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Congress approves global AIDS bill which will save millions of lives

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) lauded the U.S. House of Representatives for passing legislation (today's House vote to concur on the Senate amended House PEPFAR bill: 303 to 115) re-authorizing PEPFAR (the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), the successful US global AIDS program.

24 Jul 2008

A dangerous precedent in HIV

Infection with HIV could quadruple in certain populations if people with HIV follow potentially misleading advice contained in a statement from the Swiss Federal Commission for HIV/AIDS, University of New South Wales (UNSW) research warns.

24 Jul 2008

Life expectancy of HIV patients increases

HIV-infected patients in high income countries are living some 13 years longer thanks to improvements in combination antiretroval therapy (cART), according to new research by the University of Bristol published in a HIV Special Issue of The Lancet today.

24 Jul 2008

Raltegravir drug combo works against highly resistant strain of HIV

A study involving an international team of scientists has discovered that a new drug when combined with other anti-HIV medications, is particularly effective against a highly resistant strain of the HIV virus.

24 Jul 2008

Antiretroviral treatment programs should take poverty, hunger into account, report says

Programs that provide access to no-cost antiretroviral drugs have had a significant impact on people living with HIV/AIDS, but they also should take into account the effects of poverty and hunger, according to a report recently released by the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, PlusNews reports.

23 Jul 2008

Researchers urge integrating TB into HIV care

In resource-limited settings where tuberculosis is a major cause of mortality among HIV patients and where a multidrug-resistant TB epidemic is emerging, researchers are pressing for approaches to integrate TB prevention and treatment into HIV care and treatment.

22 Jul 2008

Gilead initiates phase III trial of Elvitegravir

Gilead Sciences, Inc. has announced that it has begun enrolling patients in a Phase III clinical trial of its investigational antiretroviral agent elvitegravir (GS 9137), a novel oral integrase inhibitor that is being evaluated for the treatment of HIV-1 infection.

22 Jul 2008

AHF chart shows how Senate global AIDS bill will save five to seven million lives

A chart prepared by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), which provides AIDS care and treatment services to more than 79,000 individuals in 20 countries worldwide, shows how the Senate version of legislation to re-authorize PEPFAR (the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), the successful US global AIDS program, will be able to save five to seven million lives over the next five years.

21 Jul 2008

AIDS Healthcare Foundation treatment proposal accepted by US Senate

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) which provides AIDS care and treatment services to more than 79,000 individuals in 20 countries worldwide, applauded the U.S. Senate for passing the legislation (vote: 80/16) re-authorizing PEPFAR (the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), the successful US global AIDS program.

16 Jul 2008

Tired B cells hamper immune response to HIV

Recent studies have shown that HIV causes a vigorous and prolonged immune response that eventually leads to the exhaustion of key immune system cells--CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells--that target HIV.

14 Jul 2008

Researchers to compare common ARV as a pill and vaginal gel in unique HIV prevention study

In battle with an epidemic that has outpaced nearly all efforts to contain it, researchers are turning to strategies centered on the same antiretroviral (ARV) drugs that have been used successfully to treat HIV in hopes they will be as effective a stronghold for preventing the virus.

9 Jul 2008

Samaritan Pharmaceuticals granted IND from FDA for HIV drug

Samaritan Pharmaceuticals has announced that it has filed an IND (Investigational New Drug) application for SP-6310 in the treatment of HIV-infected patients with abnormal cortisol levels.

8 Jul 2008

The paradox of anti-HIV vaginal microbicides

With no HIV/AIDS vaccine or cure in sight, vaginal microbicides now in clinical trials are one of the most promising weapons that will protect women against HIV infection. Yet these microbicides could be of more benefit to men than to women, according to a new study co-authored by the University of New South Wales' National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research (NCHECR) and UCLA.

7 Jul 2008

Study examines death rates for people newly diagnosed with HIV

In the five years after their diagnosis, people living with HIV in developed countries and receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy are no more likely to die than HIV-negative people, according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Reuters reports (Kahn, Reuters, 7/1).

3 Jul 2008

Brazilian organization files opposition to Gilead's antiretroviral patent application in India

The Brazilian group Interdisciplinary AIDS Association, or ABIA, has joined Indian patient advocacy groups to oppose a patent application for Gilead Science's antiretroviral drug Tenofovir, saying that the patent would have a direct impact on Brazil's ability to produce and access affordable generic versions of the drug, India's Business Standard reports. Opponents of the patent say that the drug consists of a previously known compound and, therefore, cannot be patented under India's Patents Act.

2 Jul 2008

CDC report on new HIV cases among MSM shows need to continue prevention, treatment efforts

CDC's recently released HIV/AIDS data, which show an overall increase in new HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men, is a "reminder that the work of keeping people HIV-negative and getting those who are HIV-positive into treatment is never done," a Washington Post editorial states.

2 Jul 2008

Asthma risk increases in children treated for HIV

Children whose immune systems rebound after treatment with potent anti-viral drugs for HIV infection face an increased risk of developing asthma, said a federally funded consortium of researchers led by those from Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

1 Jul 2008

Antiretroviral therapy as an aid to HIV prevention

The widespread use of highly active antiretroviral therapy may reduce the incidence of HIV in individuals and populations but has been overlooked by public health as a prevention strategy, write Dr. Julio Montaner and colleagues in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

30 Jun 2008

Sen. Reid says he will try to bring PEPFAR legislation to Senate floor on Wednesday

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said that he will attempt to bring legislation that would reauthorize the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief to the Senate floor on Wednesday, CQ Today reports (Graham-Silverman, CQ Today, 6/24).

26 Jun 2008

Rising food prices in Ethiopia dangerous for people living with HIV/AIDS

Food prices in Ethiopia, which have risen by 40% in the past year as a result of drought and the global food crisis, are having a detrimental effect on HIV-positive people in the country -- who may be weak, unable to work and shunned by their communities -- IRIN/Plus News reports.

26 Jun 2008