Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest HIV / AIDS News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/hiv-aids/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156400.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156400.php In a bid to reduce dangerous levels of undiagnosed HIV among gay men, Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) is launching a new campaign encouraging men to take control of their sexual health by regularly testing for HIV. The campaign 'THIVK - Test - Take Control' will be run through a stand-alone website (http://www.thinkHIV.co. HIV / AIDS Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156355.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156355.php Researchers at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and the University of Liverpool will work with universities across Africa as part of a £30 million initiative to strengthen research into science and health on the continent. The Wellcome Trust initiative will see the formation of seven new international consortiums that will focus on developing and sustaining high quality research into the health and wellbeing of African people. HIV / AIDS Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156308.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156308.php Politico's Blog "Under the Radar" explores the HHS' recent decision to revise documents submitted to the Federal Register regarding a change in HIV-related immigration policy. HIV / AIDS Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156293.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156293.php Phill Wilson, CEO of the Black AIDS Institute (BAI), last week addressed the annual convention of the National Newspapers Publishers Association where he discussed the reasons blacks "were so slow to grasp the severity of the threat" of HIV, the NNPA/Seattle Medium reports. HIV / AIDS Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156298.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156298.php Michel Sidibe, the executive director of UNAIDS, voiced concerns that wealthy nations who previously pledged to help Africa stop the spread of HIV/AIDS during the G8 summit four years ago, might instead use funds to bolster their own ailing economies, Reuters reports. "Before this financial crisis, the world came together and this solidarity helped put more than 3. HIV / AIDS Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156307.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156307.php The Wall Street Journal examines how some U.S.-based health care programs are improving their treatment capabilities by learning from strategies used in developing countries. HIV / AIDS Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156292.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156292.php Some Iowa groups are concerned that the state's criminal HIV transmission law adds to the stigma associated with the virus and hampers testing efforts, and are urging lawmakers to revisit the law, the Iowa Independent reports. According to the Independent, criminal transmission of HIV is classified among the second-most serious felonies that can be committed in the state. HIV / AIDS Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156311.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156311.php Economic Benefits Of Global Plan To Stop TB Examined A study, recently published in the journal Health Affairs, analyzes the costs associated with the Global Plan to Stop TB and compared them to the cost of sustaining the DOTS treatment program. Tuberculosis Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156291.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156291.php Politico's blog "Under the Radar" explores HHS' recent decision to revise documents submitted to the Federal Register regarding a change in HIV-related immigration policy. HIV / AIDS Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156295.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156295.php The July issue of the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases examines whether President Obama is fulfilling his campaign promises to tackle HIV/AIDS abroad and domestically. The article states that Obama's recent appointments of "lauded experts," including Jeffrey Crowley as the new director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, indicate that the U.S. HIV / AIDS Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156299.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156299.php An Indian court on Thursday ruled that "gay sex between consenting adults was not a crime, ordering that the rights of citizens were violated by parts of a 150-year-old colonial-era law that made it illegal," Bloomberg reports. The law "has drawn criticism from public health activists as a barrier in the fight against HIV/AIDS" (Patnaik, 7/2). The HIV / AIDS Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156225.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156225.php HIV-infected infants risk contracting a deadly form of tuberculosis from the bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, instead of receiving protection against the disease, according to research published today in the international public health journal, the Bulletin of the World Health Organization. While the BCG vaccine is given to approximately 75% of newborn babies worldwide, a South African study has found that its harm may outweigh the benefits for HIV-infected infants. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156124.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156124.php A report from researchers at the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States examines how $577 million in PEPFAR funding between 2004 and 2008 was used in Zambia, PlusNews/IRIN reports. HIV / AIDS Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156164.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156164.php The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control "has prioritized testing" for HIV and offered free or low-cost testing at events in conjunction with National HIV Testing Day last week, an Orangeburg Times and Democrat editorial states, adding, "The importance of testing is not to be forgotten the other 364 days of the year. HIV / AIDS Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156163.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156163.php The White House sought the help of actor Ashton Kutcher to promote National HIV Testing Day on June 27, through his Twitter page, Politico reports. Kutcher has over 2.5 million followers on Twitter, where he recently posted a link to a White House blog post and video commemorating the day. HIV / AIDS Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156170.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156170.php More than fifty institutions from eighteen African countries - from Senegal to Sudan to South Africa - are to participate in international consortia under a £30 million initiative from the Wellcome Trust to strengthen research capacity on the continent. Africa is affected by some of the world's deadliest diseases, including HIV, malaria and tuberculosis. HIV / AIDS Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156121.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156121.php HIV-Positive Babies More Likely To Contract Deadly TB If Given BCG A three-year study in South Africa found that babies who were born HIV-positive had a higher risk of contracting a deadly form of tuberculosis if given the widely used BCG vaccine, the HIV / AIDS Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156045.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156045.php A team of Harvard scientists has taken an important first step toward the development of new treatments to help people with HIV battle Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) infection. In their report, appearing in the July 2009 print issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology they describe how HIV interferes with the cellular and molecular mechanisms used by the lungs to fight TB infection. Tuberculosis Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155991.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155991.php Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is considering expanding an eight-year-old program at Men's Central Jail that distributes condoms in a unit for gay men, the Los Angeles Times reports. Under the program, an outreach worker from the nonprofit Center for Health Justice visits the jail once weekly to distribute about one condom per inmate to the unit's 300 inmates. HIV / AIDS Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155989.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155989.php A recent court decision in Black Hawk County, Iowa where a 34-year-old HIV-positive man was sentenced to 25 years in prison and a lifetime of parole for not informing a sexual partner of his status, might lead to a national discussion on state criminal transmission laws, the Iowa Independent reports. HIV / AIDS Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155987.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155987.php Oxfam Calls On G8 Leaders To Increase Agriculture Investment In Developing Countries The development group Oxfam is calling on G8 leaders, ahead of their meeting in Italy, to increase investment in agriculture in developing countries, Reuters reports. Water - Air Quality / Agriculture Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155981.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155981.php HHS this week will issue proposed regulations to remove HIV from the list of "communicable diseases of public health significance," effectively lifting the ban on HIV-positive foreign residents from entering the country, Newsday reports (Reddy, 6/29). Last year, then-President George W. HIV / AIDS Tue, 30 Jun 2009 06:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155812.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155812.php HIV rates have been steadily increasing over the last three years in Salt Lake County, which includes Salt Lake City and surrounding areas, according to the Salt Lake Valley Health Department, the Deseret News reports. HIV / AIDS Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155808.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155808.php HIV diagnoses among all men in Louisiana declined from 1997 to 2006, but increased in 2007 and 2008 - diagnoses in the New Orleans metropolitan area alone increased by 9 percent from 2007 to 2008, according to the Louisiana Office of Public Health, the New Orleans Times Picayune reports. Of particular concern are the increases among black men in New Orleans. HIV / AIDS Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155807.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155807.php President Obama on Saturday released a statement marking National HIV Testing Day that urged U.S. residents to get tested for HIV and work toward reducing the spread of the virus, Bloomberg/Arizona Daily Star reports (Bloomberg/Arizona Daily Star, 6/28). HIV / AIDS