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Positively Positive - Living with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS News Archive - March 2016
Vancouver's West End lanes to get names after women, AIDs activists
MARCH 31, 2016 - The streets of Vancouver’s West End are fixed with names like Haro, Denman, Broughton, Bute, Bidwell and Robson as well as many other early male explorers and pioneers. Like much of the rest of the city,
it is a neighbourhood named largely after white Anglo-Saxon men, an urban geography unbalanced against the contributions made by settlers, immigrants, women and First Nations.
But now Vancouver plans to christen some of the unnamed street-wide lanes that run through the neighbourhood after prominent women, Aids activists and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.
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Botswana stuns the world with HIV strategy
MARCH 31, 2016 - Botswana‘s HIV/AIDS strategy has stunned world experts after it emerged the best country in treatment and containment of the virus that causes AIDS. A new report published in The Lancet HIV says Botswana is by far exceeding goals for addressing the HIV crisis, well ahead of a deadline set by the United Nations.
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Antidepressant modestly improves HIV-related cognitive impairment
31 March 2016 - While advanced HIV dementia is no longer commonly seen among people receiving effective antiretroviral therapy (ART), more subtle changes in cognitive function, known as HIV-related neurocognitive disorder or HAND, is more prevalent. However, the precise causes of neurocognitive problems – e.g. HIV in the brain, resulting inflammation, antiretroviral toxicities – and how best to manage them is not fully understood.
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Hepatitis C in baby boomers unrelated to risky behaviour, researchers say
MARCH 31, 2016 - Canadian researchers have determined the peak of the hepatitis C epidemic in North America occurred about 15 years earlier than previously believed, suggesting it wasn’t youthful indiscretions that put baby boomers at a high risk for the disease.
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Preventive Treatment Like Truvada Won’t Stop HIV. Only a Vaccine Can
MARCH 31, 2016 - Anti-retroviral drugs like those used in pre-exposure prophylaxis are the best tools we have to treat and prevent HIV-1 infection. But they’re not foolproof. For HIV-negative people on Truvada to prevent a new infection,
the drugs must be taken like clockwork to keep the virus at bay. Adherence to the rigorous drug regimen has been described as the “Achilles’s heel of pre-exposure prophylaxis.” A person is at greater risk of infection if they miss even one in twenty doses.
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Johns Hopkins announces first successful HIV-positive to HIV-positive organ transplants in US
March 30, 2016 - A multidisciplinary team from Johns Hopkins Medicine has successfully performed the first HIV-positive to HIV-positive kidney transplant in the United States, as well as the first HIV-positive to HIV-positive liver transplant worldwide, medical center representatives announced today during a press conference.
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Cuba's Gay Scene and HIV Education Are Impressing Americans
March 30 2016 - “From a public health perspective, from a human rights perspective, they are light years ahead of where we are with HIV,” Wilson says. “The evidence of that is even in a resource-poor setting,
where they still have shortages, the epidemic is much more contained than the epidemic in the U.S. And for people living with HIV there are much fewer barriers to accessing care.”
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Gene therapy snips HIV out of infected cells and makes uninfected cells resistant
30 March 2016 - First proof-of-concept of 'targeting and editing' approach to prevention and cure
For the first time, researchers have used a gene-editing technique already used to produce cells resistant to HIV infection to target HIV-infected cells. They have managed to remove HIV genes completely from infected cells, as shown by reductions in the cells' overall
rate of HIV production. In cells not already infected, the therapy has itself become part of their genome, producing cells that are resistant to infection for a prolonged period.
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1 in 3 Koreans think HIV can be spread by mosquitoes: survey
March 30, 2016 - A recent domestic report on Koreans’ awareness towards HIV-AIDS reflected widespread negative perceptions and lack of knowledge about the disease.
The report, published on Wednesday by the Korean Alliance to Defeat Aids and Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, showed that a large number of Koreans had ungrounded biases toward HIV-AIDS.
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HIV disclosure laws endanger women says B.C. Civil Liberties Association
March 29, 2016 - Fear of legal repercussions keeps HIV-positive women from reporting sexual abuse, says Michael Vonn
Canada's HIV disclosure laws are dangerous for women, especially those in abusive relationships or who have been sexually assaulted, says a lawyer with the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.
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Youth Wave Threatens HIV Fight in Africa
March 29, 2016 - At Mailman’s Grand Rounds, Ambassador Deborah Birx outlined PEPFAR’s strategy to do more with less
The fight against HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa faces an unprecedented challenge in the form of a demographic tsunami of young people, Ambassador Deborah Birx, the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, told the audience at the Dean’s Grand Rounds on the Future of Public Health on Wednesday.
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Nonprofit Mama’s Kitchen to Serve 8 Millionth Meal Wednesday
March 29, 2016 - Mama’s Kitchen, the San Diego nonprofit that provides food to cancer and HIV/AIDS patients, is scheduled to deliver its 8 millionth meal Wednesday.
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Calls for better access to testing and treatment at HIV/AIDS conference
29 March 2016 - As the HIV epidemic continues to grow in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has called for better access to diagnosis and treatment for people at high-risk of contracting the illness.
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6 AIDS activists arrested at NY Capitol after funding rally
March 28, 2016 - ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Six AIDS activists were arrested after refusing to leave the state Capitol on Monday night following a rally to urge Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers to budget more money for the state's plan to end the AIDS epidemic by 2020.
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Enzyme may reduce risk of cardiovascular disease caused by HIV medications
28-Mar-2016 - Study identifies enzyme that may counteract heart problems associated with antivirals
According to the World Health Organization, approximately 37 million people are living with HIV. Antiviral medications are used to control the disease and prevent its progression to AIDS.
Although antivirals improve health and increase survival for people with HIV, their use also has been linked to the development of cardiovascular disease. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri School
of Medicine have identified an enzyme that may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease caused by HIV medications.
Life Expectancy Rising in HIV Group Over 50, But Still Lags General Population
March 27, 2016 - Six AIDS activists were arrested after refusing to leave the state Capitol on Monday night following a rally to urge Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers to budget more money for the state's plan to end the AIDS epidemic by 2020.
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How many Kenyans don't know HIV status
March 27, 2016 - A new report indicates that more than 500,000 Kenyan citizens may be unaware that they are HIV positive
The study was conducted by Assisted Partner Notification Services across 18 Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) centres across Kenya from 2013 until August of 2015
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Janssen donates funds to stigmatized populations living with HIV
March 26, 2016 - Janssen Therapeutics announced that the company will allocate funds to 16 nonprofit organizations that support populations disproportionately affected by HIV, including young men who have sex with men who are black, transgender women and gender-nonconforming individuals, according to a press release.
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Botswana leads the world in the fight against HIV/AIDS
March 25, 2016 - Botswana has been recognized as a leading nation in HIV diagnosis and treatment in the world exceeding the goals for addressing the HIV crisis set by the United Nations 2020 deadline according to a new report published in The Lancet HIV
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Injectable PrEP Drug Provides Long-Acting Protection Against Vaginal HIV Transmission
March 24, 2016 - Protecting against HIV isn't always straightforward.
Public health campaigns and drug developers have targeted HIV and AIDS since the epidemic swept across the United States in the 1980s. More than one million people still live with HIV in the U.S. due to the lack of a cure, but recently researchers have made advances that could help prevent new infections.
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Tailored programmes encourage black gay men to start and stay on PrEP in US study
24 March 2016 - Providing culturally tailored support programmes for black men who have sex with men can increase their likelihood of maintaining adherence to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention, helping to address a key public health gap, according to findings
from the HPTN 073 study presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2016) last month in Boston.
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HCV prevalent in semen of MSM with HIV; anal infection likely
March 24, 2016 - One-third of men who have sex with men coinfected with HIV shed hepatitis C virus into their semen at high enough concentrations to warrant protection against anal infection, according to a recently published study.
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Findings in humans provide encouraging foundation for upcoming AIDS vaccine clinical trial
LA JOLLA, CA, March 24, 2016 - Engineered vaccine protein binds key immune cells that exist in nearly everyone
Some people infected with HIV naturally produce antibodies that effectively neutralize many strains of the rapidly mutating virus, and scientists are working to develop a vaccine capable of inducing such "broadly neutralizing" antibodies that can prevent HIV infection.
White House AIDS Czar Steps Down
March 24, 2016 - Douglas Brooks was the first openly gay, HIV-positive African-American man to hold the position
Thursday will be the final day that Douglas Brooks serves at the head of the White House’s Office of National AIDS Policy, a position that has garnered little press in an era when HIV is no longer seen as a certain and impending death sentence.
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AccolAIDS 2016 - Meet the Nominees
March 2016 - Vancouver - A biennial awards gala honouring our heroes in the BC HIV/AIDS movement.
Thank you to everyone who put forward or supported a nomination. Please note that nominees are listed in each category (up to three) that they are nominated for.
UNAIDS calls for stronger partnerships to end the epidemics of tuberculosis and HIV
GENEVA, 24 March 2016 - On World Tuberculosis (TB) Day , UNAIDS is calling for stronger partnerships and a united approach to end the twin epidemics of TB and HIV and save millions of lives.
It has never been more urgent for governments, the medical and scientific communities, the private sector and people affected by the diseases to come together to ensure access to existing treatment regimens and to push for new diagnostic tools and treatments to reach all people in need.
VIDEO: ‘Explosion of options’ in single-tablet regimens for HIV benefits patients, providers
March 23, 2016 - The biggest development in ART in the last several years has been “the explosion of options in single-tablet regimens,” according to Robert M. Grossberg, MD, associate professor of clinical medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and medical director of the Montefiore Center for Positive Living/Infectious Diseases Clinic, both in the Bronx, NY.
Watch Video...
Older people with HIV face different long-term health challenges
23 March 2016 - In Canada and other high-income countries, thanks to potent combination anti-HIV therapy (commonly called ART) more HIV-positive people are living longer.
The power of ART is so profound that researchers estimate that a young adult who is infected today, diagnosed shortly thereafter and soon begins ART should have a near-normal lifespan. This optimistic forecast depends on the person taking ART every day exactly as directed and the absence of serious pre-existing illness or health conditions.
2016 Canada Gairdner Awards Honour CRISPR-Cas Researchers and HIV/AIDS Leaders
TORONTO, March 23, 2016 /CNW/ - The Gairdner Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of the 2016 Canada Gairdner Awards, recognizing some of the most significant medical discoveries from around the world. This year the awards center on two defining themes including
the revolutionary Clustered regularly-interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) technique for gene editing and for work in the HIV/AIDS field within Canada and internationally.
Keck Medicine of USC researcher wins prestigious NCI Outstanding Investigator Award
TORONTO, March 23, 2016 /CNW/ - Jung Lab in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology to receive over $7 million to investigate the development and prevention of Kaposi's sarcoma.
Distinguished Professor Jae Jung, PhD, chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology and the director of the University of Southern California (USC) Institute for Emerging Pathogens and Immune Diseases at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, is among this year's recipients of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Outstanding Investigator Award.
Scientists Have Removed HIV From Human Immune Cells Using a New Gene-Editing Technique
22 March 2016 - Using the much-touted CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing method, scientists have demonstrated how they can edit HIV out of human immune cell DNA, and in doing so, can prevent the reinfection of unedited cells too.
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The Role of Psychiatrists in HIV Prevention
March 22, 2016 - Psychiatrists are uniquely positioned to provide both preventive and therapeutic interventions for children, adolescents, adults, and elderly persons who are vulnerable to, infected with, or affected by HIV.
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Specialized gene editing system paves way to eventual cure for HIV patients
Mar 22 2016 - A specialized gene editing system designed by scientists at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University is paving the way to an eventual cure for patients infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
In a study published online this month in the Nature journal, Scientific Reports, the researchers show that they can both effectively and safely eliminate the virus from the DNA of human cells grown in culture.
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Scientists remove HIV-1 from genome of human immune cells
PHILADELPHIA, March 21 (UPI) - Using the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing method, scientists found editing HIV out of DNA prevented reinfection by other, unedited cells.
Scientists edited HIV-1 DNA out of the genome of human immune cells, preventing virus replication and reinfection of the cleared cells.
Using the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technique, scientists at Temple University eliminated HIV-1 DNA from T cell genomes in lab experiments, and prevented reinfection after the cells were re-exposed to the virus, they report in a study published in Nature: Scientific Reports.
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Activists call on Gov. Cuomo to boost funds in state budget for AIDS, HIV care
March 21, 2016 - Activists say Gov. Cuomo is not living up to his promise to end the AIDS epidemic by 2020.
Dozens of AIDS activists, including some who are HIV-positive, rallied at City Hall Monday to demand Gov. Cuomo boost funding for those living with the disease in the state budget.
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Shocked HIV Charities Blast NHS For “U-Turn” On Drug That Prevents HIV
Mar 21 2016 - The NHS has scrapped plans to make Truvada available, prompting fury from HIV organisations.
HIV charities are shocked and angry over a “shameful” NHS statement released on Monday announcing that the drug that prevents HIV infection will not be made widely available on the NHS.
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THE MOST DELICIOUS NIGHT OUT FOR 18 YEARS
March 2016 - Where will you dine on April 20th?
Participating Taste restaurants open their doors on Wednesday, April 20th, 2016 and donate 25% of their evening sales to AIDS Service Organizations in their community. Support the men, women and children in YOUR community by going out to dinner.
Janssen Therapeutics Announces Funding for Organizations Focused on Improving Care and Treatment for Vulnerable Populations Living with HIV
TITUSVILLE, NJ, March 21, 2016 - Extends Company’s Ongoing Commitment to Supporting Underserved Communities in the United States
Janssen today announced the recipients of funding from two special Requests for Applications (RFA) to encourage innovative models of care and support for two stigmatized groups living with
HIV: young men who have sex with men (MSM) of color, and transgender women and gender-nonconforming individuals.
Long-acting injectable protects against vaginal HIV transmission
21-Mar-2016 - CHAPEL HILL, NC - UNC researchers say long-lasting injections of an HIV drug could improve adherence to medication regimens, a major challenge in the management of the disease.
Vaginal transmission accounts for the majority of new HIV infections worldwide. Forms of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) such as vaginal gels and vaginal rings designed to prevent HIV transmission have encountered poor efficacy in human trials due to problems
with adherence. In an effort to minimize obstacles to adherence and prevent vaginal HIV transmission, researchers from the division of infectious diseases at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and collaborators from Merck demonstrated the effectiveness of a new
long-acting formulation of the HIV drug raltegravir in animal models.
JOIN US AT THE POSITIVE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT LIVING 2016
March 2016 - People living with HIV in all our diversity let’s shape our future!
Ahead of the 21st International AIDS Conference, AIDS 2016, the LIVING partnership is organizing LIVING 2016: the Positive leadership Summit. This international summit brings together hundreds of people living with HIV to articulate a common treatment, care, prevention and rights based advocacy agenda.
We are at a crucial point. We could end the HIV epidemic in our generation, and we know what it would take for all people living with HIV to attain a high quality of life and advance their rights. The World Health Organization now recommends offering HIV treatment to everyone who tests positive for HIV. UNAIDS Fast-Track targets aim that in four years—by 2020—90% of people living with HIV know their status, 90% of people living with HIV receive HIV treatment, and 90% of all people on HIV treatment has reached viral suppression.
HIV prevalence highest in S. Sudan’s Equatoria region
March 21, 2016 (WAU) - South Sudan’s Equatoria region currently has the highest rate of Human Immune Virus (HIV) prevalence rates in the country, Mumtaz Mai, the strategic intervention advisor for the UN HIV/Aids agency (UNAIDS) in South Sudan has disclosed.
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ART has averted over 850,000 HIV-related opportunistic infections in low and middle income countries
21 March 2016 - Rollout of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in low and middle income countries has averted over 850,000 cases of HIV-related opportunistic infections at a saving of at least $47 million per year, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. Incidence of opportunistic infections (OIs) declined by between 57%-91% in the first year after starting ART, with the greatest reductions in cases of oral thrush, toxoplasmosis and PCP pneumonia.
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10 Things HIV Positive People Should Believe About Themselves
March 20, 2016 - Understanding the importance of self worth and maintaining a high self-esteem helps those living with HIV live more fulfilling lives.
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HONORING THE 9TH ANNUAL NATIONAL NATIVE HIV/AIDS AWARENESS DAY
March 2016 - VANCOUVER - On March 20, 2016, the 9 th annual National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Native people across the U.S. challenge individuals,
health providers, and government agencies to increase both education efforts and HIV testing in American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities in accordance with US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations.
Vancouver’s supervised injection site, the first in North America, opened 13 years ago. What’s changed?
March 2016 - VANCOUVER - Thirteen years after this facility, North America’s first, opened in the Downtown Eastside with an emphasis on harm reduction over treatment — a model now being contemplated in several Canadian cities — one might
be tempted to wonder: what’s changed?
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Singer Annie Lennox receives award for HIV work
20 March 2016 - Singer Annie Lennox OBE has received an award for raising awareness of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic.
The Aberdeen-born artist was presented with the Royal Scottish Geographical Society's latest Livingstone Medal at an event in Edinburgh.
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Tory law stands in the way of smart drug policy
March 20, 2016 - The Liberals' welcome commitment to evidence-based harm-reducing drug policies won't mean much until they repeal a terrible Tory law
Supervised injection sites have the potential “to save countless lives.” This is what Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott told the CBC last week, echoing what she said earlier this year when she visited Insite,
a supervised injection site in Vancouver. This clear support is a welcome change at the federal level, and was reflected in Canada’s unprecedented statement last week at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna.
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'Last Men Standing' Documents the Dark Side of Surviving AIDS
Spring 2016 - More than half of those living with HIV or AIDS in San Francisco are 50 years or older. Many never expected to live and have watched helplessly as the friends and community they loved disappeared. Peter Greene, who recently died after living with AIDS for more than thirty years, once said, "I'm the luckiest unlucky person in the world. No one wants to be the last man standing." Forum talks with long-term survivors of HIV/AIDS featured in the San Francisco Chronicle's multiplatform reporting project "Last Men Standing."
Listen...
Ten Things Every HIV-Positive Smoker Should Know
Spring 2016 - Life expectancy is rising in people with HIV, but not if they smoke.1
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Treatment as prevention offers opportunities, challenges
March 2016 - The preventive power of ART — to avert illness and death, to protect uninfected people from acquiring HIV, and to prevent transmission from people already infected with HIV — has made this an exciting time, and propelled talk of “ending AIDS.” But that optimism, in turn, risks overlooking the tremendous challenges and huge unmet needs for resources and services that getting even close to “ending AIDS” will require.
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Daniel Bauer - Youth Motivational Speaker, Escape Artist, Magician
Published on Mar 17, 2016 - Daniel Bauer is internationally respected as the successor to the legendary escape artist Harry Houdini. He is a 14 year survivor and warrior living with HIV. He continues to perform to sold out audiences around the globe. His specialties include designing and producing highly engaging experiences in the arts of escape, pure magic, sorcery and mind-reading, and he is one of the world's most requested youth and healthcare professional public speakers. He is also a WEGO Health Activist Award Nominee “HERO & BEST KEPT SECRET”.
Health Canada gives Vancouver safe-injection site 4-year exemption
March 17, 2016 - Health Canada has granted a four-year exemption to Vancouver’s Insite that will allow the safe-injection program to continue operating.
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‘HIV strain found in India, SA identical’
March 17, 2016 - The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) strains found in India and South Africa are identical, said noted researcher Hoosen Coovadia on Wednesday.
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This Country’s New Plan To Treat HIV/AIDS Patients
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Mar 17 2016 - HIV/AIDS patients in Barbados will soon have greater access to health care.
Not only will they be able to receive treatment at the island’s polyclinics, but also greater access to anti-retrovirals.
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Starting HIV therapy associated with improvements in liver function, especially when viral load is suppressed
17 March 2016 - Starting antiretroviral therapy is associated with improvements in liver function in HIV-positive men with and without viral hepatitis co-infection, investigators from the United States report in the online edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
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Brazilian designer: condoms, basic as jeans, necessary as love
16 MARCH 2006 - Thousands of condoms pile in the corner. Buckets of paint lie on the shelf. She cuts, twists, shapes, melts, pastes, colors, crochets and sculpts, with her fingers and nails stained black. 365 hours later, a colourful elegant gown made of 6,500 condoms debuts.
Adriana Bertini, a Brazilian artist living in São Paulo, uses expired or defective condoms as raw material to make pieces of art. Her creations include ornate evening dresses, vivid bikinis, elegant shawls, flowery carnival costumes, and other plastic arts.
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Friends for Life suspends operations
March 16, 2016 - Non-profit society helped men and women living with chronic diseases such as cancer, HIV and AIDs
A non-profit society long known for helping men and women living with chronic diseases such as cancer, HIV and AIDs, is suspending operations March 31 for an indefinite period of time.
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Stigma against People Living with HIV/AIDS in China: Does the Route of Infection Matter?
March 16, 2016 - In the current study, we tested the hypothesis that people who contracted HIV from “blameless” routes (e.g., blood transfusion, sex with stable partners) are less stigmatized compared to people who contracted HIV from “blamable” routes (e.g., injection drug use,
sex with sex workers). A cross-sectional study was conducted among 2,987 participants in Guangxi province, China, between 2012 and 2013.
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More females testing positive for HIV
March 16,2016 - TEENAGE girls and young women between the ages of 15 and 24 account for the majority of new HIV cases globally, regionally and in Trinidad and Tobago, according to
the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services Permanent Secretary (PS), Jacinta Bailey-Sobers.
“The HIV epidemic is becoming increasingly feminised; it reveals that globally, regionally, and in Trinidad and Tobago, the face of HIV has become young and female,” she said. Bailey-Sobers was speaking
yesterday at an HIV Symposium in commemoration of International Women’s Day held at City Hall, Knox Street, Port-of- Spain.
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Earlier testing could have saved mother with HIV
Mar 16, 2016 -
Mother and business owner Tonya Booker would have survived HIV if tested earlier, say her family and a group campaigning for universal testing.
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A case of HIV transmission on PrEP and its implications
15 March 2016 - At the 2016 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), David Knox, MD, presented information about a case of HIV transmission
in a man who had multiple sexual partners and who did not use condoms—and who was taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in the form of daily Truvada.
HIV activists fear UN 'War on Drugs' conference is already doomed
March 15 - On April 19, the UN is set to hold its first major conference on drugs policies in nearly 20 years. But activists are warning that certain member states are clinging to status quo
policies that have failed in the past and will fail in the future.
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People with HIV in Asia ejected from hospitals, women sterilized
BANGKOK, March 15 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Some health workers in Asia are refusing to perform surgery and provide services for people living with HIV, and are even
expelling patients from hospitals and forcing women to undergo sterilisation, according to grassroots organisations.
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Disclosure programming: A review of the evidence
Spring 2016 - For people living with HIV the decision to disclose their HIV status to others is mostly a personal decision (except when there is a legal requirement to disclose to sexual partners). Although there may be significant benefits
to disclosing an HIV status to others there may also be significant drawbacks.
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Queer women are ignored in HIV research: this is a problem and here is why it matters
March 2016 - Lesbian, bisexual and queer women are rarely included in HIV research. Women who have sex with women, and their HIV infection rates, are not captured anywhere because women cannot report having a woman as a
sexual partner in Canada’s HIV statistics. The current record only allows women to report HIV exposure either through injection drug use or heterosexual sex. This contributes to the erasure of women’s sexual and gender diversity and fluidity in HIV research.
Queer* women are ignored in HIV research: this is a problem and here is why it matters.
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Mbeki used flawed HIV Aids death stats to bolster his Aids denialism says MRC
15 March 2016 - Thabo Mbeki's final self-published letter focused on the number of HIV deaths reported as evidence to disprove the Aids denialism perception that plagued his tenure.
But the reluctance to acknowledge Aids as a cause of death has hindered efforts to monitor the impact of HIV control efforts in South Africa.
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Old women fight parental HIV stigma
Mar. 15, 2016 - Ten years ago, Elizabeth Ngonyo Kanyigi never thought she would one day become a village counsellor.
That was until her daughter, Teresia Wangui, who was already living with HIV, married a HIV positive man.
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Saluting Adm. Watkins, who led the Reagan administration’s response to HIV
March 14, 2016 - The March 12 news article “Hillary Clinton apologizes for praising Nancy Reagan’s HIV/AIDS response” correctly noted the slow response of the Reagan administration to the HIV epidemic. However, the article failed to give credit to the late Navy Adm. James D. Watkins, who
was asked by President Ronald Reagan to lead the president’s commission on the epidemic after it nearly fell apart because of poor leadership and exclusion of those from the black community and with expertise in drug abuse, as well as opposition from members of the gay community.
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Toronto should welcome safe injection sites
March 14, 2016 - Following Hillary Clinton’s controversial remarks in which she praised Nancy Reagan’s HIV efforts and subsequently apologized, the White House on Monday pointed to how she “quickly realized the error” and issued a clarification.
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New study looks at impact of tranquilizers on increase in HIV
Vancouver, BC [March 14, 2016] - The recent spike in opioid-related overdoses and deaths, due to escalating prescription opioid use and the introduction of illicit fentanyl, has raised concerns regarding the impact of opioid use and illegal drug
manufacturing in communities across Canada. While most of the emphasis had been focused on the harms of opioids, less emphasis has been placed on benzodiazepines – also known as tranquilizers.
White House: Clinton ‘quickly realized error’ in HIV gaffe
March 14, 2016 - Following Hillary Clinton’s controversial remarks in which she praised Nancy Reagan’s HIV efforts and subsequently apologized, the White House on Monday pointed to how she “quickly realized the error” and issued a clarification.
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Bernie Sanders Unveils Plan to Tackle HIV/AIDS
March 14, 2016 - Sanders wants to make access to treatment easier
Sen. Bernie Sanders has unveiled a new proposal to tackle HIV and AIDS just days after lambasting former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his opponent in the Democratic presidential primary, for statements she made about Nancy Reagan’s response to the virus.
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Meet the designer behind the winning AIDS 2016 logo
March 2016 - Every two years, the International AIDS Conference puts out an open call to all designers to submit a visual identity for the next upcoming conference. It is a tradition that has
brought about some of the most inspirational design concepts that capture the tone and theme of the conference. You have seen the logo for the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016), now meet the creative mind behind the
design—John Hanawalt, a graphic designer at The Outcast Agency in San Francisco. As he gears up to join us in Durban for AIDS 2016, he explains his inspiration behind the design and shares his hopes for its impact.
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Newly Discovered Protein Could Lead to Anti-HIV Gene Therapy
03/13/2016 - Scientists are at it again—kicking ass and making change for people living with HIV. In a recent study published in the journal Heliyon, Canadian and American researchers have teamed up to uncover how part of a protein found in humans and other primates can potentially help us fight off HIV.
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Annie Lennox On Avoiding Burnout While Tirelessly Campaigning For HIV/AIDS Awareness
03/13/2016 - "I need to be calm because I’m so sensitised to all of it... I can’t switch it off."
Annie Lennox may be a tireless campaigner for HIV/AIDS awareness, but in order to be so effective, the star is mindful to look after her own emotional wellbeing.
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Bernie Sanders Condemns Hillary Clinton For Inflating Nancy Reagan's Role In AIDS Crisis
03/13/2016 - "I'm not quite sure where Secretary Clinton got her information."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday sharply criticized Democratic presidential opponent Hillary Clinton’s claim that former first lady Nancy Reagan “started a national conversation” on HIV/AIDS in the 1980s.
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Hillary Clinton 'misspoke' on Reagans' HIV/AIDS record, backlash ensues
Mar 12, 2016 - Clinton praised the Reagans for starting a 'national conversation'
Botched praise from Hillary Clinton about the Reagan family's record on HIV/AIDS is earning the democratic presidential candidate some heat online.
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TAF-Based Single-Tablet Regimen for HIV Approved
March 11 2016 - The FDA has approved emtricitabine 200 mg, rilpivirine 25 mg, tenofovir alafenamide 25 mg (R/F/TAF; Odefsey), Gilead’s second TAF-based regimen to receive FDA approval, which the company said represents the smallest pill of any single-tablet regimen for the treatment of HIV.
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Larry Kramer Responds to Hillary Clinton’s Reagan AIDS Advocacy Gaffe
March 11 2016 - In an interview with MSNBC during Nancy Reagan’s televised funeral on Friday, Hillary Clinton made horribly inaccurate comments about the Reagan administration’s handling of the AIDS crisis, and particularly Nancy Reagan’s role in “start[ing] a national conversation”
about HIV/AIDS in America. Clinton’s words confused and angered many—and rightfully so. Nancy Reagan is widely viewed, along with her husband, as having turned her back on the thousands of citizens who were dying of AIDS in the 1980s, including her friend, Rock Hudson. For Clinton to call her actions “very effective, low-key advocacy” is plain insulting.
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Nancy Reagan Turned Down Rock Hudson’s Plea For Help Nine Weeks Before He Died
Rock Hudson was desperately trying to get treatment for AIDS in France in 1985. Much of that story has been told, but one part hasn’t: After a simple plea came in for White House help to get Hudson transferred to another hospital, First Lady Nancy Reagan turned down the request.
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Hillary Clinton apologizes for praising Nancy Reagan’s response to HIV/AIDS
March 11 2016 - The comments caused an uproar online, including among prominent LGBT and AIDS activists. Hours later, in a statement, Clinton apologized for making the comments on MSNBC.nt girls and young women; this translates into almost 1,000 young women newly infected with HIV every day.
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UNAIDS welcomes South Africa’s groundbreaking National Sex Worker HIV Plan
11 March 2016 - Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa launches a comprehensive plan to prevent and treat HIV among sex workers
UNAIDS welcomes the roll-out of South Africa's National Sex Worker HIV Plan, 2016–2019. Launched by the Deputy President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, in his role
as the Chairperson of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), this unique plan will ensure equitable access to health and legal services for sex workers in South Africa.
Putting human rights at the centre of the AIDS response
11 March 2016 - The Human Rights Council held a special session in Geneva, Switzerland, on 11 March to discuss progress in and challenges of
addressing human rights issues in the context of the AIDS response. The panel discussion mandated by Human Rights Council resolution 30/8 took place less than three months ahead of the
United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS, which will take place in New York, United States of America, from 8 to 10 June.
Differential immuno-capture biochip offers specific leukocyte counting for HIV diagnosis
11-Mar-2016 Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a highly sensitive biosensor based on a
differential immuno-capture technology that can detect sub-populations of white blood cells. As part of a small, disposable biochip, the microfluidic biosensor can count CD4+/CD8+ T cells quickly
and accurately for AIDS diagnosis in the field. This is a follow-up of the work earlier published by the group in Science Translational Medicine.
More Mobiles Than Toilets: New Approaches To The Fight Against HIV/AIDS
03/11/2016 - Women are particularly impacted by HIV/AIDS, alongside stigmatized and discriminated populations such as MSM. UN Women reports that HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death
among women of reproductive age, worldwide. What is even more alarming, almost 60 per cent of all new HIV infections among young persons occurred among adolescent girls and young women; this translates into almost 1,000 young women newly infected with HIV every day.
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Global HIV/HCV burden exceeds 2 million, driven by PWID
March 10, 2016 - A recently published meta-analysis estimates that nearly 2.3 million people may be coinfected with HIV and hepatitis C virus, with more than half of these cases occurring among people who inject drugs.
In addition, researchers determined that people with HIV are nearly six times as likely to be infected with HCV than those who are HIV-negative, and that the burden of these diseases is greatest in eastern Europe and central Asia.
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Farha Foundation Shares The First Steps Living Positive
March 10, 2016 - Montreal , Quebec - What's next after an HIV+ diagnosis?
The Farha Foundation, Quebec's leading HIV/AIDS fundraising organization, is sharing the first steps to living positive after an HIV diagnosis. With a new infection every three hours in Canada, the
foundation is also urging everyone to get tested regularly. Receiving a positive diagnosis on an HIV/AIDS test can be an overwhelming and shocking event, but it is not the death sentence it once was, and with proper care
and treatment many people go on to live long and healthy lives.
Rapid rise in PrEP awareness in US gay men, but only 5% have used PrEP
10 March 2016 - Large internet surveys of American gay men show that the proportion who have heard of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) jumped from 45% in 2012 to 68% in 2015, with around half of men willing to
consider using PrEP – but that actual usage is far lower and remains concentrated in a few key urban areas where public health authorities have facilitated its uptake.
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AIDS Committee of Ottawa Media Statement in Response to Steven Boone sentencing
March 10, 2016 - On March 9th, 2016, a local man living with HIV was sentenced to 14 years in prison for non-disclosure of HIV status. He was found guilty
of attempted murder, aggravated sexual assault and the administration of a noxious substance. In light of this sentencing, the AIDS Committee of Ottawa (ACO) is issuing the following statement.
Top 5 stories for National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
March 10, 2016 - HIV remains a major health issue for women and adolescent girls, who account for more than 280,000 infections in the United States, according to the CDC.
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Hep B Cure Talks, Hep C Treatment Gaps Lead Conference
9 March 2016 - SAN FRANCISCO - The gap between hepatitis C drug trials and real-world clinical practice and the treatment of complications and comorbidities for
patients with viral hepatitis will be among the highlights here at the International Conference on Viral Hepatitis (ICVH) 2016.
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The power of one: HIV/AIDS researcher and educator Dr. Roger Detels
9 March 2016 - When Dr. Roger Detels was honored recently by Vietnam’s Minister of Health for his contributions to the health and well-being of that country's people, the commendation was just the latest in a series.
The Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases has also earned accolades from Cambodia, China, Thailand and other Asian countries for his impactful work as a researcher and educator combating HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.
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UNAIDS piloting new mobile platform to better inform HIV patients, improve health care
9 March 2016 - Starting this month, a thousand people living with HIV in Côte d’Ivoire will receive additional health information through their mobile phones, the United Nations agency leading the world’s HIV/AIDS response announced today.
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Indiana HIV epidemic among people who inject drugs is controlled, but ongoing vigilance is needed
09 March 2016 - Extensive epidemiological investigation followed by prevention and treatment interventions have largely succeeded in controlling an outbreak of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in rural Indiana, USA, linked to injection of
prescription opioids, but new cases continue to appear and many other communities may be at risk for similar outbreaks, according to presentations at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2016) last week in Boston.
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Former First Lady Nancy Reagan Watched Thousands of LGBTQ People Die of AIDS
March 9 2016 - Her legacy isn't as glamorous as it seems.
Nancy Reagan will be laid to rest this week after passing away at the age of 94 on Sunday. Wife to Ronald Reagan, the nation’s 40th president, the former First Lady is often remembered for her start
in Hollywood, her glamorous time in the White House, and her role as her husband’s trusted confidante and protector. But the Reagans also played a critical role in the HIV/AIDS crisis that ravaged the United States in the 1980s.
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Leading HIV Researcher Peter Reiss to Chair 22nd International AIDS Conference
March 9, 2016 - Geneva, Switzerland - Local Co-Chair Announced for AIDS 2018 Hosted in Amsterdam
Today the International AIDS Society (IAS) announced the appointment of Peter Reiss, MD, PHD as Local Co-Chair of the 22 nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018). The conference will take place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands from 22 to 28 July 2018.
Op-Ed: Why I'm Holding on to AIDS
March 9, 2016 - I don't just have HIV. I'm living with AIDS. And I'm not ready to "let go" of the term and the history it evokes.
AIDS. Those four letters form a diagnosis that many still equate with death. Unfortunately, even understanding the difference between AIDS and HIV—and between AIDS circa 1984 and AIDS 2016—doesn’t drain the power or negative connotations from the acronym.
Which is why some HIV activists, doctors and service providers advocate ditching it for the more “appropriate” stage 3 HIV. AIDS has more than just fallen out of fashion, it is a term that many within the HIV community no longer utter, and those in mainstream media too often
use incorrectly. It is laden with pain and suffering and stigma—and I could be the only one wondering if that isn’t exactly the reason we should keep using it.
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Canada's newest sex offenders
03/8/2016 - On March 1, a 29-year-old indigenous woman in Manitoba was sentenced to prison for the crime of aggravated sexual assault. More than four years ago, Marjorie Schenkels had sex without a condom with a friend on three
occasions. Schenkels did not disclose the fact that she is HIV-positive. Schenkels, a survivor of sexual violence in both her family and relationships, is now registered as a sex offender and will spend the next two years in jail.
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More than 2 million people co-infected with HIV and hepatitis
8-Mar-2016 - An estimated 2.3 million people living with HIV are co-infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) globally, a new study by the University of Bristol and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has found.
UNC School of Medicine researchers prove HIV targets tissue macrophages
8-Mar-2016 - CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Findings contradict previous studies questioning the relevance of these cells
Investigators in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine have clearly demonstrated that HIV infects and reproduces in macrophages,
large white blood cells found in the liver, brain and connective tissues of the body. This discovery has significant implications for HIV cure research.
Nancy Reagan's Bloody HIV/AIDS Legacy
March 8, 2016 - I was fifteen when the Reagans came to power. I was twenty-three when they left office. In that time, 1980-1988, nearly 150,000 American died of AIDS. I can't mourn the death of the
former first lady; there are 150,000 others Americans who must come first.
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Scary Statistics About Women and HIV
March 8, 2016 - Twenty-five percent of the people living with HIV in the United States are female. So are over 50 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS around the globe. In 1990 only 11 percent of all new AIDS cases were in women. The growth of the HIV epidemic in women
has received less attention in the United States than that in men and it's easy to forget that women are still contracting HIV.
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Mbeki shows no remorse for role in AIDS deaths
JOHANNESBURG, 8th MARCH 2016 - TAC responds to open letter published by AIDS denialist former President
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has a long history of struggling against the state-sponsored AIDS denialism of Thabo Mbeki and his Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. In 2002 we won a landmark case in the
Constitutional Court compelling the state to make antiretroviral treatment available to HIV-positive pregnant women. Following this ruling we monitored the provision of treatment to pregnant women and advocated for a wider rollout of treatment to HIV-positive people. Even with a judgement from the highest court in the land and continued public pressure, the HIV treatment programme only gained significant momentum once Mbeki and Msimang were removed from office in 2008.
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An open letter to Thabo Mbeki by a clinical associate
March 08, 2016 - Sanele Sano Ngcobo challenges former President Thabo Mbeki to admit that he was wrong on his controversial stance on HIV.
In response to your latest letter, I would like to challenge you to admit that you took a wrong decision. Your article is indirectly denying the proven facts that antiretrovirals (ARVs) have saved lives of many South Africans.
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The Man Who Was Wrongly Labeled As HIV’s ‘Patient Zero’
March 7, 2016 - You’ve heard of Gaetan Dugas, even if you don’t know his name. Dugas has long been identified as HIV’s “Patient Zero,” who was often characterized by media reports as an irresponsible flight attendant whose promiscuity sparked the AIDS epidemic in North America in the 1980s and 1990s.
To be sure, leading scientists studying the history of HIV in the U.S. have never blamed Dugas quite so bluntly — and now new evidence has emerged that may finally, posthumously, clear Dugas’s name.
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Doctors dispute Mbeki’s HIV/Aids comments
7 March 2016 - JOHANNESBURG - As former President Thabo Mbeki says he was right to be wary of Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, doctors say no other measure has been as effective in saving lives.
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Thabo Mbeki does not back down on his Aids denialism position.
7 March 2016 - Listen to the full conversation from The Midday Report with Stephen Grootes
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Immune factor allows viral infections to become chronic
7-Mar-2016 - A study from the University of Bonn may lead the way to new therapeutic approaches
Many viral diseases tend to become chronic - including infections with the HI virus. In persons affected, the immune response is not sufficient to eliminate the virus permanently. Scientists at the University of Bonn have now identified an
immune factor which is partially responsible for this. Their results give rise to hopes for new therapeutic approaches. The work, which included researchers from the University of Cologne and the Technical University of Munich, is being published in the renowned
journal "Nature Immunology."
START study shows that people starting HIV treatment earlier have better quality of life
07 March 2016 - Findings provide reassurance about side-effects
Rather than treatment side-effects having a negative impact on people’s quality of life when they start HIV treatment, data from the large randomised START study show a modest but statistically significant improvement in quality of life, the recent Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2016) in Boston heard.
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Mbeki comes under fire for defending his stance on Aids
March 7 2016 - JOHANNESBURG - The TAC's Mark Heywood says Thabo Mbeki's policies had a ‘tragic’ impact on South Africa.
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has slammed former president Thabo Mbeki's latest newsletter about Aids as “tragic, sad, flimsy and embarrassing”.
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Crystal Meth Use is Strongly Linked to Sexual Acquisition of Hepatitis C in HIV-Positive Gay Men
March 6, 2016 - Among HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM), crystal meth use is associated with a much higher risk of contracting hepatitis C virus (HCV) sexually. Researchers conducted a prospective cohort study of MSM in Vancouver, British Columbia, recruiting 774 people 16 years of age and older between 2012 and 2015.
Results were presented at the 2016 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Boston.
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HIV/AIDS long-term costs high -- and unaffordable to most-affected countries
March 06 2016 - There will be a significant shortfall in the funding needed for HIV control in sub-Saharan Africa in the coming years and those countries with the highest HIV burden will be unable to meet their obligations on their own to sustain control efforts, according
to a new study by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. They calculate that the price tag for providing long-term HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in 2015-2050 in the nine sub-Saharan countries most affected by the epidemic ranges from $98 billion at current coverage levels to $261 billion if coverage is scaled up.
Remembering Nancy Reagan, Her Involvement in AIDS Crisis
March 06 2016 - Nancy Reagan is sometimes credited with pushing her husband to do something about AIDS, and he eventually supported some funding for research. The death of their friend, actor Rock Hudson, is often referred to as a pivotal moment.
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Calming the Flames: How Diet Can Help Cool Chronic Inflammation
Winter 2016 - Inflammation is a hot topic right now, especially for people living with HIV and other chronic conditions. Simply put, inflammation is our body's natural response to infection or injury.
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DINING OUT FOR LIFE 2016: Vancouver / Whistler
March 2016 - ON THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2016, JOIN US AND THOUSANDS OF OTHERS AS WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE, ONE BITE AT A TIME!
On Thursday, March 10, dine out for breakfast, lunch or dinner at participating restaurants and support people living with HIV/AIDS right here at home.
From Whistler to White Rock and across the Lower Mainland, our fantastic restaurant partners will contribute 25% of their food sales to registered not-for-profits Friends For Life and A Loving Spoonful . All proceeds directly benefit the programs and services they provide free-of-charge
Positive Gathering 2016
March 2016 - A CONFERENCE DEVELOPED FOR AND BY HIV+ PEOPLE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
March 18 - 20, 2016 | Coast Plaza Hotel | 1763 Comox Street | Vancouver BC
Registration deadline is March 12, 2016.
Positive Gathering is a three-day conference offering peer-delivered interactive workshops allowing HIV-positive people to learn from each other in a safe, open and supportive environment.
Our breakaway sessions and gala dinner provide great opportunities for networking, socializing and having fun. This year's planning committee is working hard to bring you exciting speakers, new and interesting workshops and lots of chances to socialize.
HIV researcher in Kamloops to study housing and healthy living
March 5, 2016 - KAMLOOPS - Vicki NyGaard is a researcher for the Pacific AIDS Network and is interviewing people from the Kamloops area who are HIV positive. She wants to know about their life and their homes. The goal of the study is to learn more about how people’s housing affects how they live with HIV.
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Dr. Myron G. Schultz, Who Helped Identify AIDS Crisis, Dies at 81
March 5, 2016 - Dr. Myron G. Schultz, whose detection of a cluster of pneumonia cases in the early 1980s helped public health officials identify the AIDS epidemic, died on Feb. 19 in Atlanta. He was 81.
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This new research rewrites the history of HIV in America
March 5, 2016 - "Moreover," the authors write in their abstract, "there is neither biological nor historical evidence that Patient 0 was the primary case in the US or for subtype B as a whole." In other words, HIV was already well established in the US before Gaëtan Dugas.
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Elimination of HIV-1 Genomes from Human T-lymphoid Cells by CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing
04 March 2016 - We employed an RNA-guided CRISPR/Cas9 DNA editing system to precisely remove the entire HIV-1 genome spanning between 5' and 3' LTRs of integrated HIV-1 proviral DNA copies
from latently infected human CD4+ T-cells. Comprehensive assessment of whole-genome sequencing of HIV-1 eradicated cells ruled out any off-target effects by our CRISPR/Cas9 technology that might compromise the integrity of the host
genome and further showed no effect on several cell health indices including viability, cell cycle and apoptosis. Persistent co-expression of Cas9 and the specific targeting guide RNAs in HIV-1-eradicated T-cells protected them against new infection by HIV-1.
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Criminalizing HIV Doesn't Do Anything To Help Anyone
Published on Mar 4, 2016 - These outdated laws are counterproductive and threaten public health.
MAHONEY: Grandma, what big dreams you have
March 4, 2016 - One of the greatest and earliest initiatives of the Stephen Lewis Foundation was the Grandmothers To Grandmothers campaign. The program links grandmothers in Canada with grandmothers in Africa, where the AIDS crisis has left enormous gaps in the young adult population.
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For HIV Prevention, Women Need Twice the Meds as Men
March 4, 2016 - Data from a recent study that was published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases reveal that women who were given the same dose of the drug as men were not protected as well, even when compliance in the two groups was the same.
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Black death' offers clues to battling HIV and hepatitis C centuries later
4-March-2016 - CINCINNATI - The Black Death swept Europe in the 14th century eliminating up to half of the population but it left genetic clues that now may aid a University of Cincinnati (UC) researcher in treating HIV patients co-infected with hepatitis C using an anti-retroviral drug therapy.
Canadian patient considered first to contract HIV after PrEP failure
March 4, 2016 - BOSTON - A patient in Canada contracted a multiclass resistant strain of HIV-1 despite long-term adherence to pre-exposure prophylaxis, according to data presented at CROI 2016.
The case is the first to demonstrate failure with Truvada (emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, Gilead Sciences; FTC/TDF), which is associated with nearly 100% (95% CI, 86-100) HIV prevention efficacy, according to presenter David C. Knox, MD, HIV primary
care provider at the Maple Leaf Medical Clinic in Toronto.
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Microsoft Research scientist David Heckerman on how we could attack HIV like spam
March 4, 2016 - David Heckerman, distinguished scientist and senior director of the Genomics Group at Microsoft Research, is combining his expertise in computer science with his background as a medical doctor to apply machine learning to the creation of an AIDS vaccine.
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Last Men Standing
March 4, 2016 - They outlived an epidemic, but San Francisco’s AIDS survivors are still fighting for their lives.
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Study looks at HIV/AIDS heart risk
March 04, 2016 - Local MDs at forefront
Several Boston-area doctors will serve as primary investigators in a worldwide study on heart disease among HIV/AIDS patients — just one deadly upshot of an illness that, researchers say, has received meager federal funding in recent years.
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Activist, author Fisher to speak on empowering women at Wilkes
March 3, 2016 - Fisher, 67, was diagnosed with HIV in 1991 and breast cancer in 2012. She has since been an outspoken activist for the prevention, education and treatment of people with HIV and AIDS.
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A Conversation with AIDS Activist Vanessa Johnson
March 3, 2016 - Four months after finishing law school in 1990, Vanessa Johnson was diagnosed with HIV and given seven to 10 years to live. She watched her partner die of an AIDS-related illness
and began preparing to die herself. Since then, Johnson, who turns 58 this month, has been an advocate for women living with HIV/AIDS through organizations such as Common Threads, the National Women and AIDS Collective, Positive Women's Network-USA, and the National Black Women’s HIV/AIDS Network.
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Meet the Man Who Got HIV While on Daily PrEP
March 3, 2016 - Ever since July 2012, when the FDA approved Truvada as PrEP, a pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent getting HIV, its success rate has been, well, perfect.
In fact, not a single person adhering to the daily regimen has ever tested HIV positive—and that includes everyone in clinical trials and studies, and the more than 40,000 people taking Truvada as PrEP in the
United States. But PrEP researchers, like most scientists, rarely speak in absolutes and guarantees; they’ve acknowledged that, under rare circumstances, an infection is feasible. Last week, that hypothetical situation became a known reality.
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1970s HIV-1 Genomes Reveal the Early History of the North American HIV/AIDS Epidemic
March 3, 2016 - The precise origins of the western hemispheric HIV/AIDS pandemic remain contentious. Phylogenetic studies based upon HIV-1 sequences sampled after (in most cases long after) the recognition of AIDS in 1981 have suggested a lengthy
cryptic period of circulation in the U.S. and Canada throughout the 1970s, and an even older presence in the Caribbean. However, no comprehensive evolutionary genomic analysis of HIV-1 in North America closer to the putative emergence of the virus in the 1970s has been possible since no
non-African HIV-1 complete genomes from that era have been sequenced to date.
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New TSRI study shows HIV structure in unprecedented detail
LA JOLLA, CA - March 3, 2016 - The findings shed light on key vaccine target on HIV
A new study from scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) describes the high-resolution structure of the HIV protein responsible for recognition and infection of host cells.
The study, published today in the journal Science , is the first to show this HIV protein, known as the envelope (Env) trimer, in its natural or "native" form. The findings also include a detailed map of a vulnerable site at the base of this protein, as well as the binding site of an antibody that can neutralize HIV.
Awareness of PrEP Remains Low: Study
Vancouver, BC - March 3, 2016 - A study from the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE), published in AIDS and Behavior, has found fewer than 30% of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in Vancouver are aware of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for
HIV, a proven-effective prevention method. Among MSM surveyed who were aware of PrEP, only one-third had discussed it with friends or sex partners in the last six months.
How Thabo Mbeki's Character and his AIDS Denialism are Intimately Linked
March 03 2016 - The international scientific community made its disagreement with him explicit in the form of the Durban Declaration, a petition signed by more than 5000 scientists that endorsed the mainstream scientific view on HIV and AIDS.
It is clear that Mbeki should have taken the objections from scientists seriously, given that they are the experts.
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EJAF raises over $6.2 million at annual Academy Awards Viewing Party
March 3, 2016 - The Elton John AIDS Foundation’s 24th annual Academy Awards Viewing Party raised over $6.2 million for the fight against AIDS.
The Damage Done by Charlie Sheen Going Rogue
March 03 2016 - A teachable moment turned into a daytime disaster.
In one of the more ghastly moments in recent daytime television memory, a charlatan in Mexico, sought out by Charlie Sheen, claimed to have cured Sheen of his HIV. He explained that he was so confident of
his success that he withdrew Sheen’s blood and injected it into himself.
The sickening story was told during a two-part interview with Sheen on The Dr. Oz Show, but it felt more like an episode of American Horror Story: AIDS.
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Over 9,450 HIV positives reported in Punjab
March 03, 2016 - LAHORE - Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) in collaboration with the Punjab AIDS Control Programme (PACP), Health Department, organised an “Awareness Seminar on
HIV/AIDS” on its campus. Dr. Sarah Shahid (Director Women Institute for Leadership and Learning) LCWU was the chief guest.
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Greg Louganis speaks on overcoming challenges, living with HIV
March 3, 2016 - Louganis, diving champion and HIV/AIDS advocate, spoke in the Whittenberger Auditorium in the Indiana Memorial Union on staying motivated despite challenges. He presented “Overcoming
Adversity From an HIV-Positive Legend.”
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Drs. Mermin and Wolitski discuss lifetime risk - CROI 2016
Published on Mar 2, 2016 - Highlights from the 2016 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic infections
Drs. Mermin and Wolitski discuss Modelling Study - CROI 2016
Published on Mar 2, 2016 - Highlights from the 2016 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic infections
Lessons from an Outbreak of HIV and HCV Infections in Southern Indiana
Published on Mar 2, 2016 - Drs. Mermin and Wolitski discussed a CROI plenary session by CDC’s Dr. John Brooks which reviewed lessons learned from a 2015 outbreak of HIV and hepatitis C in a Scott County,
Indiana that was fueled by prescription opioid abuse.
Why pharmaceutical firms may prefer to invest in drugs over vaccines
HANOVER, N.H. - March 2, 2016 - New Harvard-Dartmouth study finds Zipf distributions of risk of a disease plays major role
When it comes to addressing disease, many industry observers and public health advocates believe that pharmaceutical companies prefer to invest in drugs rather than vaccines, as preventives
are perceived to be inherently less profitable. A Harvard-Dartmouth study on preventives versus treatments published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics and recently summarized in "VOX EU", offers a new economic rationale for this trend-- the
population risk for diseases resembles a Zipf distribution, where the demand curve for a drug is likely to support stronger revenue extraction from a drug than for a vaccine. (A Zipf distribution is a special case of the power-law distribution
in which the values and probabilities scale by an inverse proportion, rather than by some arbitrary constant).
How to prevent 10 million deaths a year
March 2, 2016 - A collection of new policy papers from leaders in global health
Strategic investments to discover and develop new health tools, together with innovations in effectively delivering today's health tools and services, could avert 10 million deaths a year within just one
generation, argue leading global health experts in a new PLOS Collection. The unique collection of papers involves 69 authors from high-, middle- and low-income countries, and includes some of the world's leading disease control experts.
5 women who are making a difference in the health of Vancouver residents
March 2, 2016 - In this week's Georgia Straight, there's a feature article on epidemiologist Dr. Danuta Skowronski. She has played a leading role in the development of a system used around the world to monitor the performance of flu vaccines.
Skowronski is one of numerous female health professionals in the province who are making important contributions to the field. Among the many others are:
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Last Men Standing
March 2, 2016 - Special Report: Eight men who had the remarkable luck to survive the AIDS epidemic, and the brutal misfortune to live on.
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A not-so-new drug could lower HIV rates in Canada, doctor says
Mar 02, 2016 - Toronto General's infectious disease physician applauds approval of Truvada
A drug that's already on the market in this country to treat patients who have HIV might end up decreasing infection rates, now that Health Canada has approved it as a medication to prevent the virus.
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Uganda's failure to spend Global Fund grants denies thousands HIV treatment
March 2, 2016 - Audit by Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria finds millions of dollars unspent while health centres run low on life-saving drugs
The lives of hundreds of thousands of people are being put at risk by Uganda’s poor management of health spending, a report finds.
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Expanding treatment and PrEP could prevent 185,000 new HIV infections, US CDC says
02 March 2016 - Increasing diagnosis, care and treatment of people living with HIV could lead to a large decrease in HIV incidence, preventing some 168,000 new infections by the year 2020, according to a
new US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analysis presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2016) last week in Boston.
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A RED Hot Show for Positivity
March 1, 2016 - Dean Thullner, the tour de force behind the annual Brilliant! fashion fundraiser for St. Paul’s mental health programs, has launched a brand new spectacle to support a new cause. It’s
entitled RED: A Positive Day! A celebration of colour, couture, community, and caring, RED aims to support Positive Living BC, Western Canada’s largest AIDS service organization and provider of peer-based wellness programs.
STYLE BY FIRE - stylebyfire.ca
Rate of entry into HIV care improved by personalised counselling
01 March 2016 - Entry into HIV care can be increased by around 40% if people receive a point-of-care CD4 test and counselling sessions to overcome personal barriers to seeking HIV care, a large randomised study in South Africa has shown.
However, the study also found that only half of the people who received the most effective linkage intervention and who were in need of immediate treatment made it onto treatment within six months of their HIV diagnosis, highlighting the need for further improvements in linkage to HIV care.
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Elizabeth Taylor's Grandchildren Carry on Her Legacy at AIDSWatch Event in Washington
March 1, 2016 - Six of Elizabeth Taylor's grandchildren, her step-daughter Kate Burton and her great-grandson, Finn McMurray, 17, traveled to Washington DC on Feb. 29, to attend AIDSWatch to raise awareness about the continued importance of safe sex education and carry on their legendary grandmother's activism.
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‘Stand out and stand together,’ says UN on Zero Discrimination Day
1 March 2016 - The United Nations agency leading the world’s HIV/AIDS response today called on the international community to celebrate individuality, as it observed Zero Discrimination Day, stressing that embracing diversity brings valuable benefits to all societies around the world.
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