NAPWA

Where we are with rapid testing

The advent of point-of-care screening for HIV (also called ‘rapid testing’) has prompted the development of guidelines for its use in Australia as part of an updated testing policy. read more »

Rilpivirine as good as efavirenz

Dr Mark Bloch from Holdsworth House in Sydney presented the 48-week results of the combined ECHO and THRIVE studies which determined that the new NNRTI rilpivirine (RPV) is as effective as efavirenz (EFV) for first-line treatment.

Everyone in the studies received a nucleoside backbone to their treatment – in ECHO it was Truvada, in THRIVE it was tenfovir/3TC or abacavir/3TC. read more »

Progress on criminalisation

Some countries have made significant progress in recent times by reforming laws around HIV transmission and exposure offences, Edwin J Barnard from the UK told people at the conference. read more »

New trial needs volunteers

At the conference, Julian Elliot from The Burnet Institute in Melbourne spoke of our ‘combo-prevention future’, where a successful vaccine and cure could potentially end the epidemic. read more »

Our combo-prevention future

In his opening address at the conference, Graeme Brown, AFAO’s outgoing President, acknowledged the enormous challenges we are facing in Australia at the moment, midway through our Sixth National HIV Strategy. read more »

PBS deferrals win

Following discussions between the Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the Consumers Health Forum (CHF) and other industry representatives, the government has agreed that all the medicines deferred by Cabinet in February will now be listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme[Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme] The federal government program which subsidises medication costs in Australia. Anti-HIV drugs are part of a special part of the PBS called Section 100 (S100) which is used for expensive, highly specialised drugs. effective from 1 December 2011. read more »

Cure researchers meet in Melbourne

An announcement earlier this year by the International AIDS Society (IAS) to start official research into finding a functional cure for HIV has been spearheaded by Professor Françoise Barré-Sinoussi. read more »

Do gay men want PrEP?

Over 1500 gay and bisexual Australian men were surveyed recently about what they thought of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as an HIV prevention strategy.

Most were HIV negative (72%) or untested (20%) and a majority said they were interested in PrEP, with nearly 8 out of 10 saying they would be willing to take it to prevent getting HIV. read more »

Adopting a child with HIV

Orphans with HIV often miss out on the opportunity of being adopted due to the ongoing misconceptions people still hold about the disease.

Carolyn Twietmeyer, an American mother of 13 – seven biological and six adopted (of whom two are HIV positive) – spoke about her experiences at an adoption conference in Australia in November. read more »

Lower dose darunavir better all round

A new, once-daily, lower dose of the protease inhibitorA type of anti-HIV drug that works by preventing the production of an enzyme, protease, that HIV needs to replicate. darunavir (Prezista) is available on the PBS[Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme] The federal government program which subsidises medication costs in Australia. Anti-HIV drugs are part of a special part of the PBS called Section 100 (S100) which is used for expensive, highly specialised drugs. from 1 December.

To date, the recommended dose has been 600mg taken twice-a-day along with 100mg of ritonavir. But this new daily dose is just 800mg boosted with a single dose of ritonavir.

The lower dosage of both drugs appears to have a much better side effectAn unwanted effect caused by the administration of drugs. Onset may be sudden or develop over time. profile. read more »

NAPWA lobbies for PLHIV on DSP

With changes to qualifying criteria for the Disability Support Pension due to come into effect on 1 January, NAPWA has been lobbying for certain considerations to be made when assessing HIV positive applicants. read more »

Abacavir or tenofovir for first-line?

According to the Canadian Observational CohortIn epidemiology, a group of individuals with some characteristics in common. A cohort study is a special kind of clinical trial which looks at a treatment or treatment strategy in a cohort of people. collaboration, abacavir (ABC) or tenofovir (TDF) are equally effective in first-line treatment.

The authors found that in their group of treatment-naive patients starting treatment, there was no difference in time to suppression with ABC/3TC (Kivexa) versus TDF/FTC (Truvada). read more »

Stopping smoking steadily pays off

It’s official. The benefits associated with stopping smoking start immediately after you stub out your last cigarette and steadily increase over time.

Dr Kathy Petoumenos from the Kirby Institute used information gathered from the 33,308 HIV positive patients enrolledThe act of signing up participants into a study. Generally this process involves evaluating a participant with respect to the eligibility criteria of the study and going through the informed consent process. in the international Data Collection on Adverse Events of Anti-HIV Drugs (D:A:D) study. read more »

Zinc fingers make HIV-resistant T-cells

GeneThe most basic unit of genetic information. therapy that interferes with co-receptors on the surface of T-cells can protect these cells from HIV infection, and represents a potential first step toward a ‘functional cure’ for HIV. read more »

There are more great catches for you!

Chances are at some stage a guy will reject you because of your HIV status.

Don't let it get you down, there are a lot more men waiting to get hooked.

Besides, if a guy misses out on you, it's his loss.

www.FearlessLiveMore.org.au

Produced by the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations and the National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS read more »

Make your experience count

HIV Futures is a national survey of Australian people living with HIV conducted every two years by the Living with HIV program at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University.

It is an anonymous survey asking important questions about the health, treatments, work and financial situations of people with HIV in Australia. read more »

Thanks for being observed

The Australian HIV Observational Database (AHOD) is an important monitor of trends in an iretroviral patterns and emerging health issues within the HIV community. read more »

Tales from the Network

Tales fron the Network

When Panos Couros talked with Gerald, he realised that a lot of this man’s issues were due to him having to hide both his HIV status and his sexuality from his family, with whom he was very close. read more »

Gentle exercise

Summer has arrived with the promise of long days of sunshine. Vicky Fisher finds these energising sun salutations (surya namaskar) are a good way to link the breath with movement while also loosening up, toning and stretching muscles, joints and internal organs. read more »

Book Review - Ten days with Minor

Ten Days with Minor is a novel written by Nsedu Onyile, a Nigerian who migrated to the US, and is reviewed here by Graham Stocks. read more »