Antiretroviral News and Research

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PEPFAR 'on track' to meet goals when authorization expires, Dybul says

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is "dead on track" to meet its goal of providing antiretroviral drugs to two million people when it's five-year authorization expires in 2008, Ambassador Mark Dybul, who serves as the U.S. global AIDS coordinator and administers PEPFAR, said Thursday in an interview during a visit to San Francisco, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

1 May 2007

Drg resistant HIV quickly hides in infants' cells

New evidence shows that drug-resistant virus passed from mother-to-child can quickly establish itself in infants, CD4+ T cells where it can hide for years, likely limiting their options for future treatment.

1 May 2007

Gambian President Jammeh is giving people false hope

Leading HIV experts are alarmed that the government of The Gambia is encouraging citizens living with HIV to stop taking antiretroviral medications in order to try an unproven herbal remedy.

1 May 2007

Health advocates, drug industry reps lobby lawmakers for support in Thailand drug licensing dispute

International health advocates and drug industry representatives are lobbying U.S. lawmakers and the Bush administration for their support in the dispute over Thailand's decision to issue compulsory licenses for medications, including some antiretroviral drugs, CongressDaily reports (Vaughan, CongressDaily , 4/26).

30 Apr 2007

Brazilian Health Minister says country will purchase generic version of Merck antiretroviral if price not lowered

Brazilian Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao on Wednesday signed a decree declaring that the country would purchase from an India-based drug maker a generic version of Merck 's antiretroviral Efavirenz if the company does not offer the drug at a lower price, the AP/Forbes reports.

30 Apr 2007

HIV linked to increased risk of heart attack

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have found that infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is also associated with increased risk of myocardial infarction or heart attack.

25 Apr 2007

Resistance to anti-HIV drugs in Uganda developed due to drug supply problems

Some HIV-infected patients in Uganda who self-paid for their antiretroviral medications experienced interruptions in drug supply due to either financial demands or supply logistical disruptions.

24 Apr 2007

Thailand wins round two in battle to access cheaper AIDS drugs

The military government in Thailand has won the second round in it's battle to access cheaper AIDS drugs for the nations 580,000 AIDS sufferers.

23 Apr 2007

New drug Maraviroc an alternative in the fight against HIV

An experimental AIDS drug appears to offer an alternative drug in the fight against HIV.

22 Apr 2007

Natural ingredient in human blood found to block HIV-1

A new study has pinpointed a natural ingredient of human blood that effectively blocks HIV-1, the virus predominantly responsible for human AIDS, from infecting immune cells and multiplying.

20 Apr 2007

Grave warning about the state of AIDS treatment scale-up

The new AIDS treatment access numbers released by the World Health Organization (WHO) today are a grave warning about the state of AIDS treatment scale-up.

18 Apr 2007

Towards universal access: scaling up priority HIV/AIDS interventions in the health sector

Access to antiretroviral therapy for advanced HIV infection in low- and middle-income countries continued to grow throughout 2006, with more than 2 million people living with HIV/AIDS receiving treatment in December 2006, a 54% increase over the 1.3 million people on treatment one year earlier in these countries.

18 Apr 2007

Too many of the world's poor still denied HIV drugs

According to a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNAIDS and UNICEF, only 28% of the world's poor with HIV have access to the antiretroviral drugs that could save their lives.

17 Apr 2007

WHO welcomes decision by Abbott Labs to reduce price of lopinavir/ritonavir

The World Health Organization (WHO) is committed to work towards universal access, by 2010, to HIV prevention services and to treatment and care for people living with HIV/AIDS.

11 Apr 2007

Abbott agrees with WHO to expand access to lopinavir / ritonavir

Abbott and World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Margaret Chan, have agreed on a balanced approach to provide Kaletra/Aluvia (lopinavir/ritonavir) capsules and tablets to more patients in the developing world, while supporting continued long-term biopharmaceutical research and development.

10 Apr 2007

$1.1 billion funding to low-income individuals living with HIV/AIDS in U.S.

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt has announced more than $1.1 billion in funding to help states and territories provide care, medications and services for low-income individuals living with HIV/AIDS.

7 Apr 2007

CD4 Initiative to develop easy to use device that can measure CD4+ T-lymphocytes in HIV+ patients

Researchers at Rush University Medical Center have been selected to participate in a collaborative initiative to develop a simple, affordable and rapid test to measure the immune systems of people infected with HIV/AIDS in developing countries.

4 Apr 2007

Millions of children living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries need immediate access to treatment

There is an immediate need for the provision of antiretroviral therapy developed for children, including smaller pills and combination therapies, as well as enhanced medical training to provide care to HIV-positive children in developing countries, according to an American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement published on Monday in the April issue of the journal Pediatrics, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports.

3 Apr 2007

India plans to provide 300,000 HIV-positive adults, 40,000 HIV-positive children with access to no-cost antiretrovirals

India's National AIDS Control Organization, which this month is scheduled to launch the third phase of its National AIDS Control Program, plans to provide 300,000 HIV-positive adults and 40,000 children ages 15 and younger living with the virus with access to no-cost antiretroviral drugs, the Indian Express reports.

3 Apr 2007

HIV in Asia set to explode

The number of HIV-positive people in Asia could more than double to 20 million during the next five years unless funding levels increase and governments respond more effectively to the epidemic, officials from the Commission on AIDS in Asia said on Friday at a two-day Southeast Asia sub-regional workshop in Manila, the Philippines, the AP/ABCNews reports.

2 Apr 2007