Immunity has never looked so good. Scientists in the UK recently released images that provide the clearest snapshot of how white blood immune cells attack viral infections and tumors. They are hopeful that these clearer pictures will provide important insights into how diseases can be treated. White blood cells are the fighters of the body, tackling infections and cancers on our behalf… …read more
Tag Archives: HIV
‘Why Are We Not Talking About PrEP?’
By The Huffington Post News Editors
A month ago, I began taking a blue pill each day, called Truvada.
It’s a combination of two of the three antiretroviral medications that form the cocktail used to treat people with HIV. Last year, the FDA approved the prescription of Truvada for the preventing of HIV in people who are uninfected. The term for this is pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
I’m HIV negative.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
Food fungi in developing countries linked to worse HIV infection
Two common fungi found on food in developing countries could be worsening the effects of HIV, say researchers from the University of Alabama, Birmingham. Their study, published in the World Mycotoxin Journal, found that types of fungus on stored foods such as rice, wheat, nuts and corn, are linked to higher HIV viral loads (higher concentrations of the virus in infected people’s blood)… …read more
The World’s Most Inventive Cities: Forbes
By The Huffington Post News Editors
FORBES:
Tiny, biodegradable implants known as Bioneedles may soon replace the syringe, vial and needle trifecta as the standard delivery mechanism for vaccines.
If they are as clean, cheap and reliable as many medical researchers believe, Bioneedles will reduce hepatitis and HIV infection and vaccinate 25 million more children worldwide.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
The Next Step of the HIV/AIDS Strategy
By Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Valerie Jarrett
Editor's note: This post was originally posted on The Huffington Post. You find it here.
Three years ago, President Obama announced an historic comprehensive plan to help turn the tide on HIV/AIDS in the United States: the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. The Strategy has given a new sense of direction, and purpose in our fight against HIV and AIDS.
Since the Strategy’s release, scientific developments have advanced our understanding of how to best fight HIV. We now understand that to prevent long-term complications of HIV, treatment is recommended for all adults and adolescents living with HIV in the United States.
This is a significant shift; previous recommendations were to hold treatment until people showed signs of immune decline. Recent research also shows that an important benefit of earlier treatment is that it dramatically reduces the risk of HIV transmission to partners. Furthermore, HIV testing technology is faster, and more accurate than ever before, and HIV drug treatment is less toxic, and easier to administer.
All of this has powerful implications for how we focus our efforts.
And there is a clear need to do so: data released since the Strategy shows that along the HIV continuum of care– which is the progression from diagnosis to receiving optimal treatment — nearly 200,000 persons living with HIV in the United States are undiagnosed, and only 1 in 4 has the virus under control.
Today we are thrilled to announce two new developments specifically focused on addressing many of the factors that lead people to fall out of the continuum of care.
First, President Obama signed an Executive Order creating the HIV Care Continuum Initiative.
The Initiative directs Federal agencies to prioritize addressing the continuum of HIV care, by accelerating efforts and directing existing federal resources to increase HIV testing, services, and treatment, and improve patient access to all three.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at The White House
Sudan's Bashir heads to Nigeria for talks
Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir travelled on Sunday to a health summit in Nigeria, official media said, after Human Rights Watch urged authorities in Abuja to arrest him for war crimes charges.
Bashir “left today for the Nigerian capital Abuja to participate in the African Union summit about HIV, TB and malaria to be held over two days,” the state SUNA news agency said.
Nigeria is a member of The Hague-based International Criminal Court, which in 2009 and 2010 issued two warrants against Bashir for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Sudan’s Darfur region.
His visit marks “a real test of Nigeria’s commitment to the ICC”, Elise Keppler, associate director of the International Justice Programme at Human Rights Watch, told AFP ahead of Bashir’s trip.
Some ICC members including Chad, Djibouti and Kenya have allowed visits by Bashir, but others like Botswana, South Africa and Uganda have ensured that he stays away.
A number of states “have found a way out of this problem and Nigeria should do the same,” Keppler said, urging Nigeria to arrest him if he sets foot in the country.
Nations that have signed on to the world’s only permanent court for war crimes and crimes against humanity have a legal obligation to arrest any indicted suspect found within their territory.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
National gay blood drive aims to lift donation ban.
What do you think about this?
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/11/health/gay-blood-drive/index.html?hpt=hp_bn13
— Activists are organizing the first national gay blood drive Friday in an effort to combat the Food and Drug Administration’s ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men.
The FDA bans donations from men who have had sex with other men since 1977, saying there is an increased risk of exposure to and transmission of infectious diseases — including HIV — in male-to-male sexual encounters.
“FDA uses multiple layers of safeguards in its approach to ensuring blood safety,” the government agency’s website says. The FDA screens all potential blood donors based on risk factors and signs of infections.
Source: Worthy Christian Forums
Courage, Strength, Resilience: Women Fight AIDS
On Monday, I attended the launch of EMPOWERED, Alicia Keys’ new campaign with Greater than AIDS to reach and inform women about HIV/AIDS, at an event hosted by the Kaiser Family Foundation. This is the second event that Alicia Keys and I have attended at Kaiser within the last year, both focused on ending AIDS.
The women were thrilled to meet Alicia Keys, and Alicia, who was deeply moved by their stories, committed to add her powerful international voice to helping to end the epidemic here in the U.S. Alicia and I intended to lift up the women. But really, it was their strength, courage, resilience, good spirit, and humor that lifted us up.
The HIV crisis touches every corner of the globe. And it’s personally touched so many of us, including here at home. We all have tragic stories about how HIV/AIDS has affected our family and friends, and these stories propel us all to continue to fight to end this disease.
Monday's event addressed one of the tragic realities of HIV in our country. The HIV epidemic continues in the United States, with about 50,000 new HIV infections each year. And while about one-quarter of new HIV infections are among women, three-quarters of new infections among women occur among black and Latina women.
From: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/04/16/courage-strength-resilience-women-fight-aids
An Investment Opportunity for a Healthy World
By Dan Newman, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Since 1981, 25 million people have died from HIV/AIDS. An estimated 1.7 million died in 2011 due to AIDS-related causes, with another 2.5 million newly infected with HIV. Beyond the human cost, the U.S. government spent $28 billion fighting HIV in 2012, and some African countries lose 1% in GDP growth each year due to the disease. It’s difficult to grasp these numbers, but it’s a problem crying out for several solutions.
One such solution is offered by Female Health Company : FC2, the only female condom approved by the Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization.
Social opportunity
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently called for proposals for its Grand Challenges in Global Health grant program. One of the topics addressed this year is “reinventing the condom.” As the blog post describes the issue:
It may seem obvious, but the success and impact of any public health tool hinges on that tool being used consistently and correctly by those who need it. Vaccines sitting on shelves don’t prevent disease. New tuberculosis drug regimens won’t help if patients stop taking them halfway through the necessary days. Likewise, the potential value of condoms is limited by inconsistent use.
The FC2 condom is a superb public health tool that allows women to initiate protection against sexually transmitted diseases. As to making sure it is used consistently and correctly, Female Health has a variety of initiatives. In South Africa, Female Health has distributed 20 million condoms and trained 10,000 health providers. The company also runs a website with product information and training, it will be investing $14 million over the next six years in HIV/AIDS and reproductive education with global agencies, and it has set a goal of reaching 120 million more women in the poorest countries by 2020.
Profitable opportunity
Some may guess that doing business with developing countries wouldn’t allow for a very profitable business. However, when South African companies like Sasol — which estimated 18% of its workforce carried HIV in 2007 — must dedicate departmental budgets to HIV/AIDS, there are plenty of opportunities for Female Health to cover costs and earn a return. A healthier workforce for Sasol would simply cost less for the company, and Female Health can help companies like Sasol achieve a healthier workforce.
Closer to home, at least 3% of Washington, D.C., residents carry HIV/AIDS. Working with Johns Hopkins, a study found:
…a public-private partnership to provide and promote FC2 female condoms, prevented enough HIV infections in the first year alone to save over $8 million in avoided future medical care costs (over and above the cost of approximately $445,000 for the program). This means that for every dollar spent on the program, there was a cost savings of nearly $20.
FHCO Revenue TTM data by YCharts.
Risky opportunity
Female Health‘s major customers are from the public sector — like the United Nations Population Fund and USAID — which the company warns can make for lumpy revenue due to
From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/18/an-investment-opportunity-for-a-healthy-world/
New nanotechnique to deliver life-saving drugs to the brain
(Phys.org) —In a study published in today’s issue of Nature Communications, researchers from FIU’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine describe a revolutionary technique they have developed that can deliver and fully release the anti-HIV drug AZTTP into the brain.
Study Explains How Circumcision Reduces Risk For HIV
Circumcision significantly changes the micro-biome of the penis, possibly explaining why it offers protection against HIV and other viral infections. The research findings were published in the journal mBio, from the American Society for Microbiology, and analyzed the effects of adult male circumcision on the kinds of bacteria that exist under the foreskin before and following circumcision…
Alicia Keys Launches EMPOWERED Campaign
Yesterday at the Kaiser Family Foundation in Washington, D.C., fourteen-time Grammy Award-winning artist and HIV advocate Alicia Keys introduced EMPOWERED, an ongoing public information campaign to reach women in the U.S. about HIV/AIDS. Launched in March 2013, the campaign speaks to both those affected by HIV/AIDS and allies in the fight about what we all can do to change the course of this disease.
From: http://www.forbes.com/sites/rahimkanani/2013/04/16/alicia-keys-launches-empowered-campaign/
How To Discuss HIV Health Issues With Non-Poz Folks
By The Huffington Post News Editors
Social situations relating to HIV are confusing, and not just to those who are free of the virus. When I first tested positive four years ago, finding mutually beneficial ways to comport myself and healthily interact with those not living with HIV was a murky and unknown topic that has taken me a long time to understand.
I’ve learned mostly through trial and error. But being on the receiving end of problematic statements and behaviors highlighted many boundaries that I hadn’t initially considered; society’s stigma taught me the etiquette that I prefer in negotiating interpersonal relationships with sero-negative people.
From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/15/hiv-health-issues-negative-people_n_3086004.html
Cell phone camera photographs microscopic cell samples
On April 11th JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments) will publish a new video article by Dr. Aydogan Ozcan demonstrating how a cell phone camera can capture images from a fluorescent microscope and flow cytometer, which will make it possible for areas with limited resources to easily run tests such as checking for contaminated water and monitoring HIV positive patients.
Cheap and quick HIV testing made possible with DVD scanners
Police: Phoenix area man killed wife over HIV fear
Police in a Phoenix suburb say a man fatally stabbed his wife because he feared he might have given her the AIDS virus and then also killed his adult son.
Goodyear police say 63-year-old Eugene Maraventano called 911 on Saturday to report the killings he committed several days earlier. Police say he also tried several times to kill himself but failed.
According to court documents, Maraventano killed his wife, Janet, in their bed because he feared he may have contracted HIV from prostitutes years earlier and given it to her.
He said he killed his 27-year-old son, Bryan, over concerns he was mentally disabled because he didn’t have a girlfriend, couldn’t get a job and played video games all day.
Court documents do not say if Maraventano is HIV positive.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
More Air Pollution Deaths Per Year Than From AIDS, Malaria: UN
By The Huffington Post News Editors
OSLO, April 9 (Reuters) – Air pollution is an underestimated scourge that kills far more people than AIDS and malaria and a shift to cleaner energy could easily halve the toll by 2030, U.N. officials said on Tuesday.
Investments in solar, wind or hydropower would benefit both human health and a drive by almost 200 nations to slow climate change, blamed mainly on a build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from use of fossil fuels, they said.
“Air pollution is causing more deaths than HIV or malaria combined,” Kandeh Yumkella, director general of the U.N. Industrial Development Organization, told a conference in Oslo trying to work out new U.N. development goals for 2030.
Most victims from indoor pollution, caused by wood fires and primitive stoves in developing nations, were women and children.
He suggested that new U.N. energy goals for 2030 should include halving the number of premature deaths caused by indoor and outdoor pollution.
A 2012 World Health Organization (WHO) study found that 3.5 million people die early annually from indoor air pollution and 3.3 million from outdoor air pollution. Toxic particles shorten lives by causing diseases such as pneumonia or cancer.
“The problem has been underestimated in the past,” Maria Neira, the WHO‘s director of public health and environment, told Reuters. Smog is an acute problem from Beijing to Mexico City.
The data, published as part of a global review of causes of death in December 2012, were an upwards revision of previous figures of 1.9 million premature deaths caused by household pollution a year and 1.3 million outdoors, she said.
The revision reflects better measurements and changes in methods, such as including heart problems linked to pollutants, she said. The numbers cannot be added together because they include perhaps 500,000 from overlapping causes.
SIX MILLION
“Still, it means more than 6 million deaths every year …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
Arkansas Senate Votes To Axe Planned Parenthood, Sex Ed Funding
By The Huffington Post News Editors
The Arkansas Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that defunds Planned Parenthood and effectively kills a comprehensive sex education program in the state’s public high schools.
Arkansas Senate Bill 818, introduced by state Rep. Gary Stubblefield (R-Branch), would block all state funds from going to any entity that provides abortions or refers patients to other abortion providers. The bill would also prohibit any organization that contracts with an abortion provider or referrer, including power companies, water companies, health insurers or medical suppliers, from receiving any state money. Supporters of the bill argue that it prevents taxpayer money from indirectly paying for abortion and abortion referrals.
Planned Parenthood does not receive any family planning money from the state, but the bill will end a state-funded HIV and STI prevention program that Planned Parenthood administers in Arkansas public high schools. Darrell Seward, the assistant football coach and health education teacher at Little Rock Central High School, said the program is invaluable to his students.
Read More…
More on Planned Parenthood
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
Protein structure discovery could lead to better treatments for HIV, early aging
(Phys.org) —Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have determined the molecular structure of a protein whose mutations have been linked to several early aging diseases, and to side effects of common HIV and AIDS medications. This breakthrough could eventually help researchers develop new treatments for these early aging diseases and redesign AIDS medications to avoid side effects, such as diabetes. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
Marriage And Financial Inequality: Why Gay And Lesbian Couples Pay More
By The Huffington Post News Editors
It was a day many couples dream of for Mignon R. Moore, 42, and Elaine Harley, 43, who exchanged wedding vows at a beachside ceremony in Los Cabos, Mexico, in 2012. The native New Yorkers marked their 10-year relationship by obtaining a marriage license from the state. Unfortunately, they are not receiving all the benefits of a legal marriage because they have been living in Los Angeles for the past six years, where they are recognized not as spouses but as domestic partners.
“We only had a small window of time to get married in California before Prop 8 [the ballot initiative that stripped same-sex marriage], so we never got the opportunity,” says Moore, an associate professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Most people take for granted the financial safety net a legal marriage creates, says attorney Camilla Taylor, Marriage Project director at Lambda Legal, a national organization advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and people with HIV.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post