NewsTrust - HIV/AIDS - Most Recent Stories: News (Independent)

A cure for AIDS?

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

cosmos Magazine - By Jon Cohen - Dec. 16 (Special Report) - Researchers are pursuing radical new ways to control the infection entirely.

NewsTrust Rating: 2.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

First HIV-Positive Man Cured

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Carly Schwartz - Dec. 14 (News Report) - On the heels of World AIDS Day comes a stunning medical breakthrough: Doctors believe an HIV-positive man who underwent a stem cell transplant has been cured as a result of the procedure. Timothy Ray Brown, also known as the "Berlin Patient," received the transplant in 2007 as part of a lengthy treatment course for leukaemia. His doctors recently published a report in the journal Blood affirming that the results of extensive testing "strongly suggest that cure of HIV infection has been achieved." While Brown is the first person to ever be declared cured of HIV, his case paves a path for cons

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Lifesaving Drug Praziquantel Too Expensive for Africa

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Miller-McCune - By Melinda Burns - Oct. 03 (Special Report) - "Schistosomiasis is a far more important disease than we ever realized,” said Peter Hotez, one author of the commentary and the chairman of the department of microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine at The George Washington University. “The failure of the global community to provide access to this essential medicine is impeding sustainable development in Africa"

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

AIDS Activists Sound the Alarm on Obama's Budget | OneWorld.net (U.S.)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

OneWorld - Jul. 10 (News Report) - Over two dozen AIDS activists were arrested just outside the U.S. Capitol building yesterday while protesting President Barack Obama's failure to honor his campaign promises of increased funding for AIDS programs. During the election, Obama pledged to spend over $1 billion a year on global AIDS and to fully fund housing for HIV-positive people in need. Activists say the administration's 2010 budget proposal does not live up to these promises.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.2 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Is HIV becoming more virulent? | Mystery Rays from Outer Space

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

iayork.com - By Iayork - Apr. 16 (Not sure) - iruses (and other pathogens, of course) can become more or less virulent over time. This is generally a side effect; the virus couldn’t care less whether it kills its host or not, but it does care deeply about how well it is transmitted to new hosts, because if that’s not efficient then the virus will die out.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

AIDS battle burnishes Bush's legacy in Africa

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

ledger-dispatch.com - By Clare Nullis - Jan. 08 (News Report) - In her AIDS-scarred South African township, Sweetness Mzolisa leads a chorus of praise for George W. Bush that echoes to the deserts of Namibia, the hills of Rwanda and the villages of Ethiopia. Like countless Africans, Mzolisa looks forward to Barack Obama becoming America's first black president Jan 20. But - like countless Africans - Mzolisa says she will always be grateful to Bush for his war on AIDS, which has helped to treat more than 2 million Africans, support 10 million more, and revitalize the global fight against the disease. "It has done a lot for the people of South Africa, for the whole of the African continent," says Mzolisa, a feisty mother of seven. "It has changed so many people's lives, saved so many people's lives."

NewsTrust Rating: 3.5 average - 4 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Radical Nun Pushes Condoms

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Religion Dispatches - By Sara Friedman - Feb. 21 (Special Report) - Told that a group of prostituted women were praying the novena to bring a lot of customers for the night, [Sister Sol] is reported to have said: Hayaan mo lnag sila. (Let them be).

NewsTrust Rating: 4.8 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Ugandan Love Letters Pull Men to Fetal Heartbeats

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Women's eNews - By Rachel Scheier - Dec. 16 (News Report) - When a pregnant woman arrives alone at a clinic in eastern Uganda, she returns home with a "love letter" to her husband or boyfriend inviting him to join her. It's designed to enlist more men in the African battle on AIDS and maternal mortality.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.4 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Giuliani's Awful Record on HIV/AIDS

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 10:01:29 -0800

American Prospect - By Andrew Green - Nov. 17 (Special Report) - Up to now Giuliani's AIDS policy has been, at best, poorly defined. Though he's expressed an interest in continuing and possibly expanding the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), it's apparent Giuliani has thought little about what that actually means. He hasn't outlined a prevention strategy or talked about whether he plans to expand treatment options. When asked this summer about increasing federal support for HIV/AIDS medications, Giuliani's convoluted response touched on terrorism and his mayoralty, but did not include an actual answer to the question. There's nary a mention of an HIV/AIDS policy on his Web site. His lack of investment or concern about the issue leaves him vulnerable to insiders like Pipes whose business-first agendas are prepackaged.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Organ Transplants Seen as Treatment in HIV/AIDS Patients

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 11:33:37 -0700

Associated Content - By Regina Sass - Sep. 16 (News Report) - It has long been believed that organ transplants were not a viable option for HIV patients. Now, because of the use of new clinical approaches, there have been good results in HIV patients who need kidney or liver transplants. The development of new treatments such as the anti-HIV drug combinations known as highly active antiretroviral therapy or HAART for short, have been instrumental in reducing the risk of death from AIDS and other conditions that are prevalent in patients with HIV. With these therapies, HIV patients are living longer, but the longer life span puts them at risk of developing complications that are related to HIV including kidney and liver diseases like hepatitis B and C. Also the drugs that are helping them live longer also have the ability to cause toxic effects on the liver, adding to the damage that is caused by hepatitis. There has been progress made in several areas that are making transplants a more feasible option for HIV patients. One of them is the ability of HAART to control HIV infections. Another is the improved measures that can prevent infections. Studies that have been done after the HAART measures were implemented have shown some great results. For instance, one study of liver transplants in HIV patients showed that the 3 year survival rate was 73%. This figure is about the same as the survival rate in liver transplant patients who do not have HIV. Because of the development of HAART and the research projects that show the possibility of success, transplant centers are taking a new look at the HIV patient as a candidate for transplant. Still, in most cases, the patient must have undetectable HIV levels before they can be considered for a kidney transplant. There are exceptions made for patients who have liver damage that has been caused by HAART drugs, but not in all cases.

NewsTrust Rating: 2.8 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Prominent black and Hispanic women in Western New York lead the effort for HIV testing by example

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 15:02:05 -0700

The Buffalo News - By Vanessa Thomas - Jul. 30 (News Report) - The Bible says Jesus Christ led by example when he healed lepers, embraced the poor, ministered to prostitutes and fought against the injustices of oppression. Eight women of color -- all prominent Western New Yorkers -- apparently took that message to heart when they decided to get tested for HIV during a service at a Buffalo church in a bid to encourage the community to follow their lead. Sunday, these women stood at the lectern of True Bethel Baptist Church, 907 E. Ferry St., a mostly black congregation on the city's East Side. More than 700 people in the audience watched as the women were given an oral swab for their HIV tests.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.4 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings hosts community forum on HIV/AIDS in Fort Lauderdale

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 06:59:36 -0700

Sun-Sentinel - By Elizabeth Baier - Jul. 29 (News Report) - U.S. Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, D-Miramar, hosted the panel discussion on "Reclaiming Our Community: Combating HIV/AIDS in Our Backyard" at the African-American Research Library. Blacks in South Florida are more than three times as likely as whites and Hispanics to have HIV, according to a 2006 report by the Florida Department of Health. The Broward County Health Department estimates blacks make up almost 51 percent of the county's 6,877 reported HIV cases as of June 30. For the last 15 years, HIV/AIDS has been the leading cause of death among blacks ages 25 to 44, according to the Florida Department of Health's Bureau of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

War may trigger AIDS epidemic: UN official

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 07:02:08 -0700

The Sunday Times Online - By Tharangani Perera - Jul. 29 (News Report) - An estimated 5000 Sri Lankans may be infected with HIV, an official disclosed yesterday and warned that the war situation might lead to an epidemic of this killer disease, Joint United Nations Programme HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) for Sri Lanka Country Coordinator David Bridger said as verified by the National STD/AIDS Control Programme's HIV/AIDS Surveillance Data, since the first case of HIV/AIDS in Sri Lanka was reported in 1987, only 886 patients were confirmed as HIV positive cases. However, these test results did not show the number of HIV positive cases identified by private clinics around the country. "According to the estimate made every two years by UNAIDS and the Government of Sri Lanka in recognition of potential under-documentation, somewhere between 3000 and 8000 Sri Lankans may be infected with the disease," Mr. Bridger said. In the first half of the year, 48 HIV victims have been identified and approximately 80 patients are currently being treated with free anti-retroviral drugs provided by the Government. 60% of the HIV positive cases were reported from the Western Province, although some of the reported cases are believed to reside in other provinces.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Unlicensed Drug Importers Selling Antiretrovirals in Zimbabwe, Medicines Control Authority Says

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 10:19:45 -0700

Kaisernetwork.org - Jul. 27 (News Report) - Unlicensed drug importers illegally are selling antiretroviral drugs in Zimbabwe at unregulated locations like flea markets and hair salons, the country's Medicines Control Authority said recently, Zimbabwe's Financial Gazette reports. Some health experts warn that the nonprescription antiretrovirals could result in the development of widespread drug resistance. According to some health professionals, the circulation of illegal medication is a reflection of the collapse of the government's health care infrastructure, as well as severe deficiencies in controlling the drugs' manufacture and importation (Financial Gazette, 7/26).

NewsTrust Rating: 3.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Voice and Visibility

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 16:31:56 -0700

Internews.org - By Sara Friedman, Jackie Davies - Jul. 26 (Special Report) - This summary presents good news and bad news. Most respondents report improvements over the past decade in the accuracy, depth and sensitivity of local media coverage of HIV/AIDS. However, PLHIV still struggle with stigmatizing media coverage and program managers see too few stories on HIV/AIDS being told with accuracy, depth, local relevance and insufficient frequency. All respondents urge the news media to expand its coverage of HIV/AIDS to include more participatory media formats (such as live call-in programs and talk shows) as well as news stories that accurately highlight the voices of PLHIV. Survey respondents acknowledge that the most well-intentioned journalists face their own challenges in the form of a lack of resources and lack of sufficient interest by their editors and owners. In developing countries, a lack of resources is of particular concern and negatively affects the quality of reporting evidenced in the poor survey ratings for local media's coverage of HIV/AIDS.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average - 4 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

City's HIV epidemic said to be over

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:10:25 -0700

Bay Area Reporter - By Matthew S. Bajko - Jul. 26 (Special Report) - Speaking at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation gala in May, the agency's executive director did not mince words. Two sentences into his speech that night, Mark Cloutier made a startling announcement. "The HIV epidemic is over. Yes. The HIV epidemic in San Francisco is over," said Cloutier, according to a copy of his prepared remarks. Instead, Cloutier and other health officials now consider HIV to be endemic in the city, meaning it is a disease that persists in the community without substantially increasing or decreasing over time.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.2 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

AIDS Drugs Needed for Children

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 07:51:35 -0700

Inter Press Service - By Neena Bhandari - Jul. 25 (News Report) - The 4th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention concluded here Wednesday with a call for antiretroviral drugs developed specifically for HIV-infected children. "We must do more to protect our future, finding better ways to treat the youngest among us and pursuing integrated prevention strategies grounded in behaviour change and biomedical science," said IAS president Dr Pedro Cahn, conference co-chair and director of Fundación Huesped in Argentina. As many as 2.3 million children are living with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), with around 600,000 new infections each year. As many as 780,000 children need antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, but only 15 percent of the global need is being met. In sub-Saharan Africa, children represent 14 percent of people who need antiretroviral treatment, but only six percent of those receive it.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average - 5 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

After 26 years, how does HIV really cause AIDS?

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 06:48:48 -0700

Earth Times - By Dpa - Jul. 25 (News Report) - More than 26 years into the AIDS epidemic, 25 million deaths later, and with an estimated 40 million people currently living with HIV/AIDS, we still don't know exactly how the human immunodeficiency virus causes AIDS. There is absolutely no doubt that HIV does cause AIDS, scientists at the 4th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention said. But we still do not understand exactly how HIV infection leads to progressive immune deficiency, how the virus fundamentally interacts with the immune system, said Michael Lederman, professor of medicine and pathology at Case Western Reserve University.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.2 average - 8 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

HIV Medicine Association, Other Groups Oppose Bush Surgeon General Nominee

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 14:40:14 -0700

Kaisernetwork.org - Jul. 12 (News Analysis) - The HIV Medicine Association and other groups -- including the American Public Health Association and some gay and lesbian organizations -- have announced their opposition to President Bush's surgeon general nominee, James Holsinger, ahead of his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, Reuters/Scientific American reports (Dunham, Reuters/Scientific American, 7/11). Thirty-five House members also have expressed their opposition to Holsinger's nomination, according to the AP/International Herald Tribune (AP/International Herald Tribune, 7/12). Bush nominated Holsinger on May 24 to succeed former Surgeon General Richard Carmona, who ended his term last year with no replacement. HIVMA, APHA, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and other groups in their opposition to Holsinger cite in part a document he wrote in 1991 called the "Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality," according to Reuters/Scientific American. The document was written to a United Methodist Church panel studying homosexuality (Reuters/Scientific American, 7/11). In the document, which focuses on anatomy and the reproductive system, Holsinger wrote that the "varied sexual practices of homosexual men have resulted in a diverse and expanded concept of sexually transmitted disease and associated trauma" (AP/International Herald Tribune, 7/12). Holsinger also called anal sex unnatural and gave an anatomical explanation.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.2 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Democratic Debate Part 3

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 12:25:02 -0700

FactCheck - By Brooks Jackson, Viveca Novak, Justin Bank, Jessica Henig, Emi Kolawole, Joe Miller, Lori Robertson, Carolyn Auwaerter, Allie Berkson - Jul. 01 (Special Report) - Most of the factual claims that we were able to check were accurate, or reasonably close. What we're unable to check out, lacking a time machine, is whether any of these candidates can deliver on some of the expensive promises they are making. The promises include universal health care, day care and college opportunities for all children, rebuilding New Orleans, and a new U.S. military effort to enforce a "no fly" zone in Sudan, among other things.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average - 11 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Bringing HIV Prevention to Scale: An Urgent Global Priority

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:07:14 -0700

Global HIV Prevention Working Group - Jun. 29 (Special Report) - We should be winning in HIV prevention. There are effective means to prevent every mode of transmission; political commitment on HIV has never been stronger; and financing for HIV programs in low- and middle- income countries increased sixfold between 2001 and 2006. However, while attention to the epidemic, particularly for treatment access, has increased in recent years, the effort to reduce HIV incidence is faltering. For every patient who initiated antiretroviral therapy in 2006, six other individuals became infected with HIV (1, 2). If current trends continue, it is projected that 60 million more HIV infections will occur by 2015, and the annual number of new HIV infections will increase by 20% or more by 2012. Unless the number of new infections is sharply reduced, global efforts to make AIDS treatment widely available will become increasingly difficult, and millions more people may die as a result of preventable HIV infections. The dramatic rise in antiretroviral coverage, with global access increasing from 8% to 28% between 2003 and 2006, illustrates what the world can accomplish with strong global commitment, increased financing, and collective action. To date, a similar confluence of forces has not been applied to HIV prevention. This challenge, pivotal to the future health and well-being of millions, is the focus of this report by the Global HIV Prevention Working Group. It offers a new analysis that examines the future course of the epidemic with and without a greatly scaled-up prevention response; surveys the latest evidence on HIV prevention access; reviews the experience in countries where such barriers have been overcome; and closes with a series of urgent recommendations to bring the promise of HIV prevention to the countries and communities that need it the most. As the report shows, even in the midst of global failure to make optimal use of available prevention strategies, a number of countries, including some of the world's poorest, have made tangible progress in reducing the number of new HIV infections through implementation of comprehensive HIV prevention efforts. Strong evidence and replicable models exist for HIV prevention scale-up, underscoring the need to move beyond localized pilot projects to broad-based, comprehensive national programs. If comprehensive HIV prevention were brought to scale, half of the infections projected to occur by 2015 could be averted. We believe that the future need not be a legacy of the past.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.5 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Gates funds HIV/AIDS vaccine research

Sun, 20 May 2007 16:03:24 -0700

The Money Times - By Anshul Sood - May. 20 (News Report) - The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation has received a five-year, $9.7-million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to study ways of preventing HIV/AIDS transmission to children via breast milk. The endeavor supported by the grant will be the first of its kind to support eight basic and pre-clinical research studies exploring critical questions about breast milk transmission of HIV, pediatric immune responses, identification of appropriate vaccine candidates for pediatric populations, and clinical-trial optimization. It will also support up to three Phase I clinical trials of vaccine candidates - that is, testing in a relatively small group of humans, usually healthy, to learn how the vaccines affect the body and to establish that the vaccines are generally safe. The program shall fund clinical trials utilizing products that have been safely tested on adults previously. The best products, as advised by an advisory board, will move forward. The trials shall be conducted in selective study sites complying with the highest ethical standards. The volunteers will be offered high standard care and support at that site and participants will be followed for up to two years once entering the study.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.2 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Lost in America

Wed, 09 May 2007 20:55:36 -0700

POZ - By Sally Chew - May. 09 (Special Report) - Last World AIDS Day, December 1, President Bush vowed to lift the ban on short-term visits by people with HIV. With Congress also facing a sprawling agenda of immigration issues, policy changes are likely this year or next. What's not expected to ease up anytime soon is the difficulty of shouldering two such challenging statuses at one time: being HIV positive and being from somewhere else without documentation.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.6 average - 5 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Biologists Discover Why 10 Percent Of Europeans Are Safe From HIV Infection

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 11:23:50 -0700

ScienceDaily - Apr. 30 (News Report) - Biologists at the University of Liverpool have discovered how the plagues of the Middle Ages have made around 10% of Europeans resistant to HIV. Scientists have known for some time that these individuals carry a genetic mutation (known as CCR5-delta 32) that prevents the virus from entering the cells of the immune system but have been unable to account for the high levels of the gene in Scandinavia and relatively low levels in areas bordering the Mediterranean.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer