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3 JULY 2014, VOLUME 15, ISSUE 27

Media Coverage

  • Number of new HIV cases drops in District

    New HIV/AIDS data released by the D.C. government Wednesday shows fewer new cases and fewer deaths in 2013 than in years prior, but infection levels remain at epidemic rates in the District, officials said....

    July 3, 2014
    Washington Post

  • HIV research fraud highlights scramble for federal science grant money

    News of an Iowa scientist’s fraudulent research, once touted as a promising development in the quest for an HIV vaccine, has left his peers disappointed and worried about the fallout. Mahmoud Ghannoum, an HIV researcher at Case Western University, told Healthline that the actions of Iowa State University scientist Dong-Pyou Han will fuel mistrust among lawmakers already wary of the benefits of funding scientific research.
     

     

    July 3, 2014
    HIV Vaccine
    Healthline

  • How the Hobby Lobby decision could undermine the fight against HIV/AIDS

    The Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision might make it harder for millions of LGBT Americans to access treatment that could revolutionize the fight against HIV/AIDS. The Supreme Court's decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. has sparked debate over whether the court's opinion grants business owners the right to discriminate against LGBT customers and employees on religious grounds.

    July 3, 2014

  • Zimbabwe: 'Women fear pregnancy more than HIV infection'

    HIV and AIDS researchers are looking into developing [HIV] prevention products that can also be used to prevent pregnancies....Speaking in Harare, Dr Nyaradzo Mgodi, director for a collaboration between the University of Zimbabwe and University of California-San Francisco, said studies showed that women were more worried of getting pregnant than being infected by HIV [and that] African women had problems taking prevention products daily and preferred products they could take once for a long period....
     

    July 2, 2014
    Herald/Zimbabwe

  • Labor says Federal Budget is “concerning” for HIV sector

    HIV prevention efforts could be hampered by the introduction of the new $7 GP co-payment and funding cuts in the recent Federal Budget, Shadow Health Minister Catherine King has told the Star Observer. The Labor health chief’s comments follow a meeting in Sydney with a number of groups including health body ACON, the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO), the National Association of People With HIV Australia and Organisation Intersex International....
     
    “I think it’s really concerning,” said King.

    July 2, 2014
    Star Observer

  • Implantable ring shows promise for HIV prevention

    A novel intravaginal ring implanted with anti-retroviral drug tablets, or pods, demonstrated sustained and controlled drug release and safety over 28 days, according to a paper published ahead of print in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. The ring, designed to prevent transmission of HIV, was tested in pig-tailed macaque monkeys, and is engineered to be inexpensive, all the better for use in developing countries, says corresponding author Marc Baum....

    July 2, 2014
    Microbicides
    Medical Design Technology

  • While Uganda, Nigeria organizations confront civil society crackdowns, a reporting system offers answers, pundits ponder snubs and sanctions . . . We’re reading about responses to rights restrictions

    An overview of recent coverage of anti-homosexuality laws and responses. This overview also includes coverage on the impact of anti-homosexuality laws on the HIV epidemic.

    July 2, 2014
    Science Speaks

  • HIV prophylaxis may cut herpes risk

    Drug therapy to prevent HIV infection also appeared to reduce risk of herpes simplex 2 (HSV-2), among heterosexual men and women in a large randomized trial, according to Connie Celum,  University of Washington....The protective effect -- 33% in those with documented exposures to HSV-2 -- is the "first evidence of efficacy" of tenofovir-based PrEP against HSV-2 in a heterosexual population with high adherence. The finding is consistent with the 51% protection seen in the 2010 trial of tenofovir gel....

    July 1, 2014
    PrEP
    MedPage Today

  • Three babies given vaccine hours after birth considered HIV-free

    Researchers says that three babies born in Canada to AIDS-infected mothers were declared HIV-free after receiving a new vaccine within hours of entering the world. A fourth baby injected with the same treatment was discovered to have only a “very low level” of the virus, researchers said, the Daily Mail reported. The findings are going to be formally presented at the AIDS 2014 conference in Melbourne, Australia. Medical officials are optimistic, but they still hesitate to label the vaccine a cure.

    July 1, 2014
    HIV Vaccine
    Washington Times

  • Mulanje drills sports youths in HIV prevention and sports club management

    Training sports men in HIV prevention and sports club management is one of the ways of improving sporting activities among youths, Mulanje District sports office has said. Sports Officer for Mulanje Rita Rino made the remarks during HIV prevention and sports club management training for lead sports personnel held recently in the district with an aim of enhancing behavior change among youths in the sports circles...at a time the district is maintaining a higher prevalence rate of 17.6 percent....

    July 1, 2014
    Malawi News Agency

  • The join-In-circuit on AIDS, love and sexuality (J-IC) In Ghana

    The National Centre for Health Education in Germany (BZgA) developed the Join-In Circuit (J-IC) concept, a mobile learning system on the core topics of reproductive health and HIV/AIDS, which targets especially young people for behavioral change....Mr Hamza Abass, Executive Director of Hats Community Empowerment Programme (HACEP-Ghana), an NGO, said that in 2001, the German Technical Co-operation (GTZ) entered into partnership with the BZgA to support national initiatives that fell in line with HIV prevention to reduce the pandemic....
     

    July 1, 2014
    HACEP-Ghana

  • People with higher education, jobs face greater risk of HIV infection, says study

    According to the Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey 2012, 40 per cent of men have four or more sexual partners in their lifetime, compared to 10 per cent for women of the same age....Among women, HIV prevalence was highest among those reporting secondary or higher education. Among men, HIV prevalence was highest among those who had completed primary education. Among workers, HIV prevalence among adults and adolescents who were currently employed was significantly higher than among the unemployed....
     

    July 1, 2014
    Daily Nation

  • HIV in the Middle East: Women at risk

    Although the incidence of HIV in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is one of the lowest globally...that does not mean that the spread of HIV isn’t a threat.

    June 30, 2014
    Houston Chronicle

  • HIV prevention drug Truvada might lower genital herpes risk, too

    A combination drug used to treat and prevent HIV — Truvada — may have an additional benefit: lowering the risk of a genital herpes infection, a new study suggests. Researchers found that African heterosexuals who were at risk of getting HIV from their partners were about 30 percent less likely to get infected with genital herpes if they took the drug tenofovir alone or with emtricitabine. Truvada is made from the combination of these two drugs.
     

    June 30, 2014
    PrEP
    HealthDay

  • Phase 3 ASPIRE trial completes enrollment

    The Microbicide Trials Network announced that it has completed enrollment of its phase 3 clinical trial of the dapivirine vaginal ring, which was designed to prevent HIV infection in women. Launched in August 2012, the ASPIRE trial is on target to conclude in approximately 1 year, with results expected in late 2015 or early 2016. A total of 2,629 women from 15 sites in Malawi, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe are now taking part in the study.

    June 29, 2014
    Healio

  • Cuomo plan seeks to end New York’s AIDS epidemic

    Borrowing an idea from leading AIDS researchers, the Cuomo administration said on Friday it had developed a plan to aggressively identify, track and treat people with H.I.V. infection, and to protect their partners who do not have it, with the aim of reducing new infection to the point that by 2020, AIDS would no longer reach epidemic levels in New York State....
     

    June 28, 2014
    New York Times

  • First Ladies told of sd’s positive results on HIV

    The adoption of a comprehensive approach to HIV prevention, which includes a combination of behavioural, biomedical and structural interventions, is yielding positive results. This was revealed by Inkhosikati LaMatsebula on Thursday afternoon to the Organisation of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) during a parallel session of the 23rd session of the African Union Summit which ended yesterday. She said the efforts employed by the Swaziland government, working with non-governmental organisations, are proving to be effective....
     

    June 28, 2014
    Swazi Observer

  • Maternal deaths due to HIV a grim reality

    In spite of the huge advances in the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) in Africa, experts are concerned that these have not matched other pillars needed to eliminate maternal mortality caused by HIV and AIDS....Preventing unintended pregnancies among women living HIV, as well as providing contraceptives for women who need them are some of the missing pillars. The risk of pregnancy-related death is six to eight times higher for HIV positive women than their HIV negative counterparts.
     

    June 27, 2014
    IPS News

  • African health officials seek to improve access to essential medicine

    The World Health Organization (WHO) said a "substantial part of the population” in the developing world lacks access to quality, essential medicines.  The group's director of essential medicines, has been meeting with African health officials in Zimbabwe on how to improve the situation in conjunction with the United Nations and the European Union....This would be done through improving availability, affordability and use of quality essential medicines for priority acute and non-communicable diseases, thus improving cost effective health care and better patient health outcomes.
     

    June 27, 2014
    Voice of America

  • Agenus' genital herpes vax cuts viral load 75% in PhII

    After hitting its primary endpoint in a Phase II study last fall to develop the first genital herpes vaccine, Agenus has announced new Phase II results for its therapeutic candidate, HerpV, which achieved statistical significance in reducing viral load....Sanofi and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases are collaborating on their own trial of a Sanofi candidate, now in a Phase I safety trial in adults with and without herpes, [hoping] to eventually use it to prevent infection.
     

    June 27, 2014
    HPV Vaccines
    FierceVaccines

  • Study reveals Kenyan men are ignorant of HIV-AIDS risk

    Results from the Kenya AIDS  Indicator Survey that was released on Wednesday show more men than women perceiving themselves to be at low risk of contracting HIV-AIDS, despite the prevailing high risk. A total 80.9 of men and 68.8 per cent of men and women said that despite factors contributing to the spread of HIV-AIDS, their likelihood of contracting the disease was ‘no’ or ‘small’ risk....
     

    June 27, 2014
    The Star

  • More young Australian women contract HIV on overseas trips, say counsellors

    Increasing numbers of young Australian women travelling overseas during their gap year or for working holidays are contracting HIV, frontline sexual health workers say, prompting them to call for targeted awareness campaigns. The chief executive of the HIV support organisation Living Positive Victoria, Brent Allan, said “Because Australia has been quite successful at HIV treatment and prevention, young people are not aware that in many other countries the risks are different”....
     

    June 26, 2014
    Guardian

  • Global initiatives for HIV/AIDS prevention

    Globally, the spread of HIV is reversing course: UNAIDS reports that new infections have fallen by 33 percent since 2001. Government agencies and NGOs are tackling the issue from all angles, including outreach to eliminate barriers to testing, interventions targeted at orphaned youth with HIV, as well as initiatives to improve treatment for current patients. Several initiatives being implemented in Chittagong, Bogotá, Bangalore, Lagos, and Mexico City are successfully raising HIV/AIDS awareness and reducing its prevalence....
     

    June 26, 2014
    Huffington Post

  • While a baby in Mississippi proves what science can do, just a third of HIV-infected children get the treatment they need, leading to question: What will it take?

    What has to happen to propel the progress of two and a half decades of confronting HIV in children...? That was the question posed Tuesday in Washington as the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation brought scientists and program leaders together to discuss “What’s next in ending pediatric AIDS".... Although much of the momentum to respond to HIV globally began in the name of children once prevention of parent to child transmission was determined possible, today they lag far behind adults in access to diagnosis, care and treatment....

    June 26, 2014
    Science Speaks

  • Simpler HIV tests speed results

    A simpler HIV testing algorithm will get results to more people more rapidly, the CDC said....The new testing scheme, published on the CDC's website, relies mainly on a fourth-generation combination test. The new algorithm offers "faster results for everybody," said Bernard Branson, MD, of CDC, but the greatest impact might be in the setting of emergency rooms.

    June 26, 2014
    MedPage Today

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