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Risky sexual behaviour fuelled in gay and bisexual men by the internet

A U.S. study says that gay and bisexual men who use the internet to meet partners are apparently more likely to engage in risky sex but tend to do so with people who have the same HIV status.

16 Jun 2005

Promising new tuberculosis drug enters clinical trial

A promising new drug candidate that may be effective against both actively dividing and slow-growing Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) has begun testing in humans, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, announced this week.

15 Jun 2005

Trade agreements 'bad medicine' for AIDS, says AIDS Healthcare Foundation

AIDS advocates from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the nation's largest provider of HIV/AIDS medical care serving thousands of patients in the U.S., Africa, Central America and Asia, today hailed Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) for his release of a new report detailing how the pending Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and other trade agreements like NAFTA derail access to affordable generic medications in Latin and Central America and other developing world countries, including access to life-saving anti-retroviral therapies (ARVs) for HIV/AIDS treatment.

10 Jun 2005

Similarities in antiretroviral therapy efficacy in poorer countries to that in industrial nations

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs for treating HIV in developing countries are about as effective as ART programs in developed countries, according to an article in the July 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

9 Jun 2005

UN warns of the losing battle in world AIDS fight

UN officials are saying that their goal of containing the AIDS pandemic by 2015 may now be unrealistic because the spread of the disease is outpacing the efforts of many countries to prevent it.

5 Jun 2005

Progress on HIV/AIDS significant but insufficient

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today shared his hope with a gathering of senior world officials at Headquarters that the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS would have heralded a response that matched the epidemic’s scale, yet progress had been “significant but insufficient”.

3 Jun 2005

HIV/AIDS drugs may also be effective against malaria

Researchers at The Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) have found that drugs used to treat HIV Aids may also be effective against the biggest killer in the world - malaria.

2 Jun 2005

HIV deaths drop 90 percent among African-American IDUs who are given access to combination drug therapy

Combination drug therapy effectively reduces 90 percent of HIV deaths in African-American injection drug users when they are given ample access to care, according to a new Academy study in the June issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

1 Jun 2005

Clinton Foundation aims to treat two million people with HIV in India by 2008

Former United States President Bill Clinton announced in India this week that his Foundation plans to train 150,000 private sector doctors for care and treatment.

26 May 2005

Immediate treatment after suspected HIV transmission may do more harm than good

The active promotion of immediate treatment after suspected HIV transmission to minimise the risk of infection may be doing more harm than good, claim senior doctors in Sexually Transmitted Infections.

25 May 2005

Guyana Health Minister outlines progress at World Health Assembly

Guyana Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has outlined health progress being made in his country despite high levels of poverty and major floods that affected hundreds of thousands of people earlier this year.

23 May 2005

FDA recommends approval of the investigational anti-HIV drug tipranavir

Boehringer Ingelheim today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee recommended the approval of the investigational anti-HIV drug tipranavir (11-3). Tipranavir is a non-peptidic protease inhibitor that requires boosting with low-dose ritonavir and must be used in combination with other antiretroviral agents.

20 May 2005

World Bank and IMF preventing transfer of foreign aid to HIV/AIDS programmes

Multilateral financial organisations that aim to reduce poverty are preventing foreign aid from reaching HIV/AIDS programs in developing countries, states an article in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

19 May 2005

Antiretroviral therapy may prevent excess risk of some cancers in people with HIV

In people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) may prevent most excess cases of Kaposi sarcoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to a new study in the March 16 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

18 May 2005

Roche to discontinue the sale and distribution of Fortovase (saquinavir)

Roche announced today that it has decided to discontinue the sale and distribution of Fortovase (saquinavir), as clinical demand for the drug has declined significantly due to the availability of a new formulation of Invirase (saquinavir mesylate), which increasingly has become the preferred formulation of saquinavir.

18 May 2005

Asymptomatic HIV-infected newborns may benefit from early drug treatment

Identifying and treating HIV-infected newborns is a race against the clock, according to a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.

10 May 2005

Squeeze of lemon and raw garlic all you need to fight AIDS!!!!

South Africa's health minister insisted last week that her government would not be pressured into meeting U.N. treatment targets.

8 May 2005

WHO’s goal to provide life-long antiretroviral therapy to 3 million people with HIV/AIDS at risk of failing

Lack of financial resources, staff, and commitment from key countries, may hamper WHO’s goal to provide life-long antiretroviral therapy to 3 million people with HIV/AIDS in developing countries by the end of 2005 (3 by 5), states an editorial in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

4 May 2005

HIV treatment not affected by hormonal birth control

Estrogen and progesterone hormones in birth control do not influence the effectiveness of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), which is used to treat HIV infection, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other institutions. The study is published in the May 1, 2005, issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

2 May 2005

Antibiotic minocycline might help alleviate HIV's negative effects on the brain and central nervous system

By studying animals, Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that the antibiotic minocycline might help alleviate HIV's negative effects on the brain and central nervous system, problems that can develop even though antiretroviral therapy controls the virus elsewhere in the body.

1 May 2005