Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Aust researchers have breakthrough in HIV research

Aust researchers have breakthrough in HIV research


The Melbourne scientists have been able to imitate latency in the laboratory, something previously unattainable. (AAP: Yang Zongyou)

A research group at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne has produced findings that could unlock doors to more effective HIV treatments.

The director of infectious diseases at the Alfred, Professor Sharon Lewin, says one of the problems with HIV is that it hides from the immune system, but the team has found a new way of investigating this.

"[HIV] actually is quite clever in that in addition to actually infecting and killing a cell, it can also hide within a cell, and it does that because it's able to integrate, or enter into the person's DNA," she said.

"There's not many viruses that can do that. Once it's in the DNA of the cell, the cell can no longer spit it out, basically, and it will stay there for the life of the cell."

Professor Lewin says these "latent" cells, which carry the HIV code, are the reason HIV cannot be cured.

"The minute you stop the drugs, those cells that carry the pieces of HIV genetics in its own DNA can then in effect refuel the fire of HIV replication," she said.

"People initially thought that if you were on treatment long enough, you'd just wait until those infected cells die off, and then perhaps you could be on treatment for 10 years.

"But once we developed ways of measuring those latently infected cells, the calculations now are you'd need to be on treatment for 60 years, so effectively lifelong treatment, unless we develop ways to target those latently infected cells."

Professor Lewin says the best way to attack HIV is to target it before it integrates with the cell's DNA.

A new class of drugs, called integrase inhibitors, can prevent the integration. Professor Lewin says these drugs were recently approved.

"They're new, they work very well, they'll probably become widely used, but currently we only use them in people with difficult to treat HIV," she said.

"The problem is that even if we diagnose HIV within a week or two of becoming infected, you've already got this whole pool of latently infected cells that's set up within weeks of infection, so you can't get rid of those infected cells, even if you then went on an integrase inhibitor."

Researchers claim discovery of HIV source

Researchers claim discovery of HIV source

Researchers say they have traced the predominant strain of the AIDS virus in the United States and Europe to the Caribbean country of Haiti.

They believe their research provides conclusive proof that the strain was brought into the US in the late 1960s.

HIV-One group M sub-type B, is the strain of HIV which predominates in the United States, Europe, large parts of South America, Australia and Japan.

Scientists say they now know where it came from. They examined archived blood samples from five early AIDS patients and analysed genetic sequences from another 117 AIDS patients from around the world.

With this data they recreated a family tree for the virus, which they believe shows conclusively that the strain came to the United States via Haiti in around 1969.

The scientists say that once the virus was in the US, it moved explosively around the world.

Stalemate in HIV bail case

Stalemate in HIV bail case

There is a stalemate in proceedings in the Magistrate Court in bail proceedings involving Stuart McDonald. (ABC News: Gary Rivett)

An administrative stalemate is blocking bail for a HIV-positive Adelaide man accused of endangering the lives of eight men through unprotected sex.

Stuart McDonald, 39, has been allowed to live in a house with other people but is keen to live on his own.

An Adelaide magistrate has now refused to approve a new Housing Trust residence for McDonald unless the house has a landline telephone connected.

But the Housing Trust will not approve McDonald's lease and connect the telephone until the court confirms his bail at the new address.

The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions says it is concerned about McDonald's psychiatric stability.

A fresh psychiatric report has been ordered and matter is to return to court next month.

Researchers warn of co-epidemic in Africa

Researchers warn of co-epidemic in Africa

Researchers say HIV complicates even the most basic diagnosis. (File photo)

Researchers say HIV complicates even the most basic diagnosis. (File photo) (Reuters: Antony Njuguna)

Doctors and AIDS activists are warning that an increasing number of simultaneous tuberculosis (TB) and HIV infections has created a deadly co-epidemic that is spreading throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

The Forum for Collaborative HIV Research says health systems in the region are unable to adequately diagnose, treat or contain the co-epidemic.

Researcher involved in the report, Dr Stephen Lawn, says HIV complicates even the most basic diagnosis.

"One of the problems with HIV is that it modifies how TB presents, so it changes the symptoms that people typically get and also makes it more difficult to diagnose," Dr Lawn said.

the vaccine to cause HIV infection because it carried so little of the virus.

The study started 18 months ago after 20 years of research and development to get the vaccine to human trials.

Its chief researcher in Australia, Dr Tony Kelleher from the University of New South Wales, told ABC reporter Karen Barlow in May last year there was no chance for the vaccine to cause HIV infection because it carried so little of the virus.

Researchers say that is still the case but somehow things went horribly wrong with the phase-two trial.

Of the people who had the HIV vaccine, 49 became infected with the virus, whereas only 33 in the placebo group became infected.

The vice-president of Merck's research team, Keith Gottesdiener, says the trial was abruptly stopped two months ago because V520 was not preventing infection.

"We are analysing the data to try to determine if the results are due to immune responses induced by the vaccine, differences in study populations, or some other biological phenomenon we don't yet understand, or simply due to chance," he said.

"It will take some time before we understand why the vaccine did not work and why there was a trend toward more cases of infection in volunteers who received the vaccine."

Doctor Larry Corey from the US Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute says its too soon to establish whether the virus caused the increased infection rates.

"One of the possibilities is that the increase in the number of infections could be related to the vaccine, there are many other possibilities as well," he said.

"My own opinion is that it's way too early to really answer and the data is way too complex and there's no simple answer to that question."

Cold virus

The trial vaccine used a disabled form of the common-cold virus to carry three synthetically produced HIV genes into the body.

It appears people who had higher levels of immune protection against the virus before getting the vaccine were at highest risk of acquiring HIV.

The vaccine did not contain live HIV. It had been well tolerated in smaller clinical trials and had produced immune responses.

The trial was also conducted in North America, South America, the Caribbean and South Africa.

Vaccine failure exposes Aussies to AIDS risk

Vaccine failure exposes Aussies to AIDS risk

AIDS threat ... Nine Australians do not know they may have been affected. [File photo]

AIDS threat ... Nine Australians do not know they may have been affected. [File photo] (AAP: Yang Zongyou)

Nine Australians are believed to be among thousands of people who are unaware a once-promising vaccine for AIDS has increased their infection risk, after they participated in clinical trials around the world.

The multinational trials involving more than 3,000 HIV-negative volunteers were cancelled in September after a large-scale study found the vaccine was not effective at preventing infection.

Researchers have this morning revealed far worse news - those who received the V520 vaccine are more susceptible to acquiring the AIDS virus.

It is understood nine of the 18 people from Sydney involved in the study were given the HIV vaccine but do not know.

The volunteers were warned to protect themselves from exposure to AIDS but were not told if they were administered the vaccine or the inactive placebo.

The information was kept secret to minimise biases in the study.

Scientists will decide over the next 10 days whether those involved in the trial should be told about whether they were given the vaccine or not.

US pharmaceutical giant Merck, which helped develop V520, says volunteers can opt out of the study now and be told if they were given the HIV vaccine.

All but one of the infections were in male volunteers and the bulk of those infected were homosexual men.

that could make them more susceptible to the AIDS virus



Volunteers who participated in a failed vaccine trial will now be told whether they received a vaccine that could make them more susceptible to the AIDS virus.

Last week, researchers involved in the international trial of the HIV vaccine revealed not only that it did not work, but that those who received it were more likely to acquire HIV.

Three thousand people around the world took part in the study, including 19 people in Sydney.

While the vaccine has now been ditched, research into why it failed will continue for years to come.

V-520 was the first AIDS vaccine to be trialed on humans. Researchers had great hopes for it because it worked so well in laboratory trials.

Associate Professor Tony Kelleher is the head of the immuno-virology and pathogenesis program at the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research at the University of New South Wales.

He is also principal investigator for the vaccine trial in Australia.

"There's been a formal decision to un-blind all the participants," he said.

"So the trial was a double-blind trial, where neither the people administering the vaccine or the people receiving the vaccine knew whether they were getting the vaccine or the placebo.

"There has been a process, since the results of the trial were known, where individuals on request, if they were distressed by it, the news about the results of the trial, could request to be un-blinded and that had been happening in the background, and so they were told whether they got vaccines or placebos."

Of the 3,000 people enrolled in the trial, half of them were given the vaccine.

The trial was stopped in September, when researchers released the vaccine was not working. Last week, they revealed the devastating news.

Associate Professor Kelleher says somehow those who were injected with the vaccine were more susceptible to infection with the AIDS virus.

"We contacted all of them last week prior to the news of last week breaking in the press and told them what where the results were," he said.

"At that stage about half of those individuals requested to be un-blinded, and that occurred last week.

"Since then [there's been] another couple of requests to be un-blinded, so there's still about eight people in the trial that are still blinded at the moment."

Associate Professor Kelleher says the information has clarified things for the participants.

"I think knowing whether they got the vaccine or not has helped them understand the implications of the trial for them," he said.

"I think it's helped them come to terms with the results in an individual fashion rather than it being something that's occurring in a group of individuals."

None of the Australians has developed HIV.

Last week, researchers said they did not know whether to reveal just who had received the vaccine because they feared the volunteers would change their behaviour, tainting research results.


Consternation over HIV vaccine trial failure

Consternation over HIV vaccine trial failure


Volunteers who participated in a failed vaccine trial will now be told whether they received a vaccine that could make them more susceptible to the AIDS virus.

Last week, researchers involved in the international trial of the HIV vaccine revealed not only that it did not work, but that those who received it were more likely to acquire HIV.

Three thousand people around the world took part in the study, including 19 people in Sydney.

While the vaccine has now been ditched, research into why it failed will continue for years to come.

V-520 was the first AIDS vaccine to be trialed on humans. Researchers had great hopes for it because it worked so well in laboratory trials.

Associate Professor Tony Kelleher is the head of the immuno-virology and pathogenesis program at the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research at the University of New South Wales.

He is also principal investigator for the vaccine trial in Australia.

"There's been a formal decision to un-blind all the participants," he said.

"So the trial was a double-blind trial, where neither the people administering the vaccine or the people receiving the vaccine knew whether they were getting the vaccine or the placebo.

"There has been a process, since the results of the trial were known, where individuals on request, if they were distressed by it, the news about the results of the trial, could request to be un-blinded and that had been happening in the background, and so they were told whether they got vaccines or placebos."

Of the 3,000 people enrolled in the trial, half of them were given the vaccine.

The trial was stopped in September, when researchers released the vaccine was not working. Last week, they revealed the devastating news.

Associate Professor Kelleher says somehow those who were injected with the vaccine were more susceptible to infection with the AIDS virus.

"We contacted all of them last week prior to the news of last week breaking in the press and told them what where the results were," he said.

"At that stage about half of those individuals requested to be un-blinded, and that occurred last week.

"Since then [there's been] another couple of requests to be un-blinded, so there's still about eight people in the trial that are still blinded at the moment."

Associate Professor Kelleher says the information has clarified things for the participants.

"I think knowing whether they got the vaccine or not has helped them understand the implications of the trial for them," he said.

"I think it's helped them come to terms with the results in an individual fashion rather than it being something that's occurring in a group of individuals."

None of the Australians has developed HIV.

Last week, researchers said they did not know whether to reveal just who had received the vaccine because they feared the volunteers would change their behaviour, tainting research results.

UN reduces AIDS infection estimate

UN reduces AIDS infection estimate

The United Nations has sharply reduced its estimate of HIV/AIDS sufferers in an annual report, saying a revision of statistics from India means there are 7 million less than previously thought.

Revised figures in the latest UNAIDS study slashed an estimate for total infections this time last year to 32.7 million from 39.5 million cases, the number given in the agency's 2006 report.

"The single biggest reason for the reduction in global HIV prevalence figures in the past year was the recent revision in India after an intensive reassessment of the epidemic in that country," UNAIDS said in its report.

The report says the number of people worldwide infected with HIV in 2007 totalled 2.5 million people and 33.2 million are now living with the virus. More than 2 million people died from the disease in 2007.

"Reliable public health data are the essential foundation for an effective response," said Kevin De Cock, head of HIV/AIDS at the World Health Organisation.

"We need to continue investing more in all countries and all aspects of strategic information relating to health."

Numbers of people living with the virus were levelling out and the percentage of the population affected was now in decline, the report said.

Two-thirds of new infections were recorded in sub-Saharan Africa, although the overall number now infected in the region - where three-quarters of the world's AIDS deaths have occurred - was down by 1.7 million this year.

The report says about 22.5 million people living in Africa have HIV/AIDS - 68 percent of the global total.

In Asia there are now 4.9 million cases, up 440,000 from last year.

Indonesia has the fastest growing epidemic on the continent, while the number of HIV cases in Vietnam has more than doubled between 2000 and 2005.

The Caribbean is the second worst-hit region of the world in per capita terms with 1 per cent of adults - 230,000 people - carrying the virus, according to the report.

The year 2007 has seen 11,000 deaths and 17,000 new infections in the island region so far, it said.

Monday, July 30, 2012

vBeijing hotels told to stock all rooms with condoms

Beijing hotels told to stock all rooms with condoms

Beijing, preparing to host the 2008 Olympics, has ordered hotels to provide condoms in all bedrooms in a bid to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS after cases of infection soared 54 per cent in the first 10 months of this year.

Announcing the move, the official Xinhua news agency made no direct reference to the Games, saying only that all the Chinese capital's 700 hotels must comply by the end of 2008.

With many thousands of visitors due to crowd into the city for the Olympics, which run from August 8 to August 24, every hotel is likely to be sold out.

While hotel managers must provide condoms for their guests, Xinhua said, they are not required to make a loss. The city health bureau said it was up to them how much to charge.

The State Council (Cabinet) urged local governments last year to provide access to condoms in all public places.

Beijing health authorities said this week that the city had registered 973 new HIV/AIDS cases between January and October. Needle sharing and unprotected sex were the main sources of transmission.

State media reported a total of 18,543 new cases of HIV/AIDS across the country in the first half of this year, close to the total for the whole of 2006

many risks when it comes to preventing the spread of AIDS

v

Health groups are warning Tasmanians are still taking too many risks when it comes to preventing the spread of AIDS.

This week is AIDS Awareness Week.

Kevin Marriott from the Tasmanian Council of AIDS, Hepatitis and Related Diseases, says the number of HIV diagnoses in Australia has increased by 31 precent in the past seven years - although it has not been as high in Tasmania.

"What we have seen in Tasmania - back in 2004, there was a sudden increase in the number of infections," he said.

"That did drop back down again, but it really hasn't gone back down to levels we saw pre-2000.

"I think they (Tasmanians) are assessing risk very differently, and they're taking into account other things like how infectious somebody may be with HIV, and with them taking a few risks, they're not actually making the right guesses."

Health experts meet in Europe in fight against HIV

Health experts meet in Europe in fight against HIV

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More than 300 European health experts are meeting in Brussels for a conference on AIDS and HIV across the continent.

Recent surveys suggest that more than half the people in Europe who are HIV-positive do not know they are infected.

Western Europe has advantages in the fight against HIV. Many countries have affordable health care, needle and syringe exchange programs for drug users, and they also screen donated blood.

But there are still problems, with experts saying some populations are both high risk and hard to reach, such as migrant workers.

In eastern Europe the picture is far more bleak, as the number of known cases of HIV has increased by about 150 per cent since 2001.

Almost all the new cases are in Russia and Ukraine, and two-thirds of them involve injecting drug use.

Children the focus of world AIDS daya

Children the focus of world AIDS day

Today is world AIDS day and the community development agency Plan is using it to highlight the affect the disease has on children.

Di Kilsby from Plan says in some parts of the world, whole communities are devastated because of the disease.

She says for children who are left without any family, it is not just a health issue but a social one too.

"Children who have lost their parents or who have to move to be looked after by extended family because of their parents being ill, and then they face the issues of stigma and discrimination on top of that," he said.

Condom campaigns

Condom campaigns

Indonesia - which the UN says has the fastest-growing HIV epidemic in Asia - has marked the day with the launch of its first national campaign to promote the use of condoms, which currently account for less than 1 per cent of contraception use.

The campaign in the world's most populous Muslim nation aims to remove the stigma of condom use.

Stigma is also a concern for campaigners in South Korea, where the number of HIV/AIDS cases stood at 5,155 as of the end of September, the Korea Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The rate of new infections has been falling from 14.2 per cent of cases in 2004 to 11.5 per cent in 2005 and 10.4 per cent in 2006.

But experts cautioned the real number of HIV/AIDS infections would be much higher as South Korea has a strong social prejudice against the disease.

"Fixing the social prejudice is almost as urgent as fighting the disease itself," said Professor O Myung-Don of the Seoul National University Hospital.

Chinese health minister Chen Zhu earlier raised the estimate of the number of HIV/AIDS cases in China to about 700,000.

To raise awareness of the disease, UNAIDS and the China Red Cross Foundation have organised the "Great AIDS Walk" on the Great Wall for Sunday.

US President George W Bush has also marked the day by repeating his call on US lawmakers to double support for anti-AIDS program to $34 billion over five years.

AIDS treatment in Africa

AIDS treatment in Africa

Meanwhile, the agonising effort to bring antiretroviral drugs to Africa, where more than two-thirds of the people with HIV/AIDS live, is now bearing fruit.

At the end of 2006, more than two million people were getting the vital pills - a 54 per cent increase over the previous year, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria says the number of people for whom it is paying for ARV drugs has doubled in the past year to 1.4 million.

James Shelton from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has written a piece for the medical journal The Lancet, to appear on Saturday.

"Despite substantial progress against AIDS worldwide, we are still losing ground," he wrote.

He says treatment is still only available to about 10 per cent of those in need, while in developing countries, "the number of new infections continues to dwarf the numbers who start antiretroviral therapy in developing countries".

Activists are trying to keep the battle against HIV

Activists are trying to keep the battle against HIV in the public eye on in the face of growing complacency amid progress in treating and slowing the spread of the disease.

Even the Miss World beauty pageant on the Chinese holiday island of Sanya was enlisted to get out the message that the disease daily kills some 6,000 people.

Chinese President Hu Jintao appeared on the front page of major state-controlled newspapers shaking the hand of a woman HIV carrier, a day after the UN warned that as many as 50 million Chinese are at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.

December 1 has become a time of grim stocktaking as AIDS campaigners worldwide sound the alarm over the disease's rampage through Africa, the threat it poses to Asia and former Soviet republics, and the risks to vulnerable communities such as sex workers, drug users and gay men.

In Australia, campaigners have warned that complacency after earlier success in fighting HIV/AIDS risks giving rise to a new wave of infections.

AIDS awareness educator Vince Lovegrove is calling for a new campaign aimed at a new generation.

"This is the moment it all could go astray. This is the moment when it can become a pandemic," he said.

Australian government figures show that by the end of 2006, 26,267 Australians had been diagnosed with HIV and 10,l25 people had been diagnosed with AIDS, with 6,723 having died.

Last month, UNAIDS announced that the prevalence of HIV or AIDS - the percentage of the world's population living with the HIV virus or the disease it causes - peaked in the late 1990s.

The agency also reduced its estimate of the number of people living with HIV or AIDS to 33 million from nearly 40 million, after overhauling data collection methods.

The tally of new infections has fallen, too, to an estimated 2.5 million in 2007 from 3.0 million in the late 1990s.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

World AIDS Day highlights global challenge

World AIDS Day highlights global challenge

The UN says Indonesia has the fastest-growing HIV epidemic in Asia. (AFP: Ahmad Zamroni)

United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has launched the 20th World AIDS Day at a midnight ceremony at St Bartholomew's Church in New York.

Mr Ban has called on governments around the world to allow universal access to HIV prevention and treatment.

He says the stigma associated with the disease is the biggest barrier towards combating AIDS.

"For AIDS is a disease unlike any other," he said.

"AIDS is a social issue, a human rights issue, an economic issue.

"It targets young adults, just as they should be contributing to economic development, intellectual growth and bringing up the children."

The UN says one of the biggest areas of concern in the worldwide fight against AIDS is funding.

To meet the Group of Eight (G8) goal of providing universal access to antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) by 2010, $47 billion will be needed. So far, only $17.4 billion is in the kitty.

Mr Ban has called on governments to accelerate efforts to meet that goal.

"I call for leadership among all governments in fully understanding the epidemic - so that resources go where they are most needed," he said.

"And I call for leadership at all levels to scale up towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010."

Worldwide ceremonies

Worldwide ceremonies

Earlier United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon launched the 20th World AIDS Day at a midnight ceremony at St Bartholomew's Church in New York.

Mr Ban has called on governments around the world to allow universal access to HIV prevention and treatment.

He says the stigma associated with the disease is the biggest barrier towards combating AIDS.

"For AIDS is a disease unlike any other," he said.

"AIDS is a social issue, a human rights issue, an economic issue.

"It targets young adults, just as they should be contributing to economic development, intellectual growth and bringing up the children."

Growing complacency

Activists are trying to keep the battle against HIV in the public eye on in the face of growing complacency amid progress in treating and slowing the spread of the disease.

Even the Miss World beauty pageant on the Chinese holiday island of Sanya was enlisted to get out the message that the disease daily kills some 6,000 people.

Chinese President Hu Jintao appeared on the front page of major state-controlled newspapers shaking the hand of a woman HIV carrier, a day after the UN warned that as many as 50 million Chinese are at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.

December 1 has become a time of grim stocktaking as AIDS campaigners worldwide sound the alarm over the disease's rampage through Africa, the threat it poses to Asia and former Soviet republics, and the risks to vulnerable communities such as sex workers, drug users and gay men.

In Australia, campaigners have warned that complacency after earlier success in fighting HIV/AIDS risks giving rise to a new wave of infections.

AIDS awareness educator Vince Lovegrove is calling for a new campaign aimed at a new generation.

"This is the moment it all could go astray. This is the moment when it can become a pandemic," he said.

Australian government figures show that by the end of 2006, 26,267 Australians had been diagnosed with HIV and 10,l25 people had been diagnosed with AIDS, with 6,723 having died.

Huge concert marks World AIDS Day

Huge concert marks World AIDS Day

A member of South African band Freshly Ground performs during the 46664 AIDS charity concert at Ellispark stadium in Johannesburg. (Reuters: Siphiwe Sibeko )

Tens of thousands of people filed into a Johannesburg stadium for a 10-hour music extravaganza beamed to millions around the globe to mark World AIDS Day.

The concert at the 50,000-seater Ellis Park stadium featured 30 local and international artists performing, ranging from Ludacris to Peter Gabriel.

The event was organised by the 89-year-old Nelson Mandela's 46664 AIDS campaign, named after his prison number from his 27 years in jail during South Africa's apartheid regime.

Thirteen years after apartheid ended and after Mr Mandela became president in South Africa's first ever democratic elections, the country is now on the front line of the struggle against HIV.

Around 5.5 million of its 48 million people are infected - the world's worst rate, according to recent UN data.

Addressing the crowd, Mr Mandela urged people to stand up and take the fight against AIDS into their own hands.

"It is still alarming that for every person who receives treatment there are four others who are newly infected," said the Nobel laureate, after slowly walked to the podium with the aid of his wife and a walking stick.

"Here in South Africa we are making every effort to reach into communities because we believe the answer is in our hands.

"Yes, big ambitious plans are needed to deal with the epidemic. But what really matters are small acts of kindness ... such as protecting yourself," he said.

South Africa's deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka thanked the performers.

"It's about preventing the infections. It's about caring for the people who are already sick ... it's about rolling out the treatment, and ensuring we empower women who are at the frontline of the battle," she said.

Global fund pledges $115m to fight AIDS in India

Global fund pledges $115m to fight AIDS in India

An international fund has pledged more than $115 million to fight AIDS in India.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria says the money will be used to buy medication and spread awareness about the illness.

About 2.5 million people in India are infected with the virus.

Financed mainly by the United States and Europe, the fund has also given the Indian government a further $60 million to fight malaria.

Tasmanian funds bound for overseas AIDS programs

Tasmanian funds bound for overseas AIDS programs

The Tasmanian Council on AIDS, hepatitis, and related diseases says it's received a big response to a fundraising drive to provide HIV education in Africa and Papua New Guinea.

Yesterday marked World AIDS Day, bringing an end to AIDS Awareness Week.

The Chief Executive Officer of the council Kevin Marriott says so far nearly $5,000 has been collected, with more expected.

He says it's urgent that sex education programs are rolled out to help prevent the disease spreading, especially in Papua New Guinea.

"We're still seeing an increase in infections in PNG, currently they estimate there are around 600,000 people living with AIDS in Papua New Guinea," Mr Marriott said.

Man pleads guilty to spreading HIVa

Man pleads guilty to spreading HIV


A 28 year old Geelong man has pleaded guilty to 2 charges of exposing a woman to HIV through unprotected sex.

It is alleged Lam Kuoth had sex with a woman in April this year, without telling her he had the virus.

The Melbourne Magistrates Court has heard Kuoth knew he had HIV and had been repeatedly told of the importance of safe sex.

Kuoth has reserved his plea on a further three charges related to the incident.

Kuoth will appear in the County Court in February

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Global fund pledges $115m to fight AIDS in Indiaa

Global fund pledges $115m to fight AIDS in India

An international fund has pledged more than $115 million to fight AIDS in India.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria says the money will be used to buy medication and spread awareness about the illness.

About 2.5 million people in India are infected with the virus.

Financed mainly by the United States and Europe, the fund has also given the Indian government a further $60 million to fight malaria.

semen protein helps HIV infect cells: study

emen protein helps HIV infect cells: study


There's hope the research might lead to the development of medicines to prevent future infections. (File photo) (AFP: Ahmad Zamroni)

Researchers in Germany have discovered that a protein found in semen dramatically enhances the rate of HIV infection.

A study published in the medical journal Cell describes how this protein latches onto HIV particles and helps them attach to cells.

Worldwide there have been more than 60 million infections of HIV, with 80 per cent occurring during sexual intercourse.

But until now there has been little research on the impact semen has on infection.

But despite its dramatic spread through many parts of the world, most notably sub-Saharan Africa, the HIV virus is actually difficult to transmit.

Dr Dominic Dwyer is from the Australian Centre for HIV and Hepatitis Virology Research at Westmead Hospital in Sydney.

"Even though sexual transmission is the main way of transmitting the [HIV] virus around the world, it's still not that easy to do," he said.

"The reason is that the virus has got to get into the sexual secretions, then get across what we call the mucosal surfaces of the genital tract, into the cells underneath that mucosal surface, to infect them and then go and spread through the body."

In an attempt to prevent this transmission, researchers at the University Clinic of Ulm in Germany, searched for a chemical compound in semen that might act to block the HIV virus.

But what they found was a protein that actually increased HIV infections.

"There are some proteins that are present in semen that appear to facilitate the entry of the virus into the uninfected person," said Dr Dwyer.

"The virus essentially binds to these proteins and the proteins kind of drag the virus across the mucosal surface of the genital tract, to allow the virus then to come in to contact with cells that then carry the virus around the rest of the body."

'Exciting potential'

The research published in Cell describes how the protein forms tiny fibres known as amyloid fibrils that catch the virus and help it attach to cells.

Professor Sharon Lewin, the director of the Infectious Diseases Unit at Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, says it is the first time that semen has been analysed in this way.

"Previous studies have actually looked at semen, how infectious it is," she said.

"The semen itself is quite toxic to cells that you're trying to infect. So they used a very clever way of looking at bits of the semen, and which bits promoted infection.

"Once they identified that particular bit of the semen, they could then work out which part of the protein didn't.

"So they had to sort of break the semen up into components ... if you used more crude experiments by just infecting the cells in the presence of semen, you would generally kill the cells."

Professor Lewin says the protein was tested in various cultures to mimic different types of transmission.

"In the female genital tract, the environment [is] very different than in semen alone," she said.

"It's generally what's called an acidic environment, and this paper did try to mimic that.

"When they made conditions more acidic, like the conditions within the vagina, they still observed this effect of the protein enhancing infectivity."

The study found that the protein found in semen increases the rate of HIV infection by 100,000 times.

Professor Lewin says it is an important discovery that could lead to the development of medicines or localised gels that may prevent future infections.

"The exciting potential of these findings are that if you could inhibit that effect, you might make HIV really, really non-infectious," she said.

"It could be a very interesting and exciting way to interfere with transmission."

Man accused of HIV sex assault granted bail

Man accused of HIV sex assault granted bail


A 41-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting a woman who was later diagnosed with HIV has been granted bail in the Perth Magistrates Court.

Wepukhulu Zebtec was originally refused bail over allegations he lured the woman to his home and sexually assaulted her.

Three days after the alleged incident, the woman tested positive for HIV.

But today Mr Zebtec's lawyer said a medical report indicated the woman was infected between seven and 14 days earlier, which would mean his client was excluded from giving her the virus.

Magistrate Paul Heaney agreed to release Mr Zebtec on $10,000 bail.

He is due back in court in March.

School's confines children bit their children they could get AIDS.

School's confines

Ujwala Lawate, managing trustee of the Gokul school, says it was "born out of the social rejection of these children".

"Some of them were sent from government remand homes, some we picked up from villages and some were brought in by their families," she said.

The residential school, the size of half a football field, has students ranging from two to 16 years.

"Villagers threatened us. They said our children were a risk," Ms Lawate said.

"In fact they said if our children bit their children they could get AIDS."

The locals relented after government health workers intervened and promised to keep the children within the confines of the school's high walls.

Institutionalising stigma

Ms Lawate says her school is an effort to provide dignity and purpose to the lives of HIV-infected children, but she has critics as well.

Meena Sheshu is from the state-based anti-AIDS group "Sangram", which opposes Ms Lawate's efforts.

"Instead of separate schools we should fight for equal rights of an HIV/AIDS child," she said.

"No child should be thrown out of a school. But a separate school only institutionalises the stigma and discrimination."

The Government's stand is ambiguous. It provides financial aid to schools such as Gokul and says no school should turn away any student, but at the same time the Government has yet to ban discrimination against those with HIV/AIDS.

Ms Lawate says her critics are ignoring the "practical problems".

"While we debate what is right and wrong, children are being discriminated against," she says as groups of smiling students jostle around her, their "kaki" or aunt.

"What would happen if these 53 children were not here? Maybe they would just be lying sick somewhere by the streets and waiting to die."

Rights groups and HIV/AIDS workers say conservative

Rights groups and HIV/AIDS workers say conservative India's fight against the disease is being undermined by ignorance and prejudice.

Sufferers are often denied treatment by hospitals, thrown out by families, evicted by landlords or fired.

Children remain the hidden face of this suffering. When a parent is infected, children drop out of school to care for them, or go to work to replace the lost income, until they become orphans, health workers say.

Prejudice is so deep-rooted that a southern state, Kerala, failed to persuade schools to take in two infected children and was forced to bear the cost of their education at home.

Children do not figure on India's estimate of 2.5 million people infected with HIV, but the Government says about 50,000 children below 15 years of age are infected by the virus every year.

Among the students in Bhoogaon is Ramesh. His caregiver says Ramesh's father infected his mother because he wanted her to suffer his deadly fate.

All the students are aware of the fatal nature of their ailment. Seven children have died at the school in the past few years.

All of the school's 53 pupils are HIV-positive, but none has AIDS yet and they are receiving expensive anti-retroviral treatment.

"When one of us falls sick and is taken to hospital we keep wondering if he or she is going to come back," says Ramesh.

Some of them remember cremating their parents and then being subjected to torture by their relatives and finally fleeing home.

Shunned kids get relief from prejudice at HIV school

Shunned kids get relief from prejudice at HIV school

Some of the children at Gokul were thrown out of other schools because of their HIV status. (Reuters: Arko Datta)

In a smart blue tunic and with red ribbons in her hair, 12-year-old Komal's laughing eyes hide a fear of death that stalks every student in her village school.

Within months or years she could be dead, but while she lives she is fulfilling her dream of going to school again after she was expelled from her previous one because she was infected with HIV.

"They used to throw water on me and tear up my books," Komal said as she reminisced about her days at a regular school.

"Still, I wanted to go to school, but one day my teacher said don't come back."

At Gokul, a school for HIV-infected children in this dusty village north of India's commercial hub of Mumbai, each student has a heart-wrenching tale of discrimination and suffering.

The disease orphaned all of them, some were thrown out of school for their HIV status or abandoned by families. All got the virus from their mothers.

The school is among only a few across India run by voluntary groups to teach infected children expelled by "normal" schools.

Friday, July 27, 2012

PNG's aids council accused of inappropriate spending

PNG's aids council accused of inappropriate spending


The Australian Government says it is confident none of the money spent on helping (PNG) curb its HIV AIDS epidemic has been used inappropriately.

The acting director and several top level managers working for PNG's National Aids Council have been suspended over allegations of inappropriate spending.

The Australian Government has given more than $1 million to the National Aids Council for HIV prevention and education programs.

AusAID says it has in place strict guidelines on how the funds are used and that the funding has been satisfactorily acquitted.

The PNG Government allocated the Aids Council $10 million in the 2008 budget.

The country's Health Minister wants an investigation into the Council's spending completed by the end of March.

HIV sex worker lived in SA

HIV sex worker lived in SA


It has been revealed that a male Canberra sex worker, charged with putting people at risk of contracting HIV, spent time in South Australia four years ago.

SA Health's acting chief medical officer, Paddy Phillips, says the man advertised himself as a sex worker called Adam or Josh in the ACT last year.

He says there is no evidence the man was a sex worker in South Australia, but he says anyone with concerns should contact their GP.

"We're not aware of any person that's contracted HIV from him, he wasn't working as a sex worker then and the ACT Health are trying to find people who may have had sex with him and will be contacting them," he said

SA support for HIV, hep C research

SA support for HIV, hep C research

file photo

SA researchers are supporting new efforts to improve treatments for HIV and hepatitis C.

South Australian scientists are part of a $17 million national project aimed at developing vaccines and improving treatment options for HIV and hepatitis C sufferers.

Dr Michael Beard from Adelaide University says his group will be focusing on hepatitis C in a $2 million project due to begin next year.

He says more than 260,000 people are infected with hepatitis C in Australia, with about 10,000 new infections annually.

"There is currently no vaccine available for hepatitis C and that is hopefully something we'll hopefully be able to gain some insight into," he said.

He says current treatments help only 50 to 80 per cent of hepatitis sufferers.

"This is the bringing together of nine researchers across Australia. Some of them are clinicians and some of them are basic scientists," he said.

"What it does is brings these people together to study both HIV and hepatitis C virus disease with the hope of developing novel and new vaccines and treatment strategies."

Territorians warned about HIV man

Territorians warned about HIV man

Canberra sex worker Hector Scott arrives at the ACT Magistrates Court, January 18, 2008. Scott is charged with knowingly transmitting a sexually transmitted disease and failing to register as a sex worker. (ABC News)

The Northern Territory Health Department says a male prostitute infected with HIV has had contact with people in the Territory.

Hector Scott, a 41-year-old Canberra man, has pleaded guilty in the ACT to charges of working while knowing he was infected with a sexually-transmitted disease.

The Health Department's Wendy Armstrong says authorities have been contacting everyone who may have had contact with Hector Scott and some of them are Territory residents.

"(It's a) fantastic job the ACT Health have done trawling through the ads and the mobile phone numbers and picking up and contacting all the numbers that were on the list which was more than 250," he said.

"We don't know the numbers, specific numbers (of Territorians who had contact with him but) I don't think it's anything we need to be alarmist about."

The department are reminding people to use condoms to avoid contracting sexually-transmitted infections।

HIV infections on the rise in far north Qld

HIV infections on the rise in far north Qld


Health authorities fear a worrying trend in the number of HIV infections in far north Queensland could be continuing.

Last year there were 23 diagnoses of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus at the Cairns Base Hospital, a big increase on the 14 cases seen in 2006.

The hospital's director of sexual health, Dr Darren Russell, says there have already been a handful of new infections this year.

He says most involved gay men, but several heterosexual people have also contracted the virus.

"Generally HIV diagnoses around Australia were going down until about 2001-2002 and then they started going back up again। We hadn't noticed that so much in Cairns, but we do seem to be seeing it over the last couple of years here," he said.

Bono auction raises millions for AIDS

Bono auction raises millions for AIDS

Hirst's All You Need Is Love fetched $US2.4 million. (AFP: Leon Neal)

An art auction conceived by U2 frontman Bono and British artist Damien Hirst has raised $US42.5 million ($46.8 million) in New York for UN-backed health programs in Africa.

The auction, which drew Hollywood celebrities, supermodels and rock stars, was described as the largest charity event ever mounted and will help keep thousands of AIDS patients on antiretroviral drugs for years to come.

Artists such as Georg Baselitz, Howard Hodgkin, Jasper Johns, Anish Kapoor and Jeff Koons contributed works for the red-themed Valentine's Day sale, which raised far more than the upper pre-sale estimate of $US29 million.

Proceeds from the sale, organised by Bono's charity organisation (RED), are to go directly to the United Nations Foundation to support HIV/AIDS relief programs run by The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

"I have watched people dying for lack of these pills," Bono said after the sale.

"I actually can't quantify how many people that will keep alive.

"It's not just the money we made tonight, it's the excitement around the issue," he added.

Auctioneer Oliver Barker described the evening as "the most extraordinary sale ... It was just extraordinary. We are completely thrilled."

Several artworks went for three or four times their upper estimates, with several lots sparking frenzied bidding.

Among the buyers was supermodel Christy Turlington, who attended the auction with her husband, actor Ed Burns.

Others in the audience included Tennis legend John McEnroe, supermodel Helena Christensen and Hollywood actor and director Dennis Hopper.

Hirst put seven artworks into the sale, which sold for more than $US19 million in total.

Among the auction highlights were his Where there's a will..., which sold for $US7.1 million, and his All You Need Is Love - a red, heart-shaped butterfly painting, which fetched $US2.4 million.

Jeff Koons' Balloon Rabbit Wall Relief (RED), sold for just over $US2 million, while records were set for 17 artists including enigmatic British graffiti artist Banksy.

The auction brought funds raised by Bono's (RED) organisation since it was started last year to more than $US100 million.

HIV infections expected to rise

HIV infections expected to rise

Posted Mon Mar 3, 2008 8:25am AEDT

A study focusing on HIV infection trends in Australian gay men is predicting a substantial increase in HIV infection in some states over the next seven years.

The report released today by the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research predicts a 73 per cent rise in HIV infections in Victoria and a 20 per cent rise in Queensland by 2015.

But the infection rate is predicted to show a slight decrease in New South Wales.

Researcher Dr David Wilson says reduced condom usage and a rise in other sexually transmitted diseases is expected to contribute to the increase.

"If somebody's HIV positive and have another infection such as syphilis, gonorrhoea, chlamydia, herpes, then they are 200 to 500 per cent more likely to transmit HIV to a susceptible person," he said.

Dr Wilson says increased promotion of safe sex is the most effective way to stop the rise HIV transmission.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Victoria to experience spike in HIV cases

Victoria to experience spike in HIV cases

Predictions of a sharp increase in HIV infections in Victoria over the next 7 years have been blamed on falling condom use.

A study by the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology says Victoria's HIV infection rate is likely to rise by 73% by 2015, a substantial increase in comparison with all other areas in Australia.

A 20% rise is predicted for Queensland but the infection rate in New South Wales is predicted to fall slightly.

Researcher Dr David Wilson says reduced condom usage and a rise in other sexually transmitted diseases is expected to contribute to the increase.

"If somebody's HIV positive and have another infection such as syphilis, gonorrhoea, chlamydia, herpes, then they are 200 to 500 per cent more likely to transmit HIV to a susceptible person," he said.

The Director of the Infectious Diseases Unit at the Alfred Hospital Professor Sharon Lewin agrees there is a growing complacency about safe sex.

"We do know that there's less condom use and also increasing numbers of other sexually transmitted infections, particularly syphilis, " she said.

"Other sexually transmitted infections sort of fuel transmission of HIV as well, so we really need to target those infections too."

Rudd pledges $13m for PNG AIDS fight

Rudd pledges $13m for PNG AIDS fight


More cash: An AIDS public awareness campaign dominates the roof of the central market in Goroka, Papua New Guinea (File photo) (AFP: Torsten Blackwood)

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced an extra $13 million in funding to tackle the spread of HIV and AIDS in Papua New Guinea.

Mr Rudd is travelling to PNG's Southern Highlands today to visit Australian-sponsored projects working with people living with HIV and AIDS.

He says the issue should be at the top of the bilateral agenda because of the movement of people from the two countries through the Torres Strait.

By 2025 it is expected the number of HIV-positive people in PNG will top 500,000.

Mr Rudd also announced a $25 million increase in Australia's aid package to PNG overall, which will now stand close to $400 million a year.

Stab victim fears HIV infection

Stab victim fears HIV infection

Harry says he has to wait three months for blood tests to confirm if he has contracted HIV after being stabbed in the shoulder with a syringe. (ABC)

A 55-year-old man fears he may have been infected with HIV after being stabbed with a syringe outside a hotel in the Perth suburb of Midland.

The victim, who wants to be known as Harry, says he was on a train to Midland on Saturday night when he refused several request for money from a man.

He says when they got off the train, the man stabbed him twice in the shoulder with a syringe before saying welcome to the world of HIV.

The victim says he has to wait three months for blood tests to confirm if he has contracted the disease and says this man must be caught before he can do it again.

"What he has done was absolutely gutless and lowlife, but my main concern is who will he do it to next? will it be a child? will it be an elderly? will it be a handicapped person? I mean a man that's just as cold as that," he said.

"I'd a blood test yesterday and unfortunately I've got to go back in three months time to find out [if I'm positive].

"I won't know for next three months, so I'm under stress there, you know, I'm hoping for the best."

The offender is described as an Aboriginal man aged between 25 and 35.

Syringe victim unlikely to contract HIV: Health Department

Syringe victim unlikely to contract HIV: Health Department

The Health Department's Paul Van Buynder says there has never been a case in WA of a person contracting HIV after being attacked by someone with a syringe. (ABC TV)

The Health Department of WA says there is a very slim chance a 55-year-old man stabbed with a syringe near the Midland train station has contracted HIV.

The victim was told 'welcome to the world of HIV' when he was stabbed in the shoulder by a man he refused to give money to.

The Department's Director of Communicable Disease Control Paul Van Buynder says there has never been a case in WA of a person contracting the virus after being attacked by someone with a syringe.

"There was one health care worker in the last 25 years while we've been monitoring this that did sustain a needle stick injury with a known HIV positive patient and that patient did seroconvert despite taking medication at the time, but that's the only case in the last 25 years in Western Australia," he said.

Dr Van Buynder says even if the assailant had the virus there would only be a three in one thousand chance of the man contracting it.

"The risk of Hepatitis C and Hepatitis B, which are more infectious diseases, is higher than the risk of HIV, but again it relates to the possibility of the assailant themselves being infected."

HIV-infected prostitute should be on sex offenders' register: DPP

HIV-infected prostitute should be on sex offenders' register: DPP


The ACT Director of Public Prosecutions has made an application to put a male prostitute on the Child Sex Offenders' Register.

Hector Scott of Kingston has pleaded guilty to providing a commercial sexual service while knowing he was infected with HIV and Hepatitis C.

While there are no allegations Scott is a child sex offender, putting his name on the register is the only way ACT Health can monitor his movements.

The ACT's chief health officer, Dr Charles Guest, is expected to give evidence at Scott's sentencing hearing next month.

US to triple AIDS spending

US to triple AIDS spending

The US is set to spend $55 billion to battle HIV/AIDS in the next five years.

The US House of Representatives has passed a bill to more than triple government spending in Africa and other badly affected parts of the world.

The bill marks a huge increase from the $16.5 billion authorised during the first five years of an initiative launched by President George W Bush in 2003.

Initially focused on Vietnam, Guyana, Haiti and 12 African nations, the program will be expanded to include Malawi, Swaziland and Lesotho as well as some Caribbean nations.

Canadian sentenced to 18 years for exposing lovers to HIV

Canadian sentenced to 18 years for exposing lovers to HIV

A Canadian man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for knowingly exposing women to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Carl Leone, 32, was convicted of 15 counts of aggravated assault, each earning him two to five years in jail to be served consecutively for a total of 49 years.

But the judge reduced his sentence to 18 years to better reflect sentencing guidelines.

According to reports, Superior Court Justice Joseph Quinn said at sentencing that Leone had committed a "despicable and selfish crime for five to 10 minutes of sexual gratification."

Leone was told in 1997 by health workers that he was HIV-positive, seven years before his arrest in June 2004.

Under Ontario provincial health laws, HIV or AIDS-infected persons must inform their sex partners, who must consent to engaging in high-risk sex.

Five of his victims are now HIV-positive. Some of them were drugged and assaulted while unconscious, the court heard.

Babies saved from HIV transmission

Babies saved from HIV transmission

HIV testing

Success in stopping transmission of HIV to unborn babies is being attributed to a state-wide service which goes into remote areas to treat Indigenous women.

West Australian researchers have reported a 100 per cent success rate in stopping the transmission of HIV between infected mothers and their unborn babies.

Researchers say there have been no cases of women who are being treated for the disease transferring it to their unborn child in the past 14 years.

They've attributed much of their success to the creation of a state-wide service which goes into remote areas to treat Indigenous women.

HIV specialist Martyn French says the program was established in 1999 to address the increasing number of infected patients in country areas.

"If you set up the right teams, you put resources in place, you can achieve very positive health outcomes for Aboriginal people," he said.

Professor French says similar models could be adopted by other states to treat HIV in remote areas.

Debate over whether HIV program would work elsewhere

Debate over whether HIV program would work elsewhere

HIV experts are hoping a successful program to protect the unborn babies of HIV-infected mothers in Western Australia could be used worldwide (file photo). (AFP: Ahmad Zamroni)

A successful program to protect the unborn babies of HIV-infected mothers in Western Australia could be used worldwide, according to an expert in public health.

A West Australian team of HIV experts has reported a 100 per cent success rate in stopping the transmission of the disease between women receiving treatment and their unborn children over the last 14 years.

Much of the success has been attributed to a state-wide service which goes into remote parts of the state to treat women infected with HIV during their pregnancy, and their children for a month after birth.

Curtin University's Professor Mike Daube says WA is a world leader in this field.

" Although the circumstances are different I think there are real lessons that can be learned from this Western Australian program that could have very important implications for Africa and countries around the world," he said.

However, the Executive Director of the WA Aids Council says she's not sure the program would work in other countries.

Trish Langdon says while the program has been a success in Western Australia, the logistics of implementing it in other countries could be difficult.

" Even though we're a big state there's a relatively small number of people who work in the area and so everybody tends to get on very well, they tend to communicate so that's really the main thing," she said.

"But ... I can't say whether you can absolutely replicate it in a resource poor country."

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

AIDS vaccine still a long way off: expert

AIDS vaccine still a long way off: expert


A Canberra vaccine expert says the world is no closer to developing a vaccine for AIDS.

Ian Ramshaw from the Australian National University's John Curtin School of Medical Research will be chairing a session at the Sir Mark Oliphant vaccine conference that opens in Canberra today.

Experts from around the world will speak at the conference on new ways to fight deadly diseases.

Professor Ramshaw says the AIDS vaccines that have been developed have been failures.

"It's such a clever virus, it really does avoid being recognised by the immune system.

"The immune system that protects us against polio, influenza etc, those are the easy vaccines to make, this is so difficult that it's going to be a long time before we come up with the right concoction."

Saddam journal reveals prison AIDS fear

Saddam journal reveals prison AIDS fear

Saddam Hussein, the ousted Iraqi dictator who was hanged in 2006 for crimes against humanity, feared he would pick up sexual diseases while he was in US custody, according to extracts from prison writings published in an Arabic newspaper.

Saddam said he asked his prison guards not to put their washing on the same line as his, fearing he could contract "young people's diseases," the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported, citing his journal.

"My main concern was to avoid contracting a sexual disease in a place like this, and AIDS," he said.

"Americans were the most to fear when it came to contracting diseases," Saddam said, Al-Hayat reported, without saying how it obtained the documents.

"What can the Americans and other invaders... bring to an [invaded] country apart from dangerous diseases?"

Some of the writings were published in the newspaper in the form of dated letters, or poems written by Saddam himself, the Middle East's most notorious strongman of the late 20th century.

Saddam was hanged on December 30, 2006, after an Iraqi court found him guilty of crimes against humanity for ordering the execution of 148 Shiites from the town of Dujail after an assassination attempt against him in 1982.

He was sent to the gallows at the age of 69, three years after being captured by US invading forces who found him, long-haired, bearded and bedraggled, in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit.

Mandela concert line-up revealed

Mandela concert line-up revealed

Veteran rockers Queen will top the bill at an AIDS benefit concert in London next month to mark Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday.

Precisely 46,664 tickets will go on sale for the three-hour gig in Hyde Park on June 27. The concert is in support of the former South African president's 46664 campaign against AIDS.

Mr Mandela, now retired from public life, is said to make a rare appearance.

Other artists on the bill include Simple Minds, Annie Lennox, Leona Lewis, the Sugababes, Shirley Bassey, Jamelia, South African artists and the Sudanese "war child" rapper Emmanuel Jal.

"The concert will feature numerous unexpected appearances, with several major artists keeping silent about their involvement in order to take both Mr Mandela and the audience by surprise," organisers said in a statement.

Royalty, former US president Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, US actors Robert De Niro, Will Smith and Forest Whitaker, US television host Oprah Winfrey and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton are set to attend events spread over three days leading up to the concert.

The 46664 campaign, named after Mr Mandela's prison number during his 27-year incarceration, aims to raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic which is rife in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mr Mandela lost a son to AIDS in January 2005.

Call to import cannabis cancer treatment

Call to import cannabis cancer treatment

children-drug-raid

Cannabis ingredient: The drug can ease the suffering of cancer patients (Supplied)

The New South Wales Government says it will ask the Federal Government to support the importation of a cannabis-based drug for cancer, multiple sclerosis and AIDS patients.

The State Government wants to trial the drug Sativex, which delivers a cannabis ingredient through an oral spray or pill.

The drug can be used to counter the wasting aspects of the diseases, and also helps cancer patients with the side effects of chemotherapy.

Anti-retroviral treatment not keeping pace with new infection: UN report

Anti-retroviral treatment not keeping pace with new infection: UN report

A report from the United Nations says more HIV-positive people are getting anti-retroviral treatment, but the supply of the drugs is not keeping pace with the rate of new infections.

The idea of getting anti-viral drugs to 3 million people by the end of 2005 failed.

However the report says this initiative, which became known as 'three by five', did jump start the push for treatment, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where the AIDS epidemic is most severe.

Reductions in the price of key drugs have helped the expansion, though experts warn that the increasingly common combination of HIV with tuberculosis and particularly drug resistant strains represents a critical threat.

The director of the World Health Organisation's HIV-AIDS program, Doctor Kevin De Cock, says while 1 million new patients get treatment each year, 2.5 million are infected with the virus.

He says there is still a lot of work to be done to prevent infections.

"I think remarkable things have been achieved ... this is a very complicated infection," he said.

National AIDS Control Organisation

Sujatha Rao, director-general of the government's National AIDS Control Organisation, says doctors are increasingly seeing women infected by their husbands.

In some clinics, 1 out of 100 women who come for ante-natal care checkups are HIV positive, she said.

"It is a generalised epidemic," she said. "We have pockets where the prevalence is more than 1 per cent among ante-natal care mothers, so we need to intensify our work."

Even though HIV drugs are free, only about 155,000 people have access to retroviral drugs, up from 20,000 just two years ago.

Health expert say there are many people who do not know they are infected or who do not know that treatment is available.

Some health professionals believe India's HIV problem is closely intertwined with poverty and that the Government must tackle poverty if it seeks to curb the spread of HIV.

"Many of these people are very poor, they worry about food, shelter. So they may not think their HIV status is a problem because they don't even know where their next meal is coming from," said Errol Arnette of the help group Sahara.

"A lot of AIDS patients die of TB because it's hard for hospitals to keep them (in hospital). HIV patients are just thrown in a corner because of heavy stigma."

Tyranny of distance a barrier to combating HIV/AIDS in India

Tyranny of distance a barrier to combating HIV/AIDS in India

HIV-positive children pose for the cameras in Bhugaon. (Reuters: Arko Datta, file photo)

Vast distances are a major hurdle to India's efforts to curb its soaring HIV rate.

India, which has the world's third largest HIV-positive caseload, gives drugs for free to HIV/AIDS patients. But doctors say this is not enough to stop the spread of HIV which is making inroads in rural India, especially among women infected by itinerant husbands, and also children.

For three days a month, Sambit squeezes into a crowded and often filthy train for a three-hour journey to Delhi to receive HIV treatment.

"There's no seat and I am very weak," said the 30-year-old former tailor, who asked that his full name not be revealed.

He cannot afford lodging in Delhi and can barely afford the train tickets.

"I need to borrow money from my family for all these trips," he said.

Many patients in the same position simply give up treatment, an anathema in HIV therapy as it gives rise to drug resistance. These patients may then need more powerful second line treatment, which is not freely available in India.

"Travel can affect drug compliance. Patients who don't get family support, women who may not like to travel alone, will just give up," said a doctor at a New Delhi hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not have permission to speak to reporters.

There are 147 "antiretroviral therapy" or ART centres in the country, part of a government drive that has been encouraged by the World Health Organisation in a bid to prevent HIV from becoming a major health problem.

Delhi has nine such centres and is far better served than many other states. Up to 6,000 patients receive treatment in Delhi, nearly half of these live outside the capital.

The Government now plans to build "link centres", small facilities that are closer to where patients live so people like Sambit can obtain their medications more easily.

"They just come to pick up the drugs if they have no side effects and they go home ... that saves transport and other costs," the doctor said, adding that the plan was to have as many as 500 such centres all over India.

India has 2.47 million HIV cases, according to the latest figures, but health workers say the number is rising rapidly and spreading to new population groups.

"Our numbers are going up," said Loon Gangte, South Asia coordinator of the Collaborative Fund for HIV Treatment Preparedness.

"It's not confined to high risk groups, it's going into the general population. It's not a problem of sex workers, drug users or truck drivers. These people have wives and children at home and the disease is making its way into the general population."

Oestrogen to help prevent HIV in men: research

Oestrogen to help prevent HIV in men: research

Researchers at Melbourne University believe the female hormone oestrogen could help prevent HIV infections in men.

Scientists have discovered applying oestrogen cream to a penis thickens the foreskin and provides a natural barrier to the spread of infection.

Professor Roger Short told ABC Radio's PM program the treatment could become an easy, cost-effective way to contain the spread of the AIDS virus.

"By applying oestrogen, you create a natural condom - a membrane that the virus can't get through," he said.

MP calls for new AIDS awareness strategy

MP calls for new AIDS awareness strategy


The Nationals' Member for Riverina, Kay Hull, says one of the biggest challenges in the fight against HIV and AIDS is to build awareness within younger generations.

Ms Hull has been appointed to the International Parliamentary Union's HIV/AIDS advisory group, after a request from the secretary-general of the union.

She says Australia needs to look at a new AIDS strategy as the current plan expires this month.

"There is still an extreme source of discrimination against HIV sufferers whether they be infected through activities they were responsible for or unknowingly infected," she said.

"Everyone has a right to treatment that ensures a quality of life, and ensures that health provisions to the best of our ability are provided."

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

UN boss wants end to travel restrictions on HIV carriers

UN boss wants end to travel restrictions on HIV carriers

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has called for an end to discrimination against people carrying the AIDS virus, including travel restrictions imposed on them by some countries.

"I call for a change in laws that uphold stigma and discrimination, including restrictions on travel for people living with HIV," he said at the opening of a two-day, high-level meeting in the General Assembly on UN targets set in 2001 to roll back the disease worldwide.

"Halting and reversing the spread of AIDS is not only a goal in itself, it is a prerequisite for reaching almost all the others [poverty-reduction Millennium Development Goals by 2015]."

He said that 60 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted, "it is shocking that there should still be discrimination against those at high risk, such as men who have sex with men, or stigma attached to individuals living with HIV."

"I am a person living with HIV and by revealing my HIV status publicly, I am taking a risk of being banned from entering this country and over 70 other countries around the world," said AIDS activist Ratri Suryadarma of Indonesia.

A letter signed by 345 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) was sent to leaders and ambassadors of concerned countries to urge them to lift the restrictions.

According to UNAIDS, the global standard-bearer in the fight against HIV, 74 countries are subjecting HIV carriers to restrictive measures, including a mention of the disease on their passports.

Twelve among them - Armenia, Colombia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sudan, the United States and Yemen - barred entry to HIV carriers, often citing public health concerns and the high cost of treatment.

Innocent Laison, a member of the Senegalese NGO Africaso, denounced such restrictions, pointing that countries which impose them allow their own HIV-infected nationals to go abroad.

Salvadoran President Elias Antonio Saca, who lifted such restrictions in his country four years ago, backed the NGOs' call.

"I appeal to the international community and all governments for the scrapping of walls and barriers which restrict the free movement of people living with HIV," he said.

Meanwhile AIDS expert Anthony Fauci, the head of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stressed the importance of prevention and continuing research.

He recalled that AIDS was discovered 27 years ago and that considerable funding was still needed to combat the disease.

S Africa bans AIDS vitamin trials

S Africa bans AIDS vitamin trials


Controversial trials of vitamin therapies to treat AIDS in South Africa have been banned.

The South African Government has been heavily criticised for failing to regulate the widespread use of natural remedies as alternatives to proven anti-retroviral drugs.

However, AIDS lobby groups such as the South African Medical Association have succeeded in gaining a court order banning unauthorised clinical trials of vitamin therapies for AIDS.

Those trials were conducted by German doctor Matthias Rath and American physician David Rasnick, who used to advise the South African President on HIV/AIDS.

Dr Rath is accused of profiteering by selling unregistered vitamin treatments among poor black communities.

HIV prevention programs 'better funded' in NSW

HIV prevention programs 'better funded' in NSW

The AIDS Council of NSW says the state's HIV infection rates have remained stable for the past decade because of successful education campaigns and prevention strategies.

New Health Department figures show NSW has avoided the increased rates of HIV infection that have been seen in most other states in Australia.

The Council's chief executive, Stevie Clayton, says that is partly because New South Wales' HIV prevention programs are more comprehensive and better funded.

"This is a State Government which seems to invest the most per head of population in HIV prevention," he said.

"The other states and the Commonwealth have really dropped the ball around that and we've seen increases of 20 per cent on 20 per cent on 20 per cent in other states, so it's a much worse situation."

Court told man bragged about infecting people with HIV

Court told man bragged about infecting people with HIV

Michael Neal is charged with infecting two men with HIV. (ABC TV)

A Melbourne jury has been told it will hear of some bizarre sexual practices, in the trial of a man charged with infecting people with HIV.

Forty-nine year old Michael Neal, from Coburg, is charged with infecting two men with HIV, and attempting to infect 12 others.

A County Court jury has been told Mr. Neal lied about his HIV status and drugged some men to persuade them to have unprotected sex.

The court has heard Mr Neal deliberately tried to infect people, sometimes at parties called 'conversion parties".

It heard Mr. Neal told one man, he gets off on infecting people and bragged to another he had made 75 people HIV positive.

The jury was warned about the graphic nature of the evidence and was told it should put aside any feelings of sympathy or prejudice.

The court heard one of the men infected, had been besotted with Mr Neal.

As part of their master-dog relationship, he had registered himself as a rottweiler with his local council and had given his dog tags and collar to Mr Neal as a gift.

The defence argues Mr Neal did attempt to infect anyone, and that the two men who contracted the virus, could have caught it another way.

The defence told the jury Mr Neal made some outrageous and incredible claims, and that it will have to distinguish fact, from sick fantasy.

AIDS epidemic is disaster like drought, floods for Africa: Red Cross

AIDS epidemic is disaster like drought, floods for Africa: Red Cross

Posted Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:46am AEST

The AIDS epidemic in southern Africa is so severe that it should be classed as a disaster comparable to floods or famine, a new study by the Red Cross says.

In its annual "World Disasters Report", the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said that there was "no doubt" that HIV/AIDS matches the United Nations definition of a disaster.

The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs classes a disaster as a "serious disruption of the functioning of a society, causing widespread human, material or environmental losses which exceed the ability of a society to cope using only its own resources".

The IFRC said that such a situation exists in sub-Saharan Africa, which is home to about two-thirds of the world's HIV-positive cases.

At least one person in ten is living with HIV in nations such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia, the report said.

The consequences of the epidemic are felt by all of society and not just those who are sick, due to the economic strain and social tensions.

"Reflecting on the lives of most people living in sub-Saharan Africa raises more alarm than hope," the IFRC said.

"The virus is directly responsible for restraining and reducing human and resource capacities across societies because HIV infections and AIDS deaths are common among workers of all qualifications and expertise, and in all industries.

"Coupled with the high costs of caring for people living with HIV, those capacity constraints lead to withered health and education systems, declining food security, skilled labour shortages and an increasingly ramshackled infrastructure," the report warned.

Cooperative spirit: $120m HIV centre

Cooperative spirit: $120m HIV centre


A new HIV research centre being established in Sydney will bring together 300 of the nation's top scientists under one roof.

The National Institute of Virology will be located within the St Vincent's Hospital precinct at Darlinghurst.

The vice-chancellor of the University of New South Wales, Fred Hilmer, says the centre will allow the state's scientists to stay at the forefront of research into HIV treatment and prevention.

"We are really delighted that what we will see is a $120 million project, funded a third by government and two-thirds by the university and philanthropy, and the hospital providing the land on which the facility will be built," he said.

He says it shows what people can do when they work together.

"To capitalise on strength for the benefit not just of NSW, not just of Australia but really the very many people in the world who suffer from the ailments that hopefully the research here will help alleviate."

London overnight in support of his global AIDS campaign

London overnight in support of his global AIDS campaign

Nelson Mandela onstage during the Hyde Park concert. (Getty Images: Gareth Davies)

A star-studded cast of artists have celebrated Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday with a giant concert in London overnight in support of his global AIDS campaign.

Amy Winehouse and Annie Lennox were among the musicians performing at the Hyde Park gig for the former South African president's 46664 campaign, which was being broadcast around the world.

Following an opening performance from Jivan Gasparyan, an Armenian duduk wooden flute master, US actor Will Smith introduced British rockers Razorlight.

Queen and Paul Rodgers also rocked the audience before a finale of "Free Nelson Mandela" featuring Winehouse and the song's writer, Specials keyboard player Jerry Dammers, plus all the artists.

"I'm here to see Nelson Mandela," 45-year-old Ben Motsumi said - a nurse from Klerksdorp in South Africa who came to the concert with his wife and children.

"He's a hero to me. I've got all pictures of him in my house," he said.

"I've been in Britain for nine years. This is an incredible occasion for us.

"If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be here."

Mr Mandela made headlines on Wednesday by breaking his silence over the electoral violence in Zimbabwe, describing it as a "tragic failure of leadership".

Other performers on the concert bill included Simple Minds, Josh Groban, Joan Baez, Leona Lewis, the Sugababes, Eddy Grant, Jamelia, Zucchero and the Sudanese "war child" rapper Emmanuel Jal.

A 46664 spokesman said Mr Mandela attended the Hyde Park gig to thank the British people for a concert at London's Wembley Stadium in 1988, which called for his release from jail.

Precisely 46,664 tickets - after Mandela's prison number during his 27-year incarceration for trying to topple South Africa's apartheid regime - went on sale for the three-and-a-half-hour concert.

Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton and British actor Stephen Fry were among the celebrities introducing the artists.

Mr Mandela, who retired from public life nine years ago, is expected to retreat further from the limelight after his birthday celebrations and hand over the reins of his 46664 campaign.

The African liberation hero, who turns 90 on July 18, is now in frail health.

"The world remains beset by so much human suffering, poverty and deprivation," Mr Mandela said at a fundraising dinner during the week.

"It is in your hands to make of our world a better one for all, especially the poor, vulnerable and marginalised."

The bash, attended by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former US president Bill Clinton, poverty activist Bob Geldof, film stars and performers from Friday's concert, raised $10.4 million dollars.

The 46664 campaign, which has seen four previous multi-artist concerts, aims to raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic which is rife in sub-Saharan Africa.

South Africa is one of the countries worst-hit by HIV, with 5.41 million people living with the illness.

Mr Mandela lost a son to AIDS in January 2005 and has made fighting the pandemic his main cause।

Punishing HIV transmitters won't stop disease: Kirby

Punishing HIV transmitters won't stop disease: Kirby

High Court judge Michael Kirby has told an overseas conference that punishing those who transmit HIV to others is unlikely to put a stop to rising rates of infection.

Speaking at a criminal law conference in Dublin, Justice Kirby addressed the growing rates of HIV infection in Australia and overseas as well as the increased pressure for the transmission of the virus to be criminalised.

He issued a warning to law makers against the use of counter productive laws that punish those who transmit HIV.

Justice Kirby said because of his sexuality, he found himself at the centre of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and lost a number of friends to the disease.

He said the criminalisation of HIV transmission is one of the most important challenges facing the criminal law sector and said punitive measures are unlikely to succeed given there is no effective vaccine.

Monday, July 23, 2012

HIV prevalence less than expected

HIV prevalence less than expected in PNG


The most comprehensive report yet on HIV shows that prevalence of the virus in Papua New Guinea is at epidemic levels but is not as high as most thought.

Until now it was thought that 2 per cent or more of PNG's population was infected with HIV AIDS.

A UN report, with input from an unprecedented number of organisations says the figure is less, about 1.6 per cent.

Community Services Minister Dame Carol Kidu is cautiously optimistic that change is taking place.

"I think it does indicate that maybe there is some increase awareness going on and acceptance of the message and our behavioural change because of the message," she said.

However it is estimated that 60 per cent of those infected do not know it and it is in the rural areas where the virus is really taking a stranglehold.

US Senate passes bill to boost global AIDS funds

US Senate passes bill to boost global AIDS funds

The US Senate, fighting opposition from some conservative Republicans, has voted to spend $US48 billion to fight AIDS worldwide over the next five years.

By a vote of 80 to 16, the Senate passed the legislation and ended weeks of delays orchestrated by some Republicans who thought the measure spent too much and objected to other provisions.

"In 2003 President Bush and this Congress launched the largest public health program in the history of the world," said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat, who pushed the legislation.

"It is saving lives, millions of them."

The House of Representatives passed its version of the bill on April 2.

The House and Senate will have to work out their differences to craft a final version.

Anti-malaria gene 'makes Africans more susceptible to HIV'

Anti-malaria gene 'makes Africans more susceptible to HIV'

A gene found only in people of African ancestry which evolved to prevent malaria infection now increases the odds of contracting AIDS by up to 40 per cent, a new study has found.

The gene does, however, seem to protect against the progression of the disease, allowing those carrying it to live about two years longer.

Around 90 per cent of people in Africa carry this genetic variant and it may be responsible for 11 per cent of the infections there, the study published Wednesday in Cell Host and Microbe found.

"After thousands of years of adaptation, this Duffy variant rose to high frequency because it helped protect against malaria," said co-author Matthew Dolan of the Wilford Hall United States Air Force Medical Center.

"Now, with another global pandemic on the scene, this same variant renders people more susceptible to HIV."

The gene in question, the Duffy Antigen Receptor for Chemokines (DARC), encodes a protein found mainly at the surface of red blood cells.

About 68 per cent of people infected with HIV live in Sub-Saharan Africa, the United Nations says.

The US and British researchers who authored the study said sexual behavior and other social factors do not fully explain large discrepancies in HIV prevalence.

Earlier studies have shown that HIV can bind to red blood cells through this receptor. The receptor has also been found to bind a wide array of inflammatory molecules, including one which is highly effective in suppressing replication of HIV.

Calls for Iran to release AIDS doctors

Calls for Iran to release AIDS doctors

A human rights group is calling on Iran to immediately release or charge two doctors renowned for their work on the prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS.

Human Rights Watch says the authorities have not disclosed why Arash and Kamyar Alaei were detained last month, or where they are being held.

The two brothers have travelled widely outside Iran, including to the United States, to take part in conferences on HIV/AIDS.

They are credited with convincing the Iranian authorities to tackle the stigma of HIV infection and AIDS, in a country where sex, drug abuse and the disease itself are taboo subjects.