Global HIV News
Treatment 12/03/2010
Intelence (etravirine) label revised to include new drug-drug interaction information
FDA recently updated Intelence (etravirine) label to include drug-drug interaction information between etravirine and fluconazole, voriconazole, lopinavir/ritonavir tablets and clopidogrel.
Pharma Industry 12/03/2010
Time for drug giants to jump into the patent pool?
A patent pool is a virtual concept, involving patent-holding drug companies allowing anybody to make cheap copies of their drugs or - importantly - combine the drugs of several different big R&D companies in a single pill for adults or children.
Access to treatment 12/03/2010
People living with HIV/AIDS: India must not sacrifice us in trade agreement with Europe
As the final round of closed-door negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union (EU) is about to start this month, people living with HIV/AIDS are protesting to ensure Indian negotiators do not give in to pressure to accept terms that will seriously hamper access to medicines for millions of people living in the developing world.
HIV & STIs 12/03/2010
Nucleic аcid аmplification testing detects extragenital STIs missed by cultures in young HIV-infected patients
Nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) for gonorrhea and chlamydia at extragenital sites might detect more positive cases than does the use of cultures at these sites, according to a new study.
World Policy 12/03/2010
Visa refusal shines spotlight on China's HIV travel ban
A spotlight has fallen on China’s continued entry ban for HIV-positive foreigners after HIV-positive Australian novelist Robert Dessaix was refused entry to the country.
Hepatitis 12/03/2010
Poor response to hepatitis B vaccine predicts HIV disease progression
Individuals who respond well to hepatitis B vaccination have a lower risk of experiencing HIV disease progression, while those who respond poorly are more likely to develop AIDS or die - independent of CD4 count. The researchers suggested that ability to respond to the vaccine reflects many aspects of immune function that may contribute to slower disease progression.
World Policy 12/03/2010
Zimbabwe: Donor HIV/AIDS funding declines
HIV and AIDS funding from the donor community has decreased by more than 50 percent since 2006, the National AIDS Council has said.
Prevention 12/03/2010
Scientists learning how monkeys fend off “monkey AIDS”
Biologists say they have discovered a key reason why monkey immune systems are usually able to keep the monkey version of the virus behind AIDS in check.
World Policy 12/03/2010
Former President Clinton, Bill Gates encourage U.S. global health investment at Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing
"U.S. investments in fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases in underdeveloped nations save lives and play a vital role in improving America's image abroad."
World Policy 12/03/2010
Indian civil society raises concerns over US industry-sponsored IP summits
Public interest groups in India are raising questions over annual summits involving Indian judges and policymakers that are being funded by major western industry groups, in particular pharmaceutical companies.
EU Policy 12/03/2010
European Parliament votes to rein in anti-counterfeiting treaty
The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of a demand to be kept fully informed about the secretive Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement under negotiation by the European Commission and about a dozen countries outside Europe.
World Policy 12/03/2010
IAS leaders promote access to evidence-based HIV prevention and treatment for people who use drugs
Speaking at a press briefing during the fifty-third session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, organizers of the XVIII International AIDS Conference highlighted the important role the conference will play in advancing efforts to increase access to programmes proven to lower HIV infection rates and improve access to HIV treatment among people who use drugs.
Tuberculosis & Malaria 12/03/2010
WHO releases new malaria guidelines for treatment and procurement of medicines
The World Health Organization (WHO) is releasing new guidelines for the treatment of malaria, and the first ever guidance on procuring safe and efficacious anti-malarial medicines.
Prevention 12/03/2010
Do needle-exchange programs really work?
Needle-exchange programs designed to cut injection drug users' risk of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and other infections do seem to reduce needle sharing, but there is only limited evidence that they lower disease transmission, a new research review concludes.
World Policy 12/03/2010
Call for urgent action to improve coverage of HIV services for injecting drug users
A review carried out by the 2009 Reference Group to the UN on HIV and Injecting Drug Use for the first time quantifies the scale of coverage of HIV prevention, treatment, and care services for injecting drug users (IDUs) worldwide.
Treatment 11/03/2010
Replication capacity: an additional measure of HIV disease progression?
HIV’s replication capacity (RC), a measurement of the virus’s fitness, may be useful for people living with HIV and their health care providers in figuring out how quickly HIV disease will progress.
Treatment 11/03/2010
Invasive non-typhoid salmonellae becoming important pathogen in HIV patients
Non-typhoid salmonellae (NTS) - a source of self-limited illness in healthy individuals -- produce severe recurrent disease in African patients with HIV infection, and now researchers have found that the African infections are intracellular and not simply intravascular.
Tuberculosis & Malaria 11/03/2010
Tuberculosis reinfection rates are higher in HIV-infected patients
"Tuberculosis recurrence rates, likely due to reinfection, were much higher than incidence rates. The findings suggest heterogeneity in susceptibility, implying that a vaccine could still provide useful protection in the population and strengthening the case for secondary preventive therapy."
MSM 11/03/2010
Rates of new HIV diagnoses amongst US gay men 44 times greater than those in other populations
HIV has a hugely disproportionate impact on gay and other men who have sex with men in the US, according to new figures released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Surveillance (CDC).
Treatment 11/03/2010
HIV-positive boys have reduced bone density
HIV-positive pubescent boys have significantly lower bone mineral content and density than their HIV-negative peers, US investigators report in the online edition of AIDS. The researchers also found that treatment with Kaletra was associated with reduced bone mineral content and density.
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