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1 AUGUST, VOLUME 15, ISSUE 31

Media Coverage

  • Uganda court invalidates anti-gay law

    A Ugandan court on Friday invalidated an anti-gay bill signed into law earlier this year, saying it was illegally passed and is therefore unconstitutional. The panel of five judges on the East African country's Constitutional Court said the speaker of parliament acted illegally when she allowed a vote on the measure despite at least three objections over lack of a quorum.
    August 1, 2014
    ABC News

  • Whether it's polio, HPV or HIV 'crazy myths' about vaccines run wild on social media

    Scientists often think the health benefits of vaccines are obvious. But they are not. Disease prevention advocate, Mitchell Warren, says social media will help - if we can harness it.

    August 1, 2014
    Deutsche Welle

  • HIV/AIDS update (Science Friday)

    This month, a baby that was thought to be "cured" of HIV had the virus later detected in her blood, and the World Health Organization recommended that at-risk men should take Truvada, a drug that can prevent HIV infection. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute on Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Antonio Urbina of Mount Sinai Hospital, discuss what these announcements mean for HIV/AIDS research and prevention.

    July 31, 2014
    NPR Science Friday

  • ‘Zambia on path to HIV-free generation’

    US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) outgoing country director Lawrence Marum says Zambia is on a path to becoming the first country to achieve an HIV-free generation. “The partnership with the Ministry of Health and co-investment that the Government of Zambia has made in fighting HIV gives hope that Zambia will be one of the first countries to truly achieve an AIDS-free generation,” he said.
     
    July 31, 2014
    Zambia Daily Mail

  • Census bureau updates interactive HIV/AIDS database

    The US Census Bureau on July 21, released its annually updated interactive global resource on the prevalence of HIV infection and AIDS cases and deaths. First developed in 1987, the database now holds more than 164,000 statistics, an increase of approximately 5,900 new estimates in the last year, and is the most comprehensive resource of its kind in the world.
    July 31, 2014
    Outword

  • Need for scaled up combination prevention for sex workers, Indian and Central American studies show

    Presentations given at a session considering HIV prevention strategies among female sex workers, which took place July 24 at the 20th International AIDS Conference, show that while consistent condom use is generally high among female sex workers (FSW), other barriers remain to effective prevention of HIV transmission and to care for those who are HIV positive.
    July 31, 2014
    Combination Prevention
    AIDSmap

  • Multipurpose prevention technologies for HIV and STIs in spotlight at AIDS 2014

    Women of reproductive age have a need for prevention of sexually transmitted infections including HIV, and family planning methods. More importantly, women need prevention tools/methods that are under their control and do not leave them at the mercy of their partner, in as far as their sexual and reproductive health is concerned. Dr Elizabeth Bukusi, Deputy Director, Kenya Medical Research Institute, spoke to Citizen News Service (CNS) at 20th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2014).
    July 31, 2014
    Citizen News Service

  • Dissolvable fabric loaded with medicine might offer faster protection against HIV

    Soon, protection from HIV infection could be as simple as inserting a medicated, disappearing fabric minutes before having sex. University of Washington bioengineers have discovered a potentially faster way to deliver a topical drug that protects women from contracting HIV. Their method spins the drug into silk-like fibers that quickly dissolve when in contact with moisture, releasing higher doses of the drug than possible with other topical materials such as gels or creams.
    July 30, 2014
    Infection Control Today

  • Scientists call for new strategy in pursuit of HIV-free generation

    In light of the recent news that HIV has been detected in the Mississippi baby previously thought to have been cured of the disease, researchers are assessing how to help those born to HIV-infected mothers. These infants around the world are in need of new immune-based protective strategies, including vaccines delivered to mothers and babies and the means to boost potentially protective maternal antibodies, say researchers who write in the Cell Press journal Trends in Microbiology on July 30th.
    July 30, 2014
    Medical Express

  • Merck aims to boost HPV vaccination rates amid lagging numbers

    Though Merck's Gardasil tops the company's best-selling vaccines list and has already achieved blockbuster sales, the drug giant has a long way to go if it wants to increase US immunization rates against human papillomavirus. The company got disappointing news after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported July 25 in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that overall vaccination rates against HPV remain well below the health agency's target.....
    July 30, 2014
    HPV Vaccines
    FierceVaccines

  • Gilead bags a portfolio of HIV-neutralizing antibodies

    Gilead has picked up the exclusive rights to develop a set of HIV-neutralizing antibodies discovered at Theraclone in collaboration with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and The Scripps Research Institute. Seattle-based Theraclone...picked up an unspecified set of milestones and an upfront payment in the deal. "Through our innovative I-STAR technology, we are able to uncover unique antibodies that have the capacity to neutralize viruses, such as HIV, that are known to mutate and evade current therapies," said Theraclone CEO....
    July 30, 2014
    Fierce Biotech

  • HIV funding worries in Kenya

    The US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR), the biggest funder of HIV programmes in Kenya, is set to significantly scale down its funding, a move activists and government officials believe could negatively affect the country’s fight against the disease....PEPFAR funds 70 percent of Kenya’s HIV programmes....In 2013, the government estimated that its funding gap for HIV was US$1.67 billion. 
     
    July 30, 2014
    IRIN

  • Botched circumcision fears prompt men to opt for clinics

    On 16 July, the South African Press Association reported that botched traditional had killed at least 35 boys and sent another 180 to the hospital in the Eastern Cape. Reports like that have made 20-year-old Ronnie Mothusi from Soshanguve outside Pretoria think twice about following the age-old custom.

    July 30, 2014
    Health-e

  • 'HIV global death estimates are wrong'

    The researcher behind a recent Lancet study says we have overestimated AIDS epidemic and underestimated malaria deaths.

    July 29, 2014
    Guardian Professional

  • Heightened HIV risk for people with disabilities

    Inaccessible health services for people with disabilities (PWD), combined with social stigma and violence, contribute to high HIV risk - a gap that must be filled if the disabled are not to remain disproportionately vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, say health experts and activists.
    July 29, 2014
    IRIN

  • Circumcision yields results as Ebola threatens

    A new study by the University of Illinois indicates that circumcised men do not only lower chances of getting HIV by 60% but also are less likely to engage in unprotected sex. Also health statistics from the Rwanda Biomedical Centre indicate that over 330,000 people in Rwanda have undergone male circumcision as an HIV/Aids prevention strategy between 2010 to June this year.
     
    July 28, 2014
    New Times

  • US firm to deliver HIV/AIDS services in Uganda

    The US Government has contracted an American firm to implement HIV/AIDS programs in Uganda after terminating its partnership with the Inter Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) for backing the anti-gay law.
    July 26, 2014
    New Vision

  • This won't be the AIDS-free generation

    ...At the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia, this week, young people from over 50 countries gathered to make sure the issues of their generation were heard. The numbers are quite startling. Globally, 5 million young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are living with HIV,...41% of all new infections....
    July 26, 2014
    CNN

  • Three HIV insights from sombre global meeting

    Three major cure stories unfolded at [this week's] 20th International AIDS Meeting: 1) HIV establishes secure hiding places from the immune system extremely early after infection; 2) to eliminate such reservoirs seems the only way to a cure, and scientists reported progress in this direction; and 3) other researchers are testing gene therapy to cure HIV, for instance by modifying immune cells so they become resistant to the virus....Neither strategy is yet being tested in patients, but offer a reminder that the HIV cure field is far from exhausting all
    July 24, 2014
    Nature

  • AIDS 2014: Antiretroviral treatment update kicks off final plenary session

    Professor David Cooper kicked off the final opening plenary in Melbourne today with a review on antiretroviral therapy including a look at recommended drug regimens for first- and second-line treatment, the impact of antiretroviral therapy on transmission and the state of treatment roll out....Concluding his talk, he expressed concern about flat funding for the global AIDS response.
    July 24, 2014
    Science Speaks

  • Health advocates urge better education to curb China’s AIDS infections

    China has a relatively low prevalence of HIV positive citizens, with fewer than point-one (0.1) percent of adults infected. But the number of AIDS cases continues to rise, and health advocates blame a lack of education and prevention. 

     

    July 24, 2014
    VOA News

  • Celgene cancer drug may be able to wake up dormant HIV so it can be detected

    An anti-cancer drug made by the US biotech firm Celgene can re-activate hidden HIV in patients so that it can be detected, bringing researchers closer to being able to treat it, Danish scientists said on Tuesday. In a small study presented at an international AIDS conference in Australia, the researchers said the finding was a "step in the right direction" toward finding a cure for the viral disease but that many years of research are still needed....
     
    July 22, 2014
    MedCity News

  • AIDS conference hears why Ghana police chief carries bag of condoms

    The chief superintendent of the anti-narcotics department of the Ghanaian police force, Jones Blantari, carries some special ammunition on his weapons holster – a bag full of condoms. It’s a bold move, when the condom carries such negative religious and moral connotations among people in his country....Which is why Blantari and... officers in other countries...are deliberately choosing not to enforce certain laws that further stigmatise at-risk communities, forcing them away from treatment.  
    July 21, 2014
    Guardian

  • Former US president vows to support Vietnam in combating HIV/AIDS

    The Clinton Foundation will maximize its support for Vietnam in preventing and fighting against HIV/ AIDS, malaria and other infectious diseases, former US president Bill Clinton said here Friday. At a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Hanoi, Clinton said his foundation is ready to cooperate with the relevant Vietnamese agencies and enterprises to provide and then help Vietnam produce HIV/AIDS medicines.... 

    July 18, 2014
    Xinhua

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