NAPWA

A more socially inclusive approach to government?

The National Strategy on HIV provides the framework for how Australia will respond to the epidemic into the future, writes NAPWA President Robert Mitchell. read more »

Bareback is the new safe sex – or is it?

The announcement by a group of Swiss AIDS experts that people with undetectable viral loadA measurement of the quantity of HIV RNA in the blood. Viral load blood test results are expressed as the number of copies (of HIV) per milliliter of blood plasma. are sexually non-infectious needs to be treated with caution, writes Paul Kidd. read more »

Good news, bad news: report from CROI

John Daye, NAPWA's Health, Treatments & Research Portfolio Co-Convenor reports from the 15th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) held in Boston, USA from 3-6 February 2008 read more »

Welfare to Work: where to from here?

Graham Douglas-Meyer surveys the current status of PLWHAPerson (or People) Living with HIV/AIDS. and how the new government will affect changes that have already been made, as well as some thought for the future. read more »

Positive Living Centres: do we still need them?

Mostly established at a time when positive people faced isolation and stigma and urgently needed social support, the role of Positive Living is now being questioned. David Menadue investigates. read more »

Abacavir and heart attacks

Latest results presented by investigators at the CROI meeting in February in Boston suggested that treatment with abacavir (also found in the combination pills Kivexa and Trizivir) and ddI (didanosine, Videx) may significantly increase the risk of myocardial infarction, or heart attackA life-threatening emergency in which the blood supply to the heart is suddenly cut off, causing the heart muscle (myocardium) to die from lack of oxygen.. read more »

Wilson report: HIV rates projected to rise in Vic and Qld

A new HIV mathematical modelling report released by the National Centre in HIV EpidemiologyThe branch of medical science that deals with the study of incidence and distribution and control of a disease in a population. and ClinicalPertaining to or founded on observation and treatment of participants, as distinguished from theoretical or basic science. Research (NCHECRNational Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research. Based at the University of NSW in Sydney, NCHECR is one of Australia's leading medical research centres and is recognised internationally as a leader in the field of research into HIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis. ) has raised concerns about the possibility of future rises in HIV infection rates in the next seven years if current trends continue. read more »

News Briefs

Monkey gene may offer HIV protection

Harvard Medical School researchers have identified a geneThe most basic unit of genetic information. in Asian macaque monkeys may have evolved as protection against a group of virusesA small infective organism which is incapable of reproducing outside a host cell. that includes HIV, suggesting that the current AIDS epidemic is not unique to humans and that similar epidemics may have affected our primate ancestors. read more »

Human gene that blocks HIV infection identified

A team of researchers at University of Alberta have identified a human geneThe most basic unit of genetic information. called TRIM 22 that blocks HIV infection in cell culture by preventing the assembly of the virusA small infective organism which is incapable of reproducing outside a host cell.. read more »

News Briefs

PNG: HIV, STIs set to rise

Fears that increased movement of people from PNGPapua New Guinea into the Torres Strait Protection Zone will lead to increased HIV transmission and STIs[Sexually Transmissible (or Transmitted) Infection] Infections spread by the transfer of organisms from person to person during sexual contact. Also called venereal disease (VD) (an older public health term) or sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). is the subject of ongoing discussion between high level officials from PNG and Australia. read more »