Critics say British policy hypocritical
Guardian (UK) 4 hours, 39 minutes ago
(Newser)
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An African policy group is accusing the UK of deporting immigrants who were being treated for HIV to almost certain death in places where they will be unable to acquire drugs needed to survive. Advocates call the move hypocritical since Britain is a vocal backer of an international declaration calling for universal access to AIDS drugs, the Guardian reports.
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Study blames Mbeki for keeping antiretrovirals from citizens
New York Times Nov 26, 08 6:54 AM CST
(Newser)
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South Africa's failure to provide antiretroviral drugs to AIDS patients has cost 365,000 lives, a new Harvard study finds. The report places the blame for the deaths with ousted president Thabo Mbeki, whose denial of AIDS' viral cause led Africa's richest country to ignore its sick citizens while other southern African nations provided medicine, the New York Times reports.
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Human trials set next year
Reuters Nov 10, 08 4:02 AM CST
(Newser)
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A promising new treatment for AIDS may be in the works, with the discovery that genetically engineered immune cells can detect and destroy HIV even when the virus tries to hide by mutating. The so-called “assassin” cells, created from the T-cells of an HIV patient, have worked their magic in a lab dish but have yet to be tested in humans, Reuters reports.
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After marrow transplant, patient stays virus-free
Wall Street Journal Nov 7, 08 11:03 AM CST
(Newser)
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A German doctor has inspired hope for a new approach to AIDS treatment with his handling of a leukemia case, the Wall Street Journal reports. Because the patient also had AIDS, Gero Hütter looked for a bone marrow donor with a specific mutation that seems to stymie the HIV virus. Nearly 2 years later, the American patient remains AIDS-free.
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CDC finds 40% more cases than thought; blacks' rate alarming
New York Times Sep 12, 08 7:58 AM CDT
(Newser)
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A new CDC study of Americans with HIV conducted with new technology shows that the virus is spreading faster than previously thought, reports the New York Times . In 2006, more than 56,000 were newly infected with the virus that causes AIDS—40% more than anticipated. The study also showed that whites and blacks tend to contract the virus at different times in their lives.
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Ruler spends fortune to celebrate turning 40
New York Times Sep 6, 08 5:29 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Swaziland's king is throwing a lavish 40th birthday party for himself and the kingdom this weekend—and Swazis are seething over the extravagance, the New York Times reports. The day marking the double birthday has been dubbed the "40-40 Celebration." But critics of the monarchy point out there's little to celebrate with unemployment and the AIDS infection rate both runnning at 40% in the country—while life expectancy is just 32.
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Targeted by 1% of prevention funds
Associated Press Aug 10, 08 6:21 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Even as fewer people are dying from AIDS, new HIV infections continue to rise at alarming rates among the global gay and bisexual population, who are tageted by less than 1% of the $669 million spent on prevention worldwide, AP reports. In 86 nations, homosexual sex is considered a crime, and in seven countries it's punishable by death, according to the Foundation for AIDS Research,
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Massive 15,000-person trial will test drug's effectiveness
New York Times Aug 4, 08 7:24 AM CDT
(Newser)
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With 2.7 million people contracting HIV every year, the race is on to test the efficacy of a daily pill meant to prevent the virus, the New York Times reports. After recent unimpressive results in tests of vaccines and microbicides, the PrEP drugs are now some scientists’ leading hope for stopping infection before it starts.
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Africans 40% more likely to contract HIV
Times (UK) Jul 16, 08 10:14 PM CDT
(Newser)
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A gene extremely common among Africans but almost unknown other ethnic groups may be rendering people of sub-Saharan Africa more susceptible to HIV and AIDS, the Times of London reports. The gene variant—common because it provides malaria protection—makes carriers 40% more likely to contract HIV and could be responsible for 11%, or 2.5 million, of the AIDS cases in Africa, the continent hardest hit by the disease.
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OPINION
Blogger outraged at move by Sen. Dole to link measure with anti-gay Republican
Pandagon Jul 16, 08 7:35 PM CDT
(Newser)
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A move by Sen. Elizabeth Dole to honor former Republican colleague Jesse Helms by adding his name to a bill that would combat AIDS has Pandagon blogger Pam Spaulding seeing red. "Dole spits in the face" of gay activists, Spaulding writes, by attaching the stridently anti-homosexual Helms to a measure that could save thousands of lives.
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$50B AIDS bill, nearing vote, could dismantle 20-year prohibition
Associated Press Jul 16, 08 4:31 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The Senate moved today to repeal a ban on allowing immigrants and vistors who are HIV-positive to enter the country, the AP reports. The measure was part of a $50 billion bill to combat AIDS worldwide. The US is one of only a dozen countries—including Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Libya—that forbids the entry of visitors with AIDS.
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OPINION
From HIV to Zimbabwe, S. African's inaction has cost lives, says Cohen
New York Times Jul 3, 08 6:45 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Five years ago Roger Cohen interviewed Thabo Mbeki in the New York Times , and even then the South African president insisted that Zimbabwe will "get over" its conflicts. So as supposed mediator in Zimbabwe's deepening economic and humanitarian disaster, why has Mbeki still done nothing? An earlier act of stubbornness might provide a clue: his AIDS denialism, which cost hundreds of thousands of lives in his own country.
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Concert honoring 90th birthday draws huge crowd to London's Hyde Park
BBC Jun 27, 08 4:45 PM CDT
(Newser)
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A benefit concert for Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday drew a constellation of music stars to London today, the BBC reports. Will Smith kicked off the festivities, and Leona Lewis was a hit with the crowd, but the star of the show, as expected, was Mandela. "Even as we celebrate, let us remind ourselves that our work is far from complete," he said.
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Bid to tackle highest AIDS death rate in NY
New York Times Jun 26, 08 3:50 AM CDT
(Newser)
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City officials aim to test every Bronx adult for HIV by 2011 under an ambitious initiative to tackle the high rate of AIDS deaths in the borough, the New York Times reports. The voluntary testing would become routine in emergency rooms and storefront clinics and would pare down consent requirements into a 5-minute presentation health care providers could quickly run through.
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