NAPWA

Australia will contribute $25 million, over the next three years, to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, the foreign minister, Alexander Downer, announced on 18 February. read more »

AIDS Awareness Week “should not be an occasion for moralising” about personal choices, according to the new federal health minister, Tony Abbott. read more »

Three million people died from AIDS-related diseases in 2003, the highest number in any year since the start of the epidemic. Despite treatment advances that in western countries have dramatically reduced the death toll, in the developing world the disease’s impact is equivalent to a fully loaded Boeing 747 jet crashing every 90 minutes. read more »

Australian researchers have teamed up with the US and Cambodia to conduct a study of the potential of the HIV antiviralA medication or substance which is active against one or more virusesA small infective organism which is incapable of reproducing outside a host cell.. May include anti-HIV drugs, but these are more accurately termed antiretroviralsA medication or other substance which is active against retroviruses such as HIV.. tenofovir, taken daily, to prevent HIV infection in women at high risk. read more »

The annual conference of the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine (ASHMAustralasian Society for HIV Medicine. The peak Australasian organisation representing the medical and health sector in HIV/AIDS and related areas. ) is Australia’s only regular HIV medical conference. PAUL KIDD reports on the latest medical developments discussed at this year’s conference in Cairns. read more »

HIV-related news in brief from the Oct-Nov 2003 edition of Positive Living. read more »

The Canadian government will fast track legislation to allow drug companies in Canada to manufacture generic antiretroviralA medication or other substance which is active against retroviruses such as HIV. drugs for export to developing countries. read more »

The major international AIDS conference for 2003 has ended with encouraging signs of growing international commitment to fight AIDS in the developing world, and with several promising medical developments. read more »

With almost a million new infections last year, the Asia-Pacific region is shaping up to be the next great challenge of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. An innovative workshop in Laos during March brought together representatives of five countries to discuss ways of ensuring that positive people are involved in responding to the epidemic in Southeast Asia. read more »

US President George W. Bush has signed into law a Bill authorising US$15 billion to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean. The initiative was previously announced in his State of the Union address in January. read more »