tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83565111468037442252024-03-08T14:38:06.393-08:00HIV and AIDSInformation Centerkayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.comBlogger371125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-6958061772966724892007-08-23T00:00:00.000-07:002007-08-23T00:01:24.852-07:00China cracking down on AIDS groupsChinese authorities have cracked down on groups fighting HIV and AIDS, threatening activists, closing their offices and ordering that a conference be canceled, a human rights organization and activists said Tuesday. The government's actions raise questions about whether it is really committed to fighting HIV and AIDS, New York-based Human Rights Watch said.<br /><br />"These individuals and groups dedicated to addressing the enormous suffering wrought by China's HIV/AIDS epidemic should not face police threats and harassment," Joe Amon, the group's HIV/AIDS director, said in a statement. The activists, Amon said, deserve "praise and support, not intimidation tactics by state security forces." The reported crackdown comes amid a general tightening of political control in China in the run-up to a major meeting of the ruling Communist Party. The meeting, expected in October, is held once every five years and sets the political tone and direction for the country.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />Officials did not immediately comment. The Guangdong Public Security Bureau said it was not authorized to discuss the matter, referring questions to the Ministry of Public Security. The public security bureau in Kaifeng said it did not know about the case.<br /><br />Zhu Zhaowu, who leads a branch of activist group Dong Zhen in Henan province, said officials went to his office last Wednesday and gave him two days to clear out.<br /><br />Zhu said agents with the Kaifeng city Commerce and Industry Bureau said his group "is an illegal organization conducting illegal activities."<br /><br />An officer also told Zhu to "watch your back after you move out, because Kaifeng can be unsafe," he said.<br /><br />One of the group's activity centers in Ruanjia village was forced to close last Thursday, Zhu added. Dong Zhen provides legal aid to HIV and AIDS patients.<br /><br />The organization had planned to co-host a conference Aug. 2-3 in southern China's Guangdong province with the New York-based Asia Catalyst group, said Dong Zhen director Li Dan. But the manager of the hotel where the conference was to be held said police contacted him and requested it be called off, Li said in a telephone interview.<br /><br />"The Guangdong police didn't contact us directly, however," he said. Li refused to provide specifics, saying "I'm under a lot of other pressure."<br /><br />The public security bureau in Guangdong had considered the conference's topics "too sensitive," Human Rights Watch said.<br /><br />There are an estimated 650,000 people living with HIV in China, according to the most recent government statistics from 2005. HIV gained a foothold in the country largely due to unsanitary blood plasma-buying schemes and tainted blood transfusions.<br /><br />The U.N. has praised China's work in combating HIV and AIDS, including top-level government commitment, proper funding, availability of antiretroviral drugs and outreach programs. However, the executive director of UNAIDS said last month that Beijing still must reach out to more patients in the vast country and overcome a lack of cooperation from some government officials.<br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-39412060144405542332007-08-22T23:58:00.000-07:002007-08-22T23:59:36.652-07:00AIDS fight in Asia hurt by instabilitySri Lanka - Growing political instability, stigmatization of those infected and conservative social attitudes are hampering the fight against the spread of HIV in Asia, a top regional AIDS official said Monday. Nearly a half-million people in Asia and the Pacific are infected with HIV every year and as many as 300,000 of those infected die — more than the total killed in the 2004 tsunami, said Prasada Rao, UNAIDS regional director.<br /><br />"The harsh reality is that the grim march of the epidemic in our region continues unabated," he told the International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific. About 2,500 government officials, AIDS activists and health professionals from around the region gathered in Colombo for the five-day conference.<br /><br />An estimated 5.4 million people in the region are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. While that number is far below the infection rate in Africa, Asia's huge population has led to concerns that an AIDS pandemic could erupt here as well if strong action is not taken.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />While India and Thailand have been the focus of recent international efforts, Rao expressed fears that China, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh could be the next battlegrounds.<br /><br />"These are large countries and they have the potential of an epidemic to take root, so they need a strong program," he said.<br /><br />There has been some success, Rao said, pointing to a major campaign in India that help either stabilize or bring down the HIV-infection rate in the worst affected regions.<br /><br />But there are also disturbing trends, including continued attacks by opponents of condom use and sex education, he said.<br /><br />"There is no doubt anymore that condoms continue to be the only effective prevention tool available for protection against HIV, yet opposition to its promotion continues in many countries," he said.<br /><br />In India, as many as 11 state governments have banned or are banning sex education in schools, and they are facing little opposition from civic groups, he said.<br /><br />"It's baffling, really. Why should this happen?" he told The Associated Press.<br /><br />A new wave of conflicts in the region is also hampering prevention and treatment efforts, he said. Two years ago, at the last regional AIDS conference, only Nepal was mired in significant conflict, he said. Now, eight more countries have fallen into political instability and conflict.<br /><br />The war in Afghanistan has also indirectly contributed to the spread of the disease, he said. The increase in the cultivation of poppies used to make heroin has helped fuel intravenous drug use — the second leading cause of the spread of HIV in the region, he said.<br /><br />Others also warned of potential pitfalls in the fight.<br /><br />Nafis Sadik, special U.N. envoy on HIV/AIDS in Asia, said many issues of fear, stigmatization and ignorance are being ignored.<br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-80653784264960314182007-08-22T23:54:00.000-07:002007-08-22T23:56:45.347-07:00Nutrition can't replace AIDS drugs, South African study findsGood nutrition, while important for those on antiretroviral medication, does not prevent HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, a study by South African scientists said Wednesday. The Academy of Science of South Africa found "no evidence that healthier eating is any substitute for correctly-used medical drugs".<br /><br />"The panel has concluded that no food, no component made from food, and no food supplement has been identified in any credible study as an effective alternative to appropriate medication," said lead researcher Barry Mendelow. South Africa's Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has often claimed that the use of garlic, lemon and other vegetables -- earning her the nickname Dr Beetroot -- could contain the epidemic.<br /><br />"These delay the development of HIV to AIDS-defining conditions, and that's the truth," she told parliament last year.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />Dan Ncayiyana, editor of the South African Medical Journal and one of the authors of the study, said: "One of our most important findings has been that nutrition is important for general health but is not sufficient to contain the HIV/AIDS or the turberculosis epidemic."<br /><br />The report called for nutritional studies to be conducted in conditions found in most poor countries where much of the population is malnourished.<br /><br />"The few randomised trials that exist have mainly been conducted in high-income countries where most patients are well nourished and have access to life-prolonging antiretroviral therapy," the report said.<br /><br />The health ministry said the study "reaffirms" government's position in its effort to combat the disease.<br /><br />"It reaffirms some of the policy positions (on HIV/AIDS) pushed by government and the department," health spokesman Sibani Mngadi told SABC radio.<br /><br />"While we are facing challenges of two major infectious diseases, nutrition will assist you in promoting good health, (but) you need to get appropriate medication."<br /><br />South Africa is one of the countries worst-hit by HIV with prevalence standing at 18.4 percent in 2006, and with 5.41 million people living with the illness.<br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-3530278737234647252007-08-22T23:53:00.001-07:002007-08-22T23:53:56.195-07:00CRPF launches helpline for own HIV/AIDS victimsHit with a rising number of HIV/AIDS cases among its personnel, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Wednesday launched a toll free helpline to assist the victims and their relatives with timely information regarding AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. 'The helpline will make the life of the jawans and their families safer and will go a long way in reducing stress levels in the force,' said CRPF director general S.I.S. Ahmed.<br /><br />'The unique combination of facilities on this helpline will make it popular and useful,' he added. According to data available with the ministry of home affairs, 200 paramilitary personnel have died of AIDS since 2004, including 27 this year.<br /><br />Of the total number of victims, 75 died in 2004, 58 in 2005, 40 in 2006 and 27 in the first seven months of 2007.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />While CRPF has lost 72 of its men during this period, 56 troopers from the Border Security Force (BSF) have lost their lives due to HIV/AIDS.<br /><br />The helpline - jointly created by the CRPF's Wives' Welfare Association (CWWA) and Force AIDS Control Cell (FACC) - will also redress grievances of serving and retired personnel in this area.<br /><br />The project has been launched with funds provided by Unaids.<br /><br />'The project will have six fully trained tele-counsellors to run the helpline, besides an interactive voice response system. These counsellors will have updated information on HIV, AIDS and welfare schemes of CRPF,' said another top CRPF official.<br /><br />'In the first phase the information on these issues will be available in English and Hindi,' the official added.<br /><br />On Tuesday, minister of state for home affairs Sriprakash Jaiswal had informed parliament that a total of 1,363 men in the paramilitary forces are currently suffering from AIDS.<br /><br />Of them, CRPF has 521, and Assam Rifles 458. BSF has reported 239 HIV/AIDS cases, CISF 105, Indo-Tibetan Border Police 25, National Security Guard six and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) nine cases.<br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-88935917306171843272007-08-22T23:46:00.000-07:002007-08-22T23:52:50.166-07:00Human trafficking helps spread HIV/AIDS in AsiaAbout 300,000 women and children are trafficked across Asia each year, accelerating the spread of HIV/AIDS, the United Nations said on Wednesday. "Trafficking ... contributes to the spread of HIV by significantly increasing the vulnerability of trafficked persons to infection," said Caitlin Wiesen-Antin, HIV/AIDS regional coordinator, Asia and Pacific, for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).<br /><br />"Both human trafficking and HIV greatly threaten human development and security."<br /><br />Major human trafficking routes run between Nepal and India and between Thailand and neighbors like Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. Many of the victims are young teenage girls who end up in prostitution. "The link between human trafficking and HIV/AIDS has only been identified fairly recently," Wiesen-Antin told the International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />"Neither HIV/AIDS nor human trafficking have been integrated or mainstreamed adequately, either at policy or programmatic level."<br /><br />UNAIDS estimates 5.4 million people were living with HIV in the Asia Pacific region in 2006, with anywhere between 140,000 and 610,000 people dying from AIDS-related illnesses.<br /><br />That makes it the world's second largest number of people living with HIV after sub-Saharan Africa, where 25.8 million people are infected with the virus.<br /><br />Conference host Sri Lanka has one of the lowest rates of HIV in Asia, with an estimated 5,000 infected people out of a population of around 20 million.<br /><br />Neighboring India, by comparison, has the world's third highest HIV caseload after South Africa and Nigeria, with around 2.5 million people living with the virus.<br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-14911021484326717092007-08-21T23:49:00.000-07:002007-08-21T23:50:57.983-07:00Drugs, conflict spur HIV in Asia Pacific regionHIV infections are increasing at a worrying 10 percent a year in the Asia Pacific region, a top UN AIDS official said on Tuesday, putting the rise down to intravenous drug use, sex workers and conflicts. Governments need to spend more money on prevention programmes and look at bypassing patents to produce affordable generic drugs to ensure prevalence rates remain low compared to Africa, said Prasada Rao, UNAIDS regional director for Asia and the Pacific.<br /><br />"In the last two years we have seen about a million infections coming in, that means half a million every year," Rao told Reuters in an interview at the International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific being hosted in Colombo. "Ten percent is a worrying figure."<br /><br />"If you take out Southern India and Thailand and Cambodia, where you have a declining rate, in the remaining Asia Pacific region it is still an increasing epidemic," he added. "It is still accelerating."<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />UNAIDS estimates 5.4 million people were living with HIV in the Asia Pacific region in 2006, with anywhere between 140,000 and 610,000 people dying from AIDS-related illnesses.<br /><br />That makes it the world's second largest number of people living with HIV after sub-Saharan Africa, where 25.8 million people are infected with the virus.<br /><br />Part of the challenge is changing the mindset of policy makers who, though not complacent, are not targeting enough prevention measures at high risk groups, Rao said.<br /><br />"It is an epidemic which is spreading through the injecting drug users, sexworkers ... who are criminalised sections of society," he said.<br /><br />"When you explain the dynamic of the epidemic to politicians, they still think it is something that is not going to happen here and is only going to happen to bad people."<br /><br />Areas of most acute concern to UNAIDS include Papua New Guinea because of poor health infrastructure and a high prevalence of rape, and Indonesia, Vietnam, China and Bangladesh, where intravenous drug use is high.<br /><br />"In South Asia it is Pakistan and North India -- Pakistan because still the entire dimension of the epidemic is not well understood. Northern India's response is very slow and very disjointed," Rao said, adding some Indian states had even banned sex education.<br /><br />India has between 2.0 million to 3.1 million people with HIV, with 85 percent of transmission occurring through sex workers. In China, 60 percent of infections are due to injecting drug use, he said.<br /><br />Human trafficking for the sex industry is also a major problem.<br /><br />"A lot of Nepali girls are brought to India. Another trafficking route has been Thailand and its neighbouring countries like Laos, Cambodia and even Myanmar," Rao said. "Many young girls are coming to brothels and massage parlours ... many just 13, 14 or 15 years old."<br /><br />Nepal's AIDS programmes were suffering due to political instability there, just as conflict in Afghanistan is hindering access to treatment and prevention. <br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-72834948157013612982007-08-21T23:48:00.000-07:002007-08-21T23:49:09.754-07:00Food supplements don't fight HIVNeither food nor food supplements are alternatives to drug therapy in treating people with HIV/AIDS, South Africa's top scientific advisory panel has said, amid a controversy over the nation's AIDS policies. The report by the Academy of Science of South Africa was issued as President Thabo Mbeki faced new criticism over support for his health minister, who promotes nutritional treatment for AIDS, and the sacking of a deputy minister who backed drug treatments.<br /><br />The inter-disciplinary scientific panel, which advises the government on health policies, began studying nutritional influences on the human immune system in October 2005, focusing on the virus that causes AIDS and on tuberculosis (TB).<br /><br />"The panel has concluded that no food, no component made from food, and no food supplement has been identified in any credible study as an effective alternative to appropriate medication," said Prof Barry Mendelow, chairman of a 15-member panel from the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />Mendelow told Reuters the panel found while nutritional intervention is "a valuable supportive measure", the primary treatment is anti-retrovirals and anti-TB drug therapy.<br /><br />"It's not a question of one or the other," he added.<br /><br />South Africa has one of the world's highest HIV infection rate with an estimated 12 per cent of the country's 47 million population infected with the deadly virus.<br /><br />Besides a struggling health-care system characterised by a lack of doctors and nurses, many of whom have left the country for better pay abroad, the fight against AIDS has been hampered by conflicting messages from senior government officials.<br /><br />Mbeki sacked Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge this month for insubordination, sparking an outcry from AIDS activists who strongly backed her policies and critics who say she was fired for political reasons.<br /><br />Madlala-Routledge had clashed with Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, dubbed "Dr Beetroot", who had horrified AIDS activists with her advocacy of garlic, lemon and African potatoes over conventional anti-retroviral drugs.<br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-89673464957292127122007-08-21T23:36:00.000-07:002007-08-21T23:47:32.542-07:00Beijing accused of harassing AIDS activistsChinese authorities have cracked down on groups fighting HIV and AIDS, threatening activists, closing their offices and ordering that a conference be canceled, a human rights group and activists said Tuesday. The government's actions raise questions about whether it is really committed to fighting HIV and AIDS, New York-based Human Rights Watch said.<br /><br />"These individuals and groups dedicated to addressing the enormous suffering wrought by China's HIV/AIDS epidemic should not face police threats and harassment," Joe Amon, the group's HIV/AIDS director, said in a statement. The activists deserve "praise and support, not intimidation tactics by state security forces."<br /><br />The crackdown comes amid a general tightening of political control in China in the run-up to a major meeting of the ruling Communist Party. The meeting, expected in October, is held once every five years and sets the political tone and direction for the country.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />Zhu Zhaowu, who heads a branch of activist group Dong Zhen in Henan province, said officials went to his office last Wednesday and gave him two days to clear out.<br /><br />Zhu said agents with the Kaifeng city Commerce and Industry Bureau said his group ''is an illegal organization conducting illegal activities.''<br /><br />An officer also told Zhu to ''watch your back after you move out, because Kaifeng can be unsafe,'' he said.<br /><br />One of the group's activity centers in Ruanjia village was forced to close on Thursday, Zhu added. Dong Zhen provides legal aid to HIV and AIDS patients.<br /><br />The organization had planned to host a conference Aug. 2-3 in southern China's Guangdong province, said Dong Zhen director Li Dan. But the manager of the hotel where it was to be held said police contacted him and requested it be called off, Li said in a telephone interview.<br /><br />''The Guangdong police didn't contact us directly, however,'' he said. Li refused to provide specifics, saying ''I'm under a lot of other pressure.''<br /><br />The public security bureau in Guangdong had considered the conference's topics ''too sensitive,'' Human Rights Watch said.<br /><br />A similar reason was given for the cancellation of another AIDS conference of Chinese and foreign experts, scheduled for last month in Guangzhou and organized by the New York-based group Asia Catalyst. The conference topic was strengthening AIDS victims' legal rights, Human Rights Watch said.<br /><br />The Guangdong Public Security Bureau said it was not authorized to comment, referring questions to the Ministry of Public Security. The public security bureau in Kaifeng said it did not know about the case.<br /><br />In Beijing, husband and wife activists Hu Jia and Zeng Jinyan have been placed under house arrest and blocked from leaving the country.<br /><br />There are an estimated 650,000 people living with HIV in China, according to the most recent government statistics from 2005. HIV gained a foothold in the country largely due to unsanitary blood plasma-buying schemes and tainted blood transfusions.<br /><br />The U.N. has praised China's work in combating HIV and AIDS, including top-level government commitment, proper funding, availability of antiretroviral drugs and outreach programs. However, the executive director of UNAIDS said last month that Beijing still must reach out to more patients in the vast country and overcome a lack of cooperation from some government officials. (Anita Chang, AP) <br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-58051316916552528072007-08-21T23:33:00.000-07:002007-08-21T23:35:19.637-07:00China cracking down on AIDS groupsChinese authorities have cracked down on groups fighting HIV and AIDS, threatening activists, closing their offices and ordering that a conference be canceled, a human rights organization and activists said Tuesday. The government's actions raise questions about whether it is really committed to fighting HIV and AIDS, New York-based Human Rights Watch said.<br /><br />"These individuals and groups dedicated to addressing the enormous suffering wrought by China's HIV/AIDS epidemic should not face police threats and harassment," Joe Amon, the group's HIV/AIDS director, said in a statement. The activists, Amon said, deserve "praise and support, not intimidation tactics by state security forces." The reported crackdown comes amid a general tightening of political control in China in the run-up to a major meeting of the ruling Communist Party. The meeting, expected in October, is held once every five years and sets the political tone and direction for the country.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />Officials did not immediately comment. The Guangdong Public Security Bureau said it was not authorized to discuss the matter, referring questions to the Ministry of Public Security. The public security bureau in Kaifeng said it did not know about the case.<br /><br />Zhu Zhaowu, who leads a branch of activist group Dong Zhen in Henan province, said officials went to his office last Wednesday and gave him two days to clear out.<br /><br />Zhu said agents with the Kaifeng city Commerce and Industry Bureau said his group "is an illegal organization conducting illegal activities."<br /><br />An officer also told Zhu to "watch your back after you move out, because Kaifeng can be unsafe," he said.<br /><br />One of the group's activity centers in Ruanjia village was forced to close last Thursday, Zhu added. Dong Zhen provides legal aid to HIV and AIDS patients.<br /><br />The organization had planned to co-host a conference Aug. 2-3 in southern China's Guangdong province with the New York-based Asia Catalyst group, said Dong Zhen director Li Dan. But the manager of the hotel where the conference was to be held said police contacted him and requested it be called off, Li said in a telephone interview.<br /><br />"The Guangdong police didn't contact us directly, however," he said. Li refused to provide specifics, saying "I'm under a lot of other pressure."<br /><br />The public security bureau in Guangdong had considered the conference's topics "too sensitive," Human Rights Watch said.<br /><br />There are an estimated 650,000 people living with HIV in China, according to the most recent government statistics from 2005. HIV gained a foothold in the country largely due to unsanitary blood plasma-buying schemes and tainted blood transfusions.<br /><br />The U.N. has praised China's work in combating HIV and AIDS, including top-level government commitment, proper funding, availability of antiretroviral drugs and outreach programs. However, the executive director of UNAIDS said last month that Beijing still must reach out to more patients in the vast country and overcome a lack of cooperation from some government officials.<br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-89637008738391454792007-08-20T01:02:00.000-07:002007-08-20T01:03:33.187-07:00Free blood for AIDS patientsOVER 24,000 HIV and AIDS patients in Uttar Pradesh will no longer face humiliation in getting blood from blood banks. In a major decision to ensure emergency treatment facility to terminally ill HIV-positive patients, the State Blood Transfusion Council has decided to provide them free blood from the government blood banks.<br /><br />The blood and its components will be supplied to these patients without the mandatory condition i.e. on 'exchange basis'. The notification will soon be issued to the 60 State-run blood banks at district hospitals and medical colleges in UP.<br />"Decision to this effect was taken at the UP State AIDS Control Society (UPSACS) and State Blood Transfusion Council's meeting at Lucknow. Members present at the meeting decided that HIV-positive patients would be provided free blood and its components, without exchange basis, at the government blood banks," said UPSACS joint director Dr RP Mathur.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />Talking to HT on telephone, Dr Mathur said Principal Secretary (Health) had already told the director general (Health) to issue notification to the 60 State-run blood banks in district hospitals and medical colleges for making free supply of blood units to the terminally ill HIV-positive patients.<br /><br />"According to the records, there are 21,358 HIV positive patients and 3,053 full-blown AIDS cases, in UP. Most HIV patients suffer from opportunistic infection and need proper treatment including blood transfusion," he added. Dr Mathur added that for the last some time various organisations, including UP Network of HIV-Positive People (UPNP+) were demanding to arrange free blood units for the critically ill AIDS patients.<br /><br />District AIDS Control Officer Dr Shakti Basu said they welcomed the decision, as a large number of patients needed blood transfusion to save their lives. "Recently, we had to face a lot of problem arranging blood for a HIV-positive woman at the time of labour at district hospital, Pratapgarh," he informed.<br /><br />Dr Basu said a large number of HIV patients were suffering from tuberculosis, leading to internal bleeding or other life-threatening conditions due to presence of double infection in the body. They also suffered from massive weight loss and anemia, he said. "In all cases, they need blood transfusion. But being ostracised from the society, no one is ready to give them blood," he said.<br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-28212433714713571612007-08-20T01:01:00.000-07:002007-08-20T01:02:09.747-07:00Fish farms help families in Africa hit by AIDSTiny fish farms have helped 1,200 poor families hit by AIDS in Malawi to raise their incomes and improve their diets in a scheme being expanded to other African nations, a report showed on Monday.<br /><br />About $90 can enable construction of a small rain-fed pond that can be stocked with juvenile fish costing $10. Once the fish grow and reproduce, the ponds produce food with far less back-breaking work than subsistence farming.<br /><br />The project, run by the Malaysia-based WorldFish Center and targeted at families where some members have died from AIDS or are suffering from the epidemic, has doubled income for 1,200 families in Malawi and improved diets, WorldFish said.<br /><br />"These small fish points offer tremendous benefits to struggling farming families in rural Africa whose many challenges have been greatly compounded by AIDS," Stephen Hall, director general of WorldFish, said in a statement.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br /><br />Many families in the project were headed by widows or grandparents caring for orphans.<br /><br />About one in five adults in Malawi, among the world's poorest nations, are infected with HIV/AIDS and tens of thousands of the 12.1 million population die every year from the disease. A cocktail of drugs can help control infection, but there is no vaccine and no cure.<br /><br />WorldFish, a non-profit research group, said it was expanding the scheme to neighboring Mozambique and Zambia with a goal of reaching 26,000 households.<br /><br />"We hope to reach this goal within 2 to 3 years. We have also received requests for information from as far as Nigeria," Daniel Jamu, the regional director for WorldFish in eastern and southern Africa, told Reuters.<br /><br />WorldFish is backed by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research and World Vision, an aid group.<br /><br />Farmers are encouraged to use farm waste and crop by-products to feed their fish. In turn, the fish farms are twinned with a drive to get farmers to grow more vegetables, using pond sediment as fertilizer.<br /><br />Jamu said that a small fish farm, covering about 200 square meters (yards) and stocked with fish such as tilapia, could produce 60 to 90 kg (130 to 190 lbs) of fish a year in rural Malawi where fish can sell in markets for $2 a kg.<br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-81068248856706894992007-08-20T01:00:00.000-07:002007-08-20T01:01:20.116-07:00Asia AIDS conference opens in Sri LankaOfficials and health care workers met in Sri Lanka on Sunday to urge a comprehensive approach to tackling AIDS in Asia, which has some 8.6 million people infected with the HIV virus.<br /><br />The Asia-Pacific region has the world's second largest number of people living with HIV after sub-Saharan Africa where 25.8 million people are infected with the virus. More than 300,000 people die from AIDS in the region annually.<br /><br />"We have 8.6 million HIV infected people in Asia, (this is) too many," said Professor Myung Hwan Cho, president of the AIDS society of the Asia and the Pacific in his opening remarks to the 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />Some 2,500 delegates from more than 40 countries are attending the five-day conference.<br /><br />Sri Lanka has one of the lowest rates of HIV in Asia, with an estimated 5,000 infected people out of a population of around 20 million.<br /><br />Neighbouring India, by comparison, has the world's third highest HIV caseload after South Africa and Nigeria, with around 2.5 million people living with the virus.<br /><br />The U.N. agency UNAIDS said the region faced new challenges and threats.<br /><br />"These include a wider tendency towards complacency ... and denial of AIDS being an epidemic in the region," said Deborah Landey, deputy executive director of UNAIDS.<br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-28049225652592383072007-08-20T00:58:00.000-07:002007-08-20T01:00:18.581-07:00Global AIDS figures to come downSome 25 years after the discovery of the first case of AIDS, the global figure for people living with the virus will come down when fresh figures are released in November, a senior official of the United Nations AIDS umbrella disclosed Sunday.<br /><br />The scale-down in the epidemic is being attributed to a new counting methodology pioneered jointly by the Indian government and the UN - which saw the figures for Indians living with HIV/AIDS decline from 5.7 million to around three million two months ago.<br /><br />'The global numbers will come down a bit - but I can't tell you exactly how much. For that you will have to wait until November when our annual report is released,' UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Deborah Landey said at a press conference to kick off the eighth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP).<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />'The prevalence rates from country to country may come down but our concern is that declining numbers could conceal the complexity of the picture and we are very worried about complacency setting in,' Landey said in response to a query by IANS.<br /><br />'For instance, prevalence rates can decline simply because people are dying. We will try to capture some of the complexity of data in November,' she added.<br /><br />According to figures released by UNAIDS last year, there are between 34 and 42 million people living with HIV or AIDS worldwide, and Landey thought the figures to be announced in November will stay in that broad bracket.<br /><br />One of the main reasons for the decline will be the methodology of Population Household Survey - house-to-house counting that Landey said is particularly good for rural areas - which was used in India to gauge the extent of the epidemic for the first time earlier this year.<br /><br />The same methodology has now been tried out in 22 countries in Africa and the Caribbean, and 20 of them have returned lower figures for HIV/AIDS - a fact that is certain to bring down the global numbers.<br /><br />'Good and accurate data are evolving. What India has done very well is to tap different survey methodologies,' Landey added.<br /><br />But she sounded a note of caution: while Population Household Surveys were good at capturing rural data, they can do little about people who are not at home when health workers pay a visit. And these can include high-risk groups such as truck drivers, migrant workers and sex workers.<br /><br />Landey's startling disclosure about the expected decline in numbers comes at a crucial juncture in the global fight against HIV/AIDS - with more and more money being put into prevention and access to life-saving drugs that were once out of reach of poor people, the international campaign to fight the spread of the disease is seeing its first glimmer of hope.<br /><br />The danger, say health experts in Colombo, is that news about declining numbers will lead to governments becoming complacent in the fight against HIV/AIDS.<br /><br />'We are worried about complacency,' said Landey. 'Countries that have become complacent have seen the epidemic go up.'<br /><br />Some 2,500 health experts and community workers from 70 countries across Asia-Pacific are attending the ICAAP meeting from 19 to 23 August.<br /><br />They will exchange notes and share lessons in best practices so that Asia-Pacific can avoid the experience of sub-Saharan Africa - a region that has been devastated by HIV/AIDS, said Athula Kahanda Liyanage, secretary to the Sri Lankan health ministry. <br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-2649699388044485102007-08-20T00:56:00.001-07:002007-08-20T00:58:41.683-07:00Sex now primary cause of China HIV spreadUnsafe sex has overtaken intravenous drug use as the primary cause of new HIV infections in China, suggesting that AIDS is spreading from high-risk groups to the general public, state media reported on Monday. Of the 70,000 new HIV infections recorded in 2005, nearly half contracted the virus through sexual contact, the China Daily reported, citing a report released jointly by the Ministry of Health and the China Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.<br /><br />"It's the first time since 1989, when the first HIV infection was detected, for sex to top the transmission list nationwide," the newspaper quoted Gao Qi, of the China HIV/AIDS Information Network, as saying.<br /><br />China has an estimated 650,000 people living with HIV or AIDS, and while the government has become increasingly open about the problem, efforts to fight the spread of the virus are still hampered by conservative attitudes about sex and suspicion of grassroots activists and non-governmental organizations.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />Surveys show that one in 10 sexually active men in China have been involved with prostitution at least once, and the government was taking measures to initiate condom use programs and AIDS education among sex workers, the newspaper said.<br /><br />It is also focusing prevention efforts on gay men, who made up 7.3 percent of the new infections through sex.<br /><br />A separate survey conducted by China's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention found that although teenagers in China were having sex at an earlier age, 40 percent did not use protection the first time and they had little AIDS education.<br /><br />"They know little about HIV/AIDS, let alone preventative measures," the China Daily quoted An Jiaao, of the centre's National Institute for Health Education, as saying.<br /><br />HIV/AIDS became a major problem for China in the 1990s when hundreds of thousands of poor farmers, mostly in the central province of Henan, became infected through botched blood-selling schemes.<br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-63309889702196491032007-08-20T00:56:00.000-07:002007-08-20T00:58:18.938-07:00Sex now primary cause of China HIV spreadUnsafe sex has overtaken intravenous drug use as the primary cause of new HIV infections in China, suggesting that AIDS is spreading from high-risk groups to the general public, state media reported on Monday. Of the 70,000 new HIV infections recorded in 2005, nearly half contracted the virus through sexual contact, the China Daily reported, citing a report released jointly by the Ministry of Health and the China Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.<br /><br />"It's the first time since 1989, when the first HIV infection was detected, for sex to top the transmission list nationwide," the newspaper quoted Gao Qi, of the China HIV/AIDS Information Network, as saying.<br /><br />China has an estimated 650,000 people living with HIV or AIDS, and while the government has become increasingly open about the problem, efforts to fight the spread of the virus are still hampered by conservative attitudes about sex and suspicion of grassroots activists and non-governmental organizations.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />Surveys show that one in 10 sexually active men in China have been involved with prostitution at least once, and the government was taking measures to initiate condom use programs and AIDS education among sex workers, the newspaper said.<br /><br />It is also focusing prevention efforts on gay men, who made up 7.3 percent of the new infections through sex.<br /><br />A separate survey conducted by China's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention found that although teenagers in China were having sex at an earlier age, 40 percent did not use protection the first time and they had little AIDS education.<br /><br />"They know little about HIV/AIDS, let alone preventative measures," the China Daily quoted An Jiaao, of the centre's National Institute for Health Education, as saying.<br /><br />HIV/AIDS became a major problem for China in the 1990s when hundreds of thousands of poor farmers, mostly in the central province of Henan, became infected through botched blood-selling schemes.<br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-89498925581052519592007-08-20T00:51:00.000-07:002007-08-20T00:55:24.740-07:00Sex tops drugs in China's HIV casesUnsafe sex has for the first time overtaken drug abuse as the leading cause of HIV cases in China, a trend that could make it tougher to control the spread of the virus, state media reported Monday. Of the 70,000 new infections reported in 2005, 49.8 percent were contracted through sexual contact, the Ministry of Health and China's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said in a joint report, according to the China Daily.<br /><br />Th spread of the virus among drugs abusers through injections stood at 48.6 percent of the total, it said.<br /><br />"It is the first time since 1989, when the first HIV infection was detected (in China), for sex to top the transmission list nationwide nationwide," Gao Qi of the China HIV/AIDS Information Network was quoted as saying.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />No figures were given for previous years, or for 2006, but the report said that drug abuse had been the dominant transmission route for the 650,000 Chinese people infected by HIV.<br /><br />Gao was quoted as saying that the new trend would make it harder to control the spread of the deadly virus, now that the chief transmission route had gone beyond the drug-abusing population.<br /><br />Efforts to curb the new trend were targeting China's burgeoning sex industry, the China Daily said, adding that the government had initiated a campaign to make sex workers force clients to use condoms, a drive inspired by the 100-percent condom use campaign in Thailand.<br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-85498766229614761822007-08-16T09:11:00.001-07:002007-08-16T09:11:43.128-07:00Army hospitals to handle AIDS more humanelyThe doctors and nursing staff of army hospitals need to handle patients suffering from Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) more sensitively and with a human face, Lt. Gen J. Jayaram, director general of the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) said Thursday.<br /><br />Inaugurating a 10-day workshop on management of patients with AIDS and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) at the Army Hospital (Research and Referral) here, Jayaram said: 'Though HIV prevalence among our force is much less than the civilians yet the young population needs to be careful.'<br /><br />'The high risk population, migratory job, staying away from families are factors that we need to take care of. Our doctors and nursing staff are doing their job but need to do it with more sensitivity,' he said.<br /><br />He said the armed forces hospitals are taking help from National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), several NGOs and the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) in handling the health menace.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />'We will tell commanders to play their role in this field,' he said.<br /><br />Maj. Gen. Shashi Bala, additional director general of the Military Nursing Service (MNS), said that all hospitals need 'a human approach for the management of patients with HIV/AIDS'.<br /><br />She also appealed to the nursing community of the armed forces 'to become fluent in the language of AIDS and handle patients with extreme sensitivity'.<br /><br />'The whole aim is reduce stigma, discrimination and isolation for patients,' Bala said.<br /><br />The 10-day-workshop from Thursday will equip concerned health officials of several hospitals under the Western Command about HIV/AIDS, and how to provide best possible care to people suffering from the disease.<br /><br />Jayaram further advised the participants about the need to develop good communication skills to unravel the cultural, social and personal values and beliefs of each patient. He said this would help in formulating further effective prevention and control measures against HIV/AIDS.<br /><br />'We should try our best so that patients will not hesitate to come forward and reveal their problem,' he said. <br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-83576919212098165802007-08-16T09:10:00.002-07:002007-08-16T09:11:02.187-07:00AIDS virus is a "double hit" to the brainThe AIDS virus damages the brain in two ways, by not only killing brain cells but by preventing the birth of new cells, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday. The study, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, helps shed light on a condition known as HIV-associated dementia, which can cause confusion, sleep disturbances and memory loss in people infected with the virus.<br /><br />It is less common in people taking drug cocktails to suppress the virus, and why HIV damages brain function is not clearly understood.<br /><br />The virus kills brain cells but it also appears to stop progenitor cells, known as stem cells, from dividing, the team at Burnham Institute for Medical Research and the University of California at San Diego found.<br /><br />"It's a double hit to the brain," researcher Marcus Kaul said in a statement. "The HIV protein both causes brain injury and prevents its repair."<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />The cocktail of drugs known as highly active antiretroviral therapy or HAART that treats HIV does not infiltrate the brain well, allowing for a "secret reservoir" of virus, said Stuart Lipton, who worked on the study.<br /><br />HIV-associated dementia is becoming more common, as patients survive into their older years.<br /><br />Working in mice, the researchers found that the virus directly interferes with the birth of new brain cells from stem cells.<br /><br />"The breakthrough here is that the AIDS virus prevents stem cells in the brain from dividing; it hangs them up," Lipton said. "It's the first time that the virus has ever been shown to affect stem cells."<br /><br />The culprit is gp120 -- a protein found on the outside of the AIDS virus, the researchers found.<br /><br />"Knowing the mechanism, we can start to approach this therapeutically," Lipton said.<br /><br />"This indicates that we might eventually treat this form of dementia by either ramping up brain repair or protecting the repair mechanism," Kaul added.<br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-61669044901725334892007-08-16T09:10:00.001-07:002007-08-16T09:10:25.871-07:00Sri Lanka HIV rate low, but poverty, war a threat - U..NSri Lanka has one of the lowest prevalence rates of HIV in Asia, but poverty and displacement of civilians due to renewed civil war are making the island increasingly vulnerable, the United Nations said on Thursday.<br /><br />An estimated 5,000 people had HIV in Sri Lanka by the end of 2005, out of a population of around 20 million. Neighbouring India, by comparison, has the world's third highest HIV caseload after South Africa and Nigeria, with around 2.5 million people living with the virus.<br /><br />"In Sri Lanka, the prevalence rate is low, but the challenge is to keep it low," said Caitlin Wiesen-Antin, HIV/AIDs regional coordinator Asia and Pacific for the United Nations Development Programme.<br /><br />Sri Lanka's military says around 35,000 people displaced since last year in the island's east amid renewed fighting between the state and Tamil Tiger rebels are still living in camps or with friends and relatives.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />The military says it has resettled more than 100,000 people in the east in recent months, but there are also tens of thousands of long-term displaced elsewhere across the island forced from their homes by earlier stages of the conflict, many living in very rudimentary conditions.<br /><br />"When people are displaced from their home, their usual system of justice sometimes does not exist. That becomes a heightened area of vulnerability," Caitlin said. "In other countries, what we have found is that once people have been displaced from homes, they find it difficult ... in terms of their livelihoods."<br /><br />"They don't have the option to feed their families. So some people under duress resort to actions such as transactional sex for education, for housing, just to make ends meet," she added. "And that transactional sex is not protected sex."<br /><br />Sri Lanka will next week host the International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, with over 2,000 delegates from 40 countries due to attend. <br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-30637134119903494922007-08-16T09:09:00.001-07:002007-08-16T09:09:55.890-07:00HIV hits brain with double blowNew evidence has offered a novel perspective on how the HIV/AIDS virus leads to learning and memory deficits, a condition known as HIV-associated dementia.<br /><br />A protein found on the surface of the virus not only kills some mature brain cells, as earlier studies had shown, but it also prevents the birth of new brain cells by crippling 'adult neural progenitors,' the new study finds. Those progenitor cells are the closest things to stem cells that have been found in the adult brain.<br /><br />By elucidating the mechanism responsible for the neuro-degeneration and dementia seen in people infected with HIV, the findings made in mice that produce the damaging HIV protein may open the door to new therapies, according to the researchers.<br /><br />"The breakthrough here is that the AIDS virus prevents stem cells in the brain from dividing; it hangs them up. It's the first time that the virus has ever been shown to affect stem cells," said Stuart Lipton of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research and the University of California at San Diego.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />"It's a double hit to the brain. The HIV protein both causes brain injury and prevents its repair," added collaborator Marcus Kaul, who is also of the Burnham Institute and UCSD.<br /><br />Physicians first recognized that HIV infection could lead to a profound form of dementia-most commonly in those with an advanced stage of the disease-early on. The success of antiretroviral therapies in keeping the "viral load" down has helped to reduce the severity of the dementia in recent years. Nonetheless, the prevalence is rising as HIV-infected people are living longer. The anti-HIV drugs don't infiltrate the brain well, allowing for a "secret reservoir" of virus, Lipton explained. Such persistent exposure of the central nervous system to HIV is a major risk factor for the development of HIV-associated dementia.<br /><br />Lipton's team previously discovered that the brain deficits could be triggered by gp120-the viral coat protein that latches onto human cells-even in the absence of any viral infection. They also showed that the protein disrupts a key cell-cycle pathway (including p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase or MAPK), leading to the death of certain mature neurons.<br /><br />The researchers now find that gp120 in mice also slows the production of new neurons in the hippocampus, a brain region central to learning and memory. Newborn neurons become integrated into existing brain circuits and are thought to contribute to certain forms of learning and memory, they said.<br /><br />Moreover, they found that it is the same MAPK pathway earlier linked to the death of mature neurons that lies at the root of the progenitor cells' dysfunction. That a similar enzyme is involved in both brain-damaging effects is simply "serendipitous," according to the researchers.<br /><br />"Knowing the mechanism, we can start to approach this therapeutically," Lipton said.<br /><br />"This indicates that we might eventually treat this form of dementia by either ramping up brain repair or protecting the repair mechanism," Kaul added.<br /><br />The study is published in the August issue of Cell Stem Cell.<br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-90845510386969214192007-08-16T09:08:00.000-07:002007-08-16T09:09:20.472-07:00SAfrica AIDS activists to take government to courtSouth African AIDS activists said on Wednesday they planned to take the government to court again over its HIV strategy and said the sacking of a respected deputy health minister had caused "panic and fear." The Treatment Action Campaign, South Africa's most influential AIDS lobby group, won a Constitutional Court judgment in 2002 forcing the government to provide anti-AIDS drugs in state hospitals.<br /><br />The group said it now wanted the high court to force the national health department to let health facilities across South Africa introduce a dual drug therapy regimen in its programs to prevent transmission of HIV from mothers to children.<br /><br />So far, only Western Cape province is authorized to provide the therapy. The government generally does not favor drug treatments for AIDS.<br /><br />"We've sent a letter of demand on mother-to-child transmission," said Zackie Achmat, who founded the group. "Within two weeks we will be back in court on that."<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />The step signals a further souring of relations between the government and AIDS activists since President Thabo Mbeki last week fired Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, who was seen as a pivotal figure in the fight against the disease.<br /><br />South Africa is battling one of the world's biggest HIV caseloads with about one in nine people infected with the virus, and Mbeki's government has come under fire from activists for failing to halt its spread.<br /><br />Speaking ahead of a student rally in Cape Town calling for the reinstatement of Madlala-Routledge, Achmat criticized Mbeki for firing the deputy minister -- who was accused by the president of insubordination.<br /><br />"It's a deep tragedy and it is creating a sense of panic and fear among us," said Achmat, who is HIV-positive. "The real reason behind the firing is his personal denialism and his irrational, unconstitutional support of the health minister."<br /><br />Mbeki has stuck by Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who has angered activists by promoting natural remedies for HIV such as lemon, beetroot and the African potato over anti-retroviral drugs, earning her the nickname "Dr. Beetroot."<br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-2174818002644616492007-08-16T09:07:00.000-07:002007-08-16T09:08:41.493-07:00HIV Delivers 'Double Whammy' to BrainHIV, the virus that causes AIDS, often infiltrates the brains of infected patients, causing everything from cognitive decline to death. Now, new research in mice suggests the virus doesn't just kill brain cells but also prevents replacement cells from developing.<br /><br />This "double whammy" explains why HIV is so devastating to the brain, but it could also point the way to new treatments, said study co-author Dr. Stuart Lipton, a neurologist and researcher with the Burnham Institute for Medical Research and the University of California at San Diego. According to Lipton, HIV infection has become the leading cause of dementia in people under the age of 40. In some cases, "you can't work, you can't concentrate or pay attention, you can't move properly," he said.<br /><br />His team published its findings in the August issue of Cell Stem Cell.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />Brain problems are on the rise as HIV-infected patients live long enough to develop related health problems, he said. Still, the brain illnesses that afflict these patients "may be the best-kept secret of AIDS in the world."<br /><br />The challenge for doctors is figuring out how to treat brain symptoms when the most powerful antiretroviral drugs cannot pass the natural barrier that protects the brain. HIV, however, can make its way into the brain and remains there even when the level of virus in the blood approaches zero during treatment.<br /><br />In the new study, researchers genetically engineered mice to have higher levels of a protein called HIV/gp120, which is thought to contribute to the deterioration of the brain in HIV-infected patients.<br /><br />Lipton and his colleagues found that the protein disrupts stem cells in the brain that are supposed to turn into new brain cells when needed. As a result, it becomes difficult for HIV-infected brains to create new cells when old ones are injured or killed off by the virus.<br /><br />"Most people would not think that AIDS has anything to do with stem cells," Lipton said. "But it has the ability to stop stem cells from dividing."<br /><br />Paul Thompson, a professor of neurology at the University of California at Los Angeles, explained the findings this way: "As a brain cell is born, there are various checkpoints and phases of development that the cell has to go through. These researchers found the exact checkpoint where the birth of new brain cells is stopped. Now that they've identified the type of interference, it is a lot easier to focus on overcoming it."<br /><br />The new research is in mice, and many medical discoveries don't translate from rodents to humans. But Lipton said he expect humans to be similar to mice when it comes to this particular kind of research.<br /><br />According to Lipton, the next step is to figure out a way to develop a drug with a "double bang" that would stop HIV from attacking both existing brain cells and stem cells that could become brain cells. Scientists are already working on drugs that target an enzyme that's involved in that process, he noted.<br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-2412274958047782132007-08-14T03:03:00.000-07:002007-08-14T03:05:19.505-07:00No funding from NACO, UP AIDS project in troubleThe project was initiated to involve more and more HIV-positive people in state. But the Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GIPA) project may now face trouble. The National Aids Control Society (NACO) has not released any funds for the programme for this year, which has not only created problems for the State AIDS Control unit but also for the AIDS victims working with the project.<br /><br />Senior officials of the UPSACS say that following no budget from NACO, they may find it difficult to continue with the programme. The GIPA was initiated following NACO guidelines of 2006. The idea was to rope in the positives for counselling and working as support groups. The positives had welcomed the project. A large number of positives were appointed as peer counselors.<br /><br />But since April, the peer counsellors have not been paid. According to the Uttar Pradesh Network of Positive People, most of these counsellors need the salaries to survive. It pays not only for food but also their medicines and treatment.<br />(source : news.yahoo.com)kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-54077870983379109172007-08-14T02:59:00.001-07:002007-08-14T03:02:35.526-07:00Pediatric AIDS pill approvedA three-in-one AIDS pill for children was cleared on Monday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in a global U.S. AIDS relief program. The generic pill made by India's Cipla Ltd combines the generic HIV-fighting drugs lamivudine, stavudine and nevirapine.<br /><br />This is the first pill of its kind that will be available for children under age 12 under the U.S. program. FDA officials said the combination pill was a major advance because it can be stored, distributed and administered easily to children. The pill can be swallowed or dissolved in water.<br /><br />The generic pill cannot be sold in the United States because the components are still protected by patents and available from brand-name makers. But the FDA's tentative approval of the drug makes it eligible for purchase and use in other countries under President George W. Bush's AIDS relief program.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />The FDA also said it gave tentative approval to generic nevirapine tablets made by Hetero Drugs Ltd of India, which will also be available for the program.<br /><br />Bush launched the five-year, $15 billion program in 2003 that aims to pay for treatment for 2 million AIDS sufferers and provide care for 10 million others in 15 countries, mostly in Africa.<br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356511146803744225.post-69569369031356430592007-08-14T02:59:00.000-07:002007-08-14T03:01:15.292-07:00Pediatric AIDS pill approvedA three-in-one AIDS pill for children was cleared on Monday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in a global U.S. AIDS relief program. The generic pill made by India's Cipla Ltd combines the generic HIV-fighting drugs lamivudine, stavudine and nevirapine.<br /><br />This is the first pill of its kind that will be available for children under age 12 under the U.S. program. FDA officials said the combination pill was a major advance because it can be stored, distributed and administered easily to children. The pill can be swallowed or dissolved in water.<br /><br />The generic pill cannot be sold in the United States because the components are still protected by patents and available from brand-name makers. But the FDA's tentative approval of the drug makes it eligible for purchase and use in other countries under President George W. Bush's AIDS relief program.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br />The FDA also said it gave tentative approval to generic nevirapine tablets made by Hetero Drugs Ltd of India, which will also be available for the program.<br /><br />Bush launched the five-year, $15 billion program in 2003 that aims to pay for treatment for 2 million AIDS sufferers and provide care for 10 million others in 15 countries, mostly in Africa.<br /><br />(source : news.yahoo.com)</span>kayonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14280339222833422672noreply@blogger.com0