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4 March 2016 VOLUME 17 ISSUE 9

Media Coverage

  • Opinion: a possible game-changer in HIV prevention

    The results of the two studies showing that a vaginal ring can help reduce the risk HIV infection among women is being hailed as an important HIV prevention breakthrough....There are still several more steps that need to be followed before the ring becomes available to women....There are several more studies planned. Two...are open-label extension (OLE) studies called Dream and Hope....A third study, MTN-034,...will offer women both the dapivirine ring and oral Truvada..

    March 3, 2016
    EWN

  • Training manual launched to empower women with HIV

    A training manual aimed at empowering and protecting the rights of women affected by HIV was launched on the occasion of Zero Discrimination Day Tuesday. The manual entitled "Positive Projection: Empowering Women Affected by HIV to Protect their Rights at Healthcare Setting" was jointly developed by the UNDP, UNAIDS, Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV and the Nepal Federation of Women Living with HIV.

    March 2, 2016
    My Republica

  • A not-so-new drug could lower HIV rates in Canada, doctor says

    A drug already on the market in this country to treat patients who have HIV might end up decreasing infection rates, now that Health Canada has approved it as a medication to prevent the virus. Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at Toronto General Hospital, has been prescribing Truvada as a preventative drug for years. He said the idea that other doctors will be using Truvada the same way he does is welcome news.

    March 2, 2016
    CBC News

  • Zero Discrimination Day

    Studies from different parts of the world reveal that there are three immediately-actionable causes of HIV-related stigma in health facilities: lack of awareness among health workers...; fear of casual contact...; and the association of HIV with improper or immoral behavior. Experience and research show us that...mitigating stigma and discrimination must focus on the individual, environmental, and policy levels.

    March 2, 2016
    Science Speaks

  • PrEP is now approved in Canada. What happens now?

    With an anticlimactic shuffle of paperwork, Health Canada quietly added a paragraph to the online documentation for Truvada on Feb 28, 2016, opening the door to a new era of HIV prevention in Canada.....But there’s no call to get too excited yet. Experts say there’s a heaping pile of work to do before any real change happens.

    March 2, 2016
    Daily Xtra

  • CROI roundup: all the HIV news that's fit to print

    The sheer volume of attendance at the annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections [just held] in Boston...is an awesome testament to how many...have devoted their lives to the HIV cause. This summary of major scientific presentations at CROI offers a glimpse into the future of the epidemic, which will likely include safer, easier-to-take treatments for the virus, expanded options for pre-exposure prophylaxis, and, ultimately, success in getting more people on HIV treatment.

    March 2, 2016
    POZ

  • Wanted: new ways to fund HIV treatment

    What is clear for Kenya is that, first, we must explore how best to risk-pool for HIV treatment through insurance options.

    March 2, 2016
    Daily Nation

  • Integrating TB screening into large-scale household HIV interventions increases diagnoses

    A large-scale strategy in which health care providers visited and screened individual households for HIV and TB appeared feasible and could increase diagnoses of these diseases in highly affected regions, according to data presented at CROI 2016.

    March 1, 2016
    Healio

  • Johnson & Johnson issues call for innovative ideas to reduce HIV infections in Sub-Saharan Africa

    Johnson & Johnson today issued a call for innovative ideas as part of the DREAMS Innovation Challenge.... Proposals are currently being accepted for breakthrough innovations to reduce HIV infections in adolescent girls and young women in 10 sub-Saharan African countries. The submission deadline to be considered for an award is March 28, 2016.

    March 1, 2016
    Africa Business Communities

  • Ebola outbreak indirectly increases deaths from malaria, HIV, TB

    “Our results estimate that the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa has substantially impeded the fight against malaria, HIV/AIDS, and TB in the three countries most affected,” Martial Ndeffo-Mbah, research scientist in microbial diseases at the Yale School of Public Health, and colleagues wrote.

    March 1, 2016
    Healio

  • South Korea struggles to overcome cultural stigma of AIDS

    HIV/AIDS patients have long found it difficult to find medical care in South Korea. But as the number of cases rises, so too does the collective voice of victims and their supporters.

    March 1, 2016
    Christian Science Monitor

  • Studies probe retention in HIV care for women who start antiretroviral treatment during pregnancy

    Engaging lay counsellors to provide a combination package of evidence-based interventions in Nyanza, Kenya, and addressing partner disclosure, as well as pre-treatment education about the benefits of ART for maternal and child health in Malawi’s Option B+ programme, improved retention in care and reduced loss to follow-up of mothers with HIV and their infants, studies presented last week at CROI 2016 show.

    March 1, 2016
    aidsmap

  • HIV self-testing pilot project begins this month

    Government will this month roll out the HIV self-testing pilot project in 12 districts across the country in a move meant to reach out to 375,000 Zimbabweans over the next two years, a senior government official said yesterday.

    March 1, 2016
    The Herald

  • PrEParing Latinos for HIV prevention

    As PrEP rolls out in communities throughout the U.S., it has become clear that not everyone has equal access to this groundbreaking HIV prevention medication....While the white gay community has hosted community forums, conducted outreach, and recruited men into prevention programs, there has been a lack of that type of support and enthusiasm from the Latino community....It's all about cultural differences.

    February 29, 2016
    TheBody.com

  • HIV's toll on black and Latino men

    There is encouraging news in the fight against H.I.V in the United States....But H.I.V. continues to take a devastating toll on men who have sex with men, particularly among African-Americans and Latinos.... One out of every two black men and one out of every four Latino men in this segment of the population is projected to become infected. Officials at the C.D.C. say those trends can be reversed.

    February 29, 2016
    NY Times

  • The Israeli innovations leading the global fight against AIDS

    The thousands of new immigrants who arrived in Israel from the Former Soviet Union in the 1990s may not be aware of it, but they have helped play a big role in the global fight against HIV/AIDS.

    February 29, 2016
    i24 News

  • ‘On-demand’ rectal microbicide gel has reasonable tolerability and acceptability – daily less so

    Results from the MTN-017 study of 1% tenofovir gel as a rectal microbicide were presented to CROI 2016 Wednesday....The study found the rate of adverse events of any severity was exactly the same as in oral PrEP for daily use, somewhat lower during occasional use. However,...if offered the choice between the gel and the pill as the one PrEP method they could use, most participants would choose the pill. The encouraging safety and adherence results, however, may help this product move further towards a full acceptability study.

    February 28, 2016
    aidsmap

  • Really Rapid Review — CROI 2016, Boston

    Here is a carefully curated (I’m joking) list of highlights, a Really Rapid Review™ roughly divided into epidemiology/prevention, treatment, complications, cure — and coffee.

    February 28, 2016
    NEJM Journal Watch

  • Condom use in French PrEP trial

    An analysis of condom use in the placebo-controlled phase of the French IPERGAY trial of intermittent pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) found varying patterns of PrEP adherence and condom use....Further data from the open-label phase of the study – when participants knew that they were taking PrEP – showed that while partner numbers and frequency of sex did not change, there was a slight but statistically significant decrease in condom use.

    February 26, 2016
    aidsmap

  • Gilead's HIV drug gets closer to getting Europe approval

    Gilead's experimental cocktail to treat HIV received a green light from European regulators Friday, boosting chances of the drug being formally approved by the European Commission. The European Medicines Agency issued a positive opinion on the treatment, Descovy, a combination of emtricitabine and tenofovir alafenamide. Both drugs stop HIV from multiplying. The company is awaiting an approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.

    February 26, 2016
    Reuters

  • Appropriators express skepticism over mandatory appropriations for NIH and other priorities

    The House Labor-HHS...Appropriations Subcommittee held a hearing to discuss the president’s FY2017 budget request for the Department of Health and Human Services...Subcommittee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) expressed disappointment with the administration’s proposal to achieve the proposed increase for the NIH by decreasing discretionary funding, and instead, including nearly $2 billion in mandatory funding for NIH….Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) reiterated the chairman’s concerns.

    February 26, 2016
    Washington Highlights

  • HIV infection despite PrEP: 6 things you need to know

    It's not surprising that HIV community members, educators and care providers have many questions and concerns when they learn about this particular case. Let's break down the information to address some of the top questions we're likely to hear from people who are on PrEP, considering PrEP use or living with HIV.

    February 26, 2016
    TheBody

  • HIV in Rhode Island: Newly diagnosed men often 'hooked up' online

    A strong correlation has been found between new HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men in Rhode Island and their use of online hookup sites. Study authors have called for operators of hookup websites and apps to work with public health officials to include more prevention messaging.

    February 26, 2016
    Science Daily

  • Early antiretroviral therapy reduces the risk of infection-related cancers

    People who started ART at a CD4 cell count above 500 had a significantly lower risk of developing a cancer with an infectious cause compared to people who started treatment at a CD4 count of 350 or below, an analysis of the START study presented at CROI has shown. Cancers of infectious causes include those related to human papilloma virus, Kaposi’s sarcoma, and Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

    February 25, 2016
    aidsmap

  • Analyzing genetic tree sheds new light on disease outbreaks

    Scientists [at Los Alamos National Laboratory] have a new tool for unraveling the mysteries of how diseases such as HIV move through a population, thanks to insights into phylogenetics, the creation of an organism’s genetic tree and evolutionary relationships.

    February 25, 2016
    Science Daily

  • Immunotherapy agent can disrupt viral reservoir in SIV-infected monkeys

    An immune-enhancing treatment can push SIV out of its hideouts in infected monkeys that have the virus controlled with drugs, scientists report...."These results...highlight the potential of PD-1 blockade to work synergistically with other therapeutic agents such as vaccines and latency reversing agents, to effectively diminish HIV reservoir under ART as a means to establish a functional cure."

    February 25, 2016
    Science Daily

  • Antidepressant may improve cognitive symptoms in people with HIV

    In a small, placebo-controlled clinical trial, Johns Hopkins physicians report that the antidepressant paroxetine modestly improves decision-making and reaction time, and suppresses inflammation in people with HIV-associated cognitive impairment.

    February 25, 2016
    Science Daily

  • ViiV Healthcare's injectable HIV prevention regimen passes Phase 2 test; albeit with some discomfort to most participants

    ViiV Healthcare, the HIV-focused joint venture between GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and Shionogi Limited announces the results from a 41-week Phase 2a study, ECLAIR, assessing the safety, tolerability, dosing and satisfaction with long-acting, injectable cabotegravir as monotherapy for prevention of HIV infection in adult males not at high risk of acquiring HIV. The data were presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston....ViiV intends to advance cabotegravir to Phase 3 development later this year.

    February 24, 2016
    Seeking Alpha

  • Gilead's latest HIV cocktail wins FDA approval with a blockbuster pedigree

    Gilead Sciences won FDA approval for another combination treatment for HIV, building around a cornerstone antiviral therapy as it works to expand its dominance in the field. The latest drug, Odefsey, is a single-tablet combination of emtricitabine,...rilpivirine,...and tenofovir alafenamide, or TAF, a souped-up version of the active ingredient in the company's Viread. The cocktail is approved to treat HIV type 1...in patients 12 and older.

    February 1, 2016
    Fierce Biotech

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