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Current tuberculosis treatment regimens need to updated

The standard regimens to treat tuberculosis (TB) are inadequate in countries with high rates of multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB. In countries with high rates of MDR-TB, patients are nearly twice as likely to fail their initial treatment than those in countries with low rates, according to a new analysis of World Health Organization (WHO) data. This finding suggests strongly that current TB treatment regimens need to updated and revised to address the shifting landscape of public health in the face of MDR-TB.

3 Aug 2008

Vietnam should prioritize HIV/AIDS prevention programs, Deputy Prime Minister says

Vietnamese local governments should prioritize HIV/AIDS prevention measures, particularly education and communication programs that target injection drug use among young people, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong said on Tuesday at a symposium on HIV prevention and drug detoxification in Hanoi, Vietnam, the Vietnam News Agency reports.

3 Aug 2008

NPR's 'Tell Me More' examines U.S. Hispanics, HIV/AIDS

NPR's "Tell Me More" on Monday featured a discussion about Hispanics and HIV/AIDS (Corley [1], "Tell Me More," NPR, 7/28). Hispanics account for about 14% of the U.S. population but represented 22% of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in 2006, according to data reported last week by the Washington Post (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/23).

3 Aug 2008

New campaign aims to raise HIV awareness among migrant workers in China

Chinese groups and the International Labour Organization on Monday launched a three-year campaign that aims to increase HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention among the country's migrant worker population in the provinces of Anhui, Guangdong and Yunnan, as well as the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, China Daily reports (Guan, China Daily, 7/29).

3 Aug 2008

New HIV infections, deaths from AIDS-related causes down; epidemic not over

The number of deaths worldwide from AIDS-related causes decreased by 10% in 2007 to two million, compared with 2.2 million in 2006, according to UNAIDS' 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, which was released Tuesday ahead of the XVII International AIDS Conference, the Los Angeles Times reports (Maugh, Los Angeles Times, 7/30).

3 Aug 2008

HIV in Kenya - 7.8% increase in 2007

HIV prevalence in Kenya increased to 7.8% in 2007, a slight increase from the 6.7% prevalence recorded in 2003, according to a survey released by the government on Tuesday, the Associated Press reports. According to the Associated Press, the increase in the percentage of the population living with HIV likely is because of wider access to antiretroviral drugs.

3 Aug 2008

HIV/AIDS advocates protest stigma, discrimination ahead of AIDS conference

HIV/AIDS advocates in Mexico City have begun protesting the problems of stigma, discrimination and a lack of access to antiretroviral drugs in Latin America ahead of next week's XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, Agence France-Presse reports (Rosenthal, Agence France-Presse, 7/29).

3 Aug 2008

Eliminating funds for HIV/AIDS vaccine research, shifting funds to treatment 'dangerous sentiment,' opinion piece says

The call to eliminate all funding for HIV/AIDS vaccine research and prevention programs and "shifting" those funds to the expansion of HIV/AIDS treatment is a "dangerous sentiment" that is "sweeping over the AIDS establishment," Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, writes in an International Herald Tribune opinion piece.

3 Aug 2008

Reuters examines how laws, conservative attitudes are hampering efforts to fight HIV/AIDS in Malaysia

Reuters on Thursday examined how some laws and widespread conservative attitudes are hindering efforts to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim country where high-risk groups are driven "deeper underground" because of the situation.

3 Aug 2008

Federal health plan, Medicare do not cover routine HIV screening as recommended by CDC

Medicare and federal health care plans that provide coverage under the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan do not offer payment for routine HIV screening of people ages 13 to 64 -- a practice that was recommended by CDC in 2006 -- Bloomberg reports.

3 Aug 2008

Abbott Labs agrees to settle lawsuit over antiretroviral Norvir pricing

Abbott Laboratories on Wednesday agreed to pay between $10 million and $27.5 million to settle an antitrust lawsuit filed by HIV/AIDS advocates and other drug companies over an increase in the price of the company's antiretroviral drug Norvir, the AP/International Herald Tribune reports (AP/International Herald Tribune, 7/31).

3 Aug 2008

Certain HIV treatment less effective when used with rifampicin-based anti-tuberculosis therapy

Patients receiving rifampicin-based anti-tuberculosis therapy are more likely to experience virological failure when starting nevirapine-based antiretroviral therapy, an HIV treatment that is widely used in developing countries because of lower cost, than when starting efavirenz-based antiretroviral therapy, according to a study in the August 6 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on HIV/AIDS.

3 Aug 2008

Growth hormone reduces abdominal fat, cardiovascular risk in HIV patients on antiviral therapy

Low-dose growth hormone treatment reduced abdominal fat deposits and improved blood pressure and triglyceride levels in a group of patients with HIV lipodystrophy, a condition involving the redistribution of fat and other metabolic changes in patients receiving combination drug therapy for HIV infection.

3 Aug 2008

New figures show need for national HIV/AIDS srategy

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) long anticipated revised estimate of annual new cases of HIV infections was revealed in a paper published in the Aug. 6, 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The revised estimated number of new infections suggests that the HIV epidemic here in the United States is more severe than current statistics portray.

3 Aug 2008

Update of treatment guidelines for HIV infection recommended by experts

An evaluation of the latest information on the treatment of the adult human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has led an international panel of experts to update the guidelines and recommendations for antiretroviral treatment of HIV.

3 Aug 2008

Merck announces significant price cuts on two of its AIDS drugs, Stocrin and Isentress

As more than 20,000 people from around the world gather this weekend for the start of the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) the US-based NGO which provides HIV/AIDS medical care and/or services to more than 79,000 individuals in 20 countries worldwide-including at four free treatment clinics in Mexico-commended Merck & Company (known as Merck, Sharp & Dohme in Mexico) over price cuts on two of its key AIDS drugs in Mexico which were announced yesterday before Sunday's opening of the AIDS conference.

3 Aug 2008

Bacterial vaginosis may increase risk of HIV infection

A common vaginal infection may make women more susceptible to contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health researchers have found.

31 Jul 2008

Rresearchers explain how previously ignored parts of HIV genome play key role in drug resistance

One of the major reasons that treatment for HIV/AIDS often doesn't work as well as it should is resistance to the drugs involved. Now, scientists at McGill University have revealed how mutations hidden in previously ignored parts of the HIV genome play an important role in the development of drug resistance in AIDS patients. Their study will be published Aug. 8 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

31 Jul 2008

Monkey virus found in people living and working with monkeys

A research team led by University of Washington scientists has found that several people in South and Southeast Asian countries working and living around monkeys have been infected with simian foamy virus (SFV), a primate virus that, to date, has not been shown to cause human disease.

31 Jul 2008

Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean should improve, expand sexuality education

Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean should improve and expand sexuality education programmes in order to prevent HIV and AIDS and reduce the impact of the epidemic in the region, a group of United Nations agencies said today.

31 Jul 2008

HIV News and Research

Current tuberculosis treatment regimens need to updated

Vietnam should prioritize HIV/AIDS prevention programs, Deputy Prime Minister says

NPR's 'Tell Me More' examines U.S. Hispanics, HIV/AIDS

New campaign aims to raise HIV awareness among migrant workers in China

New HIV infections, deaths from AIDS-related causes down; epidemic not over

HIV in Kenya - 7.8% increase in 2007

HIV/AIDS advocates protest stigma, discrimination ahead of AIDS conference

Eliminating funds for HIV/AIDS vaccine research, shifting funds to treatment 'dangerous sentiment,' opinion piece says

Reuters examines how laws, conservative attitudes are hampering efforts to fight HIV/AIDS in Malaysia

Federal health plan, Medicare do not cover routine HIV screening as recommended by CDC

Abbott Labs agrees to settle lawsuit over antiretroviral Norvir pricing

Certain HIV treatment less effective when used with rifampicin-based anti-tuberculosis therapy

Growth hormone reduces abdominal fat, cardiovascular risk in HIV patients on antiviral therapy

New figures show need for national HIV/AIDS srategy

Update of treatment guidelines for HIV infection recommended by experts

Merck announces significant price cuts on two of its AIDS drugs, Stocrin and Isentress

Bacterial vaginosis may increase risk of HIV infection

Rresearchers explain how previously ignored parts of HIV genome play key role in drug resistance

Monkey virus found in people living and working with monkeys

Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean should improve, expand sexuality education

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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