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Positively Positive - Living with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS News Archive - November 2015
 
Community Spotlight: Bradford McIntyre
November 30, 2015 - This month’s Community Spotlight is again on Bradford McIntyre. We want to join him in celebrating the life he was told should have ended within 6 months from November 28 — THIRTY YEARS AGO!
This month’s spotlight is a bit different. Not only is it shone on someone we’ve already featured before, but it is also one where we will let the the person speak for himself. There is no way anything written on VIDC Connect could be as impactful as reading his words for yourself.
Vitamin D Levels May Influence Immune Recovery in HIV Patients
November 30, 2015 - Low vitamin D levels may hinder the efficacy of HIV treatment in adults, researchers from the University of Georgia reported. Findings from the study are published in Clinical Nutrition.
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New partnership paves way for improved HIV treatments through nanomedicine
30-Nov-2015 - Alongside global events for World AIDS Day 2015, the University of Liverpool and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) have announced a collaboration and licensing agreement to reformulate certain poorly soluble HIV drugs into lower dose formulations for low and middle income countries.
Fred Hutch featured in HBO documentary on HIV vaccine
November 30, 2015 - Scientists from Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center working on an HIV and AIDS vaccine will be featured Tuesday in a VICE documentary on HBO.
Scientists from Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center who are working on a vaccine to potentially halt HIV and AIDS will be featured in a new documentary on HBO Tuesday.
“Countdown to Zero,” a VICE special report on HBO, airs at 9 p.m. on Dec. 1, World AIDS Day.
Read more...
HIV/AIDS Drugs Interfere With Brain’s ‘Insulation,’ Penn-CHOP Team Shows
November 30, 2015 - Antiretroviral therapies, or ART, have enabled people with HIV and AIDS to live much longer lives, transforming what was considered a death sentence into a chronic condition. Yet concerns for these patients remain.
Up to half of people with HIV on these drug regimens have some sort of cognitive impairment, such as memory loss or problems with executive functioning, despite the virus being almost undetectable in their bodies.
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'Live positively': Togo's 'Tino' sets example for HIV/AIDS
November 30, 2015 - Augustin Dokla is arguably Togo's most famous person with HIV, having lived with the virus—against the odds—since 1999. Sixteen years later, he's still fighting for the rights of those infected.
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Is the end of AIDS in sight? 10 facts about HIV/AIDS ahead of World AIDS Day
Nov 30, 2015 - (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Despite major advances, HIV/AIDS remains one of the world's most significant public health challenges, particularly in low and middle income countries, with new diagnoses
every year and young women in sub-Saharan Africa seen as being particularly at risk.
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HOPE - National AIDS Memorial Grove (PSA)
Published on Nov 30, 2015 - Directed and produced by award winning filmmaker Marc Smolowitz, HOPE is one of the first video projects to emerge from the Grove's new partnership with THE HIV STORY PROJECT.
Both organizations believe strongly that AIDS will end, and they will work together to make sure that the story of AIDS is captured and remembered for future generations to come. Featuring Alice Russell-Shapiro, founder of the National AIDS
Memorial Grove, and (3) HIV/AIDS community leaders and activists in San Francisco -- Cecilia Chung, Brett Andrews, and DK Haas (in order of appearance.)
‘Drugs for all HIV patients not feasible’
Nov 30, 2015 - MUMBAI: The National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) has made it clear that India is not ready to adhere to WHO's recent recommendation of providing antiretroviral therapy (ART) for all HIV patients regardless of their disease stage.
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Time to write last chapter on HIV
November 30, 2015 - CNN - In many ways, this is the most hopeful World AIDS Day we have seen in the 35-year history of the scourge that we know as HIV/AIDS. Yet, it is also
one of the most challenging, in terms of the work we still have to do to translate scientific progress into more saved lives, fewer new infections and ultimately an end to the AIDS pandemic.
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Research: Supervised injection facilities would be cost-effective in Toronto and Ottawa
TORONTO, Nov. 30, 2015 - New analysis took into account new treatment options for hepatitis C
Researchers say it is highly likely that establishing up to three supervised injection facilities in Toronto and up to two facilities in Ottawa would be cost-effective.
The researchers reached this conclusion after updating a 2012 analysis that recommended establishing supervised injection facilities in Toronto and Ottawa as a way to improve the health and reduce harm among people who use drugs.
HIV Positive: 30 years ago today, I was given six months to live!
November 28, 2015 - The following is what happened 30 years ago today.
On the 28 of November 1985, I was on my way to a new HIV Clinic at McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario. Living at this time in Kitchener/Waterloo, and
my infection with HIV confirmed, I did not want to be seen at my local hospital for fear someone I knew, or a client, might discover that I was infected with HIV. With test results
coming up positive and the relatively new knowledge in both science and medicine, along with the stigma attached to AIDS at the time, I chose to visit a specialist in another city.
Longtime AIDS survivor speaks out
November 28, 2015 - As a young gay man in his 20s living in San Francisco, Arturo C. Jackson III was diagnosed as HIV-positive in the early 1980s. After 36 years as an AIDS survivor,
the grandfather of two was recently named one of the country’s top 100 longtime AIDS survivors by POZ magazine.
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Ricki Lake Creates New Documentary for World AIDS Day with the Help of Social Media Stars
11/28/2015 - The former daytime talk show host is addressing the need for HIV/AIDS treatments with her new documentary titled #TreatmentForAll, which will premiere on Monday at 10:30 a.m. ET on Facebook, marking the first time a short form documentary has launched on the social media platform.
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UN: teens dying of AIDS tripled since 2000
28 November 2015 - Only one-third of the 2.6 million children under the age of 15 living with HIV receive treatment.
The UN children's fund says the number of adolescents dying from AIDS has tripled over the last 15 years, most having acquired the disease when they were infants.
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Highest number of new HIV cases in Europe ever
Copenhagen and Stockholm, 26 November 2015 - ECDC and WHO call for better prevention, diagnosis and treatment for vulnerable populations, including migrants and refugees
With HIV infection diagnosed in over 142 000 people in 2014, the WHO European Region recorded the highest number of newly diagnosed infections in 1 year since the start of reporting in the 1980s. The most recent surveillance data released by
the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the WHO Regional Office for Europe indicate that the growth of the HIV epidemic is driven by the eastern part of the Region, where the number of new diagnoses has more than doubled during the past decade.
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Think positive campaign aims to undermine stigma surrounding HIV
November 26, 2015 - A Quebec HIV/AIDS awareness group is trying to break down stereotypes and stigmas about HIV infection with a new campaign urging people to "think positive."
The French-language campaign j'pense positif has its own website, pensepositif.org, where the latest advances in treatment and therapy for those infected with the immune-deficiency virus are discussed.
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Fighting the AIDS Debt Sentence: new insights from RethinkHIV
26 November 2015 - Researchers with the RethinkHIV consortium have given new insights into the moral and fiscal implications of antiretroviral therapies for HIV in Africa.
With AIDS now a controllable disease, they urge countries and donors
to focus on financing treatment and investing in prevention, if we really are to see the “End of AIDS”.
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Gauteng health department aiming to test 1 million people for HIV/AIDS
26 November, 2015 - The Gauteng Department Health has tested over 700‚000 people for HIV and AIDS from October till to date‚ and it is on course to meet its target of testing one million people by the end of December this year.
The best way to eliminate HIV and AIDS in Canada is to test everyone for the virus, regardless of whether they are at risk or not, according to one of the world's leading experts on the disease.
Dr. Julio Montaner, the director of British Columbia's Centre for Excellence in HIV and AIDS, says that in B.C. alone, 2,000 of the 15,000 people with HIV/AIDS don't even know they're infected and so are more likely to spread the virus.
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Cardiovascular Diseases in HIV and Aging
November 25, 2015 - Case Study
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Almost 16M on HIV treatment as AIDS pandemic tide turns
Nov. 25, 20155 - LONDON: Some 15.8 million people are now on HIV treatment and a five-year strategy to end the threat of a never-ending AIDS pandemic is starting to show results, the United Nations AIDS program said Tuesday.
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Living to Talk about HIV: Denise’s Story
November 25, 2015 - Denise Becker Wozniak was unaware that she was living with HIV until she gave birth to a baby girl, Katie, who was six months old when diagnosed with the virus and died three months later.
The diagnosis came as a shock for Wozniak, who has since dedicated herself to sharing her story and the importance of HIV awareness. Here she talks about her experience as a woman living with HIV, with treatment and her outlook on how we can put a stop to the disease.
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Closing the loop on an HIV escape mechanism
25-Nov-2015 - Research team finds that protein motions regulate virus infectivity
Nearly 37 million people worldwide are living with HIV. When the virus destroys so many immune cells that the body can't fight off infection, AIDS will develop. The disease took the lives of more than a million people last year.
For the past three and a half years, a team of researchers from six universities, led by the University of Delaware and funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, has been working to uncover new information about a protein
that regulates HIV's capability to hijack a cell and start replicating. Their findings, reported recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, point to a new avenue for developing potential strategies to thwart the virus.
Almost 16 million on HIV treatment as AIDS pandemic tide turns
November 25, 2015 - London - Some 15.8 million people are now on HIV treatment and a five-year strategy to end the threat of a never-ending AIDS pandemic is starting to show results, the United Nations AIDS programme said on Tuesday.
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Documentary follows story of AIDS activists during epidemic
November 25, 2015 - It may be difficult to fathom now, three decades after the height of the AIDS epidemic, but there was a time when officials and health organizations ignored an illness that was decimating entire segments of the American population.
More incredible still is the story of the group of activists, many of them HIV-positive young men, who fought that indifference.
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Many Doctors Unaware of Truvada, Drug for Preventing H.I.V.
NOV. 25, 2015 - Even though taking a daily pill can protect almost completely against getting H.I.V., a third of primary care doctors and nurses in the United States have never heard of it, federal health officials said this week.
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Ask Her: Talking about women, HIV/AIDS, and Human Rights: An Interview with Kidist Belete
November 25, 2015 - What can be done to turn the tide against HIV/AIDS? HIV is the world’s leading infectious killer; it is estimated by UNAIDS that in sub-Saharan Africa alone, some 24.7 million people were living with HIV in 2013. This disease
not only affects the health of individuals – it damages families and communities, preventing social development and economic growth. HIV/AIDS threatens people’s most basic human rights.
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Modeling the global HIV treatment funding gap for 2020 targets
Nov 24, 2015 - With currently projected funding, countries around the world are unlikely to achieve the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS 90-90-90 treatment target (which includes 90% of people diagnosed as living with HIV being treated with anti-retroviral therapy (ART) by 2020), according to a modeling study publishing this week in PLOS Medicine. The study, conducted by Arin Dutta and colleagues at Palladium, Washington, District of Columbia, U.S., suggests that while the funding gap may be smaller than previously projected,
meeting the 90-90-90 target will require currently unsecured funding for the broad adoption of a test-and-offer approach and other measures to rapidly increase ART coverage.
POZ on Location: Celebrating The POZ 100
Published on Nov 24, 2015 - An event co-hosted by POZ and Walgreens celebrating all POZ 100 honorees and Well Beyond HIV participants. The annual POZ list highlights the achievements of 100 HIV/AIDS advocates. In 2015, long-term survivors were spotlighted.
France approves PrEP
24 November 2015 - In a historic move, France has become the first country outside the USA, and the first country with a centrally-organised, reimbursable health system, to approve no-expense pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for people who need it.
The French Minister of Health, Marisol Touraine, announced today that PrEP would be available from mid-December, and reimbursable through the French health system from the beginning of January.
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Positively Positive Bradford McIntyre
November 24, 2015 - Canadian, Bradford McIntyre, has been living with HIV since 1984. On November, 28th 1985, he was given six months to live. That was thirty years ago and after speaking to him the other day for almost an hour,
I can assure you that he has a very positive outlook on life. Bradford has the Human Immune Deficiency virus well under control, with a strong immune system and the virus undetectable since the late 1990s, eliminating HIV transmission risk.
It's time to test everyone in Canada for HIV/AIDS, says Dr. Julio Montaner
Nov 24, 2015 - Thousands of people are unaware they have the disease and may be spreading it unknowingly
The best way to eliminate HIV and AIDS in Canada is to test everyone for the virus, regardless of whether they are at risk or not, according to one of the world's leading experts on the disease.
Dr. Julio Montaner, the director of British Columbia's Centre for Excellence in HIV and AIDS, says that in B.C. alone, 2,000 of the 15,000 people with HIV/AIDS don't even know they're infected and so are more likely to spread the virus.
Read more...
Why am I so scared of HIV?
Published on Nov 23, 2015 - Did you know? One of the biggest reasons why people don't test for HIV is because they're scared. They're scared about HIV, taking a test, what it means to be positive, and what other people will think. It's a completely natural reaction to have, but it doesn't have to be this way.
Staying Negative: Armenians offered free HIV tests as part of AIDS-free generation campaign
November 23, 2015 - The number of people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) increased during the last two years in Armenia, according to the latest data provided by specialists in the sphere. Experts call for frequent medical check-ups that will make it possible to diagnose possible HIV cases at early stages.
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VIDEO: HIV prevention strategies focus on vaccine development
November 23, 2015 - SAN DIEGO - Myron S. Cohen, MD, chief of the division of infectious diseases and director of the Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina, provides an overview of behavioral and biological strategies for HIV prevention that were discussed at IDWeek 2015.
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Halting spread of HIV demands mix of law, health policy
November 23, 2015 - Today, most young gay men living in Canada have not experienced the trauma of the early years of the HIV epidemic. Through advances in treatment and technology, HIV is now seen as
a more of a manageable chronic disease. Within this context, the message of prevention and treatment is perhaps even more critical.
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Sharing the Experience of Living with HIV to Better Treatment and Care
November 23, 2015 - Today, most young gay men living in Canada have not experienced the trauma of the early years of the HIV epidemic. Through advances in treatment and technology, HIV is now seen as
a more of a manageable chronic disease. Within this context, the message of prevention and treatment is perhaps even more critical.
Read more...
Evolution of severely immunosuppressed HIV patients depends on the immunologic and virologic response
23-Nov-2015 - So far only it takes into account the baseline of the patients
Health authorities recommend HIV-infected patients starting treatment as soon as posible after diagnosis, regardless of the level of immunosuppression (which are measured by the number of CD4,
cells responsible for the immune response and which are infected by the virus) and viral load.
Fighting AIDS: Global Fund okays $16m for Pakistan
November 22, 2015 - ISLAMABAD: The Global Fund has approved a concept note for Asian countries, including Pakistan, under which $16 million has been approved for the country for year 2016-17 to support its fight against HIV/Aids.
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Anti-gay laws worsening the AIDS crisis in Commonwealth countries, says new Human Dignity Trust report
November 22, 2015 - 'You will never ever get the AIDS crisis under control while gay men are criminalized. It's literally not possible while gay men are shamed and stigmatized,' says Jonathan Cooper, chief executive of the Human Dignity Trust
Countries that continue to criminalize same-sex relationships is worsening the HIV/AIDS crisis, according to a report produced for UK Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Malta next weekend.
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African HIV and AIDS women activists to speak in Edmonton
November 22, 2015 - Edmontonians have a unique opportunity Monday to hear directly about the reality of the HIV-AIDS pandemic from five African women experts involved in the front-line fight.
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D.A.P. recognized as “Top 20 HIV Charity” for third consecutive year
PALM SPRINGS, CA, November 20, 2015 - As World AIDS Day approaches, the agency continues to focus on helping meet “90/90/90 targets”
Desert AIDS Project has been on this list of distinction for each of the three years that About.com, a Top 40 U.S. website attracting more than 86 million users each month, has compiled its “Top 20 HIV Charities” ranking. About.com’s peer-reviewed Health Channel includes over 1,000 topics curated by researchers, physicians, medical writers, and healthcare professionals.
AIDS Saskatoon takes new step with fundraising gala
November 19, 2015 - AIDS Saskatoon is taking a big step in fundraising by hosting its first ever AIDS Gala Monday evening at TCU Place.
“This is showing that our community needs to stand up and recognize the epidemic HIV and AIDS is in this province,” said Dr. Tyler Maltman, a Saskatoon doctor who is helping organize the event.
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Cryptococcal antigen screening beneficial among HIV patients initiating ART
November 19, 2015 - Screening for cryptococcal antigen in patients with late-stage HIV initiating ART could identify candidates for pre-emptive treatment and significantly reduce cases of cryptococcal meningitis, according to data recently published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
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Progress toward preventing HIV highlighted in special issue of AIDS research and human retroviruses
New Rochelle, NY, Nov. 19, 2015 - New and emerging biomedical pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) approaches
to prevent HIV infection in targeted high-risk populations offer the most effective near-term strategy to reduce HIV transmission. The latest outcomes research, clinical
trials results, and advances in HIV vaccine development are highlighted in multiple articles that comprise the annual HIV Prevention Science issue of AIDS Research
and Human Retroviruses, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The special issue is available free to download on the AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses website.
"A Day With HIV" Photo Exhibit On Display At Fresno Art Museum
November 19, 2015 - Today marks the kickoff of “A Day With HIV” photo exhibit at the Fresno Art Museum. FM89’s Diana Aguilera visits the display..
The gallery shows 19 posters of people from around the nation that are living with HIV. It’s a snapshot of their lives and it's part of a campaign hoping to reduce the stigma related to HIV and AIDS.
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HIV/AIDS survivor and advocate Sean Strub coming to IUPUI as World AIDS Day speaker
Nov. 19, 2015 - INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis professor Carrie E. Foote and students in her sociology class AIDS and Society, offered in the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, will host longtime HIV survivor and advocate Sean Strub as a World AIDS Day guest speaker.
"An Evening with Sean Strub" will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3, in Room 450C of the IUPUI Campus Center, 420 University Blvd. Strub, founder of POZ magazine, will present "The Criminalization of HIV," a talk on how HIV-specific laws hurt public health and why reform is needed. Author of "Body Counts: A Memoir of Activism, Sex
and Survival," Strub will hold a book-signing immediately following his talk.
CDC Finds ‘Alarming’ Increase in STD Rates Among Gay Men; PrEP to Blame?
November 18, 2015 - Although PrEP may be the culprit behind the wave of new STI infections, health groups including the World Health Organization are strongly urging men who have sex with men to get on the pill regimen but warn that the pill must be used with condoms to effectively prevent most STI infections.
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Durex #CondomEmoji – Support an official Safe Sex Emoji!
Published on Nov 18, 2015 - At Durex, we know that mobile devices and emojis play a vital role in young people's conversation around sex. That's why we're calling for the creation of the world's first official safe sex emoji, ahead of World AIDS Day on 1 December 2015.
Alcoholism drug brings dormant HIV virus out of hiding
November 18, 2015 - Kick and kill.
A drug that’s used to treat alcoholism has been found to activate dormant HIV cells, dragging them out of hiding so they can be destroyed. When given to 30 HIV positive patients in the US and Australia in a three-day trial, the common anti-alcohol drug,
disulfiram, appears to ‘wake up’ HIV cells without causing any harmful side-effects.
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GMHC, the World's First HIV and AIDS Service Organization, Responds to Charlie Sheen's Announcement on His Positive HIV Status
November 17, 2015 - New York, NY: - GMHC, the world's first and leading HIV and AIDS service organization, released the following statement, after Charlie Sheen's public announcement disclosing his status as HIV positive.
Charlie Sheen reminds us that HIV is still around – but it's possible to live with it
November 17, 2015 - HIV is no longer a life-ending virus, as many people who’ve had it much longer than Sheen can attest
HIV is not a “gay disease”; it is a human virus. HIV does not care if you are straight, gay, bisexual or transgender. It does not care if you are black or white or brown, college-educated or a high school dropout, male or female, a child of privilege or a child of poverty. All it cares about is that you have an immune system.
Anyone can contract HIV – including a celebrity.
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TSRI scientists find surprising trait in anti-HIV antibodies
LA JOLLA, CA - Nov. 17, 2015 - Advances in search of an AIDS vaccine
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have new weapons in the fight against HIV.
Their new study, published Nov. 17, 2015 as the cover article of the journal Immunity, describes four prototype antibodies that target a specific weak spot on the virus.
Guided by these antibodies, the researchers then mimicked the molecular structure of a protein on HIV when designing their own potential HIV vaccine candidate.
Reported Cases of STDs on the Rise in the U.S.
November 17, 2015 - Reported Cases of Sexually Transmitted Diseases on the Rise, Some at Alarming Rate
Reported cases of three nationally notifiable STDs – chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis – have increased for the first time since 2006, according to data published by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the 2014 STD Surveillance Report.
HIV stigma and Charlie Sheen’s outing: things to remember
November 17, 2015 - In a television interview this week, actor Charlie Sheen revealed he is living with HIV, claiming that part of his reason for doing so is to put an end to years of rumours as well as extortion through threats of revealing his status. His
revelation has prompted a flurry of media attention and many questions about privacy, HIV disclosure and potential legal ramifications.
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Charlie Sheen's HIV announcement on TODAY Show: 5 things it means for his health
November 17, 2015 - Actor Charlie Sheen said Tuesday he's infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. But he says he's being treated for it and that the virus is "undetectable" in his blood.
Human papillomavirus is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the U.S. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That fact alone makes the work of James Bashkin, a professor of chemistry at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, important.
Bashkin and his team of researchers have been working on antiviral compounds to help clear persistent HPV infections that run the risk of turning into many different types of cancer, not just cervical cancer, the one most often associated with HPV. He is also co-founder of the company NanoVir, which focuses mainly on developing a cure for HPV through the DNA-targeted antivirals.
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UMSL chemist talks HPV, antivirals, progress toward cure
Nov/16/2015 - Human papillomavirus is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the U.S. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That fact alone makes the work of James Bashkin, a professor of chemistry at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, important.
Bashkin and his team of researchers have been working on antiviral compounds to help clear persistent HPV infections that run the risk of turning into many different types of cancer, not just cervical cancer, the one most often associated with HPV. He is also co-founder of the company NanoVir, which focuses mainly on developing a cure for HPV through the DNA-targeted antivirals.
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There’s a Drug That Prevents HIV. Let’s Use It
Nov.16, 2015 - An FDA-approved drug can prevent HIV infections, but critics have worried that having such a fallback pill can promote unsafe sex and cause HIV infections to rise. A new study proves them wrong
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Benue ranked 9th in HIV, AIDS prevalence – Ortom
November 16, 2015 - Mrs Eunice Ortom, wife of Benue State Governor, on Sunday, said that the state was now ranked ninth in the current HIV/AIDS prevalence rating in the country.
Ortom, who is also the Chairman, Board of Governors for Benue State Aids Control Agency (BENSACA), said this during the launch of the “Guinness World Record on HIV Test” in Markurdi.
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Social shame worse than death by AIDS
November 16, 2015 - Panaji: Despite determined efforts from the government and a few concerned public, the HIV/AIDS scene in the state still seems to be wanting, in terms of understanding the ailment and its implications for the patients, their immediate family and the scoiety they live in. The first case of HIV/AIDS in Goa was reported in 1987.
Around 15,000 cases have been reported and detected since then. Nothing much has changed with respect to the stigma associated with this condition, despite the clear advances made in HIV testing and treatment.
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University aids in Phuket safe-sex campaign
November 16, 2015 - PHUKET: University students helped the Phuket Loves You Club (PLU) with a safe-sex campaign in which they distributed thousands of condoms to locations on Soi Paradise in Patong and Prince of Songkla University (PSU).
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Desert Aids Project - Desert Migration Film
November 15, 2015 - It was a sold-out crowd in the large auditorium at the Camelot Theatres on November 6 for the Palm Springs premiere of “Desert Migration,” a long-standing labor of love for producer
Marc Smolowitz and director Daniel Cardone. The pair had been talking about making the film together ever since meeting through the HIV Story Project, a San Francisco-based nonprofit focused on bridging HIV/AIDS with film, media, and storytelling to fight the pandemic and the global stigma still connected with it.
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SA still battling to reduce rates of HIV transmission
15 November, 2015 - South Africa is still battling to reduce rates of HIV transmission‚ particularly among young women‚ says Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Opening the plenary session of the South African Aids Council in Kempton Park on the East Rand‚ Ramaphosa said important progress had been made in several areas in the battle to curb AIDS.
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National Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Week 2015: Leaders unite across Canada with community-based approaches to HIV and AIDS
November 14, 2015 - Calgary, AB - Every 3 hours a person is infected with HIV in Canada.
The Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN) proudly announces national Aboriginal leadership and their supporters will gather in Calgary, AB on December 1, 2015 to launch Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Week 2015.
It will be accompanied by workshops across the country (Ottawa, Regina, Montreal, Winnipeg, Halifax, and Inuvik) to continue discussions on Aboriginal HIV and AIDS issues in Canada on November 30, December 2 – 5, 2015.
What Is It Like to Be Cured of AIDS? A Conversation With the Berlin Patient
11/13/2015 - When Timothy Ray Brown underwent a bone marrow transplant in Berlin during the winter of 2007, he was unaware of the historical significance that the surgery would later have. He hoped that
the grueling procedure would free him from Leukemia, and he knew there was an unlikely chance that he could also be rid of HIV. Eight years later, Brown remains free from Leukemia and is still the only person on the planet to be cured of HIV. I met with Brown,
and together we discussed the significance that this experience has had on him personally, his newfound role as a leader, and his hopes for impacting the world around us.
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Canada needs a renewed national HIV/AIDS strategy!
November 13, 2015 - Canada needs a renewed national HIV/AIDS strategy. We need to engage in a national planning process that
recognizes the historic and ongoing leadership of people living with HIV, the expertise of community-based HIV/AIDS organizations, and fosters change in our legal, corrections, and health care systems.
With this process, Canada can reach the UNAIDS 90-90-90 goal by the year 2020.
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HIV is Not a Crime II - National conference coming in 2016
November 13, 2015 - After a very successful inaugural HIV Is Not a Crime National Conference last year, the SERO Project and
Positive Women’s Network-USA are pleased to announce that the planning process is underway for a second national conference to support repeal and modernization of laws
criminalizing HIV non-disclosure, perceived or potential exposure and transmission, to be held in June 2016.
Curing AIDS: OHSU doc's HIV vaccine knocks out virus
November 13, 2015 - Oregon doctor's possible cure for AIDS: How does it work?
OHSU HIV/AIDS researcher, Dr. Louis Picker, is working on an HIV treatment that could deliver a knock-out blow never before seen in an HIV vaccine. Watch the video to learn how the vaccine works.
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Western joins international search for HIV/AIDS vaccine
November 12, 2015 - As he waits on the construction of a new $5 million research facility at Western University, prominent HIV/AIDS researcher Eric Arts and his team at Western’s Schulich School of Medicine
and Dentistry will begin collaborating with the recently announced European AIDS Vaccine Initiative (EAVI2020).
Western revealed November 5 that it will be one of 22 institutions (and the only site in North America, according to their news release) to participate in EAVI2020, a collaborative international effort financed by the European Commission to develop protective and therapeutic HIV vaccines.
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HIV awareness project bringing warmth to Bracebridge
November 12, 2015 - BRACEBRIDGE - An initiative designed to bring awareness concerning HIV/AIDS will have Bracebridge seeing red.
Trees, light posts and anything local volunteers can wrap red scarves around will be adorned for HIV awareness, not to mention a warming community gesture as part of the Red Scarf Project for National Aids Awareness Week from Nov. 24 to Dec. 1
and in time for International World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.
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Estonia: New Free AIDS Clinic to be Dedicated in Narva Nov. 13
November 12, 2015 - NARVA, Estonia - (BUSINESS WIRE) - The Linda HIV Foundation, founded by AIDS Healthcare Foundation and Estonian Network of People Living with HIV, will cut the ribbon on a new state-of-the-art HIV
treatment clinic in Narva, Estonia, Friday, Nov. 13.
The Linda HIV Foundation will officially open its clinic in Narva on Friday, Nov. 13, at 11:00 a.m. The Linda Clinic provides free HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care in an ongoing effort to control the HIV epidemic in Narva.
HRC Foundation Staff Honored for HIV & AIDS Advocacy Work
November 11, 2015 - Last night, HRC Foundation's Senior Specialist for HIV & AIDS Noel Gordon was honored at the Whitman-Walker Health (WWH) Gala with the Impact Award. The award recognized leaders in the field and broader community. Gordon was honored along with Gregorio Millett, the Vice President and Director, Public Policy of amfAR.
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HIV/AIDS expert Robert Gallo, M.D., to speak at UNMC
November 11, 2015 - Robert Gallo, M.D., the scientist who in 1984 co-discovered that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was the responsible infectious agent for AIDS, will deliver the Carol Swarts, M.D., Distinguished Lecture on Nov. 18 from noon to 1:15 p.m. in UNMC's Durham Research Center Auditorium.
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Hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS Awareness Raising Contest!
November 10, 2015 - As part of Aboriginal Aids Awareness Week (November 30 to December 5, 2015) and awareness raising activities on hepatitis C, Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada invites all
Inuit communities in the four land claims regions to take part in a competition for funding to hold a hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS awareness raising community event. The objective of this contest is to promote healthy living in Inuit
communities and to increase the health literacy of Inuit affected or impacted by hepatitis C or HIV/AIDS. Pauktuutit will be holding a similar event in Inuvik on December 5, 2015.
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Out of the Shadows: Female Drug Users and HIV/AIDS
November 10, 2015 - Columbia Conference Issues a Call-to-Action for This Neglected Population
Although global action against HIV/AIDS is more than three decades old, certain populations have stayed on the margins of prevention efforts, medical care, and access to antiretroviral medication. While stigma surrounding HIV continues to frustrate progress against the epidemic for many vulnerable groups, few have been less visible than female drug users.
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Price Hike of HIV/AIDS Drug Highlights New Role for Activism
November 10, 2015 - There's no denying that many strides have been made in the treatment of HIV/AIDS. But a pharmaceutical company's recent decision to hike the price of a drug used by PLWHA from $13.50 per tablet to $750 overnight
has some wondering if such progress could be wiped out at the whim of big business.
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Women Die Younger Than Men from HIV in U.S. [Infographic]
November 10, 2015 - Long-running gap may, however, be getting narrower
Medications are keeping people with HIV alive longer than ever before, but women with AIDS tend to die at a younger age in the U.S. than men with the illness (see chart below). This long-standing gap may in part reflect differences in race among men
and women with HIV, particularly as concerns access to health care. Nearly one in four people living with HIV in the U.S. are women.
Read more...
Truvada PrEP appears to work for transgender women, but only if used consistently
06 November 2015 - The more than 300 transgender women in the pivotal iPrEx pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) trial had similar overall HIV infection rates whether they were randomised to take Truvada or placebo, but those with drug levels indicating consistent PrEP use appeared to
be protected, researchers reported in the November 5 advance online edition of The Lancet.
Read more...
WHO 'pre-qualifies' new HIV/syphilis combo test
10 November 2015 - Alere's HIV/Syphilis Duo test will be deployed in national screening programmes in resource-limited countries, targeting those in greatest need.
Alere, a global leader in rapid diagnostics, announced that Alere SD BIOLINE HIV/Syphilis Duo test has been awarded World Health Organisation (WHO) pre-qualification, making it the first dual HIV/syphilis point-of-care test available for public sector procurement
in resource-limited countries.
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Programs struggle to get the message out about HIV/AIDS prevention
10 November 2015 - Brian Wiens is hoping a new initiative will help raise funds and overcome challenges to raising HIV and AIDS awareness in Saskatchewan.
“HIV really cuts across the whole population. And, so, everywhere from teenagers to young adults to older people in our community, (people) that are sexually active need to hear that HIV affects them,” Wiens, executive director of AIDS Programs South Saskatchewan, said Tuesday in front of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building.
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750,000 affected as HIV/Aids drugs run out
November 10, 2015 - Kampala - More than 750,000 patients on HIV/Aids treatment have been affected by a stockout of drug combinations in government health facilities, prompting them to develop adverse side effects after being switched onto new combinations.
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EJAF and EGPAF launch new project to fight adolescent HIV in Africa
9-Nov-2015 - The 2-year, US $2 million project is focused on adolescent intensified HIV case-finding in Kenya and Zambia
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) and the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) today launched a new project to expand HIV treatment and prevention efforts for adolescents in urban settings in Kenya and Zambia. The two-year, U.S. $2 million (£1.2 million) project will aim to improve the overall well-being and quality of life
for adolescents 15-19 years of age through expansion of access to and quality of HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment, and support services. The project is focused on identifying adolescents who are living with HIV and getting them on treatment through expanded and targeted HIV testing in the urban settings of Kisumu, Kenya and Lusaka, Zambia.
Truvada & Its Revolutionary Impact on Ending HIV/AIDS
November 2015 - Watch 3 part Vice documentary
D.A.P. to mark December 1st as World AIDS Day both on-campus and at Camelot Theatres
PALM SPRINGS, CA, November 9, 2015 - Is an end to AIDS really in our near future? David Brinkman, CEO of Desert AIDS Project, thinks so, after returning earlier this week from Washington, DC where he had been invited to share the success of Get Tested Coachella Valley,
as the nation's first-ever, region-wide HIV testing and access-to-care initiative.
Indigenous Canadians remain untested for HIV because of cultural stigma
09 November 2015 - Stigma related to HIV infection, gender non-conformity and homophobia is stopping Indigenous Canadians from accessing HIV treatment, health authorities say.
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Maharashtra ignores WHO guideline
Nov 09, 2015 - Despite World Health Organisation’s (WHO) new guideline to provide antiretroviral therapy for everyone diagnosed with HIV regardless of CD4 cell
count, state ART centers are ignoring it, a move that can lead to more deaths.
Read more...
Are Bans on Blood Donations From Gay Men Outdated or Necessary?
11/8/15 - Blood donor restrictions on men who have sex with men (MSM) are still enforced throughout the world in developed nations. However, in recent years governments in a number of countries—including France this past week—have reversed their stances, saying the laws enforced at the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s are bigoted and unnecessary, especially given that advances in HIV testing mean doctors can now detect the virus weeks and even days after an infection.
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Activist-author Kramer highlights gay issues on last day of film festival
November 8, 2015 - Renowned for his blistering, confrontational advocacy for AIDS awareness and LGBTQ rights, Kramer, 80, spoke at Old Cabell Hall at the University of Virginia on Sunday evening, after a screening of “In Love and Anger” earlier in the day.
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HIV/Aids account for 50 percent school drop outs
Nov 8, 2015 - HIV and Aids has been singled out as one of the major factors contributing to children dropping out of school, with the pandemic said to account for close to 50 percent of the total number of primary and secondary school dropouts.
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Magic pill or just an old cocktail?
November 8 2015 - There are two things one needs to know about this drug. First, it is not a new drug. It is a combination of four old drugs -- elvitegravir, cobicistat, emtricitabine, and tenofovir alafenamide (TAF). This is called a Fixed Dose Combination (FDC).
And while FDCs are good for improving adherence among patients, this is no magic pill. “Technically, this is simply not a breakthrough. No new drug has been discovered - older drugs have been brought together in the FDC form. This is important as it improves compliance, which is
a great thing but to call it a breakthrough is a stretch,” said Dr Manish Kakkar, a public health specialist in communicable diseases at the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI).
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Melissa Rivers Fundraises For Mom Joan’s Beloved Charity; Calls Grief a Process
November 8, 2015 - When actress, comedian, and television host Joan Rivers died on September 4, 2014, she did not only left a legacy of groundbreaking comedy behind, but also a generous philanthropy.
Rivers supported “God’s Love We Deliver” for over 25 years. It is a New York-based charity that was created to provide meals to people who are battling HIV/AIDS. The said charity now helps people with various types of illnesses. It will be recalled that Rivers organized a team that she named “Can We Walk” for the annual “God’s Love Race to Deliver,” which is a four-mile run in Central Park.
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Community Advocates for LGBT Rights Honored
November 7, 2015 - Each of the awards includes a $5,000 grant from the SDHDF to the LGBT/HIV charity of the recipient’s choosing. The black-tie event will feature a cabaret show and entertainment by Broadway
star Andrea McArdle. Since 1996, the SDHDF has raised more than $5 million in grants to address the needs of people living with HIV/ AIDS, according to the foundation.
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How Discordant Couples and HIV Vaccine Research Benefit from Each Other
November 6 2015 - In 2003, an estimated 70 percent to 90 percent of HIV infections in southern Africa occurred in married or cohabitating couples who did not realize that one partner was HIV infected
and the other was not – making transmission in these discordant couples a major contributor to the spread of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Tenofovir Linked with Acute Kidney Injury in HIV-Infected Patients
November 6 2015 - Tenofovir (TDF), a widely-prescribed antiretroviral therapy for patients infected with HIV, is associated with acute kidney injury (AKI), according to a new study that will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2015, held Nov. 3-8, 2015 in San Diego
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New look at PrEP study points to efficacy for transgender women
November 06, 2015 - Suggests need for socio-culturally appropriate delivery models to enhance PrEP use in population extremely vulnerable to HIV
In a new look at the groundbreaking iPrEx trial for people at high risk of HIV infection, UC San Francisco researchers have identified strong evidence of efficacy for transgender women when PrEP, a two-drug antiretroviral used to prevent HIV, is used consistently.
Novel anti-HIV drug Genvoya® received US regulatory approval, JT’s partner Gilead Sciences announced
November 6, 2015 - Genvoya is indicated as a complete regimen for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older who have no antiretroviral treatment history or to replace the current antiretroviral regimen in those
who are virologically-suppressed (HIV-1 RNA less than 50 copies per mL) on a stable antiretroviral regimen for at least six months with no history of treatment failure and no known substitutions associated with resistance to the individual components of
Genvoya. No dosage adjustment of Genvoya is required in patients with estimated creatinine clearance greater than or equal to 30 mL per minute
Why I Wiped HIV Off My Face
November 6th, 2015 - Today, facial lipoatrophy is almost exclusively limited to long-term HIV survivors who used medications like d4t and ddi more than twenty years ago.
I’m one of those long-term survivors. I am proud of my history advocating and living with HIV. But as uncomfortable as it may be to admit, it’s a lot easier to live openly as a person with HIV when you don’t look like it.
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Hormonal contraception safe for women with HIV and may have important health benefits
06 November 2015 - HIV-positive women can safely use hormonal contraception, according to research published in the online edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. Hormonal implants and injectable contraceptives were associated with
a reduced mortality risk, and use of injectables delayed the need for antiretroviral therapy (ART). Pregnancy did not increase the risk of death or the need to start ART, while breastfeeding was protective against both these outcomes.
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Condom shortage hampers India's AIDS fight
November 6 2015 - India provides free condoms under its community-based AIDS prevention program that targets high-risk groups like sex workers. That strategy, the World Bank estimates, helped avert 3 million HIV infections between 1995 and 2015.
But government data released last week showed about two-thirds of India's 31 state AIDS units had less than a month's supply of condoms. Some states only have enough for a few days.
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Govt’s Sustained Support For Persons With HIV/AIDS Hailed
November 6 2015 - The National Family Planning Board (NFPB) is hailing the Government’s commitment to enabling access to treatment for persons living with HIV/AIDS, despite resource constraints.
“We are very happy that the Government continues to support access to treatment because, around the world, many other governments are worried about their ability to continue treatment access to their population,” said Coordinator for the
Greater Involvement of People living with HIV/AIDS (GIPA), Ainsley Reid.
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Insurer removes HIV/AIDS exclusion from emergency travel medical insurance policy
November 6 2015 - In October 2015, RSA Canada advised the OHRC that it had removed the HIV/AIDS exclusion from the emergency travel medical insurance policy, and that individuals with HIV/AIDS will now be treated in the same
way as people with other pre-existing medical conditions.
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Ghana launches 2015 World AIDS DAY
November 6 2015 - The Ghana AIDS Commission has launched the 2015 World AIDS Day on the theme “Fast Truck: Meeting the Health Needs of Children Towards an HIV-Free Generation”.
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VIDEO: Sessions on HIV cure, reservoirs provide masterful overview of research progress
November 5 2015 - SAN DIEGO - In this video with Healio.com, Rajesh Tim Gandhi, MD, provides a survey of the more intriguing aspects of a session on HIV cure and HIV reservoirs held at IDWeek 2015.
Watch Video...
David Hoe is 2015 HALCO Kreppner Award recipient!
November 5 2015 - This year’s Kreppner Award recipient, David Hoe, would have made James very proud. Like James, David is highly troubled by the way in which the criminal law in Canada is being applied to HIV non-disclosure. And like James, David has done his best to bring about fairness and justice.
David, who has been living with HIV since 1984, has for three decades helped lead the fight against HIV/AIDS locally, provincially, and nationally. He was the founding executive director of the AIDS Committee of Ottawa, and served on the steering committee of Opening Doors, a provincial initiative that helps engage social workers and counsellors in caring for people with HIV.
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Towards elimination of HIV reservoirs
5-Nov-2015 - Dual Affinity Re-Targeting molecules bring infected and killer cells together
Tickets for members are priced at $15, and tickets for guests cost $50.
Current antiretroviral therapy can keep HIV in check and prevent AIDS in the vast majority of treated patients. However, as it is unable to eliminate viral reservoirs and cure the infection, patients need
to stay on the life-long treatment, and deal with the potential side effects of drugs and chronic inflammation due to low-level viral infection. A study published on November 5th in PLOS Pathogens reports that engineered
molecules that target both killer T cells and HIV-infected cells that contain viral envelope protein (Env) can induce killing of the HIV-infected cells and further reduce the levels of detectable HIV expression in blood cells taken from HIV-positive patients on antiretroviral therapy.
Members' Holiday Season Dinner
December 3 - 6 pm to 9 pm - Law Courts Inn - 800 Smithe Street
Vancouver, BC
Tickets for members are priced at $15, and tickets for guests cost $50.
The Positive Living BC Members' Holiday Season Dinner is a highlight of the Christmas season calendar.
Positive Living BC will be hosting our annual dinner on Thursday, December 3 at the Law Courts Inn, from 6 pm to 9 pm. Members, join us for a delicious dinner, catch up with friends, and celebrate the holiday season.
Melissa Rivers Fundraises for Mom Joan's Beloved Charity, Talks Honoring Her Legacy: 'Grief Is a Process'
November 05 2015 - For more than 25 years, Rivers supported God's Love We Deliver, a New York-area charity created to provide meals to those battling HIV/AIDS that now serves people with many illnesses.
Ten years ago, she organized the cheekily named "Can We Walk" team for the annual God's Love Race to Deliver, a four-mile run in Central Park.
Read more...
FDA Approves New Treatment for HIV
November 2015 - The FDA approved a fixed-dose combination tablet containing elvitegravir, cobicistat, emtricitabine and tenofovir alafenamide (Genvoya, Gilead) as a complete regimen for the treatment of HIV infection in adults and pediatric patients 12 years
of age and older. It is the first tenofovir alafenamide (TAF)-based regimen to receive FDA approval.
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Fighting ignorance around HIV, AIDS
November 5, 2015 - A RECENT television news report on hundreds of people flocking to a Lusaka church in pursuit of an AIDS cure almost brought me to tears at the thought of how much ignorance still exists.
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Elton John to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow
November 5, 2015 - Sir Elton John says he is currently arranging to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss gay rights.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4, the star said he had now received a genuine call from the president.
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Elton says Queen and Putin could do more on HIV/AIDS stigma
05 November 2015 - Sir Elton John says the Queen and Vladimir Putin can both use their influence to counter anti-gay laws throughout the globe.
Today, John and husband David Furnish will unveil a new partnership between the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
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Lipodystrophy Today: An HIV Doc on Causes, Treatment Options and Long-Term Survival
November 5, 2015 - Long-term HIV survivors are not alone in bearing witness to HIV medications' turbulent history -- and the effects that early meds left on the bodies of those who took them.
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HIV/AIDS increasing in Africa because people are afraid to come out as gay – Elton John
November 5, 2015 - Renowned homosexual and music legend, Sir Elton John has claimed that the spread of HIV/AIDS across the African continent is because Africans are afraid to come out publicly to say they are gay.
He spoke on Thursday when his foundation, the Elton John Aids Foundation, donated $5m to organisations in sub-Saharan Africa providing support to lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender people suffering from AIDS or HIV.
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Top UNAIDS official to visit Caribbean countries
November 05, 2015 - BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (CMC) - The Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Michel Sidibé, will visit several Caribbean islands later this month.
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Patients of non-specialist HIV physicians often have poor ART outcomes and frequently receive sub-optimal care
05 November 2015 - Physician experience is associated with the quality of care provided to HIV-positive patients, new research suggests. Investigators in New York State found that the patients of doctors treating fewer than 20 HIV-positive
outpatients per year had sub-optimal antiretroviral treatment (ART) outcomes, and also received poor quality of care. The study is published in the online edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases.
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Elton says Queen and Putin could do more on HIV/AIDS stigma
05 November 2015 - Sir Elton John says the Queen and Vladimir Putin can both use their influence to counter anti-gay laws throughout the globe.
Today, John and husband David Furnish will unveil a new partnership between the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Read more...
CDC researchers link cancer cells from parasite to human tumors
November 4, 2015 - Unique case raises questions about misdiagnosis and treatment
Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have discovered cancer cells originating in a common tapeworm may take root in people with weakened immune systems, causing cancer-like tumors.
It is the first known case of a person becoming ill from cancer cells that arose in a parasite – in this case, Hymenolepis nana , the dwarf tapeworm.
A 2015 World AIDS Day Message from Dr. Valdiserri
Nov 4, 2015 - Despite the tremendous progress made in understanding and responding to the epidemic over the past three decades, Dr. Valdiserri reminds us that HIV and AIDS
remain important health challenges in the United States and abroad that require our sustained attention and effort.
Why I could die from AIDS in 2015
November 4, 2015 - Why I could die from AIDS in 2015...I am heartbroken over this. Watch, share and use your voice.
THE 21ST INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE TO TAKE PLACE ON 18-22 JULY 2016
4 November 2015 - Durban, South Africa - Historical global conference introduces a fresh approach to the programme
Today the International AIDS Society (IAS) announced final dates for the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016), which will be 18-22 July 2016.
The decision was made as part of a new conference approach that will more fully incorporate several pre-conference meetings into the main conference programme. AIDS 2016 will be hosted in Durban, South Africa.
Red Ribbons 4 Life 8
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29
Columbia Theatre. New Westminster
6 - 10 PM
Red Ribbons 4 Life has now become the largest single, one-night benefit for AIDS in the lower mainland outside the city of Vancouver!
The RED RIBBONS 4 LIFE 8, an evening of remembrance, celebration and entertainment to benefit the Surrey HIV/AIDS Food Bank, will once again feature World renowned Live Female Inmpersonator Bobby Drake, with
Keynote Speaker Dr. Brian Conway MD FRCPC.
Researchers hope new DART protein eventually cures HIV
November 4, 2015 - PARIS - Duke investigators are part of a team that has designed a protein that could someday cure HIV.
The Dual-Affinity Re-Targeting protein is a bi-specific
antibody, meaning it was engineered to bind to two types of molecules simultaneously—HIV-infected cells and T-cells, which are the body’s frontline defense system. By bringing HIV-infected cells close to T-cells, the DART
protein would make it easier for the immune system to eliminate HIV from patients’ bodies. Although medical researchers have already developed treatments to prevent those who are HIV-positive from exhibiting symptoms,
the scientific community has yet to come up with a cure for the disease.
Read more...
NIH to HIV-Positive People: 'DROP DEAD'
By Larry Kramer - November 04 2015 - Thirty-five years of an AIDS epidemic, and there's no cure? That is inexcusable, Larry Kramer tells the National Institutes of Health.
Last year, an estimated two million people were newly infected with the virus worldwide, according to data from UNAIDS. In America, one in eight people infected with HIV do not even know they are infected. One in four new
HIV infections occur among youth and young adults ages 13 to 24. Moreover, there was a 22 percent increase in new HIV infections among gay and bisexual men in this age group between 2008 and 2010. “In 1995, a record 50,877 Americans with AIDS died — a one-year count rivaling the 58,000 Americans lost in the entire Vietnam War.” (Frank Rich, New York)
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France will lift ban on gay male blood donors
November 4, 2015 - PARIS - France will end its ban on blood donations by gay men, its health minister said Wednesday, calling the move the end "of a taboo and discrimination."
Health Minister Marisol Touraine said beginning in the spring of 2016, no blood donors can be refused based on their sexual orientation. She spoke at a meeting in the Health Ministry on Wednesday after experts studied the issue.
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VIDEO: Early ART initiation a step forward on path to ‘AIDS-free generation’
November 3, 2015 - Carlos Malvestutto, MD, MPH, assistant professor in the division of infectious diseases at The Ohio State University and medical director of the Family AIDS Clinic and Education Services at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, discusses the implications of recent findings on antiretroviral therapy initiation.
Although U.S. guidelines endorsing ART for patients with HIV and CD4 counts below 350 were backed by scientific data, Malvestutto explains the recommendation for ART in all infected patents regardless of CD4 count was based on observation and opinion until the “irrefutable evidence” from the randomized controlled START trial.
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Gonorrhea Becoming More Resistant to One Antibiotic: CDC
Nov. 3, 2015 (HealthDay News) - Other effective treatments remain available, but experts say finding is cause for concern
One of several antibiotic treatment options for the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea seems to be losing its effectiveness, U.S. health officials warn in a new report.
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Vancouver's top doc urges Trudeau's Liberals to repeal ban on safe injection sites
November 3, 2015 - Vancouver’s top doctor is calling for the new federal Liberal government to scrap a law she said was designed to ban supervised heroin injection sites and to allow more sites to open across B.C.
Dr. Patricia Daly, chief medical health officer of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, said B.C. needs more sites like Insite, the first and only government-approved supervised injection site in North America, because evidence shows it helps save addicts’ lives.
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Updated HIV Treatment Guidelines Pose Some Challenges for Kenya
November 03, 2015 — Kenya faces some challenges in implementing new guideline standards for HIV treatment recently announced by the World Health Organization.
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First Investigational All Injectable Long Acting HIV Combination Regimen Study Results at 32 Weeks Announced
CORK, Ireland, Nov. 3, 2015 /CNW/ - Injectable combinations once every 4 or 8 weeks show comparable efficacy versus daily oral combination therapy
Janssen Sciences Ireland UC, one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson (Janssen), announced that Phase IIb data studying a combination regimen of two
investigational long acting, injectable formulations of HIV medicines-Janssen's rilpivirine and ViiV Healthcare's cabotegravir-given together every 4 or 8 weeks show comparable efficacy to a
daily oral regimen of three HIV medicines (investigational cabotegravir and two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs)). The full results of the study, named LATTE 2, co-funded by Janssen and ViiV Healthcare will be presented at a forthcoming scientific conference.
Stronger interventions for HIV patients may prevent up to 752,000 new infections
November 2, 2015 - A computer model developed at Johns Hopkins University estimated that strengthening programs to keep patients with HIV engaged in lifetime care plus enhanced screening would prevent 720,000 new HIV infections and 276,000 AIDS-related deaths over a 20-year duration, according to a recent study.
“Despite having good treatments available, current reports suggest that fewer than half of individuals who need therapy are actually getting appropriate HIV medicine to control their virus, leading to more transmission of disease,” Maunank Shah, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said
in a press release. “The engagement in care of individuals infected with HIV is not what it could or should be.”
Read more...
Ottawa’s STI rates on the rise: report
Nov. 2, 2015 - Ottawa Public Health is looking for ways to address limited access to sexual health clinics.
Ottawa Public Health staff is recommending a new sexual health strategy that targets “priority” groups who carry a disproportionately high rate of sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs) including gonorrhea, chlamydia, HIV, hepatitis B and C, herpes simplex virus and syphilis.
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HIV scientists launch 23 million euro project to develop vaccine
2-Nov-2015 - A new 23 million euro initiative to accelerate the search for an effective HIV vaccine begins today.
A new 23 million euro initiative to accelerate the search for an effective HIV vaccine begins today.
Financed by the European Commission, the European AIDS Vaccine Initiative (EAVI2020) brings together leading HIV researchers from public organisations and biotech companies from across
Europe, Australia, Canada and the USA in a focused effort to develop protective and therapeutic HIV vaccines.
Priorities for HIV care: the perspectives of healthcare providers and patients
02 November 2015 - Virological suppression and co-morbidities are the main focus of consultations between HIV healthcare providers (HCPs) and their patients, according to results of a study conducted by NAM and presented to the recent
15th European AIDS Conference held in Barcelona. Almost 90% of HCPs said the main focus of appointments with patients taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) who had a detectable viral load was treatment adherence. For ART-treated patients with virological suppression, discussions primarily focused on co-morbidities.
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YEMEN: Providing Antiretroviral Treatment in a War Zone
Published on Nov 2, 2015 - In the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, more than 1,300 people living with HIV/AIDS are receiving antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, around half of them in the capital,
Sana'a. With the outbreak of the war in March 2015, ensuring the continuity of the treatment is a critical challenge.
SF Aims to completely halt HIV/AIDS transmission
November 2, 2015 - San Francisco officials set a goal to become the first city ever to halt HIV/AIDS transmissions, part of the “Getting To Zero” initiative announced last week at City Hall and backed by $1.7 million in new funding.
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FDA issues guidelines for HIV drugs
11/02/15 - The FDA guidance issued Monday will provide recommendations for drug manufacturers developing HIV therapeutic biologic products and antiretroviral drugs.
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Local enema syringe plays role in HIV/AIDS transmission - Dr Sowah
Nov 02, 2015 - Dr Sowa said the investigations revealed that the entire household was using a common syringe for enema for herbal treatment; therefore the three were tested of the disease which proved positive.
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