Antiretroviral News and Research

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Fight against HIV/AIDS highlights interdependency of developed, developing nations

The global fight against HIV/AIDS highlights a "wider argument" about development issues, namely that the "prospects for advance in poor countries depend not just on programs launched within their borders, but also on programs launched in the rich world," a Washington Post editorial says.

28 Aug 2006

African Life Assurance launches AIDS assurance policy in Zambia

African Life Assurance has launched an AIDS assurance policy in Zambia that will allow companies in the country to provide their employees living with HIV/AIDS access to affordable antiretroviral treatment for the rest of their lives, according to Zambia's Post, Xinhua/People's Daily reports.

28 Aug 2006

'Switch' may turn off immune cells that fight HIV

An international research team believe they have discovered why the immune system is unable to control HIV infection.

20 Aug 2006

HIV-positive people in developing countries risk having no antiretroviral treatment

Hundreds of thousands of HIV-positive people in developing countries in a few years will have no antiretroviral drug treatment unless more focus is placed on drug costs and access, HIV/AIDS advocates said Wednesday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Toronto's Globe and Mail reports.

20 Aug 2006

Simpler and less expensive method of controlling the progression of HIV

There might be a simpler and less expensive method of controlling the progression of HIV, according to several preliminary studies presented last Thursday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, the Los Angeles Times reports (Chong, Los Angeles Times, 8/18).

20 Aug 2006

Medicines, money and motivated health workers are key to universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention

Dr Anders Nordstrom, Acting Director-General of the World Health Organization told delegates at the XVIth International AIDS Conference that "drastic measures" were required to ensure there are enough health workers available to deliver universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010.

20 Aug 2006

South Africa's AIDS policy 'comical'

The South African government came under harsh criticism over its AIDS policy at the close of the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada.

20 Aug 2006

Thailand's antiretroviral drug provision program should serve as a model for other poorer countries

Thailand's HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs should serve as a model for other countries with limited resources to fight the disease, according to a World Bank report released on Wednesday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Reuters UK reports.

17 Aug 2006

1.65 million worldwide now receiving antiretrovirals

The number of people in sub-Saharan Africa with access to antiretroviral drugs has increased tenfold in three years, and 1.65 million people in low- and middle-income countries were receiving the drugs by the end of June.

17 Aug 2006

Significant increases in the number of HIV-positive people with access to antiretroviral drugs

Achieving universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment was a major focus Wednesday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, and World Health Organization HIV/AIDS Director Kevin De Cock reported significant increases in the number of HIV-positive people with access to antiretroviral drugs.

17 Aug 2006

Few children in need of HIV/AIDS medications receiving them

Five percent of the children who urgently need HIV/AIDS medications are receiving them, according to research released Tuesday by Medecins Sans Frontieres at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Reuters AlertNet reports.

17 Aug 2006

China taking steps to control the spread of HIV

Zunyu Wu, director of the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention at China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto said the country plans to continue taking steps to control the spread of HIV in the country, AFP/Today Online reports.

17 Aug 2006

Intensified action needed to halt a quarter of a million TB/HIV deaths a year of people living with AIDS

Leading HIV experts today called on the global HIV community to intensify collaboration on tuberculosis control, to prevent the deaths of a quarter of a million people living with HIV (PLHIV) a year.

17 Aug 2006

HIV treatment access reaches over 1 million in sub-Saharan Africa

WHO HIV/AIDS Director Dr Kevin De Cock reported that the number of people receiving HIV antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa has surpassed 1 million for the first time, a ten-fold increase in treatment access in the region since December 2003.

16 Aug 2006

Thailand shows how free access to life-saving HIV/AIDS drugs can be affordable

A new report on Thailand's experience of giving free anti-retroviral drugs (ART) to people living with AIDS suggests that even developing countries with few resources may be able to deliver the life-saving drugs on a large scale, according to the World Bank and the Thailand Ministry of Public Health.

16 Aug 2006

New plan to confront HIV-related health worker shortages

Launch of a coordinated global plan to address a major and often overlooked barrier to preventing and treating HIV/AIDS: the severe shortage of health workers, particularly in developing nations.

15 Aug 2006

Male circumcision, microbicides and other tools set to change HIV prevention landscape

In a new report released this week, fifty top AIDS experts warn that a range of promising new HIV prevention approaches are nearing completion of clinical trials, but the world is unprepared to ensure widespread access for those in need.

15 Aug 2006

Serious gaps in Indian public knowledge about HIV

As India gears up implementation of national plans to fight HIV, infectious diseases experts at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere are pointing out serious gaps in public knowledge about the disease and identifying early problems in private clinics, where 70 percent of HIV-infected Indians receive their everyday medical care.

15 Aug 2006

Elite suppressors of HIV to change how scientists monitor spread of disease

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have found that 1 percent to 2 percent of those infected with HIV in Baltimore apparently suppress the virus to nearly undetectable levels on their own, confounding public health efforts to accurately monitor the pandemic's spread, now in its 20th year.

15 Aug 2006

Antiretroviral treatment failure due to lack of patient support

A new report to be presented at the Toronto International AIDS Conference shows that access to antiretrovirals is only part of the treatment equation.

15 Aug 2006