Thirty years of a disease: the end of AIDS?

ON JUNE 5th 1981 Americas Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported the outbreak of an unusual form of pneumonia in Los Angeles. When, a few weeks later, its scientists noticed a similar cluster of a rare cancer called Kaposis sarcoma in San Francisco, they suspected that something strange and serious was afoot. That something was AIDS.

Since then, 25m people have died from AIDS and another 34m are infected. The 30th anniversary of the diseases discovery has been taken by many as an occasion for hand-wringing. Yet the war on AIDS is going far better than anyone dared hope. A decade ago, half of the people in several southern African countries were expected to die of AIDS. Now, the death rate is dropping. In 2005 the disease killed 2.1m people. In 2009, the most recent year for which data are available, the number was 1.8m. Some 5m lives have already been saved by drug treatment. In 33 of the worst-affected countries the rate of new infections is down by 25% or more from its peak.

Even more hopeful is a recent study which suggests that the drugs used to treat AIDS may also stop its transmission. If that proves true, the drugs could achieve much of what a vaccine would. The question for the world will no longer be whether it can wipe out the plague, but whether it is prepared to pay the price.

Rate of new HIV infections fell by over 50% in India: UNAIDS

NEW DELHI: The rate of new HIV infections fell by more than 50 per cent in  India between 2001 and 2009, double of the average decline in the world, according to a new report released on Friday by  UNAIDS which said the global response to AIDS is showing results.

"In India, the rate of new HIV infections fell by more than 50 per cent and in South Africa by more than 35 per cent; both countries have the largest number of people living with HIV on their continents," according to 'AIDS at 30: Nations at the Crossroads' study.

Stigmatized, three HIV+ sisters commit suicide

BHAVNAGAR (Gujarat): Three young HIV positive sisters from the coastal village of Khadsaliya, about 25km from Bhavnagar, ended their lives by drinking pesticide on Friday night.  

Preliminary investigation suggests that the family members felt stigmatized due to their disease. The police said that the mother and brother of the deceased had died of AIDS four years ago. And sources said that whenever the sisters ventured out occasionally, they were treated as untouchables.  

"We will investigate whether the stigma forced them to take this extreme step," investigating officer J R Zala of Vartej police station said.

Global AIDS Fight Hits Hurdle Over Funding

Betsy Mckay & Mark Schoofs. Wall Street Journal. May 27, 2011

In advance of a major United Nations meeting on the global AIDS epidemic, public-health leaders face a paradox: New evidence suggests the epidemic can finally be controlled, but that would demand increased spending at a time of severe global budget restraints.

Preliminary estimates show that funding from donor nations to fight AIDS in developing nations actually fell in 2010, the first decline ever in the battle against HIV, which currently afflicts 33 million people world-wide.

USA FDA Approves New J&J HIV Drug

By Jennifer Corbett Dooren

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Friday approved a new HIV drug made by a unit of Johnson & Johnson. (JNJ).

The drug, Edurant, also known by its generic name rilpivirine, was approved for use in combination with other drugs in treating HIV patients who haven't been previously treated with other drugs.

Anti-retroviral drugs ‘help reduce’ HIV transmission

By James Gallagher, Health reporter, BBC News

An HIV-positive person who takes anti-retroviral drugs after diagnosis, rather than when their health declines, can cut the risk of spreading the virus to uninfected partners by 96%, according to a study.

Monkey vaccine ‘effective,’ say researchers

By Neil Bowdler, Science reporter, BBC News

A new vaccine can protect macaques against the monkey equivalent of HIV and could provide a fresh approach to an HIV vaccine, a study suggests.

HIV breakthrough raises hope of vaccine

MELBOURNE University researchers have identified antibodies that fight HIV in a breakthrough that brings closer the ''holy grail'' of developing an effective vaccine against the virus.

A study of 100 people with HIV, recruited from The Alfred hospital and the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, showed the antibodies were so successful in suppressing the virus that it had to mutate around them.

The discovery has raised hope that the antibodies, if introduced to healthy people, could prevent the virus taking hold.

Government urged to pass HIV bill

Express News Service  03 May 2011 10:15:34 AM IST

HYDERABAD: World Vision India, at an interactive session urged the Government of India to pass the HIV Bill in the Parliament at the earliest and to ensure easy access of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) for people living with HIV (PLHIV).