Ex-Miss America urges: Get HIV test

Kate Shindle, Miss America of 1998, will be in Bedford-Stuyvesant next Tuesday, urging people to get tested for HIV/AIDS.

"Ninety percent of my job as Miss America was advocating on behalf of AIDS issues," Shindle said in a statement issued by Housing Works, the agency sponsoring her visit.

Shindle, who's now starring in the Broadway musical "Legally Blonde," is to take an HIV test herself to show how simple the procedure is. She's scheduled to visit the mobile unit from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. It will be parked on the corner of Fulton St. and Nostrand Ave. from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. next Tuesday, offering free tests and counseling.read more

HIV and marriage

THE ANGLICAN CHURCH in Nigeria has come up with a stipulation that any couple seeking to marry must first take an HIV test before being allowed to be man and wife. It is another example of how the HIV/AIDS pandemic can force the Church and State into devising rules covering more and more human activity in facing the challenges of the disease.

The Nigerian Anglicans claim the stipulation is intended to give its parishioners "informed choices" when choosing marriage partners.

In contrast, the Roman Catholic Church in Nigeria has said that it would not be imposing any such policy on its members since it wants HIV testing to be "voluntary and personal".

In my opinion, I support the former attitude. Searching HIV before marriage not only can prevent HIV infection, but it's also a manifestation to share their privacy each other.

And then, what about yours opinion? How do you look the two different attitude?read more

Targeted Genetics Reveals Interim Phase II Data From HIV/AIDS Vaccine Clinical Trial - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Targeted Genetics Corp. (TGEN | charts | news | PowerRating) presented interim data this week from a Phase II trial of tgAAC09 in Africa. The company said that the tgAAC09 vaccine candidate utilizes an adeno-associated virus or AAV vector to deliver genes encoding HIV proteins and is designed to stimulate an immune response against HIV.

In this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, 91 healthy HIV-negative volunteers at five clinical sites in Africa have received two intra-muscular injections of placebo or tgAAC09 at 3 different dosage levels either six or 12 months apart.

The company noted that the reported safety data reflect results following the first vaccination and re-vaccination in 91 and 82 volunteers, respectively. To date, the vaccine has been well tolerated, and no severe local or systemic reactions to vaccination have been reported.
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Small business enterprise project for HIV positive women launched

Colombo, Aug. 21: To help women living with HIV lead a life of dignity and economic independence, the UNDP Regional HIV and Development Programme and Thailand’s Population and Community Development Association (PDA) have launched a “Women and Wealth Project (WWP)” in Cambodia, China and India, according to a press release from UNDP.

Under this project, groups of women living with HIV run small, market-savvy social enterprises, with technical and marketing support from PDA, UNDP, international agencies, and the private sector. PDA provided the HIV positive women with business management training to assist them in developing business plans before establishing their specific enterprises.

“Access to credit is a human right, as is the right for women living with HIV to be economically secure and independent. The beauty of this project is the economic empowerment it provides for the women, individually and collectively, and using a new and fresh approach through the strategy of business to provide them with business skills that they can use in overcoming the barriers associated with living with HIV.” said Mr. Mechai Viravaidya, Founder and Chairman of PDA. “As I have often said, to combat the issue of HIV we all must think out of the box.”

“In a rapidly feminizing epidemic, the socio-economic independence of women is essential – it enables women to cope with the devastating impact of the epidemic on their family life and sources of livelihood. Smart skills and regular incomes can reduce situations of HIV-vulnerability and helps positive women live with dignity and security,” said Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, Regional HIV/AIDS Team Leader and Programme Coordinator, UNDP Regional HIV and Development Programme. read more

Internet a Fertile Medium for HIV Denialists to Spread Misinformation

False information about HIV/AIDS spread online can have serious consequences to public health. HIV denialist organizations such as "Reappraising AIDS" have become more aggressive in their campaign in denying the disease and spreading false in formation. Tara Smith (University of Iowa College of Public Health) and Steven Novella (Yale University School of Medicine) believe that "It may seem remarkable that, 23 years after the identification of HIV, there is still denial that the virus is the cause of AIDS."

There is a consensus in the scientific community that HIV is the cause of AIDS, based upon over two decades of robust research. Deniers must therefore reject this consensus, say Smith and Novella, "either by denigrating the notion of scientific authority in general, or by arguing that the mainstream HIV community is intellectually compromised."

Many members of the general public do not have the scientific background to critique the assertions put forth by these groups, say Smith and Novella. Those who believe the false information spread by HIV denialists could end up putting themselves at risk of HIV infection (e.g. by abandoning safe sex), while those who are already infected could end up seeking unproven, ineffective remedies.read more

Staying off booze can halt HIV spread

WASHINGTON: Drinking alcohol adversely affects HIV-infected people, a new study has found.

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) carried out the study, which shows a link between alcohol consumption and HIV disease progression in HIV-infected persons.

The researchers found that among subjects who were not on ART, heavy alcohol consumption was associated with a lower CD4 cell count, and that among subjects who were on ART, heavy alcohol consumption was not associated with a lower CD4 cell count or higher HIV viral load.

“HIV-infected persons who drink alcohol heavily and are not on ART might decrease their risk of disease progression if they abstain from alcohol use,” he added. read more

Maine women knit dolls for African AIDS orphans

Somewhere in Africa, a young girl waits for medicine.

Her parents are dead, victims of a widespread AIDS epidemic. The child has the disease too and may never reach adulthood, even with the medication.

This grim scene plays over and over again in the bleakest regions of Africa where these children, known as AIDS orphans, yearn for comfort.

A nonprofit organization in Vermont called Children Affected by HIV-AIDS collects donated dolls from all over New England, including Hancock County.

Grannis, a retired educator, started CHABHA in 2003. She and her husband, both Fulbright scholars, had returned recently from the African country of Namibia.

"We had been hearing about the AIDS epidemic for years, and we got to see a little of it up close," she said. "I started this nonprofit basically to teach people in the U.S. about what’s happening to children because of HIV-AIDS. The children there don’t have a voice."

So far, CHABHA has provided assistance to more than 3,000 children affected by HIV or AIDS in the African countries of Rwanda and South Africa, and Grannis is optimistic about expanding the reach of her organization.

While she admitted she’s happy that the dolls have become a conversation piece at knitting parties throughout the Northeast, Grannis hopes that’s just a start.
read more

UNAIDS calls for renewed vigor on AIDS in Asia-Pacific

COLOMBO, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- A senior UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS) official on Monday called Asia-Pacific nations to commit more national funds and human resources to AIDS programs and become less reliant on external donors.

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UNAIDS calls for renewed vigor on AIDS in Asia-Pacific
Posted: 2007/08/21
From: Mathaba




COLOMBO, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- A senior UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS) official on Monday called Asia-Pacific nations to commit more national funds and human resources to AIDS programs and become less reliant on external donors.

UNAIDS Asia Pacific Regional Director Prasada Rao told the opening session of the 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) that resources for national AIDS programs in Asia, while increasing, are insufficient for a durable response to AIDS.

Rao stated that achieving regional targets of Universal Access to HIV prevention, treatment and care demands a sharply defined multi-sectored government response and a revitalized civil society to confront legal and social barriers.

Concluding his speech, Rao called upon civil society groups -- including people living with HIV -- to continue and to increase pressure on governments to deliver concrete AIDS programs.

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Study: Men Who Wash After Sex Increase Chances of Getting HIV

A Uganda study has found that uncircumcised men who wash soon after sex increased their chances of getting HIV, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

The sooner the men washed their penises, the study claims, the greater their risk of becoming infected.

But those who held off for at least 10 minutes significantly decreased their chances of getting HIV, according to Dr. Fredrick E. Makumbi, who announced the finding on July 25 at an International AIDS Society Conference in Sydney, Australia.
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May tomatoes hit the Achilles heel of HIV?

HIV is a growing problem globally which continues to cause a significant amount of deaths. This has motivated thousands of researchers to battle against this virus. Now, one armed with a tomato has begun to turn some heads.

Developing an effective HIV drug or vaccine is not the only challenge that researchers face. Once a drug or vaccine exists other barriers often stand in the way of delivering the needed medication to developing countries, such as: insufficient infrastructures, logistical problems and the lack of adequate medical care.

Dr. Ramirez and his team enhanced the genome of a tomato in a way that allows the fruit to act as a vaccine. The tomato is able to function as a vaccine, because it was given the ability to synthesize an HIV protein called Tat.

The results of this approach to find a new vaccine against HIV show that plant are steadily playing a more important role in producing inexpensive and effective vaccines.read more