UNAIDS News and Research

RSS

Early HIV treatment can reduce transmission risk by 96%, preliminary study results show

Preliminary results from a multicountry clinical trial, sponsored by the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), show that HIV-positive people who take combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) can reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to their HIV-negative partners by 96 percent, U.S. researchers announced on Thursday " in what is being hailed as a breakthrough in HIV prevention," the Los Angeles Times reports.

16 May 2011

AIDS spread prevention by vaccine and anti HIV drugs

A latest vaccine against HIV/AIDS has shown to be effective in monkeys and has protected macaques the most widespread primate genus, against the monkey equivalent of HIV, Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). This could provide a fresh approach to an HIV vaccine, a study suggests. US researchers say the vaccine offered protection to 13 of 24 Rhesus macaques treated in the experiment. In 12 of the monkeys, the vaccine was still effective 12 months later.

15 May 2011

Early treatment of HIV makes infection transmission less likely: Study

“It's a game-changer,” Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, said. “I am completely amazed.” It was noted that anti-HIV drugs called antiretroviral drugs can suppress HIV in an infected patient and also help to prevent its spread through intercourse, he said. He predicted a rethink of the strategies that have evolved since the first cases of AIDS were recorded in June 1981. “The implications are multiple,” said Mr Sidibe. “However, money will be the major challenge.”

15 May 2011

New circumcision treatment can reduce HIV

Promising study results published in the May issue of JAIDS show that a novel medical device has the potential to revolutionize how male circumcision services are offered in countries hardest hit by the HIV epidemic.

13 May 2011

NGOs urge Ugandan parliament to reject bill criminalizing homosexuality

Nongovernmental organizations on Wednesday called on the Ugandan parliament to reject a "proposed law that seeks to criminalize homosexuality ahead of an expected vote on a revised version of the legislation," Bloomberg reports.

12 May 2011

Desmond Tutu calls on youth to lead next generation in HIV/AIDS fight

Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Tuesday at a meeting on Robben Island, South Africa, that "was meant to be a symbolic passing of the torch from an older generation of activists to younger people," called on youth to lead the next generation in the fight against HIV/AIDS, Agence France-Presse reports.

5 May 2011

Opinions: Population growth; global HIV response; global malaria fight; child brides

International population dynamics are a "ticking time bomb, which we cannot afford to neglect any longer," George Tsereteli, president of the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development, writes in a New Europe opinion piece.

3 May 2011

HIV prevention, treatment must be expanded in Asia-Pacific, delegates at regional meeting say

More needs to be done to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and increase access to treatments for patients living with the disease, according to representatives from 24 Asia-Pacific countries attending a regional United Nations meeting in Bangkok this week, VOA News reports.

1 Apr 2011

U.N. Secretary-General releases report assessing global response to HIV/AIDS

Nearly 30 years since researchers first described HIV/AIDS, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday in Nairobi, Kenya, released a report assessing the global HIV/AIDS response, Agence France-Presse reports.

1 Apr 2011

HIV/AIDS drugs shortage with rise in cases: An update

According to Australia's Ambassador on HIV/AIDS, Murray Proctor, Asia is falling short on HIV/AIDS treatment as almost 400,000 new cases are reported each year. He was attending a regional conference on universal access to treatment for AIDS where he said availability and price of vital anti-retroviral or anti- HIV medications remain a challenge for the region.

31 Mar 2011

UNAIDS, UNDP, WHO release policy brief advising countries on using TRIPS flexibilities to drive down HIV treatment costs

Amid growing concerns over the long-term sustainability of access to affordable HIV/AIDS drugs, UNAIDS, WHO and the U.N. Development Program on Tuesday released a policy brief advising countries on how they can successfully use rules written into the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights to lower the cost of and increase access to HIV treatment, Intellectual Property Watch reports.

17 Mar 2011

FDA approves Matrix NDA for Zidovudine Tablets

Mylan Inc. today announced that its subsidiary Matrix Laboratories Limited has received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief for its New Drug Application for Zidovudine Tablets, 100 mg.

10 Mar 2011

Star-Ledger examines Tibotec's agreement with generic drug makers on experimental HIV/AIDS treatment

In a piece on the move by drug manufacturer Tibotec Pharmaceuticals to grant licenses to generic manufacturers in India and South Africa to create copies of its experimental HIV/AIDS drug, the New Jersey Star-Ledger examines why drug companies are particularly focused on expanding their reach in sub-Saharan Africa.

1 Mar 2011

U.N.-backed meeting in Bangkok will examine how legal barriers in Asia hamper fight against HIV/AIDS

"Legal barriers are obstructing the fight against HIV/AIDS in the Asia, where 19 nations outlaw same-sex relations and 29 countries criminalize prostitution, United Nations experts said Wednesday," on the eve of the Global Commission of HIV and the Law meeting in Bangkok, Deutsche Presse-Agentur/M&C reports.

18 Feb 2011

Improved awareness of AIDS deaths, fear of infection lead to huge decline in Zimbabwe's HIV rates

The big drop in the numbers of people infected with HIV in Zimbabwe is because of mass social change, driven by fear of infection, according to an international study reported today in the journal PLoS Medicine. The scientists unravelling the reasons behind this unexpected downturn now reveal what they hope are the most important lessons in the fight against the disease for the rest of Africa.

9 Feb 2011

Vatican to host one-day international HIV/AIDS conference in May

The Vatican on Thursday announced it "will host an international conference in May on preventing [HIV/AIDS] and caring for those afflicted with it amid continued confusion over its position concerning condoms as a way to prevent HIV transmission," the Associated Press reports.

8 Feb 2011

Report examines how health worker shortages could keep developing countries from achieving universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment

A shortage of healthcare workers in developing countries may hold developing countries back from achieving the U.N. Millennium Development Goal to achieve universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment by 2015, according to a report by the WHO/Global Health Workforce Alliance, IRIN/PlusNews writes.

4 Feb 2011

African first ladies gather to discuss HIV/AIDS

On the sidelines of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday, the General Assembly of the Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) gathered to discuss the continent's progress against HIV/AIDS, Walta Info reports.

3 Feb 2011

New York Times examines Russia's 'inadequate fight' against HIV/AIDS

Russia's HIV/AIDS epidemic "has defied worldwide trends, expanding more rapidly year by year than almost anywhere else," the New York Times writes in an article that examines how the country has become "one of the world's low points in the effort to fight the spread of HIV," in large part due to the government's failure to reach out to injecting drug users (IDUs) and sex workers - the groups "at the heart" of the epidemic.

18 Jan 2011

Opinions: Global health top foreign policy issue; Global food security; Opiate-substitution programs in Eastern Europe; Feed the future; Foreign aid lessons

In response to a story examining 2011's top foreign policy issues, Serra Sippel, president of the Center for Health and Gender Equity, writes in a letter to the editor, published in The Hill, that "[g]lobal health was disturbingly absent from" the story. "Global health policy is at a critical turning point right now with the impending implementation of President Obama's Global Health Initiative, which will change our fundamental approach to health programs and policy," according to Sippel.

7 Jan 2011