiviral medications, can keep people with HIV depressed and ashamed. But Fullem’s understanding is also personal; he could see it every morning in his mirror.
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High rates of modifiable cancer risk factors present in Western HIV-positive patients
18 January 2016 - The prevalence of potentially modifiable risk factors for some cancers is “extraordinarily high” among people with HIV, according to results of a meta-analysis published in AIDS.
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China's Fight Against HIV/AIDS Goes Online
17 January 2016 - As China becomes increasingly connected, LGBT organizations are turning to the Web to combat misinformation on HIV/AIDS.
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Vancouver safe-injection site at HIV-AIDS facility gains federal approval
JANUARY 15, 2016 - VANCOUVER - Health Canada has granted approval for a second safe-injection site in Vancouver -- 14 years after the HIV-AIDS treatment facility began allowing patients to shoot up their own illicit drugs.
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High prevalence of anal infection with high-risk HPV types among HIV-positive women in France
15 January 2016 - A large proportion of women living with HIV in a national study have an anal infection with types of human papillomavirus (HPV) associated with a high risk of cancer, French investigators report in the online edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
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Two cases of PrEP failure on solo tenofovir pose significant research questions
14 January 2016 - A report originally presented to the 2015 BHIVA conference last year details two cases where therapeutic levels of solo tenofovir unequivocally failed to prevent HIV infection in gay men. In one case, despite
the tenofovir apparently suppressing the man’s HIV viral load in his blood plasma, it failed to prevent HIV infecting the cells of his immune system.
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Here’s How Canadian Doctors Helped Solve Rural America’s Worst HIV Outbreak
January 14, 2016 - It was back in March 2014 when acclaimed HIV researcher Dr. Julio Montaner got the call from Indiana. Health practitioners urgently needed to implement the successful strategy he had tested in Vancouver.
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HIV infections continue to rise among gay Hispanic men
January 14, 2016 - New HIV cases have been falling in the United States in most racial and ethnic groups, except among gay Hispanic men, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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The 18th Bangkok International symposium on HIV updates response to HIV infection
BANGKOK, 14 January 2016 (NNT) - The HIV Netherlands Australia Thailand Research Collaboration (HIV-NAT) is hosting the 18th Bangkok International symposium on HIV medicine from 13th-15th January 2016 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center.
The symposium aims to disseminate information in order to further develop medical treatments and to update knowledge in accordance with current practices. The symposium also includes talks by eminent speakers and will conduct workshops for more than 500 participants from the Asia Pacific region,
United States, Europe and Africa, many of whom are doctors, nurses or pharmacists.
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Off His Meds and Away From Reality: Charlie Sheen's Struggles With HIV and Mental Health
January 14, 2016 - On a very special two-part episode of The Dr. Oz Show earlier this week, Sheen invited the (not so) good doctor to his home and showed up for an taped interview in studio to demonstrate the ways in which he had turned over a new leaf and begun to tackle his HIV with a newfound, sober resolve.
What ended up happening, as one might reasonably expect, is that Sheen's appearance did the exact opposite of what the actor desired, painting him as an unstable, delusional individual who was risking his life chasing curative windmills instead of following his antiretroviral treatment regimen.
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The Lancet HIV: Preventing HIV infection with prophylactic drugs important to reversing HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men in the UK
13-Jan-2016 - The use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) taken as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) [1] could lead to a marked decline in HIV incidence--the annual rate of infection--among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the UK by the end of this decade, new modelling research published in The Lancet HIV journal suggests.
Charlie Sheen 'HIV cure' story on Dr. Oz prompts outrage from activists
13 January 2016 - "As I watched this craziness play out, my compassion for this man vanished," said one long-time AIDS activist.
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Charlie Sheen Shits On 30 Years of AIDS Activism
January 13, 2016 - Charlie -- please leave the search for a cure to the selfless advocates that actually care about this goal. Crawl back into your "babe cave," write a big check to amfAR, and call it a day. Real AIDS advocates are the reason you're still alive, so stop shitting on our legacy and continued work.
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HIV infection rates could be halved with better tests and treatment
13 January 2016 - More than half of all HIV infections among men having sex with men could be prevented by ramping up existing strategies, suggests new research.
The study, lead by Imperial College London researchers, suggests that using a combination of more comprehensive annual HIV testing, together with rapidly treating infected men, and even treating some uninfected men (known as prophylactic treatment), could reduce new cases of HIV infections.
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I Watched Charlie Sheen on The Dr. Oz Show So You Don't Have To
January 13, 2016 - Charlie Sheen isn't going anywhere soon. There is always hope he may regain his senses and become the high-profile cure advocate we need. But what we are currently witnessing is the exploitation of a deeply troubled man with multiple addictions.
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HIV infection rates could be halved with better tests and treatment
13 January 2016 - More than half of all HIV infections among men having sex with men could be prevented by ramping up existing strategies, suggests new research.
The study, lead by Imperial College London researchers, suggests that using a combination of more comprehensive annual HIV testing, together with rapidly treating infected men, and even treating some uninfected men (known as prophylactic treatment), could reduce new cases of HIV infections.
Read more...
Prevention strategy focuses on HIV epidemic in Indiana
January 13, 2016 - An HIV prevention initiative will be launched in Scott County, Indiana, in an international effort to help control an outbreak there, according to a press release.
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Russia's Response to HIV: Too Little, Too Late?
January 13, 2016 - There is a popular Russian proverb: It is better to be poor but healthy than rich but sick. Russia is beginning the new year neither rich nor healthy.
As the Kremlin struggles with a weakening economy, the country's HIV crisis has reached a milestone: The number of HIV-positive Russians has passed the 1 million mark, according to the Russian Federal AIDS Center. Just 10 years ago, the number of reported HIV cases in the country was only 170,000.
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Middle-aged people living with HIV have an increased risk of frailty
13 January 2016 - Middle-aged people living with HIV have an increased risk of frailty compared with their peers without the virus, Dutch investigators report in AIDS. The association between frailty and HIV infection persisted even after taking into account well-known risk factors for the condition.
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HIV is Only Dangerous if You Don’t Know it’s There
January 12 2016 - Arizona Department of Health Services reframes HIV prevention in an ad campaign that moves away from fear-mongering and stigmatizing people with HIV.
John Sapero of the Arizona’s HIV Prevention Program told The New York Times, "We needed a coordinated media strategy and it needed really to focus less on fear-based messaging and more on empowering people.”
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Online HIV tests to be expanded in B.C.
January 12, 2016 - B.C. Centre for Disease Control expands innovative internet testing program
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control is expanding an innovative pilot program that lets patients sign up and get test results for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
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The Man Who Buried Them Remembers
January 12, 2016 - When he conducted the funerals, Tom Bonderenko tells me, he always wore his priestly garments and white stole. Even when no one showed up for the graveside service.
“It was important to show dignity and respect,” Tom says. He taps the coffee cup in his lap nervously. “I’m sorry,” he says. He clears his throat but it doesn’t keep his eyes from welling up. “No one has asked me about this in a really long time.”
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AIDS champions must step up efforts to end epidemic
January 12, 2016 - It is a humid day in the Sub-Saharan African heat. Outside a clinic, bodies are laid out and covered, waiting for families to claim them. Death is constant, drugs are a fantasy, available to some in other, more affluent parts of the world, but not here, where they are
needed most. This is the face of the AIDS epidemic in 1999--when the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that AIDS was the number one cause of death in Africa, and when drugs were effectively unavailable in the developing world, barred by high prices and patent protections.
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The economy wide impact of HIV/AIDS and the funding dilemma in Africa: Evidence from a dynamic life cycle horizon of Uganda
January 12, 2016 - Despite remaining a major killer in Africa, the HIV pandemic has been tamed medically into a chronic disease through advances in treatment drugs – antiretroviral therapies (ARTs). However, the full economic costs, over a lifecycle horizon, of keeping people on treatment
and implementing prevention measures, are still not fully quantified and are still unfolding. Indeed, the economic effects of the HIV/AIDS disease, and also the economic effects of various interventions need to be better understood.
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Can we end the HIV/AIDS epidemic?
January 12, 2016 - FOR a disease that has affected virtually every person on the planet for decades, with no cure in sight yet, it seems to be a pipedream
to think that the end to the AIDS epidemic could be achieved soon or even later.
For Zambia, especially, despite many efforts to reduce the prevalence rate, it still remains high.
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Jason Collins, first openly-gay NBA player, to present Partners For Life Award for 2016 to Jim Burba and Bob Hayes
January 11, 2016 - Don’t miss the Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards gala on February 6
On Saturday, February 6, Collins will be presenting the Partners For Life Award for 2016 to Burba and Hayes, in recognition of their long-standing support of Desert AIDS Project. If you'd like to be part of an evening of activism and entertainment – featuring Chaka Khan
in a multi-song set – get your tickets NOW by calling 760-992-0440 or online.
Remembering David Bowie's HIV/AIDS Philanthropy, Connections To Science And Medicine
JAN 11, 2016 - (The news came that) David Bowie passed away about 12 hours ago. The musician and performance artist, whose career spanned 50 years, died 18 months after being diagnosed with an unspecified type of cancer.
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Cellular pathway that may re-energize immune cells to eliminate HIV discovered
January 11, 2016 - Researchers at the University of Hawai?i and Oregon Health Sciences University have revealed a novel new immune pathway that can be targeted to increase the immune systems’ ability to eliminate HIV, the virus that can lead to AIDS.
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Lack of Awareness About AIDS Makes It a 'Silent' Killer in Krishnagiri Village
11 January 2016 - HOSUR: People in the backward Jawalagiri panchayat in Krishnagiri, a nondescript rural area that seldom comes to the attention of the outside world, do not know much about AIDS or HIV though they are terrified of it.
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HIV-positive patients lost to follow-up successfully identified and re-engaged with care by programme in LA County
11 January 2016 - A programme in Los Angeles County successfully re-engaged and retained patients who dropped out of HIV care, investigators report in the online edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. Called the Navigation Program,
it was a collaboration between health department staff and community organisations.
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Special programme targeting adolescents against HIV/Aids in Homa Bay launched
Jan. 11, 2016 - According to the county executive committee member in charge of Education and ICT Naphatally Mattah, 60 per cent of school going youths have not been tested and do not know their status.
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David Bowie, Longtime HIV Activist and Musical Genius, is Dead At 69
January 11 2016 - The legendary gender-bending bisexual British musician succumbed to cancer just days after his birthday.
In addition, Bowie was a longtime AIDS activist, doing benefit concerts with Elton John and Annie Lennox, and supporting his wife Iman, a global ambassador for the African HIV and AIDS organization, Keep A Child Alive.
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IU School of Medicine, BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS to jointly confront Indiana HIV outbreak
January 11, 2016 (Vancouver, BC) - The joint effort will provide an opportunity to leverage successes achieved by the BC-CfE in British Columbia by applying its effective HIV Treatment as
Prevention ® model to a rural setting in the United States. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA),
an agency of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is supporting the effort with a two-year, $200,000 grant, with additional funding coming from the School of Medicine's Department of Medicine.
No more excuses. We have the tools to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
January 8 2016 - By Anthony S. Fauci
In the summer of 1981, the world became aware of a mysterious new disease that was seen initially among a relatively small group of gay men in the United States and was soon shown to be caused by the human immunodeficiency virus. Fast- forward more than 30 years, and the entire world is
struggling with one of the most devastating pandemics in history. More than 70 million infections have occurred, predominantly among heterosexuals in the developing world, resulting in more than 30 million deaths. Despite these horrendous statistics, advances in HIV treatment and prevention have transformed the
lives of those HIV-infected people who have access to health care, and have provided us with highly effective methods of preventing HIV infection.
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Racial disparity lies at intersection of HIV, Hodgkin lymphoma
January 8, 2016 - PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] - A new study finds a significant racial disparity within a doubly troubled population of patients: those with HIV and Hodgkin lymphoma. In such
cases, blacks are at significantly higher risk than whites of not receiving treatment for the cancer that in many cases would be effective.
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Time for AIDS 2016 - Time for abstracts, scholarships and workshops
January 8, 2016 - GNP+ calls on people living with HIV to share their knowledge and experience and attend AIDS 2016. After 16 years, the International AIDS Conference is returning to Durban, South Africa,
and you will want to be there! AIDS 2016 will be held from 18 to 22 July 2016.
Are you a person living with HIV supporting other people living with HIV? Do you work in prevention, help with testing, defend human rights, or in any other way help to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV?
Have you done research or have your experiences lead you to define great improvements to the HIV response in your community?
African choir made up of children orphaned by HIV and Aids to visit Suffolk schools
08 January 2016 - Researchers say testing, treating and providing preventive drugs are crucial
Pupils at three schools will welcome the Watoto Children’s Choir, who travel as advocates for youngsters orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS, war and poverty.
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SFU Student Social Innovation Fund supports Life & Love After HIV
January 7, 2016
- The first funded project for our 2015-6 funding cycle is Life & Love After HIV, a project that brings together SFU researchers and community activists striving to normalize sex and intimacy for women after HIV.
Through positive and respectful research, support, education, and advocacy that moves beyond an emphasis on safe sex and embraces the possibility of fulfilling sexual experiences and relationships, this project is a social movement to
support the realization of sexual health and rights among women living with HIV everywhere.
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Three Moves Could Cut New HIV Cases Dramatically: Study
Jan. 7, 2016 (HealthDay News) - Researchers say testing, treating and providing preventive drugs are crucial
As many as two-thirds of new HIV infections could be prevented in gay and bisexual men if more men were tested for the virus, more were treated, and more who don't have HIV took medication to prevent infection, a new Dutch study estimates.
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Dr. Oz and Charlie Sheen tag team to battle HIV
January 7, 2016 - Charlie Sheen is slated to appear on “The Dr. Oz Show” next Monday to discuss his fight against HIV — and how he’s giving his lifestyle a makeover.
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Lessons learnt from the history of contraception are relevant for the implementation of PrEP
06 January 2016 - Achieving a widespread and appropriate use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) will take several years and will require considerable attention to the shape and quality of health services, according to researchers
who have looked at the way in which contraceptive methods have been introduced.
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16 HIV Advocates to Watch in 2016
January 6, 2016 - They come from nearly every corner of the world. They are engaged in local communities and on the international scene. They include mothers, artists, a fugitive, a performer, and a drug smuggler. They are speaking
out, acting up, and in some cases risking their personal safety and liberty.
They are the 16 HIV advocates to watch in 2016, and they inspire and humble me. It is such a privilege to share their stories with you and highlight their important work. Their twitter handles and other social media links are included whenever available; I urge you to follow
them so these advocates can inspire you all year long!
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Dutch Study: Most New HIV Infections Could Be Prevented With Pill
Jan. 6, 2016 - The pill that prevents HIV is not widely available in Europe. If it were, it would probably drop infections considerably, researchers say.
Nearly two-thirds of new HIV infections in gay and bisexual men in the Netherlands could be prevented with antiretroviral treatment, according to a study published on Wednesday.
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New Med Could Prevent Heart Disease in People With HIV
January 6, 2016 - A large, multi-site clinical trial dubbed REPRIEVE has begun enrolling across the U.S. and around the world to examine whether a medication called pitavastatin can prevent cardiovascular disease in people with HIV.
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Modeling Shows a Vaccine Is Essential to Conclusively Ending HIV/AIDS
January 5, 2016 - Adding a vaccine to the comprehensive HIV/AIDS response is essential to conclusively ending the epidemic, according to modeling research published today.
Focusing on the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that are home to the vast majority of the world's people living with HIV/AIDS, the study published in PLOS ONE shows that adding a vaccine could dramatically reduce
new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths even if other treatment and prevention tools are extensively scaled up.
HIV/AIDS management: Trial shows importance of cotrimoxazole prophylaxis in malaria-endemic regions
5-Jan-2016 - Randomized trial in Kenya demonstrates importance of cotrimoxazole prophylaxis for HIV/AIDS management in malaria-endemic regions
Continuous HIV care critical to viral suppression, long-term outcomes
January 5, 2016 - Most patients with HIV treated at an urban clinic received continuous care and had high viral suppression for 12 months; however, less than half of those patients remained in care and maintained viral suppression for 36 months, according to recent findings.
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The City at the Heart of the Philippines’s HIV Epidemic
January 5, 2016 - New infections in the country have skyrocketed, even as they’re declining worldwide. Cebu City, one of the hardest-hit areas, is struggling to control the drug use that’s spreading the virus.
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Safe sex reduces the risk of HIV/AIDS, says MoH
January 5, 2016 - Director of National STD/AIDS control unit, Dr. Sisira Liyanage says that Sri Lanka exhibits a gradual rise in HIV/AIDS statistics in past few years.
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Youths facing HIV/AIDS challenge
January 05, 2016 - The fact that the youth are at the prime of their sexuality, means that they are the most exposed group to the risk of getting infected with HIV.
Currently, about 1.2 million people in Zambia are reported to be infected with HIV.
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New Year Shocker: NGOs see red over AIDS control body’s cost-cutting measures
January 5, 2016 - Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society’s order states: ‘Starting January 1, cut down gatherings, IEC activity, street plays aimed at HIV prevention’.
THE NEW year began on a grim note for 179 NGOs as a terse circular from the Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS) directed the activists to suspend ‘targeted intervention’ activities related to HIV prevention.
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Explained: HIV is not a crime
05 January 2016 - From Australia to Canada, the US to Nigeria, people living with HIV have been accused, arrested, charged, and convicted of both HIV-specific and HIV-related crimes. It’s a hot
button issue that draws on over 30 years of HIV fear and stigma to inform the public’s reaction.
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HIV subtypes may influence treatment failure
January 4, 2016 - Variations in drug-resistant mutations appeared to correspond with specific subtype designations in patients with HIV who failed first-line treatment, according to recent findings.
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Nearly Half of HIV-Positive Americans Aren’t on Medication
January 4, 2016 - A new study suggests many don’t get the antiretrovirals they need
A new report from the National Center for Health Statistics suggests that nearly half of all American adults living with HIV aren’t on antiretroviral medications. It’s these medications that turn HIV from a death sentence into a manageable chronic condition.
And not being on antiretroviral therapy doesn’t just harm the person with HIV; studies have shown that those on meds are much less likely to pass the virus on to their sexual partners.ght weeks performed even better than daily pills, which currently are the gold standard of HIV treatment.
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Could one shot every two months eradicate HIV?
04 Jan 2016 - A two-drug injection may present the future of HIV prevention – a shot given every two months that would reduce a person’s risk of acquiring HIV by more than 90 percent.
In the latest trials, an injection once every eight weeks performed even better than daily pills, which currently are the gold standard of HIV treatment.
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How to Stop Crypto, A Deadly Disease So Neglected It’s Missed on the ‘Neglected’ List
1/4/16 - Iran spends 100 million rials (about $3,000) on average per annum on treating each HIV positive patient, said the director of the AIDS department of the Health Ministry, Abbas Sedaqat.
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Health Ministry spends $3,000 annually on treating each HIV patient
Jan 04, 2016 - TEHRAN - Iran spends 100 million rials (about $3,000) on average per annum on treating each HIV positive patient, said the director of the AIDS department of the Health Ministry, Abbas Sedaqat.
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HIV infections on rise in city, says national report
Jan 04, 2016 - The number of HIV positive cases among adults in Chandigarh is on the rise as per the a report — India HIV Estimations 2015 — prepared by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO).
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HIV salvage regimens can safely omit NRTIs, says US study
04 January 2016 - Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) can be safely omitted from HIV salvage therapy, investigators from the United States report in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The findings come from a randomised study conducted between 2008 and 2011.
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Shift in strategy
Jan 3, 2016 - HIV infections should be treated immediately instead of waiting for signs of illness
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), derived from primate lentiviruses, is the etiologic factor for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, better known by its acronym AIDS. The illness was first described in 1981,
and HIV-1 was isolated by the end of 1983. Nepal saw its first case of HIV/AIDS in 1988. Since then, AIDS has become a worldwide epidemic, expanding in scope and magnitude with HIV infections affecting different populations and geographic regions.
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Study Finds African Men With HIV at Greater Risk for Stroke
January 3rd, 2016 - A study published Dec. 18 in the journal Neurology shows that HIV is the leading risk factor for stroke among young African adults in Malawi.
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Pakistan set to get $18m for anti-Aids fight
January 3, 2016 - ISLAMABAD: To stem the spread of HIV/Aids in Pakistan, the Geneva-based non-profit Global Fund has earmarked $18.75 million for the year 2016-17 – over $2 million more than the country had demanded.
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Centre Banks on Social Media to Wipe Out AIDS
January 3, 2016 - NEW DELHI: “I know my HIV status” will be the catchline for the new campaign which the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is planning to launch with the twin objectives of nipping the stigma
associated with HIV, and getting more and more people, who test positive, opt for treatment. The campaign would encourage people to get themselves tested and declare their HIV status on social media. The ministry also plans to rope in celebrities for this programme.
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AIDS crisis loomed over Generation X
January 3, 2016 - NEW DELHI: In the United States, more than 1.2 million people are HIV positive, and almost one in eight are unaware of their status, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than 650,000 people with an AIDS diagnosis have died in this country.
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