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Positively Positive - Living with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS News Archive - July 2016
Think the Aids epidemic is over? Far from it – it could be getting worse
31 July 2016 - The 2000 Aids conference in Durban shocked the world into action. Now, a new crisis looms, one fuelled by drug resistance, costly treatments and the lack of power many women have in sexual relationships
There are about 38 million people with HIV, so more than 20 million are not yet on treatment. About 2 million more get infected every year. Antiretroviral drugs not only keep people well but also stop them being infectious. The World Health Organisation now advises
that anyone with HIV should take drugs as quickly as possible, not just for their health but to protect their sexual partners. In September, South Africa will introduce test and treat.
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Kenya preferred as host of first TICAD conference outside Tokyo in August
Jul. 31, 2016 - Preparations are in top gear ahead of yet another international conference to be hosted in Kenya towards the end of August.
The country becomes the first to host Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development - TICAD - outside Tokyo.
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Mama’s Kitchen Needs Volunteers to Deliver Meals to HIV/AIDS Patients
July 31, 2016 - The non-profit meal delivery service known as Mama’s Kitchen needs volunteer drivers for routes countywide, in an effort to continue its mission, according to organization officials.
Mama’s Kitchen provides three meals a day, 365 days a year to San Diegans affected by AIDS or cancer and to their children.
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Social Support and Fatigue on Adults Living with HIV/AIDS at a Central Hospital in Zimbabwe: A Correlational Study
July 2016 - Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between social support and fatigue on people living with HIV/AIDS stage 3 and 4, Harare Central Hospital in Harare. The study sought to answer whether social support mitigates fatigue in people living with HIV.
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Scientists identify immunological profiles of people who make powerful HIV antibodies
29-Jul-2016 - Findings provide insight for vaccine development
People living with HIV who naturally produce broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) that may help suppress the virus have different immunological profiles than people who do not, researchers report. While bNAbs cannot completely clear HIV infections in people who have already acquired the virus, many scientists believe a successful
preventive HIV vaccine must induce bNAbs. The new findings indicate that bNAb production may be associated with specific variations in individual immune functions that may be triggered by unchecked HIV infection. Defining how to safely replicate these attributes in HIV-uninfected vaccine recipients may lead to better designed experimental vaccines to
protect against HIV. The study was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
The University of Maryland, College Park Hosts 2016 Condom Fashion Show
July 29, 2016 - The University of Maryland, College Park, hosted The 2016 Condom Fashion Show this past March and it was a huge success, thanks to the support of ONE condoms.
Sex Week at Maryland is a student organization whose mission is to educate and empower the campus community on safe, healthy sex. The student group hosts engaging events to provide students with accurate, inclusive information on a variety of topics, ranging from sexual identity to female pleasure to the basics of protected sex. One of their largest efforts are their annual "Condom Couture" style events.
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FDA invites public comment on MSM blood donation deferral policy
July 29, 2016 - Following public pressure, the FDA is reviewing its blood donation policies for men who have sex with men, and will accept public comments regarding the feasibility of alternative deferral policies over the next few months.
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Tracking how HIV disrupts immune system informs vaccine development
29-Jul-2016 - DURHAM, N.C. - One of the main mysteries confounding development of an HIV vaccine is why some people infected with the virus make the desired antibodies after several years, but a vaccine can't seem to induce the same response.
A research team led by scientists at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute has been unraveling that mystery, detailing new insights in a study published July 29 in the journal Science Immunology.
President of Xinhua News Agency receives UNAIDS Leaders and Innovators award
BEIJING, 28 July 2016 - UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé has presented the President of Xinhua News Agency, Cai Mingzhao with the UNAIDS Leaders and Innovators Award in recognition of his leadership as a media partner and his contribution to the AIDS response
In recognition of the key role that media plays in the Fast-Track response to ending the AIDS epidemic, Cai Mingzhao, the President of Xinhua News Agency, has been presented with the UNAIDS Leaders and Innovators Award at an event held during a joint cooperation visit to Xinhua headquarters in Beijing, China.
The award recognizes Mr Cai’s efforts towards reaching the globally shared vision of Zero new HIV infections, Zero discrimination and Zero AIDS-related deaths.
AIDS2016: The Full Video Collection from My Fabulous Disease
July 26, 2016 - The people, the parties, the protests! AIDS2016, the international AIDS conference held in Durban, South Africa from July 16-22, had it all. And it was my privilege to bring you the stunning sights and sounds of the gathering, sponsored by The Global Forum of MSM and HIV. My special thanks, too, to my amazing videographer, Australian HIV advocate Theo Tsipiras.
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First diagnosed case of Alzheimer's disease in HIV-positive individual presented at AAIC
TORONTO (July 25, 2016) - The first case of Alzheimer's disease diagnosed in an HIV-positive individual will be presented in a poster session at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2016 in Toronto July 27. The finding in a 71-year-old man triggers a realization about HIV survivors now reaching the age when Alzheimer's risk begins to escalate.
Installation of the New York City AIDS Memorial Begins
July 25, 2016 - Construction of the New York City AIDS Memorial is now underway at the recently named New York City AIDS Memorial Park at St. Vincent's Triangle, located at the intersection of West 12th Street and Greenwich Avenue in the West Village. The Memorial organization expects final completion by early November, in advance of a public dedication for World AIDS Day on December 1, 2016.
The world spent $1 billion less on AIDS, jeopardizing decades of progress
July 25 2016 - There are massive gaps between the treatment that experts say could stop the epidemic and the funding necessary to provide that treatment. The World Health Organization released guidelines late last year calling for all HIV patients to be started on drugs at the time of diagnosis. The research group Palladium presented a 97-country analysis at the International AIDS Conference showing that nearly half of the $44 billion cost of anti-retroviral therapy at the clinic level could be unfunded between 2016 and 2020.
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EDITORIAL: HIV/AIDS fight not over yet
July 25 2016 - The numbers are chilling. At the last count, there were 36.7-million people with HIV, with 5,700 new infections every day. Little more than half the world’s HIV patients are on treatment.
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The HIV Frontier will now deploy Phase III Vaccine trials in South Africa
25/07/2016 - The vaccine regimen consists of two experimental vaccines. The first (ALVAC-HIV) is supplied by Sanofi Pasteur and consists of a viral vector containing genetically engineered versions of 3 HIV genes.
The second is a protein vaccine supplied by GSK, which should create an immune response to GP120 – an essential component for virus entry into host cells.
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American Psychological Association Invites Nominations for Psychology and AIDS Leadership Awards
JULY 25 2016 - Two awards will be granted each year — one in the category of Emerging Leader and one in the category of Distinguished Leader. Successful candidates will have made significant contributions in the areas of policy/advocacy, research, service provision,
and/or teaching/mentoring.
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Possible AIDS cure excites delegates in Durban
July 25, 2016 - DURBAN - Two types of cures are being discussed today, and one of them is a “sterilizing” cure.
Two types of cures are being discussed today. A “sterilizing” cure that would completely eliminate the virus and a “functional” cure that would suppress HIV viral load, keeping it below the level of detection
without the use of antiretroviral therapy (ART).
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Self-Stigma: Let Us Do More Than Just ‘Talk About It’
July 25, 2016 - Senior HIV activists who have not only helped shape HIV responses on the ground over the years, but also have been living with the virus for several years, shared their personal battle against self-stigma at a press conference session hosted by
The Work For Change (www.theworkforchange.org) and partners at the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) held in Durban, South Africa.
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How Grindr got men to self-test for HIV
July 25, 2016 - Grindr, a dating app for gay men, was found to be an effective way to give out HIV self-test kits to men at risk of infection and reduce the spread of HIV, according to a recent study.
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Dolutegravir plus lamivudine dual therapy works well as initial HIV treatment
25 July 2016 - A two-drug regimen of dolutegravir and the well-tolerated NRTI lamivudine led to sustained viral suppression for most people starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) for the first time in a small pilot study, according to a late-breaker presentation
at the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) last week in Durban, South Africa.
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McMaster researchers take steps towards developing chlamydia vaccine
Jul 24, 2016 - Current trials in mice show great promise in preventing the spread of the bacteria
Researchers at McMaster University are one step closer to developing a preventative vaccine against chlamydia.
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Canada boosts aid to fight Big Three infectious diseases
July 24, 2016 - 6-day ride for Toronto People With AIDS Foundation began Sunday at Toronto's Allan Gardens
Canada hopes its plan to “proactively increase” its contributions to fighting the world’s three most deadly infectious diseases – tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria – will inspire others to do the same, the federal Health Minister says.
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Riding for a cause: Hundreds biking to Montreal to raise money for HIV/AIDS
July 24, 2016 - 6-day ride for Toronto People With AIDS Foundation began Sunday at Toronto's Allan Gardens
While many Torontonians were having a sleepy Sunday morning, about 260 were geared up and ready to go. At 9 a.m., they left Allan Gardens to the sounds of bells and cheering, embarking on a six-day bicycle ride to raise money for the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation (PWA).
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Access to HIV home tests doubles the frequency of HIV testing in Australian gay men
24 July 2016 - A randomised trial conducted with Australian gay men has shown that easy access to self-testing kits can double the frequency with which men test for HIV, with an even greater increase in men who used to test infrequently. Muhammad Jamil of the
Kirby Institute presented the results to the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban, South Africa, on Friday.
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Have you forgotten HIV/Aids still exist?
Jul 24, 2016 - You won’t be able to tell one’s HIV status by merely looking at them. Sadly, the greater dilemma is around unwanted pregnancies and illegal abortions. It seems, people would rather engage in unprotected sex and make sure to access morning after pills the day after and not flinch over the
possibility of contracting the incurable virus. They have relaxed and forgotten that HIV/Aids still exists and its prevalence will rise unless there is behavioural change.
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Alarm bells due to slippage in AIDS response in the Caribbean
July 24, 2016 - "Complacency is largely responsible for the slippage in the AIDS response in the Caribbean".
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AIDS 2016: HIV-1 drug resistant mutations discovered in Eastern Cape
July 23, 2016 - Joint research by experts from the Stellenbosch University and the National Health Laboratory Services has found HIV-1 drug resistant mutations and subtypes in the Eastern Cape.
The research conducted in 2014 amongst 527 patients in 33 towns of that province was presented in the form a poster at the 21st International Aids Conference. HIV is a unique disease in that due to its extreme genetic diversity it can mutate in people on ARTs (Antiretroviral therapy).
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Designers’ condom display at AIDS Conference
22 July 2016 - Brazilian designer Adriana Bertini showed off her latest designs in dresses made completely out of condoms. Aptly named "Condom Couture", the exhibition took place at 21st Aid International Conference at ICC in Durban.
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Viral load pilot study shows roll-out will depend on an educated workforce
22 July 2016 - For viral load testing to prevent treatment failure, drug resistance and onward transmission, treatment programmes will need to invest in better record-keeping and clinic procedures, human resources, demand creation and decentralisation of second-line treatment provision,
a large pilot study of viral load provision in southern Africa has found.
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Condoms, More Than 10,000 Years Old, Are Too “Modern” for Mike Pence
July 22, 2016 - It’s easy to debunk Pence’s claim that “condoms are a very, very poor protection against sexually transmitted diseases.” The CDC informs Americans that, though “[a]ccurately estimating the effectiveness of condoms for prevention of STDs … is methodologically challenging,” we can still say with confidence that
“when used consistently and correctly, condoms are highly effective in preventing the sexual transmission of HIV infection and reduce the risk of other STDs.”
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HIV cure remains elusive, despite handful of remarkable stories
July 22, 2016 - Of the estimated 78 million people who have been infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, only one has been cured.
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ACT UP, expanding its AIDS activist mission, challenges Clinton on police killings
July 22, 2016 - In an afternoon protest outside Hillary Clinton's Center City campaign headquarters, a familiar message - stop police violence against minorities - was delivered by an unexpected messenger: ACT UP.
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UN-backed AIDS conference closes with calls to end discrimination, bolster HIV care, support
July 22, 2016 - “The biggest obstacle we face is beyond the epidemic of AIDS,” he said, pointing to the discrimination and stigma that act against vulnerable communities with high prevalence of the epidemic.
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AIDS Conference Closes But Hard Work Begins, Organizers Say
July 22, 2016 - DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - As the curtain fell Friday on the 2016 International AIDS Conference in South Africa, organizers challenged delegates to go back to their countries and start the hard work toward an ambitious goal: ending the pandemic by 2030.
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Homeless HIV patient removed for Durban AIDS summit
July 22, 2016 - South African police evict homeless people ahead of AIDS summit, including HIV patient who lost his ARVs in the process.
The city of Durban is decked out in the colours of the 21st International Aids Conference. Thousands of delegates from around the world have spent the last week debating, discussing and plotting the way forward in the global response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
But as the conference halls are packed with the best minds focussed on HIV/AIDS, outside in the streets of the city, the realities of HIV/AIDS are inextricably linked to the social and economic milieu of the city.
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INTERNATIONAL AIDS SOCIETY AND PARTNERS PRESENT AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING RESEARCH
22 July 2016 - Durban, South Africa - Women, Girls and HIV Investigator’s Prize; Prize for Excellence in HIV Research Related to Children; IAS TB/HIV Research Prize; Lange/van Tongeren Prizes for Young Investigator Awards; and Special HIV Cure Prize Awarded at AIDS 2016
the 21 st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016), concluded today with the awarding of five prestigious scientific awards recognizing exceptional research presented at the conference. The honours were presented to ten recipients by the International AIDS Society (IAS), the organizer of AIDS 2016, and its partners.
Study confirms: Forms of HIV can cross from chimps to humans
Lincoln, Nebraska, July 22, 2016 - A new study led by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has supported this hypothesis by reporting the first in vivo evidence that strains
of chimpanzee-carried SIVs can infect human cells. They include the SIV ancestor of HIV-1 M - the strain responsible for the global HIV pandemic - and another ancestral strain of HIV found only among residents of Cameroon.
Starting treatment on the day of HIV diagnosis improves retention and viral suppression, Haiti study shows
21 July 2016 - Starting HIV treatment on the day of diagnosis resulted in significantly better outcomes for people in Haiti, while a package of interventions including accelerated antiretroviral therapy (ART), CD4 counts at diagnosis and intensive support delivered in Swaziland resulted in significantly better linkage to care and retention after one year on ART, the studies showed.
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Australia adopts ambitious plan to use PrEP to ‘virtually eliminate’ HIV by 2020
21 July 2016 - South Africa and Kenya also unveil PrEP implementation plans
Australia plans an ambitious programme of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) provision for gay men at high risk of HIV, with the aim of ‘virtually eliminating’ HIV in the gay community by 2020.
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Prevention of HIV infection in men who have sex with men is a priority in West Africa
21-Jul-2016 - Men who have sex with men (MSM) are a key population in the fight against HIV infection, notably in African countries where homosexuality is subject to social rejection. Christian Laurent (Institut de recherche pour le développement, unité TransVIHMI) notes that "the prevalence of HIV infection is three times higher in African MSM than in the general population."
Prince Harry and Elton John urge redoubling of efforts against HIV/Aids
July 21, 2016 - Royal tells International Aids Conference in South Africa that ‘we now face a new risk – the risk of complacency’
The 31-year-old royal, evoking the memory of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, told delegates in Durban: “When my mother held the hands of a man dying of Aids in an east London hospital, no one imagined a quarter of a century later HIV-positive people would live full, healthy, loving lives.”
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Penn study models how the immune system might evolve to conquer HIV
21-Jul-2016 - It has remained frustratingly difficult to develop a vaccine for HIV/AIDS, in part because the virus, once in our bodies, rapidly reproduces and evolves to escape being killed by the immune system.
"The viruses are constantly producing mutants that evade detection," said Joshua Plotkin, a professor in the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Biology in the School of Arts & Sciences. "A single person with HIV may have millions of strains of the virus circulating in the body."
Researchers discuss challenges, successes of HIV cure research in science
21-Jul-2016 - Based at UNC, the National Institutes of Health-funded Collaboratory of AIDS Researchers for Eradication (CARE) seeks to validate and
implement their "kick and kill" strategy to cure HIV infection. This approach involves waking up the latent or sleeping virus in the body, and at the same time boost the immune system to recognize and clear the virus. In the Science perspective, the researchers discuss the gains they have made in understanding latency over the past five years and the challenges that remain as the team of academic and industry investigators -- from UNC, Duke University, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, the University of California at San Diego, Emory University, MacroGenics, and other institutions - embark on the next steps in HIV cure research.
Immune-enhancing treatment may destabilize HIV reservoirs
21-Jul-2016 - NIH-funded study in monkeys suggests promise of targeting PD-1
Although antiretroviral therapy (ART) can reduce the amount of HIV in the blood to an undetectable level in most chronically infected people, it cannot eliminate reservoirs of HIV that
persist in latently infected immune cells. Findings presented at the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban, South Africa, suggest that combining ART with an immune-enhancing treatment may destabilize viral reservoirs in macaques infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), the monkey equivalent of HIV. The work was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, and led by Rama Amara, Ph.D., of Emory University.
Six Canadian Innovations Scaling Up to Improve Global Health
July 21, 2016 - Toronto, Canada - Projects in Vancouver, Waterloo, Hamilton, Ottawa, Kingston, Montreal to receive next-step scale-up funding from Grand Challenges Canada
Mobile phone app enables self-diagnosis of HIV/AIDS; Sterile cover turns a hardware store drill into a surgery tool; iPad audiometer makes hearing screening simple; more
Six Canadian innovations showing evidence of early promise for improving global health will "transition-to-scale" thanks to new support from Grand Challenges Canada, funded by the Government of Canada.
The new investments, matched by a wide range of partners, will enable the innovators to advance the development of their technologies and deploy them further throughout the developing world.
Case Western Reserve researcher receives NIH grant for HIV research in Uganda
21-Jul-2016 - Drs. Henry Boom at CWRU and Moses Joloba at Makerere University will direct effort
W. Henry Boom, MD, professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Moses L. Joloba, MBChB, MS and PhD, dean of the School of Biomedical Sciences at Makerere University have received an HIV research training program grant from the Fogarty International Center of the US National Institutes of Health.
The "Microbiology and Immunology Training for HIV and HIV-Related Research in Uganda" program will provide biomedical training in basic microbiology and immunology at the master's level in Uganda and at the PhD level in the US.
Elton John funds Aids NGOs
July 21, 2016 - DURBAN - The first two recipients of funding from the Elton John Aids Foundation and the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief’s Lesbian, ??Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Fund have been announced in Durban.
Elton John and his partner, David Furnish, who serves on John’s Aids foundation’s board, were at the International Aids Conference on Wednesday to award $10 million (R143.59 million) to the International HIV/Aids Alliance and the Global Forum for MSM (men who have sex with men) and HIV.
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‘Losing focus on HIV/Aids will result in the risk of losing funding’
July 21, 2016 - DURBAN - Prince Harry has warned world leaders not to lose focus on the urgency needed to fight HIV.
Britain’s Prince Harry has warned that while treatment for Human Immuno Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (Aids) has helped many people live long and healthy lives, the world now faces the risk of complacency.
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Canadian Health Minister Addresses Ageism, Aging and HIV at AIDS 2016 Satellite Session in Durban, South Africa
Toronto, Ontario, July 20, 2016 - Earlier today, at AIDS 2016, The International AIDS Conference, in Durban, South Africa, The Honourable Jane Philpott, P.C., M.P., Minister of Health,
Government of Canada, spoke at the Ageism, Aging and HIV: A Call to Action satellite session organized by the Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation (CWGHR) and the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA).
The first in a group of esteemed speakers from the U.S., Australia, South Africa, Hungary, and Japan, Minister Philpott shared some of Canada's noteworthy responses to HIV and aging with the world:
“Addressing HIV among older persons has the potential to begin a new way of discussing aging on the whole!”
Rate of new HIV infections increased in 74 countries over past decade
July 20, 2016 - AIDS deaths are falling in most countries worldwide, but the rate of new infections increased in several countries over the past decade, threatening to undermine efforts to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030, a new scientific paper shows.
The study from the Global Burden of Disease collaborative network, published today in The Lancet HIV, found that 74 countries saw increases in age-standardized rates of new infections between 2005 and 2015, including Egypt, Pakistan, Kenya, the Philippines, Cambodia, Mexico, and Russia.
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Gay and Bi Teens, Sex, Drugs, and HIV: The Latest Numbers
July 20, 2016 - A new study shows equal rates of risky sex between gay and straight male teens — but queer youth are still much more susceptible to HIV infection.
The new study, which compiled data from ninth- through 12th-grade males identifying as gay, bisexual, or heterosexual, found “no significant differences” in the HIV-related risk behaviors between these groups.
But despite the very little difference between the HIV-related risk behaviors of gay youth and that of straight youth, the data show that the rate of HIV transmission is still much higher among men who have sex with men. MSM have an HIV diagnosis rate at 57 times that of heterosexual men. In 2014, for example,
MSM represented a full 80 percent of new youth infections.
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Prisons around the world are reservoirs of infectious disease
July 20, 2016 - Prisoners around the world and people who were formerly incarcerated have a higher burden of HIV and other infectious diseases than the general population, worsening the spread of diseases inside and outside of prison, according to new research.
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No Vaccine in Sight for HIV/AIDS, Scientists Say
July 20, 2016 - DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - Scientists attending the 21st International AIDS Conference in Durban say there is still no vaccine in sight to prevent HIV/AIDS infections.
While it is impossible to predict when such a goal will be reached, says Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, he is optimistic about researchers' progress.
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HIV vaccine clinical trials take center stage at world's largest global health conference
July 20, 2016 - DURBAN, South Africa - 'The HIV vaccine field is open for business,' said Fred Hutch's Dr. Larry Corey at International AIDS Society's biennial meeting in Durban, South Africa
We are 35 years into the epidemic, and still more than 60 per cent of people living with HIV are without access to life-saving antiretroviral therapy. Women and girls, men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, young people, prisoners, people who use drugs, and many other marginalized groups face the biggest barriers to life-saving care.
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Opinion: For all too many marginalized people, access to HIV care is elusive
July 20, 2016 - We are 35 years into the epidemic, and still more than 60 per cent of people living with HIV are without access to life-saving antiretroviral therapy. Women and girls, men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, young people, prisoners, people who use drugs, and many other marginalized groups face the biggest barriers to life-saving care.
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HPTN 073: Consistency between self-report and drug levels for PrEP among black MSM in US
20 July 2016 - DURBAN, South Africa and DURHAM, N.C. - Results released at AIDS 2016
Investigators from the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) today announced key results from the HPTN 073 Study at the International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban, South Africa.
The study, which assessed uptake and adherence of oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for the prevention of HIV infection among Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) in the U.S., demonstrated consistency
between self-report and biological markers of adherence. The new findings confirm the prior study report at CROI 2016 that showed high uptake and self-report of adherence of oral PrEP by participants in this study.
HIV Drug Pricing Protest Interrupts PrEP Session at AIDS 2016
July 20, 2016 - DURBAN - BETA is reporting from the 21st International AIDS Conference this week in Durban, South Africa—bringing you the latest news, updates, and research on HIV treatment and prevention.
Protesters against the high cost of antiretroviral drugs joined forces and marched together today, interrupting a research presentation today at the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016). The presenter, Jean-Michel Molina, MD, who had just
begun a talk about the effectiveness of an on-demand PrEP regimen, surrendered the microphone and podium as protesters took the stage.
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'I'm positive the world will be free of HIV/Aids one day'
July 20, 2016 - DURBAN - US businessman Bill Gates has joined stakeholders at the 2016 Aids Conference in Durban.
American philanthropist and business magnate Bill Gates says funding is vital in the fight against HIV and Aids and has agreed with international health experts who say South Africa needs financial assistance.
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High efficacy of on-demand pre-exposure prophylaxis is confirmed
20-Jul-2016 - Results from ANRS IPERGAY
The last phase of ANRS IPERGAY has confirmed that "on-demand" pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective method of reducing the risk of HIV infection in men who have sex with men
and who report high-risk behavior. These results will be presented at AIDS 2016 in Durban, South Africa (18 to 22 July). From late 2016, a vast research program, ANRS PREVENIR, will assess PrEP on a large scale in Paris and its suburbs (France).
Entering the health-care system: The challenge of the universal test-and-treat strategy
20-Jul-2016 - Results from ANRS 12249 TasP show that there is good take-up of the offer of repeated HIV screening at home in a rural South African population strongly
affected by HIV infection. Immediate implementation of antiretroviral treatment of people managed in the healthcare system, following discovery of seropositivity, controls the infection. However, entry into the
healthcare system of people diagnosed as HIV seropositive is too infrequent and slow to reduce HIV transmission in the population. The results of this randomized trial will be presented in an oral
communication by Professor François Dabis (Université de Bordeaux, Inserm U1219) at AIDS 2016 in Durban, South Africa (18 to 22 July 2016).
INTERNATIONAL AIDS SOCIETY AND ELTON JOHN AIDS FOUNDATION: ‘DOING THE RIGHT THING’ BY HONOURING FRONTLINE HEALTH WORKERS CHAMPIONING QUALITY SERVICES FOR KEY POPULATIONS
20 July 2016 - Durban, South Africa - New campaign celebrates providers who are #DoingTheRightThing
The International AIDS Society (IAS) today launched a new campaign to celebrate doctors, nurses, and other frontline health workers who deliver quality integrated HIV prevention, care,
and treatment services to key populations, often in the face of discriminatory laws, traditions, and belief systems. Supported by the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the Me and My Health Care Provider campaign
gives members of key populations, including men who have sex with men and transgender populations, the opportunity to publicly acknowledge their health care workers for their efforts to provide inclusive
health care services and create safe, secure, and supportive environments.
EXPERIMENTAL HIV TREATMENT MODELS HIGHLIGHT SUCCESS AND PINPOINT OBSTACLES TO EXPANDING CARE IN AFRICAN COUNTRIES
20 July 2016 - Durban, South Africa - Researchers in developing countries with high burdens of HIV infection are developing promising new strategies to advance towards global HIV treatment targets, the 21st International AIDS Conference in Durban South Africa has heard.
New study finds previously incarcerated women with HIV less likely to adhere to HIV treatment
July 19, 2016 - The British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BCCfE) has released new research that finds previously incarcerated women with HIV are three times more likely to have poor adherence to combination anti-retroviral therapy than HIV positive women who have not been incarcerated.
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Having HIV Is Not a Crime, Human Rights Lawyers Say
July 19, 2016 - DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - No known law makes it illegal to have HIV, but human rights lawyers say people with the virus are often treated as criminals. Seventy-two nations have laws that specifically apply to people with HIV, most of them concerning disclosure.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last year that 24 U.S. states require people who know they are HIV-positive to disclose their status to sexual partners, and that 25 states criminalize actions that have little chance of spreading the virus.
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Ten organizations receive Red Ribbon Award for outstanding community leadership on AIDS
DURBAN, 19 July 2016 - Ten exceptional community-based organizations have won the 2016 Red Ribbon Award for their inspiring work towards ending or reducing the impact of the AIDS epidemic.
They were presented with the prize in a special session at the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban, South Africa. ramme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
released in advance of the 2016 International AIDS Conference.
Gains in curbing HIV epidemic could be lost without continued commitment, AIDS 2016 speakers say
19 July 2016 - Incidence of liver cancer is increasing among people with HIV co-infection, an international team of investigators report in the online edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases. Researchers from Europe
and Canada pooled data gathered between 2001 and 2014 from six prospective cohorts and found that incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) increased but the incidence of serious liver related events – decompensated liver disease or liver-related death – declined.
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Potential Chlamydia Vaccine Would Be Administered Without a Needle
July 19, 2016 - A team from the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research at McMaster University in Ontario has developed the first widely protective vaccine against an STD that impacts 113 million people worldwide each year.
Although chlamydia is curable, it can cause infertility, upper genital tract infections, and pelvic inflammatory disease if left untreated. One of the big challenges with the disease is that most patients don’t show symptoms, so many people aren’t getting the treatment they need.
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It will take more than $36 billion every year to end AIDS
July 19, 2016 - The challenge is that since 2010 development assistance for HIV has remained nearly constant. Researchers estimate that $36 billion is needed annually to achieve the United Nations goals.
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The Lancet HIV: New HIV infections stagnating at 2.5 million a year worldwide
19-Jul-2016 - A major new analysis from the Global Burden of Disease 2015 (GBD 2015) study, published today in The Lancet HIV journal, reveals that although deaths from HIV/AIDS have been steadily declining from a peak in 2005,
2.5 million people worldwide became newly infected with HIV in 2015, a number that hasn't changed substantially in the past 10 years.
Charlize Theron concerned over HIV/Aids death amongst young people
July 19, 2016 - CAPE TOWN - South African-born actress Charlize Theron says the rate at which young people are dying due to HIV and Aids should frighten the world.
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Surging heroin use threatens Kenya's HIV/AIDS gains
July 19, 2016 - NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - South African-born actress Charlize Theron says the rate at which young people are dying due to HIV and Aids should frighten the world.
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NEW VIGOUR IN HIV VACCINE RESEARCH EVIDENT AT AIDS 2016
19 July 2016 - Durban, South Africa - Pivotal South African study builds on promise of the only HIV vaccine regimen to show efficacy to date; landmark antibody trial now in field; multiple new vaccine approaches being explored
Current and forthcoming studies of vaccines to prevent HIV infection have created a new optimism that the long and challenging road to the development of such a vaccine has begun to take some promising turns. Updates on the search for preventive vaccines, presented at
the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban, South Africa, included information on advances in the development of novel vaccines, and in the field of antibody mediated prevention (AMP).
NEW RESEARCH MARKS IMPORTANT STEP FORWARD IN UNDERSTANDING REAL-WORLD USE OF PREP
19 July 2016 - Durban, South Africa - Several studies presented today in an official press conference at the 21 st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban provided new insights on the use of PrEP among a broad range of populations. One study
provided new national estimates of PrEP use in the U.S. by geography and other demographics, another found the near elimination of HIV transmission risk among serodiscordant heterosexual couples using both PrEP and antiretroviral treatment, and two additional studies examined PrEP use
among adolescents in both southern Africa and the U.S.
How routine testing can help end AIDS
Jul. 19, 2016 - Dr. Julio Montaner is the director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS.
An older gentleman comes to visit the hospital complaining of a number of symptoms. While he doesn’t fit the typical risk factors for HIV, he is given a routine test that reveals he is HIV-positive. When his wife is later tested, she is also shown to be HIV-positive.
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INTERNATIONAL AIDS SOCIETY (IAS) PAEDIATRIC HIV RESEARCH GRANT WINNERS ANNOUNCED
19 July 2016 - Durban, South Africa - Leaders in paediatric HIV research gathering at AIDS 2016 in Durban will honor the winners of the fourth and largest-ever round of IAS research grants, to be presented at the conference
plenary session here on Wednesday, 20 July. The awards, which total US$1.2 million, are made through CIPHER, the IAS Collaborative Initiative for Paediatric HIV Education and Research, and will support innovative paediatric HIV research by early-stage investigators working in resource-limited settings.
Canada: Meeting the challenge launches at AIDS 2016
(DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, 19 July, 2016) - Canada warmly invites all Canadian and internation al attendees at AIDS 2016, the International AIDS Conference held in Durban, South Africa July 18-22, to visit Canada: Meeting the challenge. Located in the Durban Exhibition Centre,
Meeting the challenge is the Canada Pavilion for this year’s Conference which brings together delegates from all over the world. The Pavilion showcases Canada’s leadership in the global HIV response and provides a meeting place for people to share their experiences and insights.
Follow My Blogs from AIDS2016 in Durban South Africa!
July 18, 2016 - My coverage of the international AIDS conference (AIDS2016) in Durban, South Africa is happening right now. I am in Durban, scurrying about the conference with other advocates from around the globe, and my primary purpose is to give you the feeling that you are right there at my side.
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Drug-filled vaginal ring protects women from HIV — when used correctly
July 18, 2016 - Consistent use of ring protects against HIV infection by up to 92 percent, according to new analyses that measured the effectiveness of consistent vs. inconsistent use
The ring is lightweight, flexible, affordable and innocuous looking. It can be worn — and forgotten about — for four weeks at a time. And when used correctly, it can protect women against HIV.
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HIV/Aids resurgence in Africa feared as Durban hosts conference
July 18, 2016 - Latest figures indicate increase in the virus in some countries, as international funding for research and treatment falls
Sixteen years after a groundbreaking conference shocked the world into the realisation that thousands of Africans were dying of Aids because they did not have access to life-saving drugs, campaigners and scientists meeting once again in Durban this week will warn that the progress made since 2000 is not enough to end the epidemic.
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Will there ever be a cure for the deadly HIV?
July 18, 2016 - With 37 million people currently living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) worldwide, the question of whether a cure will be found for the pandemic took centre stage in Durban, South Africa, on Saturday, ahead of today’s start of the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016).
However, not even the leading experts in HIV cure research can confidently say when, or if, a cure will ever be found for the dreaded killer disease. Speaking at the International AIDS Society (IAS) Global Scientific Strategy: Towards an HIV Cure 2016 press conference, Anthony Fauci of the United States National Institutes
of Health (NIH) held nothing back about the prospects for developing a cure or sustained remission for HIV.
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HIV therapy for breastfeeding mothers can virtually eliminate transmission to babies
July 18, 2016 - For HIV-infected mothers whose immune system is in good health, taking a three-drug antiretroviral regimen during breastfeeding essentially eliminates HIV transmission by
breast milk to their infants, according to results from a large clinical trial conducted in sub-Saharan Africa and India.
IPM's dapivirine ring may offer significant HIV protection when used consistently
DURBAN, South Africa (July 18, 2016) - Exploratory findings further support the launch of 2 open-label studies and continued research as IPM pursues regulatory approval
New data analyses announced at the AIDS 2016 conference today provide additional evidence suggesting that the monthly dapivirine vaginal ring developed by the nonprofit International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) provides
significant protection against HIV infection in women when used consistently. The new data were released
as two open-label studies of the ring begin and as IPM pursues regulatory approvals for the product for its use in developing countries.
HIV treatment keeps uninfected partner from contracting the virus
18-Jul-2016 - Chapel Hill, N.C. - HPTN 052 study results culmination of 15 years of research
Anti-HIV medications suppress the viral load of people living with HIV and provide durable protection against heterosexual transmission a study led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found. Researchers
found a 93 percent reduction of HIV transmission when the HIV-infected person started antiretroviral therapy or ART at a higher CD4 cell count. The groundbreaking final results of the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 052 study
were published in the New England Journal of Medicine .
Trump’s choice of VP sparks concern over AIDS funding
18 July 2016 - Trump’s pick for vice president, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, has spent his lengthy political career building a reputation for his conservative stance on social issues, especially gay rights. In light
of Trump’s announcement, his reputation is elevating fears that a Trump candidacy could diminish U.S. contributions to the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Trump’s announcement came just before this week’s International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa, where the World Health Organization will highlight the need to renew global and sustainable financing to fight HIV/AIDS
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PEPFAR Welcomes the Return of the International HIV/AIDS Conference to Africa
WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America, July 18, 2016/APO/ - PEPFAR Invests $85 Million to Drive Innovation for Adolescent Girls and Young Women
This week, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) joins thousands of partners for the 21st International HIV/AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban, South Africa. The conference returns to Africa for the first time since 2000,
coinciding with the thirty-fifth anniversary of the first reported cases of AIDS, a moment that would change the lives of millions of people around the globe.
“The U.S. government’s commitment to ending the AIDS epidemic cannot be overstated,” said Ambassador Deborah L. Birx, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy. “We are investing with our voices, our capacity, and our dollars to
help achieve an AIDS-free generation in which no one is left behind,
in the U.S. and around the world. We owe it to the millions of people who lost their lives to AIDS, and the millions more who we can still reach to finish the journey we started 35 years ago.”
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International AIDS Society, amfAR and The Elizabeth Taylor Foundation to Honour Zimbabwean Activist, Feminist and LGBT Champion Martha Tholanah
18 July 2016 - Durban, South Africa - Actress Charlize Theron will present openly HIV-positive human rights advocate with the Elizabeth Taylor Human Rights Award in the field of HIV at AIDS 2016 Opening Session
Human rights are personal to Martha Tholanah, an outspoken champion of equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and for all people living with HIV. Following her early life experiences of violence at the hands of soldiers fighting the Zimbabwe War
of Liberation, Martha Tholanah has become one of the most recognizable, effective, and influential advocates for human rights in her native Zimbabwe, and all of southern Africa.
HIV/AIDS continues to stalk children and adolescents – UNICEF
DURBAN, South Africa, 18 July 2016 - UN children’s agency to showcase successes, innovations at AIDS Conference
In an official press conference today at the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban, researchers and community representatives discussed the
impact of discriminatory laws and policies in many parts of the world that hinder access to HIV prevention,
treatment, and care for the populations most at risk of HIV infection – men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, people who inject drugs, and prisoners.
Study shows durable benefits of early HIV treatment
July 18, 2016 - (Reuters Health) - Early treatment of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can dramatically reduce the odds of passing
the deadly disease on to others, and the protection persists for years,
according to final results from a major study that looked at the timing of antiretroviral therapy, or ART.
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Building protection at HIV infection site
July 18, 2016 - Globally, 16 million women are infected with HIV, constituting the 50% of people living with HIV. Furthermore, the majority of infections in young people affects adolescent and young adult women, and occurs through
heterosexual contact. Therefore, an imperative task for an efficacious HIV vaccine is to generate immune responses at the mucosal sites.
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#AIDS2016: Complacency in HIV/Aids battle ‘scary’
18 Jul '16 - DURBAN - The world has become more complacent in the battle to eliminate the scourge of HIV/Aids and a leading United Nations official told a press conference at the 21st World Aids Conference in Durban that he was “scared”.
Michel Sidibé, the executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) said that 13 out of 14 major donor countries had cut their funding to battle the disease.
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Official Opening of the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016), 18 July 2016
Published on July 18, 2016 - Started streaming 1 hour ago
AIDS 2016 focuses on impact of legal and policy barriers to HIV services for groups at greatest risk of infection
18 July 2016 - Durban, South Africa - In an official press conference today at the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban, researchers and community representatives discussed the impact of discriminatory laws and policies in many parts of the world that hinder access to HIV prevention,
treatment, and care for the populations most at risk of HIV infection – men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, people who inject drugs, and prisoners.
Study results provide critical new data to guide HIV prevention and treatment efforts for women and girls
18 July 2016 - Durban, South Africa - CAPRISA Studies Shed New Light on Why Young Women in South Africa Have High HIV Rates Additional Research Shows Promising Results for New Prevention and Treatment Options but Underscore Significant Challenges with Treatment Acceptance and Adherence
Multiple studies discussed today in an official press briefing at the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban collectively provide new insights that will help shape future HIV prevention and treatment efforts for women and girls.
INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE RETURNS TO DURBAN TO DEFINE PATH FORWARD TO ENDING AIDS
18 July 2016 - Durban, South Africa - More than 18,000 global leaders, scientists, advocates, and frontline health workers have gathered in Durban for the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016), the world’s largest forum devoted to any single health or development issue.
The conference returns to Durban after 16 years and will feature 2,500 scientific abstracts and hundreds of events.
Staying positive: The realities of dating with HIV
Jul 18 2016 - The risks of having sex with an HIV-positive person have changed. The stigma hasn't.
Public health messages about HIV prevention that try to scare people into safer sex contribute to the stigma, said Sarah Chown, executive director of YouthCO, which supports young people living with the virus in B.C.
And stigma, she said, is actually driving the epidemic.
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60 second HIV test could soon be a take-home kit
Jul 17, 2016 - RICHMOND (NEWS 1130) - Prince Harry took an HIV test during the week to reduce the stigma for getting checked, and there’s a local connection.
Between getting the prick to his finger and checking the results, the whole process took about four minutes for Prince Harry.
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Progress on AIDS in South Africa points to way forward
Jul. 17, 2016 - DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - South Africa has more people living with HIV-AIDS than any other country in the world, a staggering seven million.
But, in the past generation, it has gone from being the poster child for the pandemic’s relentless and unstoppable devastation to a symbol of hope and living proof that HIV-AIDS can be slowed, and maybe even stopped.
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HIV cure takes a centre stage at AIDS Conference
17th July 2016 - According to World Health Organisation 36.7 million people living with HIV are eligible for ART, but only 17 million are able to access treatment
The Co-chair of the 21st International AIDS Society (AIS) Nobel Laureate Françoise Barré-Sinoussi said the search for curative strategy of HIV is a goal of paramount importance and a priority for the future of HIV research.
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Global AIDS Conference Exposes South Africa's Dramatic Turn
July 17, 2016 - JOHANNESBURG - The first time the world came to South Africa for a conference on AIDS, the country's leader shocked attendees by questioning whether HIV really caused the disease.
President Thabo Mbeki then walked out of the room as a slender 11-year-old boy with AIDS addressed the crowd in response, pleading for treatment and understanding in a region where the epidemic was taking its harshest toll.
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President Zuma welcomes delegates to Durban Aids conference
17 July 2016 - DURBAN - President Jacob Zuma, in a statement, welcomed international delegates to the International AIDS Conference taking place in Durban from 18-22 July.
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Queen Latifah delights Durban crowd ahead of HIV/Aids conference
July 17, 2016 - It was impossible to miss Grammy-winner Queen Latifah in a 7000-strong sea of neon green T-shirts bearing the word “promise” as she walked the streets of Durban on Saturday in support of the fight against HIV/Aids.
Keep the Promise, also known as KT2016, is a call-to-action advocacy campaign to governments and international funding bodies to increase Aids funding and their commitment to end the epidemic. Some of the march participants carried flags from around the world, while some held
placards scribbled with slogans such as “Test and Treat Now”, “HIV is preventable” and “Stop Aids!”
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Kaiser/UNAIDS Study Finds Donor Government Funding for HIV Fell in 2015 for First Time in 5 Years
16, July 2016 - Funding declined from a majority of donor governments assessed, including the U.S.
Donor government funding to support HIV efforts in low- and middle-income countries fell for the first time in five years in 2015, decreasing from US$8.6 billion in 2014 to US$7.5 billion, finds a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
released in advance of the 2016 International AIDS Conference.
AIDS summit in S.Africa to warn of lagging effort
July 16, 2016 - Sixteen years after Nelson Mandela galvanised the world to take up the fight against AIDS, experts and activists return to the South African city of Durban on Monday, seeking to revitalise the fight against the disease.
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New HIV therapies are not without risks, leading scientist warns
16 July 2016 - "The one thing we really need to remember is we want to make sure that what we are doing for a cure is better for the patient than what they are already receiving. It has to be safe, less toxic than what the person is on, and scalable," said Fauci,
who is director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the US National Institutes of Health.
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Gogos march to Aids conference
16 July 2016 - DURBAN - Homophobia, violence, and provider stigma make it difficult for men to access the services they need.
About 1,500 grandmothers marched to Durban’s Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre on Saturday to demand greater recognition of their plight and the role that they play in the fight against the HIV/Aids pandemic.
The gogos (grandmothers in isiZulu) marched ahead of the 2016 World Aids conference which starts in the city on Monday.
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LGBT community losing HIV fight
16.7.2016 - Homophobia, violence, and provider stigma make it difficult for men to access the services they need.
Gay and bisexual men are losing the HIV/Aids fight as mainstream rhetoric is trumpeted over the reality of prevention within the MSM (men who have sex with men) community.
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PROSPECTS FOR DEVELOPING A CURE OR SUSTAINED REMISSION FOR HIV TAKE CENTRE STAGE AT AIDS 2016
July 16, 2016 (Durban, SOUTH AFRICA) - HIV Cure Research Advances and the New IAS Global Scientific Strategy: Towards an HIV Cure 20 16 will headline the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban
Sixteen years ago, the historic 13th International AIDS Conference inspired a new paradigm for HIV treatment access that helped change the trajectory of the global AIDS epidemic. This year, as 18,000 scientists, policymakers, advocates and people living with HIV return to Durban, South Africa,
AIDS 2016 will highlight the latest accomplishments and challenges in a rapidly expanding area of scientific inquiry that few could have imagined at the first Durban conference – the prospect of developing safe, effective, and globally scalable approaches to curing or achieving sustained remission of HIV infection.
Optimism About Ending AIDS Misplaced, Some Experts Say
July 16, 2016 - OHANNESBURG - “I am deeply disturbed that we don’t hear the emergency in the voice of UNAIDS and the United Nations," he said. “I hope that I don’t hear a lot of happy talk about how we’re on track to end AIDS, because we’re not.
We could be, but the world is not showing a political will.
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PHOTOS: Handing Over The Camera To People With HIV
July 16, 2016 - Photographer Gideon Mendel had won several prestigious awards for his pictures of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. But in 2007, he decided to hand over the camera to his subjects.
He co-founded an organization called Through Positive Eyes and began teaching basic digital camera skills to people who were HIV positive, then encouraged them to capture images of their own lives. Since 2008, they have hosted workshops in 10 cities around the world: Mexico City,
Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Bangkok, Port-au-Prince, London and, most recently, Durban, South Africa.
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Exhibit at Bronx Museum Explores the Influence of HIV/AIDS on American Art
July 16, 2016 - The curators of “Art AIDS America” want to bring discussions of the epidemic into the present, and into bright and shiny museum spaces they say don’t normally rush to embrace topics such
as death, disease and sexuality. They are trying to make the multitude and diversity of art about HIV/AIDS visible and to remind visitors that the disease had, and continues to have, a profound influence on American society and culture.
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HIV treatment in First Nations communities in the global spotlight
July 16, 2016 - Durban conference to hear Indigenous populations in Canada experiencing sky-high HIV numbers
Canada will be in the global spotlight later this week in Durban, South Africa, as it gears up for the 21st International AIDS Conference — but the glare won't be flattering.
The conference will hear that Canada's Indigenous populations are experiencing sky-high HIV numbers — and the province of Saskatchewan alone has an infection rate comparable to countries in the developing world.
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How new HIV drugs lock virus in immaturity
July 15, 2016 - Study provides insights into workings of new HIV drugs and how virus becomes resistant
A new type of HIV drug currently being tested works in an unusual way, scientists in the Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit, a collaboration between EMBL and Heidelberg University Hospital, have found.
They also discovered that when the virus became resistant to early versions of these drugs, it did not do so by blocking or preventing their effects, but rather by circumventing them. The study, published online today in
Science, presents the most detailed view yet of part of the immature form of HIV.
Cancer research could help the search towards an HIV cure
July 15, 2016 - The parallels between HIV and cancer are striking. We now know that controlling HIV in the absence of therapy will require the generation and maintenance
of powerful CD8+ -- or "killer" - T cells that can target vulnerable parts of the virus. The challenge is remarkably similar to that in oncology, where the goal of innovative therapies is to generate killer T cells that recognize and clear cancer cells.
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Facebook Live From AIDS 2016 & More
July 15, 2016 - Facebook Live videos Exit Disclaimer are real-time video posts on Facebook that allow your followers to watch your live stream straight from your page, directly engage with you by
answering questions, reading comments, and seeing FB reactions. Although live streaming options have been around for a while, Facebook has now made it easier to stream live on a mainstream platform that already reaches a wide audience.
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Congress Challenges FDA Blood Donor Deferral Policy
July 15, 2016 - Members of the House and Senate have signed on to "Dear Colleague" letters to the FDA Commissioner Robert Califf asking him to lift the one-year deferral policy. The House bipartisan letter
has been signed by over 115 members and the Senate bipartisan letter has been signed by over twenty members.
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300 Leaders Living with HIV Gather for Change at LIVING 2016: Positive Leadership Summit
July 14,, 2016 - Largest Conference For and By People Living with HIV in Two Decades takes Place in Durban Ahead of International AIDS Conference
“This gathering of people living with HIV is crucial to realize the ambitious goals of the international community,” says Jaime Luna, International Co-chair of LIVING 2016 and a Panamese national. “The HIV-epidemic is far from over. Less
than half of people living with HIV are accessing treatment, incidence is rising in some regions and groups, adolescents are dying of AIDS faster than adults, and we continue to face serious human rights violations.”
Prisoners worldwide bear higher burdens of HIV and other infections
July 14, 2016 - Providing better health care to inmates upon release could reduce growing epidemics inside and outside of prison
Prisoners and detainees worldwide have higher burdens of HIV, viral hepatitis and tuberculosis than the communities from which they come, and the regular cycling of infected people in and out of incarceration is worsening the epidemics both inside and
outside of prison, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health-led research suggests.
PrEP can reduce new HIV cases by a third among MSM over next 10 years
14-Jul-2016 - f guidelines are followed, daily pill to prevent HIV infection can significantly reduce HIV incidence among men who have sex with men in the US, study suggests
A daily pill to prevent HIV infection can reduce new cases among men who have sex with men (MSM) by a third in the U.S. over the next 10 years, according to a new modeling study published in The Journal
of Infectious Diseases and available online. The expected significant drop in HIV incidence, however, will depend on clinicians prescribing the medication according to federal guidelines and on patients using it as directed.
Toronto approves three supervised injection sites: Queen West, South Riverdale and near Yonge-Dundas
July 14, 2016 - Toronto city council has approved three supervised injection sites in the city.
Council voted 36-3 Thursday to support supervised injection services at existing health-care facilities in downtown Toronto.
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Prince Harry tested for HIV to raise awareness about condition
July 14, 2016 - Prince Harry has been tested for HIV in an effort to raise awareness about the condition and encourage others to get checked out.
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Health Canada approves drug doctors call cure for hepatitis C infection
July 14, 2016 - The drug, sold under the brand name Epclusa, is a once-daily pill taken for 12 weeks that can rid the body of all six strains of hepatitis C, a blood-borne virus that can lead to severe liver damage
and liver cancer if left untreated.
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Columbia University awarded $58.4 million to accelerate development of new therapies
NEW YORK, NY, July 14, 2016 - Award is third and largest NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award for Columbia
Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) has received a $58.4 million grant from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand its work in translational research--a multidisciplinary effort that aims to speed the
discovery and development of new medical therapies. This grant is the third and largest Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) bestowed on the Herbert and Florence Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, a partnership of CUMC and NewYork-Presbyterian.
NIH expands investment in HIV cure research
July 13, 2016 - Six research teams to lead collaborative investigations worldwide.
The National Institutes of Health has awarded approximately $30 million in annual funding over the next five years to six research collaborations working to advance basic medical science toward an HIV cure. The awards comprise the second iteration of the
Martin Delaney Collaboratory: Towards an HIV-1 Cure program and are a part of President Barack Obama's pledge to invest in HIV cure research. The research program is supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute
of Mental Health, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, all part of the NIH.
Treatment targets HIV's last hiding place
13-Jul-2016 - Genetically engineered protein helps immune system see and kill cells containing dormant HIV
UK scientists may have found a way to destroy HIV's last refuge. A study by Oxford University has confirmed that a treatment developed by a British company can remove the virus in its chosen hiding place, in laboratory conditions, offering hope of a viable treatment.
UNC awarded nearly $23 million to continue national effort to cure HIV
13-Jul-2016 - Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will receive nearly $23 million over the next five years to continue research on their innovative "kick and kill" strategy for eradicating HIV. Worldwide, 37 million people are living with HIV.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) selected CARE, the Collaboratory of AIDS Researchers for Eradication, which is based at UNC, for refunding after a competitive application process.
Black Treatment Advocates Travel to International AIDS Conference
July 13, 2016 - This week Black Treatment Advocates sponsored by the Black AIDS Institute will travel to Durban, South Africa, where they will attend the International AIDS Conference, which is returning to South Africa for the first time since 2000. Delegates will attend a wide variety
of conference sessions with the goal of transferring knowledge back to Blacks in the U.S.
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Sexual transmission of AIDS on the rise in Iran: official
July 13, 2016 - A senior Iranian health official warned Wednesday that sexual transmission of HIV/AIDS was on the rise, in part because of taboos about discussing sex.
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SFU to help advance HIV cure research with NIH funding
July 13, 2016 - Nearly 37 million people in the world live with HIV/AIDS and, since its discovery, 39 million have died. To date, researchers have been unable to find a cure.
SFU health sciences professors Zabrina Brumme and Mark Brockman are hoping to help change that thanks to funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
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A Global Gathering to End AIDS
July 12, 2016 - Mailman School faculty take part in the 21st annual International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa
Scientists and clinicians from the Mailman School have always contributed new ideas at the conference, from the scale-up of treatment to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission as exemplified by the MTCT-Plus Initiative pioneered by ICAP, to the microbicide trial results presented by CAPRISA,
the Durban-based AIDS research center. This year, Mailman School voices include Claude Ann Mellins, Richard Parker, and Patrick Wilson. Amaya Perez-Brumer, a doctoral student in Sociomedical Sciences, will share new findings on stigma and HIV prevention among transgendered women in Lima, Peru. ICAP will co-sponsor
a major pre-conference meeting on the state of nursing and global HIV and a pre-conference on advances and challenges in pediatric HIV. Salim Abdool Karim, director of CAPRISA, will release findings about a microbe linked to vaginal inflammation that exacerbates HIV risk.
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AIDS epidemic no longer a public health issue, but HIV still is
July 12, 2016 - AIDS is no longer a public health problem in Australia. This is the announcement that came earlier this week from leading scientists at the Kirby and Peter Doherty institutes and the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO).
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HIV, AIDS and 90-90-90: what is it and why does it matter?
July 12, 2016 - Twenty years ago when someone acquired HIV, they would, on average, not live more than 12 years. Today, a young person who becomes infected in the developed world can expect to have a near-normal lifespan with access to lifelong, uninterrupted HIV treatment.
Globally, the HIV/AIDS community has worked hard to realise the Sustainable Development Goal of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030. One crucial part of this plan is bringing HIV treatment to all who need it. The 90-90-90 concept is one part of this plan. Ahead of the 21st International AIDS Conference,
Professor Glenda Gray, President of the South African Medical Research Council, explains the importance of 90-90-90 and why there is so much talk around it.
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Incidence of liver cancer is increasing in people with HIV/HCV co-infection
12 July 2016 - Incidence of liver cancer is increasing among people with HIV co-infection, an international team of investigators report in the online edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases. Researchers from Europe and Canada pooled data gathered between
2001 and 2014 from six prospective cohorts and found that incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) increased but the incidence of serious liver related events – decompensated liver disease or liver-related death – declined.
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Study looks at risk of HIV without condoms
July 12, 2016 - HIV transmission is highly unlikely among straight couples who have sex without condoms when one partner carries the virus but takes medication, new research suggests.
For gay couples in the same scenario, the risk seems to be only slightly higher.
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HIV infecting 2m more people every year, warns UN
July 12, 2016 - Goal of eradicating Aids by 2030 will be impossible without more work on prevention, says UNAids report
“We are sounding the alarm,” said Michel Sidibé, executive director of UNAids. “The power of prevention is not being realised. If there is a resurgence in new HIV infections now, the epidemic will become impossible to control. The world needs to take urgent and immediate action.”
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UNAIDS warns that after significant reductions, declines in new HIV infections among adults have stalled and are rising in some regions
GENEVA, 12, July 2016 - Globally, new HIV infections among adults and children were reduced by 40% since the peak in 1997. However, new analysis from UNAIDS shows that new HIV infections among adults have stalled, failing to decline for at least five years.
The report outlines what is needed to step up prevention efforts
A new report by UNAIDS reveals concerning trends in new HIV infections among adults. The Prevention gap report shows that while significant progress is being made in stopping new HIV infections among children (new HIV infections have declined by more than 70% among children since
2001 and are continuing to decline), the decline in new HIV infections among adults has stalled. The report shows that HIV prevention urgently needs to be scaled up among this age group.
HIV infecting 2m more people every year, warns UN
July 2016 - It’s a bold mission by any standard: to end the AIDS epidemic. But the tools are there, say officials of the joint United Nations program on HIV/AIDS. Here’s what the UNAIDS plan, known as “90-90-90,” looks like.
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Antiretrovirals for HIV Treatment and Prevention: The Challenges of Success
July 12, 2016 - The new IAS-USA guidelines are particularly noteworthy in several regards. Based on data from the START3 and TEMPRANO4 trials and many observational studies,
the expert panel recommends (as it did in its 2014 guidelines5)
that all individuals who are diagnosed as having HIV infection should initiate treatment independent of CD4 cell count as soon as they are ready, and the sooner the better.
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An HIV Vaccine
Mapping Uncharted Territory
July 12, 2016 - Scaling up access to antiretroviral therapy and proven approaches to HIV prevention potentially could control the HIV/AIDS pandemic
and reduce it to a low level of endemicity. However, a safe and effective
HIV vaccine would help reach this goal more quickly and in a more sustained way.
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Effect of Patient Navigation With or Without Financial Incentives on Viral Suppression Among Hospitalized Patients With HIV Infection and Substance UseA Randomized Clinical Trial
July 12, 2016 - Substance use is a major driver of the HIV epidemic and is associated with poor HIV care outcomes. Patient navigation (care coordination with case management) and the use of
financial incentives for achieving predetermined outcomes are interventions increasingly promoted to engage patients in substance use disorders treatment and HIV care, but there is little evidence for their efficacy in improving HIV-1 viral suppression rates.
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Sexual Activity Without Condoms and Risk of HIV Transmission in Serodifferent Couples When the HIV-Positive Partner Is Using Suppressive Antiretroviral Therapy
July 12, 2016 - A key factor in assessing the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy (ART) as a prevention strategy is the absolute risk of HIV transmission through condomless sex with
suppressed HIV-1 RNA viral load for both anal and vaginal sex.
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HIV: NIMR investigates failure of first line ARV drugs
July 12, 2016 - Irked by the plight of Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS, the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, NIMR, Yaba, Lagos, has commenced research into the failure of first line Antiretroviral,
ARV, drugs in the country. The Institute has also updated its Human Virology Laboratory to carry out molecular studies and screening for the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).
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ZERO: no linked HIV transmissions in PARTNER study after couples had sex 58,000 times without condoms
12 July 2016 - Published to coincide with IAS 2016 conference that opens in Durban next week, the PARTNER study showing the impact of HIV treatment (ART) on reducing transmission will benefit millions of people globally.
The PARTNER study provides good evidence that undetectable viral load might be a threshold below which sexual HIV transmission does not occur. The importance of the PARTNER study is that it included both gay and straight couples, that it measured
risk in people who were not using condoms and that it estimated absolute risks.
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PODCAST: End of AIDS within reach, but Kenneth Cole warns of reversal if treatment push lags
11 July 2016 - Rather than see an end of AIDS by 2030, “we could see AIDS back to its historical level of devastation,” he emphasized.
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2016 Ride For AIDS Chicago raises about $500,000 for TPAN – and just as many lifelong memories
July 11, 2016 - Chicago, IL - Some of the fastest riders finished the first 100 miles of the 200-mile Ride For AIDS Chicago on Saturday, July 9, at about 2:30 p.m.,
and Matt Liberatore crossed that finish line to the first half of the event about 30 minutes later.
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UNAIDS names Swiss tennis player Timea Bacsinszky as Global Advocate for Young People
GENEVA/GSTAAD, 11 July 2016 - UNAIDS has appointed Swiss tennis player Timea Bacsinszky as a Global Advocate for Young People. The announcement was made during the Women’s Tennis Association Ladies Championship Gstaad,
taking place in Gstaad, Switzerland, from 9 to 17 July.
Switching from tenofovir DF to TAF improves bone and kidney safety
11 July 2016 - People with HIV who switched from the older tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) formulation to tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) were more likely to maintain viral load suppression and showed improvements in bone density and kidney function biomarkers,
according to studies presented at the 2016 ASM Microbe conference last month in Boston.
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Gogos will march to highlight HIV/AIDS concerns
July 11, 2016 - Gogos unite from around Durban to march to the ICC highlight their concerns about HIV/Aids on Saturday, 16 July.
MORE than 1500 'Gogos' (grandmothers) will march through Durban next Saturday morning, 16 July to put a spotlight on their rights and concerns at the eve of the 2016 International AIDS Conference (#AIDS2016).
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Stigma still stops gay men from getting tested for HIV
July 11, 2016 - Even though the number of new HIV infections has lowered globally, the rate of infection among gay men and men who have sex with other men remains disproportionately high.
The higher risk from unprotected anal sex, as well as stigma and discrimination, are contributing factors that make the group particularly vulnerable, a new study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health showed.
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Dancers We Lost: Honoring Performers Lost To HIV/AIDS
July 11, 2016 - Wednesday 13, July 2016 - 11:00am
The exhibit hosted by the San Francisco GLBT Historical Society and Impact Stories features photographs of professional dancers in their prime "strutting their stuff."
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CDC Finds Most HPV-Related Cancers Are Preventable
July 11, 2016 - (HealthDay News) - The majority of cancers linked to human papillomavirus (HPV) are preventable, according to a report published in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
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How the Art World Responded to AIDS
July 11, 2016 - The epidemic is the focus of ‘Art AIDS America’ at the Bronx Museum of the Arts
How artists grappled—and continue to grapple—with the epidemic is the focus of “Art AIDS America,” opening Wednesday at the Bronx Museum of the Arts.
In some 120 works by close to 100 artists, the show captures the rage, anguish and overwhelming sense of loss that accompanied the
epidemic at its height, along with the activism it sparked and its continuing reverberation through the culture.
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Australian researchers say new 'miraculous' treatments are wiping out HIV
July 10, 2016 - 34 million people have died of AIDS since the 1980s, but new treatments are saving millions.
Researchers in Australia say they now receive so few cases of people with HIV developing Aids in any one year, they can say they have "beaten" the disease. At its peak 1,000 people a year died from
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Aids) in Australia, but new drug treatments now work so well that the number of new cases are so low, they are no longer recorded.
Read more & Watch Video...
The life positive: The incredible journey of India’s oldest HIV survivors
July 10, 2016 - Thirty years since the first HIV case was detected in India, a look back at the journey of the disease’s oldest survivors.
July 22, 1987. How can I forget this date? That was the day they told me I had HIV and that I would live only for one year,’’ says 66-year-old Noori Saleem, a transgender activist in Chennai.
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South Africa prepared host 21st int’l Conference On Aids
Jul 9, 2016 - South Africa is ready to host the 21st International Aids Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban, the government said on Friday.
“The story of HIV up to its arrival in the US is already known. What happened after that, however, has been unclear. We wanted to see how HIV spread in the Western world,” co-lead author Gkikas Magiorkinis, MD, Msc, PhD, Path, of the University of Oxford
said in a news release.
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Wanda Brendle-Moss: Advocate
July 08, 2016 - by Alina Oswald - Message Out of the Bottle
Outspoken HIV activist Wanda Brendle-Moss urges people living with HIV to live out loud
Everybody knows Wanda! I personally connected with her on social media. Inspired by her posts, I decided to go ahead and call her, to find out more about her story of becoming the passionate HIV activist known and respected in the virtual, and also real world.
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North America's Role in Spreading HIV in the Western World
Jul 08, 2016 - “The story of HIV up to its arrival in the US is already known. What happened after that, however, has been unclear. We wanted to see how HIV spread in the Western world,” co-lead author Gkikas Magiorkinis,
MD, Msc, PhD, Path, of the University of Oxford said in a news release.
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Coming soon: reporting from AIDS 2016
08 July 2016 - The 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) is taking place in Durban, South Africa, later this month.
NAM is delighted to have been selected as official provider of scientific news reporting for this conference by the International AIDS Society and we will be working hard to share news from the conference with you.
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Does Hillary Clinton Have HIV Commitment Issues?
July 8, 2016 - "Just trust us." That seems to be the marrow of the message put forth by several of Hillary Clinton's policy advisors during a recent closed door meeting with a small group of HIV/AIDS activists.
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Despite advances, HIV epidemic continues among gay men across the globe
7-Jul-2016 - Lack of access to preventive medicine, discriminatory laws in many counties contribute to disproportionately high HIV burden
Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men continue to have disproportionately high burdens of HIV infection in countries of low, middle and high income around the world, a new study led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests.
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New Video Series from Greater Than AIDS Give Voice to Trans Women About High Rates of HIV Facing Their Community
7-Jul-2016 - Diverse Group of Trans Women Open Up about Overcoming Challenges to Live Authentic and Healthy Lives
At a time of growing dialogue about transgender people and issues, the impact of HIV on the community has been largely absent. Transgender women are among those at highest risk for HIV today.
The CDC estimates that one in four trans women in the U.S. is living with HIV,
and among Black trans women it is one in two.
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Gay Collective: “The Virus Divides. It Doesn’t Have To.”
July 7, 2016 - Convened by Avram Finkelstein, the HIV-negative artist and HIV activist who was part of the collective that created the iconic SILENCE=DEATH artwork in the 1980s, and Mark S. King, the
HIV-positive blogger and advocate, the Viral Divide Flash Collective sought to begin a difficult conversation and find a graphic way to present it. The collective was sponsored by Visual AIDS and made possible through funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and GMHC.
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HIV seroconversion is rare if Truvada PrEP is used consistently
07 July 2016 - New HIV infections occurred at a low rate of about 1 per 100 person-years among people who took daily Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), with seroconversions mostly seen in those who stopped
taking their pills, according to an analysis of more than 30 studies and demonstration projects presented last month at the ASM Microbe 2016 conference in Boston.
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Significant Link Between HIV, Malaria Drugs Discovered
July 07 2016 - High rates of HIV among gay and bisexual men continue in many regions of the world because of discriminatory laws and lack of access to preventive services, a new study finds.
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Stigma prolongs global HIV epidemic among gays
July 07 2016 - High rates of HIV among gay and bisexual men continue in many regions of the world because of discriminatory laws and lack of access to preventive services, a new study finds.
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New generics licences for ARVs mean more access to low-cost antiAIDS drugs
July 07 2016 - "These new sublicences will secure greater volumes of low-cost medicines for people living with HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C in low-and middle-income countries‚" said Greg Perry‚ MPP’s executive director. "We look forward to
working with the companies to speed delivery of these treatments to those most in need of better medical options."
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2016 Marks the 20th Anniversary of the HHS Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents
July 7, 2016 - When is it time to start antiretroviral therapy (ART) and what HIV regimens offer the greatest chance of treatment success? For the past 20 years, practitioners caring for individuals with HIV have looked to the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS) Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents for guidance on these and other HIV treatment-related questions.
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Cardiovascular Care for the Patient Living With HIV: What You Need to Know
July 07, 2016 - Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has changed the course of HIV to where it is now a chronic disease. Patients are now less likely to succumb to HIV-related illness than to comorbidities, in particular cardiovascular disease (CVD). Patients
infected with HIV have been shown to have an increased risk for CVD compared with the general population.[1] It is anticipated that CVD will become the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in this patient population, making the diagnosis, management, and prevention of CVD essential to patient care.
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HIV study confirms clinically viable vaccine paving the way for future treatments
7-Jul-2016 - Findings also disprove addition of stronger immunologic agent yields a better vaccine
A new scientific study conducted by a team of leading AIDS scientists reveal results that lead the way to the development of an effective human vaccine against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
In the study published in Nature Medicine , researchers worked with a species of Old World monkeys, rhesus macaques to reproduce the trial results of RV144, the only HIV vaccine that has been tested and shown to reduce the rate of HIV acquisition in a phase III clinical trial.
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Early antiretroviral therapy reduces gut inflammation in HIV+ individuals
7-Jul-2016 - Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) suppresses HIV replication and significantly slows the progression of disease, enabling HIV + individuals to effectively manage
infection for long periods. One of the manifestations of HIV infection is chronic inflammation in the gut and damage to the gastrointestinal barrier, which is thought to contribute to immune system activation. Elevated immune
system activation is associated with increased risk of non-AIDS-associated disease and death in HIV+ individuals.
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Online sex industry provides critical safety and health protections for men sex workers
July 7th, 2016 - Vancouver, B.C. - New research raises significant concerns about the impact of PCEPA laws targeting third party advertising
Newly published peer review research shows how the loss of ‘Boystown'—the main sex work stroll for men in Vancouver—over the last decade, has led to loss of community and social solidarity; key protective strategies
for sex workers. At the same time, the shift to online sex work for men has provided critical safety and health protections for sex workers in screening prospective clients and negotiating terms of transactions.
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Demand for new HIV providers will outstrip supply by 2019
July 7, 2016 - Based on their data, the researchers estimated 190 more full-time equivalent providers entered HIV care within the previous 5 years than are expected to leave within 5 years. Should these rates continue Weiser and colleagues predicted that HIV patient care
capacity would increase by more than 65,000 persons by 2019; however,
this increase would fall short of the additional 100,000 HIV patients expected to require care by the same time period.
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Government revives HIV/AIDS Bill to make treatment a right
July 7, 2016 - Bill lays down penal provisions for discrimination against HIV-positive people, breach of confidentiality.
This benefit concert sponsored by the San Diego Memorial AIDS Task Force is raising money to construct a permanent AIDS memorial in San Diego.
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Guardian Angel Programme
July 7, 2016 - There are well over one million orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Zimbabwe who have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS, with 10,000 estimated to be living in Hwange District, the area wherein BEAT AIDS Project Zimbabwe (BAPZ) conducts most of its work as a registered NGO.
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30th AIDS Walk San Francisco to Take Place on July 17
July 7, 2016 - Since 1987, AIDS Walk San Francisco has raised nearly $86 million for life-saving HIV prevention, testing, and care programs and services.
It is the largest AIDS fundraising event in Northern California.
AIDS Walk San Francisco has matured into a Bay Area tradition,
bringing together tens of thousands of participants and volunteers; hundreds of corporate, community, and friends and family teams; and hundreds of thousands of donors from the Bay Area and across the country.
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Prince Harry calls for renewed focus on HIV as he continues his mother’s work
7th July 2016 - Prince Harry has called for a renewed focus in the fight against HIV/AIDS, as he continues to campaign on the issue.
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Viral hepatitis kills as many as malaria, TB or HIV/AIDS, finds study
6-Jul-2016 - Viral hepatitis has become one of the leading causes of death and disability across the globe -- killing at least as many people annually as TB, malaria or HIV/AIDS
Viral hepatitis has become one of the leading causes of death and disability across the globe - killing at least as many people annually as TB, malaria or HIV/AIDS.
This is the finding of new research from scientists at Imperial College London and University of Washington, who analysed data from 183 countries collected between 1990 and 2013.
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From HIV Misinformation to Restorative Justice: Christian Hui on Tackling Criminalization
July 6, 2016 - As someone living with HIV and as an activist, I would say HIV criminalization is often based on morals, that it's very ideologically moral-driven. As someone who works within the sexual field,
I strongly believe that sex is something that all sexual partners need to [negotiate]. Everyone who partakes in that activity needs to be responsible for the safety of themselves, as well as of their partners.
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Win tickets to the B-52's AIDS benefit concert in San Diego
July 6th, 2016 - SDPIX is offering a chance to win two tickets to the event and one grand prize of a VIP table for four.
This benefit concert sponsored by the San Diego Memorial AIDS Task Force is raising money to construct a permanent AIDS memorial in San Diego.
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Hope or Hoax? Zambia Health Officials Warn Of Herbalists Claiming Cures for HIV/AIDS
Jul 6, 2016 - Patients who abandon antiretroviral drugs for herbal medicines risk death, experts say. Government officials have threatened to prosecute herbalists who claim to be able to cure HIV.
Claiming to offer an herbal cure for HIV could have serious consequences, says Ministry of Health spokesman Reuben Kamoto Mbewe.
“We are warning traditional healers and herbalists to refrain from advertising their medicines as cure for HIV,” he says.
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McDonald's Worker Fired for Having HIV
Jul 6, 2016 - The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed the lawsuit on July 5. Not only is the reason for termination illegal, but it violates the law at a federal level.
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New integrase inhibitor bictegravir looks promising in early studies
06 July 2016 - Gilead Sciences' novel integrase inhibitor bictegravir (formerly GS-9883) demonstrated favourable pharmacokinetics, good tolerability, an improved resistance profile compared to older drugs in its class, and potent antiviral
activity in laboratory and human studies, according to a set of posters presented at the ASM Microbe conference last month in Boston.
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NY State Department of Health AIDS Institute funds HIV/AIDS prevention in high-risk youth
July 6, 2016 - Grants totaling more than $3.75 million to NewYork-Presbyterian's Comprehensive Health Program and Harlem Health Promotion Center's Project STAY
Project STAY provides confidential health services to people between the ages of 13 and 24 who are affected by HIV/AIDS and has two components: the Specialized Care Center, which serves HIV-positive youth, and the
Youth Access Program, which conducts community outreach and screening and provides information about medical and mental health services for young people engaged in risk-taking behaviors.
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School of Medicine expert receives 2 innovation grants in pursuit of AIDS cure
6-Jul-2016 - Part of international effort to eliminate HIV by 2020
Jonathan Karn, PhD, an HIV/AIDS expert from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, has received two Innovation research grants out of seven allocated in the United States and Canada as part of an international effort to find a scientific basis for a cure of HIV/AIDS by 2020.
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Legendary Human Rights Leader Cleve Jones to Keynote San Antonio AIDS Foundation’s 30th Anniversary Fundraiser
Jul 06, 2016- SAN ANTONIO - Famed AIDS and LGBT Activist, Author and Lecturer Co-Founded San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt
Pioneering AIDS and LGBT rights activist and author Cleve Jones will deliver the keynote address at the San Antonio AIDS Foundation (SAAF)'s 30th anniversary fundraiser on Sunday, August 7, at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort and Spa.
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WARNING: Anti-gay Christian activists handing out fake condoms at Pride events
6th July 2016 - Anti-gay Christian activists infiltrated Pride Toronto over the weekend to hand out fake condoms packets actually containing homophobic messages.
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HUD AWARDS $24 MILLION TO RENEW SUPPORTTO 25 LOCAL HIV-AIDS HOUSING PROGRAMS
July 5, 2016 - WASHINGTON - Funding offers stable housing for individuals and families at risk for homelessness
Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced $24 million in grants to assist more than 1,200 low-income persons living with HIV/AIDS and their families annually. These grants provide a combination
of housing assistance and supportive services for this vulnerable population.
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CONRAD launches Quatro in South Africa and Zimbabwe
5-Jul-2016 - Arlington, VA - First-ever study to assess acceptability of four HIV and multipurpose prevention delivery systems in Africa
As the HIV infection rate in young African women continues to rise despite ongoing educational efforts, the prevention field is working to better understand the lifestyles and user preferences of this high risk group.
Following on the launch of a human centered design study in South Africa called
Project EMOTION, CONRAD today announced enrollment of the first participant in The Quatro Study.
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SA continues to monitor the spread of HIV
Published on Jul 5, 2016 - The National Health Department has resolved to issue anti-retroviral treatment to HIV positive people without checking their CD4 count.
Previously patients would have to have a CD4 count of
500 before being put on anti-retro viral treatment. Initially a 200 CD4 count was a prerequisite for treatment.
Drugs That Saved HIV Patients Now Threaten Them in Old Age
July 5, 2016 - Two decades ago, Gus Cairns was certain AIDS would kill him. He had buried his partner and seen countless friends succumb to the disease.
Cairns was constantly tired, he lost 35 pounds
because he couldn’t keep food down, and he suffered from chronic stomach bugs. In 1993, he retired from his work as a therapist to start preparing for the inevitable.
But death didn’t come.
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Gilead's new price hikes on HIV drugs angers AIDS activists
July 5, 2016 - As part of a strategy to switch patients to newer HIV treatments, Gilead Sciences late last week raised prices on a pair of older HIV medications that face patent expiration. This sort of maneuver is
often found in the pharmaceutical playbook, but is triggering still more criticism by AIDS activists of its overall pricing strategies.
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Nearly 2,000 young women are infected with HIV every week in SA
July 5, 2016 - JOHANNESBURG - Shocking new statistics have been revealed in the latest Aids study, with scientists warning that young women between the ages of 15 and 24 have the highest infection rate, out of the population.
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Atripla three times weekly maintains HIV viral suppression for 24 weeks
05 July 2016 - People with undetectable viral load who switched from taking the Atripla single-tablet regimen (efavirenz/tenofovir/emtricitabine) every day to just every other weekday were able to maintain viral suppression for six months,
and longer follow-up is planned, according to research presented last month at the ASM Microbe conference in Boston.
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amfAR HOSTS DINNER IN PARIS
July 4th, 2016 - Paris, France - DURING COUTURE WEEK
Supporters gathered for a dinner and auction at The Peninsula Paris last night in support of amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research.
VACS Index score can help identify HIV-positive people most at risk of neurocognitive decline
04 July 2016 - A combination of simple, routine blood tests may be able to predict which people living with HIV are especially vulnerable to neurocognitive decline, according to US research published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
People with high VACS (Veterans Aging Cohort) Index scores had an increased risk of experiencing a decline in neurocognitive function and were also significantly more likely to develop new neurocognitive problems.
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RARE CANCER SEEN IN 41 HOMOSEXUALS
July 3, 2016 - Doctors in New York and California have diagnosed among homosexual men 41 cases of a rare and often rapidly fatal form of cancer. Eight of the victims died less than 24 months after the diagnosis was made.
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Banner drop! Stop criminalizing people living with HIV!
TORONTO, July 3, 2016 - STOP THE WITCH-HUNT:
Activists drop banner with message to Ontario Premier
during Toronto Pride parade
This afternoon, as the Ontario Premier marched in the country’s largest Pride parade, AIDS ACTION NOW! (www.aidsactionnow.org) dropped a huge banner overlooking Yonge Street, calling on Kathleen Wynne to “stop criminalizing people with HIV.”
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French HIV awareness group calls for safe sex and hopes to bring peace to Euro 2016 rivals in new campaign
July 3, 2016 - French HIV awareness group AIDES has released their new suggestive campaign.
A campaign by French HIV and AIDS awareness group, AIDES, has released a new ad that calls for safe sex and hopes to bring peace to rival football fans.
According to Creativity Online, the campaign is entitled ‘Make Love Not War’ and features models painted as flags from the Euro 2016 championship.
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Case Western researchers receive grant to examine HIV, TB relationship
July 2, 2016 - Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and other colleagues have received an $11 million, 5-year NIH grant to analyze why some people living with HIV in Africa, despite being at high risk for tuberculosis, evade infection with the bacterium that
causes it, according to a press release.
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Knowing HIV Status First Step in Controlling AIDS
July 02, 2016 - WASHINGTON - The 21st International AIDS Conference starts in a few weeks in Durban, South Africa. Perhaps the greatest achievement in the long fight against HIV/AIDS is that it's no longer a death sentence. Instead, AIDS can be a chronic, manageable disease, if people receive treatment.
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Blood Donation Restriction For Gay Men Should Keep Up With Science
July 1, 2016 - The FDA's blood donation policies for gay and bisexual men should respond to evidence.
The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates the U.S. blood supply, does not accept blood from male donors who have had sex with a man in the previous 12 months. This has led to an ongoing debate about whether this restriction is supported by scientific evidence or, as some have argued, related to lingering stigma and discrimination related to HIV/AIDS.
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'Shuga' a sweet triumph in the African battle against HIV/AIDS
01 July 2016 - An African TV drama is spreading the word on HIV in countries where information is badly needed.
The third season of Shuga was filmed in Nigeria, a country that has 3.3 million people living with HIV/AIDS — 9 per cent of the global total.
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