NAPWA

In this edition:

• HIV -- International (3 items)
• HIV -- Treatments (4 items)
• HIV -- Prevention (7 items)
• HIV Criminalisation (1 item)
• Sexual Health (5 items)
• Hepatitis (2 items)
• GLBTI News (1 item)

 

HIV -- International

BBC presenter quiet over mercy killing

ABC News/AFP, 19 Feb

Tags: hiv uk euthanasia gosling,ray criminal-law

Police have questioned a veteran British broadcaster for a second day over his admission that he smothered a terminally-ill ex-lover, but his lawyer says he has yet to reveal the victim's name.

Continues: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/19/2824129.htm?section=justin

TV host who said he killed sick lover given bail

SMH/AP, 19 Feb

Tags: hiv euthanasia uk gosling,ray

A veteran British TV reporter who claimed on air that he killed his lover who was dying of AIDS has been released on bail after he was arrested and questioned by police.

Continues: http://www.smh.com.au/world/tv-host-who-said-he-killed-sick-lover-given-...

Ray Gosling: The confessions of a mercy killer

The Independent (UK), 17 Feb

Tags: hiv gosling,ray uk euthanasia ethics

A BBC documentary maker's admission that he suffocated a former lover stricken with Aids has provoked a fierce ethical debate.

Continues: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/ray-gosling-the-confessions-o...

HIV -- Treatments

Studies confirm that drugs that penetrate brain control HIV better and improve symptoms of brain impairment

Aidsmap (UK), 21 Feb

Tags: hiv treatments blood-brain-barrier csf neurology croi

A number of different studies presented at CROI confirmed that ARVs that penetrate the blood-brain barrierA selective barrier (obstacle) between circulating blood and brain tissues that prevents damaging substances from reaching the brain. Certain compounds readily cross the blood-brain barrier; others are completely blocked. more fully are better at suppressing HIV replication in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and help to improve symptoms of neurological impairment.

Continues: http://www.aidsmap.org/en/news/3D2D1D76-424A-4E6F-B8B9-6C4837344589.asp

EuroSIDA study suggests tenofovir increases risk of chronic kidney disease

Aidsmap (UK), 21 Feb

Tags: hiv treatments tenofovir kidney-disease

An analysis from the large EuroSIDA study found that people who take antiretroviral regimens including tenofovir (Viread) appear to be more likely to develop chronic kidney disease, researchers reported at the 17th CROI last week in San Francisco.

Continues: http://www.aidsmap.org/en/news/C86DBBAF-1A5B-46F4-AB6C-9D4330F8AB94.asp

Antiretroviral drugs have variable effects on bones and fat, lipoatrophy uncommon with modern regimens

Aidsmap (UK), 21 Feb

Tags: hiv treatments croi side-effects bone-density lipodystrophy actg-5202

Different antiretroviral regimen components are linked to varying changes in bone mineral density and body fat, according to a sub-study of the U.S. ACTG 5202 trial reported at CROI.

Continues: http://www.aidsmap.org/en/news/6A449523-FE9A-4F11-8210-DC9D3B6339E1.asp

HIV patients on antiretoviral drugs age before their time

The Times (UK), 21 Feb

Tags: hiv treatments ageing dementia

Mark Ward caught HIV from a blood transfusion in his teens. Now, at 40, he has the body of a pensioner. Are the drugs that saved his life to blame?

Continues: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article7032233.ece

HIV -- Prevention

Anti-retrovirals could halt Aids spread in five years

BBC News (UK), 21 Feb

Tags: hiv prevention safrica universal-treatment sacema aaas

Anti-retroviral treatments (ARVs) and universal testing could stop the spread of Aids in South Africa within five years, a top scientist says.

Continues: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8526690.stm

Universal therapy could 'contain Aids epidemic in five years'

The Times (UK), 21 Feb

Tags: hiv prevention universal-treatment epidemiology sacema

The global Aids epidemic could be contained within just five years by testing everybody in high-risk regions and immediately treating all those who are found to be HIV positive, according to a leading scientist.

Continues: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article7035256.ece

Scientists at AIDS meeting urge HIV prevention for long-term couples in Africa

Washington Post (US), 18 Feb

Tags: hiv prevention relationships africa croi

HIV continues to spread among couples in long-term relationships in sub-Saharan Africa because health authorities focus instead on the risks posed by casual sexual encounters, especially in young people.

Continues: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/17/AR201002...

Researchers say antiretroviral (ART) drugs may prevent HIV infection

Washington Post (US), 20 Feb

Tags: hiv prevention prep croi

The antiretroviral drugs that revolutionized the care of people with AIDS are on the threshold of a new life as tools to prevent infection in individuals and brake the epidemic in populations as a whole.

Continues: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/19/AR201002...

Early, aggressive therapy eyed in blocking AIDS

Washington Post (US)/AP, 21 Feb

Tags: hiv test-and-treat treatments-prevention aaas modelling undiagnosed-hiv fauci,anthony viral-load infectivity

Aggressive, early anti-viral therapy might provide a way to derail the spread of AIDS, a battle where a successful vaccine remains elusive.

Continues: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/20/AR201002...

More boys go under knife as parents opt for kind cut

SMH, 21 Feb

Tags: sexual-health hiv prevention circumcision racp racgp

CIRCUMCISION is making a comeback as a new generation of parents armAny of the treatment groups in a randomised trial. Most randomised trials have two "arms," but some have three "arms," or even more. themselves with medical research to justify their decision.

Continues: http://www.smh.com.au/national/more-boys-go-under-knife-as-parents-opt-f...

HIV treatment may prevent at least nine out of ten transmissions

Aidsmap (UK), 19 Feb

Tags: hiv prevention treatments-prevention test-and-treat epidemiology safrica

A study of HIV transmission between long-term, HIV-serodiscordant heterosexual couples in Africa has found that the chance of transmission is reduced by at least 90% if the HIV-positive partner is on antiretroviral therapy.

Continues: http://www.aidsmap.org/en/news/062B2F32-1B29-4CCA-A047-820E21721D9B.asp

HIV Criminalisation

Lawyers, police in spit spat

Brisbane Times, 20 Feb

Tags: hiv spitting criminal-law police prisons hcv ohs

A Brisbane criminal defence lawyer has hit out at anti-spitting hoods to be used in Queensland watch houses, arguing they could affect the credibility of interview evidence in court.

Continues: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/lawyers-police-in-spit-spat-2...

Sexual Health

Gen Y 'blase over sexual health'

Gold Coast Mail (Qld)/AAP, 19 Feb

Tags: sexual-health queensland lucas,paul condoms gen-y stis hiv

IT was a case of the rubber hitting the road when Queensland Health Minister Paul Lucas left his office desk on Thursday to hand out condoms to university students.

Continues: http://www.goldcoastmail.com.au/story/2010/02/19/gen-y-blase-over-sexual...

Government to pay for prostitute condoms

Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 18 Feb

Tags: sex-workers condoms nsw-health stis

SEX product companies are being asked to supply the State Government with coloured, flavoured, ribbed and studded condoms for handing out to prostitutes.

Continues: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/novelty-condoms-hit-the-street/sto...

Summernats yields 100s of chlamydia tests

Canberra Times, 19 Feb

Tags: sexual-health stis testing bowden,frank

Canberrans visiting popular events such as Summernats could soon get a sexual health test alongside the day's entertainment and earn $10 into the bargain.

Continues: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/summernats-yield...

Get a sexual health check

Ipswich Queensland Times (Qld), 19 Feb

Tags: sexual-health queensland stis gen-y chlamydia

IT IS Sexual Health Awareness Week (SHAW) and there’s no better time to be sure about your health.

Continues: http://www.qt.com.au/story/2010/02/19/check-on-sexual-health-just-to-be-...

Most neurosyphilis is caused by one specific strain

Aidsmap (UK), 20 Feb

Tags: sexual-health stis syphilis croi neurology

The neurological manifestations of syphilis are strongly associated with one particular subtype[HIV subtype or clade] A genetically distinct subtype of HIV within a defined HIV group. Group M has nine known subtypes -- A, B, C, D, F, G, H, J and K. of the Treponema pallidum organism which causes the disease, the seventeenth CROI Conference heard today.

Continues: http://www.aidsmap.org/en/news/4293FF0B-A69D-4185-AB31-ECE2F67019B7.asp

Hepatitis

CROI: HCV Therapy Response Predicts Outcome in Co-Infected Patients

MedPage Today (US), 21 Feb

Tags: hepatitis hcv hiv coinfection

For people with both HIV and Hepatitis C, a poor response to hepatitis therapy markedly increased the risk of HIV progression and death, a researcher said here.

Continues: http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/CROI/18600

Hepatitis C virus can survive in syringes for up to 63 days

Aidsmap (UK), 20 Feb

Tags: hcv hepatitis syringes needlestick

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) might still be transmissible via syringes long after their first use, according to a U.S. study presented at CROI. Larger syringe size and colder ambient temperature were associated with longer survival, up to two months.

Continues: http://www.aidsmap.org/en/news/7A033718-2F8F-47C5-B0C8-74A8FD02297E.asp

GLBTI News

Ugandan pastor under fire for showing gay porn in church

SMH/Guardian, 20 Feb

Tags: glbt uganda homophobia churches

A Ugandan pastor who screened same-sex pornography in a church to try to bolster support for proposed anti-homosexuality legislation has been condemned by gay rights groups.

Continues: http://www.smh.com.au/world/ugandan-pastor-under-fire-for-showing-gay-po...