With the increasing number of coronavirus cases and death toll at the global and national levels, the World Health Organisation and the Centres for Disease Control declared COVID-19 a global and national emergency. As the global health community looks to solve this crisis through the search for vaccines and drugs, is COVID-19 poised to push the global response to HIV/AIDS to the fringes? COVID-19 is fast gaining the status of exceptionality. Viral pandemics gain exceptionality when they receive an overwhelming global and national response, and one that is often privileged over other diseases until the pandemic becomes normalised or overtaken by other pandemics.

Disease normalisation can be achieved through different mechanisms but key among these is the availability of treatment or vaccines, but in the absence of a safe and approved Coronavirus vaccine or treatment at this time, we are not in any way close to normalising COVID-19. As the world suffers the devastating and catastrophic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, the global health community is channelling resources toward unravelling the many unknowns about this disease, especially in the search for vaccines and treatment.

In 2001, the United Nations General Assembly declared HIV/AIDS a global emergency that demanded utmost priority. The widespread transmission and lethality of HIV/AIDS led to an overwhelming public demand to channel research and funding to low-and middle-income countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, that were most hit. This exceptional focus on HIV/AIDS funding and research, however, averted resources for other diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis and, resulted to HIV/AIDS exceptionalism.

In all epidemiological ramifications, COVID-19 is a deadly viral pandemic that is set to wreck unprecedented impact on social, economic, and human development. Like HIV/AIDS, COVID-19’s lethality has gained the attention of the global health community, with research and public funding increasingly channeled toward preventive and treatment measures, especially, with global projections indicating that the worst is yet to come.

Still, the global HIV/AIDS epidemic is far from over for many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, where impact not only lingers, but where the numbers show that HIV/AIDs remain a dire epidemic. But as the global health community scrambles to curtail the Coronavirus, a COVID-19 exceptionality looms, and it is one that is poised to jeopardise, if not undermine, the global response to HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS may also be on the verge of losing its exceptional status like other infectious diseases that preceded it, if the Coronavirus pandemic is not quickly and effectively curtailed.

The United States, through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), is the world’s largest bilateral donor for HIV/AIDS. Although in 2018, the U.S. proposed a budget cut of US$1 billion for HIV/AIDS research and prevention, it remained at the forefront of the global HIV/AIDS response. But the current COVID-19 pandemic has made catastrophic and devastating impacts on global and national economies, with economists projecting a US$7trillion loss and the highest number of job loss since the great depression for the U.S. As the U.S. struggles to control the rising tide of COVID-19 within its shores, with mobility and labour restrictions and partial economic lockdowns in some states, even more economic downturns are expected. Despite the U.S. pledge to continue to support the global response to HIV/AIDS, the impact of COVID-19 on the scale of U.S. foreign assistance on HIV/AIDS remains to be seen as the country battles the Coronavirus domestically.

Even before COVID-19, global commitment to HIV/AIDS funding was already precarious and on the decline. The global health community was in a transition to shift the financial burden of HIV/AIDS mitigation efforts to countries, where the virus and disease remain endemic, with HIV/AIDS affected countries urged to take HIV/AIDS response as a domestic priority to ensure sustainability over time. Between 2015 and 2016, HIV/AIDS disbursements from multilateral organisations decreased by 22 per cent, from US$1.9 billion to US$1.5 billion; and between 2018 and 2019, donor governments’ HIV/AIDS disbursements declined from US$8 billion to US$7.8 billion. Since 2010, big donor governments like the United Kingdom, France, and Germany have significantly reduced their HIV/AIDS funding by more than US$1 billion due to the global financial crisis and other competing global and humanitarian crises.

With these countries, including the U.S., severely impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic, bilateral and multilateral funding for HIV/AIDS will further diminish, and the HIV/AIDS global response pushed to the fringes. Like HIV/AIDS, the international community might be moving toward a COVID-19 exceptionalism. A COVID-19 exceptionalism may be the tipping point for HIV/AIDS assistance to low – and middle-income countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, to decline at unprecedented levels. It is time for Africa to rise, and take ownership and control of its public health destiny.


Ese Basikoro, is a Research, Academic and International Development Consultant

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IN 1985, WHEN Jesse Milan Jr. was in his late 20s, no one from his Philadelphia church attended his partner’s funeral. Not because they refused, but because Milan didn’t invite them. Doing so would have required him to say what he felt uncomfortable sharing: He loved a man who had HIV. He is a man who has HIV.

“This is never going to happen to me again,” Milan vowed to himself at the funeral, regarding the loneliness he felt because he didn’t draw close his church family at one of the most painful moments of his life.

Milan is now the president and CEO of AIDS United, an organization fighting the HIV epidemic in the U.S. He is adamant that no one in the HIV community be isolated from the love and support they need. “People living with HIV,” said Milan, “have a longing to belong. A longing to be cared for and a longing to not be silent or secret.”

A lifelong Episcopalian, Milan grew up in a congregation in the Diocese of Kansas, following the example of his mother and father in serving their spiritual home and, in times of need, allowing their siblings in Christ to serve them. Milan kept this mutuality in mind when he enrolled at Princeton University and, struggling to transition from public school and homesick for his church, joined the Episcopal Church at Princeton. It was, Milan told Sojourners, “an anchor, a port to tap into on a regular basis whenever I needed it.”

Helping communities live

FOR MANY PEOPLE today, the closest we get to understanding the impact of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s and early ’90s is through stage and screen portrayals such as Pose, Angels in America, and Rent. For others, the memories and losses of that time are vivid and unforgettable.

For instance, Jesse Peel, a gay psychiatrist and community organizer, documented in his journals the avoidance and terror of HIV that overtook his home city, Atlanta, and the nation. As many people rapidly contracted and died of the disease, doctors struggled to understand what was happening and many nurses refused to bring meals into the hospital rooms of the stricken, Peel wrote in documents he donated to a collection at Emory University. By 1994, AIDS was the leading cause of death for Americans age 25 to 44. It killed more than 350,000 people in the country between 1981 and 1995.

“I think the experience of people who are of a certain age will always be colored by our experience of the death and the dying,” said Milan. “Today, I sense that [younger] people’s commitment to HIV/AIDS work is more about the rights and the inequalities that are manifested in HIV and AIDS. They have a broad lens about where human rights need to advance, and that broad lens includes the trans community and all others.”

In the early years of the epidemic, many pastors and religious people publicly denounced and turned their backs on HIV-positive people. Others embraced those who were suffering, opening care programs and advocating for government funding. Reminding the nation’s leaders of their responsibility to the HIV community is a job that’s been done by many Christians and is a significant part of AIDS United’s history and present work.

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The program empowered Ugandan youth through the sport of tennis and provided HIV/AIDS education throughout the country.

Ugandan youngsters have been cautioned to be mindful that HIV/AIDS still exists so that they continue taking care of themselves.

Speaking to some of the participants of the Arthur Ashe Tennis grand finale on Saturday at Lugogo, U.S. Mission Uganda Charge’ d’ Affaires Christopher Krafft said they have to work with everyone to sensitize the public about the dangers of HIV. 

“Nearly 1000 people in Uganda are infected with HIV every week, which means this disease is still a significant health problem. We all must take personal responsibility to reduce the spread of this disease”, stated Krafft.

The U.S. Mission partnered with the Tartan Burners Athletic Club, the Uganda Tennis Association (UTA), and the Uganda Network of Young People Living with HIV&AIDS (UNYPA) to have the project implemented.

Moses Nsubuga, aka, Supercharger a renowned HIV activist and musician cautioned youngsters to always be mindful of their lives.

“You must be very careful about your lives. Don’t test using your eyes since you can’t tell if someone is infected or not,” he noted.   

The program empowered Ugandan youth through the sport of tennis and provided HIV/AIDS education throughout the country. 250 students from across the country participated in the final.

The program that started five months ago has empowered quite a number of youths in Kampala, Hoima, Jinja, Gulu, Arua, and Kalangala through tennis and also delivered HIV/AIDS education.

In the grand finale exhibition match, Uganda top players David Oringa and Simon Ayella managed to defeat Phil Dimon and DeMark Schulze that represented Team USA, 8-3.

In other matches played, Emmanuela Gasim beat Peace Atim 7-1 in the singles to win the girls final while Rogers Tumukunde defeated Reagan Rackara 7-2 to win the boys final.

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Mizoram has earned the dubious distinction of being the state with highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the country, but the Government was making all efforts to tackle the menace, health minister R Lalthangliana told the Assembly on Tuesday.

A total of 21,538 cases have been registered in the State since October 1990, when the first patient was identified, he stated.

Lalthangliana, while replying to starred questions by MNF leader Vanlaltanpuia and Independent MLA Lalduhoma, also said that HIV prevalence was highest among youth in the age group of 25-34 years, accounting for 42.38 per cent of the total number of cases.

Expressing concern over the matter, the Minister insisted that the Government had been taking all measures to combat the disease.

Lalthangliana also said that he recently met leaders of NGOs, students’ bodies and churches and sought their help to control the spread of the disease, while efforts were also being made to seek technical assistance from UNAIDS.

According to Dr Lalthlengliani, the project director of Mizoram State Aids Control Society (MSACS), at least 2,416 people have died of the disease between January 2006 and September 2019.  

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On Feb. 7, the Black Resource Center at San Diego State commemorated National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day by hosting a lecture with activist and best selling author Marvelyn Brown.

Diagnosed with HIV at 19 years old, Brown spoke to SDSU students to promote her new book, “The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful, and (HIV) Positive,” as well as to raise awareness on the importance of sexual awareness.

Brown said her experiences speaking at numerous events in the past have culminated into three main messages she spreads to her audiences regarding HIV.

“One would be to get tested,” Brown said. “I also tell people to be educated because (at that time), I still haven’t seen anyone who looked like me that had the virus … My last one is to be responsible.”

Africana Studies lecturer Dr. Bonnie Reddick helped coordinate the event with the Black Resource Center and said a prior speaking opportunity for one of her classes led to a chance to speak to a bigger audience outside the classroom.

“I was teaching a black women’s studies class and I saw her on MSNBC, so I emailed her,” Reddick said. “She hit me back up, emailed me and gave a talk to my students which was great. So I hit her back up and said, ‘I’ll pay the director of Black Resource Center, I’d really like to bring you back again,’ and she’s here.”

Brown said winning an award at the Ryan White National Youth Conference in the past, a national event on HIV care and treatment, helped give her nationwide exposure in spreading HIV awareness.

“Here at this conference there were over 1,000 youth from all over America who had HIV at this conference,” Brown said. “I was given an award at the conference for my courage. I had no idea that by putting the story in the paper I was doing what so many people are scared to do.”

Brown also said the experience gave her connections that allowed her to elevate her platform and activism to the next level.

“I remember there were people in the audience that completely changed my entire HIV activism career,” Brown said. “Before you know it I was traveling, doing TV shows and it was a whirlwind of experience.”

Students who attended the lecture said the informative lecture opened their eyes on the risks of contracting the disease, especially in a college campus.

Finance freshman Natalie O’Neal said the event enforced a difficult point to come across for younger generations.

“I feel like it was really informative and also needed because a lot of people in our generation don’t understand the risk (of contracting HIV),” O’Neal said. “I feel like having Marvelyn come talk to us showed us just how real it could be for us as it was for her.”

Biology freshman Amber Davis said the lecture gave her a new sense of awareness about contracting the disease.

“This is something that’s not really talked about and is taboo,” Davis said. “So having her debunk it for us is just really good to hear and to take that step to be educated.”

O’Neal said the most important lesson she gathered from the lecture is that communication is key, especially when it comes to sexual health.

She also said she is now more aware of who she trusts.

“A lot of us don’t really think that it could be people that you trust and love and care about so I feel like that was really important that she said that,” she said. “She brought up a very important question for us to ask in the future.”

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The world today may be on alert for the rampant Coronavirus, but scientists have not left out continuous research for a cure to HIV/AIDS, which has plagued millions of people everywhere. A new report reveals that another step has been taken towards a cure, as a few groups of researchers made a breakthrough.

A collaborative effort between the researchers from the University of North Carolina, Emory University, and Qura Therapeutics resulted in a breakthrough in HIV/AIDS research. The UNC Cure Center discovered a method of identifying and reactivating dormant cells that can be combined with other clearance strategies in order to clear the HIV reservoir that will end in a definitive, permanent cure.

This method was already tested on monkeys who suffer from SIV, which is a form of HIV, and the results were successful. With this result in animals, they continue to search for an effective cure for the HIV virus for humans, one that will not produce any side-effects nor necessitate maintenance medication. One of those methods will likely purge the HIV reservoir that the virus forms in the blood.

What makes the HIV virus so difficult to eradicate from a patient is because the virus forms a reservoir that returns once the patient stops using antiretroviral therapy or ART medication. Because the immune system cannot detect the virus when it is dormant, it cannot attack and kill the virus in that phase.

At the moment, the researchers are working on a drug that can identify and revive latent cells in humans. If this proves to be successful, then human trials may begin, and a cure will be developed to end the epidemic once and for all.

Aside from formulating drugs as well as identifying latent cells in humans, a group of researchers recently came up with a mathematical equation that could accurately predict when the virus would return once ART medication is stopped. Dr. Jessica Conway and her team explained their model at a conference in Hartford, Connecticut, back in January.

One challenge regarding this model is that the time the virus will rebound will vary from patient to patient as there are other factors to consider. As of now, Conway and her team are close to figuring out the model, and after a few more tests, they will have found the model that can be of big help to doctors for better clinical trials.

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Imphal: Music with a purpose vibrates Manipur’s Imphal city on Thursday evening as artistes from across the eight northeastern states gathered at the second edition of the North East Multi-Media Campaign 2020 to create awareness on HIV and AIDS.

Hundreds of music lovers, young and old alike, from across the state thronged Bheigyachandra Open Air Theatre (BOAT) and witnessed the live musical concert under the theme ‘North East United Against HIV/AIDS’.

Representatives from each state of the northeast region along with officials and dignitaries supported the event with their presence, which was organised by the Manipur State AIDS Control Society (MACS) in collaboration with National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) under the ministry of health and family welfare, government of India.

According to officials, Manipur is one of the worst-hit of the HIV/AIDS state in India due to the excessive use of the drug among the youth.

Despite unable to cut down the use of the drug among the youngsters, such a unique programme aims to spread awareness and to control the infection of HIV/AIDs among the youth, it said.

Speaking to EastMojo on the sideline of the event, joint director MACS, Avira Longjam, said that northeast states like Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur bordering with Myanmar are prevalent of HIV epidemic.

And Mizoram, the least populated state, stood the first in the country with people infected HIV/AIDS, he added.

As per the released data by the Mizoram State AIDS Control Society on the World AIDS DAY in 2019, at least 17,897 people are suffering from HIV/AIDS patients, the highest in the country.

In 1997, almost 76.9 per cent drug users were HIV/AIDS positive in Manipur, the highest in the South Asian countries. However, with the HIV prevention programme initiated by the state concerned department, it has now curtailed down the situation, said Longjam.

As informed by the official, the department has also earmarked the elimination of mother to child transmission, one of the causes of HIV infection, by 2020.

The music event featured various music bands and folks artistes from the northeast region to spread awareness on HIV to the people, especially the millennial generation.

Bands like Bipolar Shadows from Sikkim, Tune Up Channel from Nagaland, Innocent Eyes from Manipur, Larger Than 90 from Meghalaya, Boomarang from Mizoram, Impromptu from Assam, Reloaded from Arunachal Pradesh and Daamal from Tripura were featured during the multi-media music competition in the event.

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Today, February 7, 2020, is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. This day is commemorated each year to highlight the impact that HIV and AIDS has on the black or African American population in the United States.

According to statistics from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2018, 13% of the US population was black, but 43% of all newly diagnosed HIV infections occurred in black individuals.

In a new article published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report authors detail findings on HIV testing outcomes among black individuals in the United States.

Ending the HIV epidemic is a US initiative with the goal of reducing new HIV infections by 90% from 2020 to 2030. The first phase of the initiative is focused upon reducing incidence in 50 jurisdictions which accounted for >50% of new diagnoses during 2016-17 and 7 states with disproportionate HIV prevalence in rural areas.

Specifically, the investigators used data from the CDC’s 2017 National HIV Prevention Program Monitoring and Evaluation program to look at testing outcomes in black individuals living in jurisdictions deemed high prevalence by the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative.

“Factors such as stigma, comorbidities, and socioeconomic inequalities might increase blacks’ risk for acquiring or transmitting HIV and limit access to quality health care, housing and HIV prevention messaging,” the authors wrote.

As a result, delayed access to HIV prevention and treatment can lead to work HIV care outcomes including delays in linkage to care and viral suppression.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      In total, 1,954,741 CDC-funded HIV tests were conducted in phase-1 jurisdictions. Of the total tests, black individuals accounted for 43.2% of the tests, twice that of whites (21.6%) or Hispanics/Latinos (22.4%). Additionally, 49.1% (4007) of new HIV diagnoses occurred in black individuals.

Among individuals who received a new diagnosis, 79.2% were linked to care within 90 days, 71.4% were interviewed for partner services, and 81.8% were referred to HIV prevention services.

Although 79.2% of blacks with newly diagnosed HIV infection were linked to HIV medical care within 90 days, the percentage is below the 2010 National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) goal of 85%. Based on this, it may be difficult to achieve the 2020 NHAS goal of 85% linkage to care within 30 days of diagnosis and the initiative to reduce new HIV infections by 90% by 2030.

The investigators also note that by sub-population, the highest percentages of HIV tests conducted in the Ending the HIV Epidemic jurisdictions were among men who have sex with men (27.4%), a population that had the highest rates of HIV-positive results among the black subpopulation (3.3%).

More than 70% of MSM with newly diagnosed infections were linked to HIV medical care (80.6%), interviewed for partner services (71.3%), or referred to HIV prevention services (84.2%).

“To achieve the goals of [Ending the HIV Epidemic] HIV prevention programs should focus on locally tailored evidence-based testing strategies to enhance and overcome barriers for linkage to and retention in care and reduce onward HIV transmission and HIV-related disparities,” authors of the report wrote.

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The 2nd edition of Northeast Multi-Media Campaign 2019-20 against HIV/AIDS was held in Imphal on Thursday.

The campaign began with a musical concert at the Bhagyachandra Open Air Theatre, Hafta Kangjeibung in Imphal East district.

Manipur health and family welfare minister L Jayentakumar led the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO).

The multi-media campaign was attended by officials of the State AIDS Control Societies from different northeastern states.

The theme of the campaign is ‘North East United against HIV/AIDS’.

The campaign is to capitalize on the popularity of locally popular entertainment channels among the youths while addressing the issues of HIV/AIDS.

The joint director (targeted intervention) of the Manipur State AIDS Control Society, Abhiram Mongjam, talking to reporters on the sidelines of the campaign said the campaign has been organized for the second time in the Northeast.

Apart from understanding the disease through music, one witness various cultural, traditional and musical activities of the region in the campaign, said Mongjam.

“Through music, we are trying to reach the young ones and also to make the youth and young couples to understand how the HIV/AIDS can be prevented through music shows,” he said.

He also said Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur are some of the states which are badly affected by HIV/AIDS.

On the spot HIV/AIDS testing centre was also opened at the campaign venue.

Apart from the musical bands, about 15-25 people from each northeastern state and a good number of officials from NACO participated in the multi-media campaign.

During the event, each band representing the eight Northeast states was also scheduled to perform two songs – one original song on HIV/AIDS or substance abuse and the second song is the cover song of their choice.

The campaign has been organised by the northeastern states in collaboration with NACO since 2009 to encourage awareness, education, compassion and support for the issue of HIV/AIDS.

The first edition of the campaign was held in Kohima on February 18 earlier this year.

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Young people with innovative ideas to reduce HIV infections among adolescents will receive cash incentives to showcase best practices to fight the deadly virus during an international conference in Kisumu.

At least 600 youthful delegates from Eastern and Southern Africa are expected to submit proposals at the conference dubbed ‘30 Under 30 Awards.’

This comes at a time when most new HIV infections occur among adolescents and young people aged between 15and 24 years.

HIV PREVENTION

The young people will present their practices and innovation in HIV prevention, care and treatment during the first ever international Conference of reducing HIV in adolescents and youth set to be held on June 14-19 in the Lakeside City.

The youth, whose presentation will win, will receive a seed funding of Sh500,000.

The conference is the brain child of Impact Research and Development Organisation (IRDO), the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) and Nyanza Initiatives for Girls Education and Empowerment (Nigee).

Speaking to the Nation IRDO Director Kawango Agot said half of the presenters at the Kisumu conference will be adolescents and young people under 30 years.

INNOVATIVE IDEAS

“Youth under 30 years with innovative ideas on reducing HIV, especially among adolescent girls and young women, will receive seed funding and mentorship to implement their projects,” said Dr Agot.

She urged young people to submit proposals and share their work with other youth from Kenya and Eastern and Southern Africa to reduce the burden of the disease among their peers.

However, she said youth above 30 years can also submit their abstracts which must be based on data from adolescents and young people of the age bracket of 10-24 years.

At the same time, Dr Agot announced that youth whose abstracts and proposals will be selected, will not pay registration fee.

 “We are also encouraging organisations with youth led best practices on HIV and reproductive health programmes to apply before February 28 deadline,” said Dr Agot.

Dr Agot, who has been in the frontline in the fight against HIV in Nyanza region, appealed to well-wishers including county governments, managers of the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) to sponsor young people from their respective regions  to attend the conference.

“The fight against HIV among the youth must not be left to government and non-governmental organisations alone. All the actors from the grassroots must join hands to reduce the burden that is still a threat to the future and prosperity of this country,” said Dr Agot.

NASCOP

A recent report by national Aids and Sexually Transmitted Infections Control Programme revealed that at least eight counties account for 50 per cent of all new HIV infections.

Six of the counties that experts have raised red flag over the increasing new infections are in Western and Nyanza. Other cases have been reported in Nairobi and Rift Valley.

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After 40 years, despite breakthroughs in the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS, Canadian scientists working in Kenya are still up against a stubborn roadblock: How do you encourage people to get tested for HIV?

“On paper, we have the means of dealing with the epidemic. But in practice, it is very different,” said Larry Gelmon, an associate professor at the University of Manitoba and director of the university’s program in Kenya. “We have the solutions. The research issues [now] are how do you get those solutions to the people who need them?”

Scientists from Winnipeg are gathering in Nairobi this week, marking the 40th anniversary of a research partnership, initially established between the University of Manitoba and the University of Nairobi before the world became aware of HIV/AIDS to try to control sexually transmitted infections in Kenya. That partnership, called the University of Manitoba-University of Nairobi Collaborative Research Program, grew to include researchers from the United States, Belgium and other Canadian universities, and it turned its attention to HIV/AIDS as the disease swept Africa in the 1980s.

The group’s work is far from over. In 2018, 25.7 million people were living with HIV in Africa and 1.1 million were infected that year, accounting for two-thirds of new HIV infections globally, according to the World Health Organization.

Over the decades, Dr. Gelmon said, the focus of the research collaborative has shifted from learning about HIV in the 1980s to trying to find a way to create a vaccine in the 1990s, which was unsuccessful. Since then, he said, it has focused on the social and cultural issues hindering the prevention and treatment of infection.

With the right medications, people with HIV can now live long lives. Although the death toll has plunged in Africa and around the world, the WHO estimates 470,000 people in Africa died of HIV-related causes in 2018 – more than 60 per cent of the estimated 770,000 deaths globally that year.

“A lot of the stigma and prejudice that prevented people from getting tested 30 years ago is still happening,” Dr. Gelmon said, adding that even though treatment is now available, many are hesitant to be treated because they do not want others to know they are HIV-positive.

For sex workers, anti-retroviral medications can be taken before having sex as a pre-exposure prophylactic to protect themselves, he added, but they are often reluctant to carry the pills for fear others will assume they are infected.

“So, to a large extent, the research that we’re doing now is how do you get people to get tested? How do you encourage them, if they’re on treatment, to stay on their treatment?” he said.

This involves various qualitative, operational research projects aimed at trying to figure out the best way to implement treatments and preventative measures beyond the laboratory and clinical settings. For instance, the group is working with sex workers in Nairobi to provide peer education, conduct HIV testing and hand out condoms in the places where they work, such as bars, clubs, hotels and bus stops.

Researchers are also working on new methods to prevent infection that are accessible and could be readily adopted. For example, building upon decades of the group’s research, Keith Fowke, head of the University of Manitoba’s department of medical microbiology and infectious diseases, is testing the use of a low daily dose of aspirin to block inflammation, as a way of preventing HIV target cells from getting into the genital tract.

Taking a pill every day would not be ideal for everyone, Dr. Fowke said. But for women at high risk of exposure to the virus, particularly sex workers, the common anti-inflammatory drug could turn out be an affordable, socially acceptable prevention tool they could add to their arsenal, he said.

Meanwhile, researchers have not abandoned their efforts to develop a vaccine or a cure.

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Despite the emergence of new diseases, scientists all over the world are still as determined to find a cure for the existing life-threatening conditions like HIV/AIDS. Nowadays, scientists are looking into other ways to end the disease on a global scale.

Research is still heavily underway to be able to develop a cure, and MedicalXpress reports that three experts in the field of infectious diseases are currently assessing potential drug candidates in the hopes that they can determine why and where a cure is needed the most and how they can deliver. The researchers; Dr. Steven G. Deeks from the University of California San Francisco, Dr. Thumbi Ndung’u from the African Research Institute in South Africa, and Dr. Joseph M. McCune from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, all found that majority of HIV/AIDS research is found in countries where the disease is not as prevalent but are high in resources.

The three researchers all explain that the breakthroughs made in the research of HIV/AIDS should also factor in the economies and needs of those who need it the most. The disease is especially prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, where the World Health Organization states, has the majority of the HIV/AIDS cases in the world. This is where 65 percent of new infections and 75 percent of deaths occur as well. They also point out that there has not been a lot of discussion regarding the practicalities of product development for the region that needs it the most. “Failure early on to define a target product profile risks developing a strategy that fails to be effective.”

Meanwhile, MedicalXpress also reports that a study conducted using animal models found a possible method for eradicating HIV/AIDS from the body. Researchers from the Yerkes National Primary Research Center of Emory University and the University of North Carolina found that the “shock and kill” strategy, which involves waking up the dormant virus from within the immune cells and killing it, may indeed be the way to go in eliminating HIV/AIDS.

The researchers conducted two studies using animal models of HIV/AIDS infection. Both studies had different approaches, but the results of both studies were promising. They found that both approaches disrupted viral latency at levels that exceeded expectations. However, their findings do not suggest a cure just yet as more tests are needed with human subjects should be in the plans.

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The White House’s initiative to end the spread of HIV/AIDS is at odds with the federal health department’s efforts to accommodate health workers’ religious beliefs, according to members of the HIV/AIDS panel.

Four members of a White House panel are urging the Trump administration to avoid taking actions that could hinder LGBT individuals’ ability to get care. The panel released a letter to the public that was spearheaded by the panel’s two co-chairs. It followed a meeting with and a letter from Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights Director Roger Severino last fall.

The initiative to end the spread of HIV in the U.S. by 2030 and the religious conscience movement are both top priorities for President Donald Trump.

The tension between the two efforts “shows the pitfalls and dangers” of the divergent views in the administration, Carl Schmid, co-chair of the Presidential Advisory Commission on HIV/AIDS, said in an interview.

On one hand, the success of HIV initiative relies on getting certain communities—particularly black women and gay and bisexual men of color—access to care. On the other hand, the administration strongly holds that health providers with resolute religious beliefs should be respected.

Severino’s office has put forth two regulations that advocates say could harm care for LGBT patients and people with HIV. One regulation would allow health-care workers to deny care based on their religious and moral beliefs, and the other would undo Obama-era regulations under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act that protect LGBT individuals and women seeking abortions from discrimination in health-care settings.

Schmid said he hopes HHS Secretary Alex Azar will choose to drop the two proposed rules rather than finalizing them.

The HHS civil rights office sees protections of religious freedoms as essential to making sure health-care professionals don’t get penalized for the actions they do or don’t do in their jobs because of their moral beliefs.

Court Challenges

The regulation that addresses religious conscience protections is undergoing challenges in the courts. Three federal courts have struck down the rule, and the Trump administration has appealed the decision.

The administration has “proposed regulations that we feel hinder the progress in advancing” the HIV initiative, Schmid, founder of the HIV and Hepatitis Policy Institute, told Bloomberg Law.

The HIV/AIDS commission’s goal is to destigmatize HIV and build trust between patients, government entities, and the health system. That can’t happen when a separate government unit is “giving permission for people to discriminate and withhold care,” Schmid said.

For example, the religious conscience rule gives license to health providers to refuse to test for HIV or offer an HIV prevention drug, he said.

Members of the panel met with Severino Sept. 24 and expressed their concerns about civil rights protects for LGBT patients and people living with HIV, Severino disclosed in an October letter.

The civil rights office is “committed to supporting full implementation” of the HIV initiative, Severino said at the time. The HHS is “committed to the principle that discrimination has no place in our nation’s health care system.”

Severino’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment on the HIV panel’s most recent letter.

The civil rights office has gone after some providers for discriminatory behavior. In October, it required a Florida orthopedic practice to update its nondiscrimination policies for dismissing patients to resolve allegations it discriminated against a patient with HIV.

Even as members of the HIV/AIDS panel and the administration have disagreements over policies, Schmid said members plan to continue offering “constructive criticism when it’s warranted.”

“It’s important to be at the table,” he said.

The post Trump HIV Initiative Clashes With Religious Health-Worker Effort appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

(Natural News) Did you know that, just prior to the HIV and AIDS epidemic that swept the American homosexual population during the early 1980s, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had conducted a hepatitis B vaccine experiment that’s believed to have triggered it?

Between the years of 1978 and 1981, the CDC specifically targeted homosexual men living in New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles – three major cities where HIV and AIDS seemingly appeared out of nowhere – with hepatitis B vaccines that were manufactured with infected blood.

This blood was then injected into chimpanzees that were known to be infected with the cancer-causing simian virus 40, also known as SV40.

As you may recall, SV40 is the same virus that was identified in polio vaccines administered during the 1950s, which could explain the meteoric rise in cancer we’re now seeing roughly 70 years later.

Prior to the CDC’s administering of these hepatitis B vaccines among homosexual populations, HIV and AIDS didn’t even exist in the United States. But after this little experiment, the details of which remain largely under wraps, HIV and AIDS began to spread like wildfire.

By the time the CDC’s hepatitis B experiment reached its conclusion in 1981, the CDC actually declared AIDS to be an epidemic. Just one year prior, however, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published a report proclaiming the CDC’s AIDS-tainted hepatitis B vaccine to be “safe and incidence of side effects low,” with an alleged 96 percent success rate.

How a vaccine that almost immediately resulted in some 20 percent of homosexual men living in Manhattan contracting HIV in 1980 – this figure doubled to 40 percent by 1984 – could be considered “safe and incidence of side effects low” is truly mind-boggling. But this is what was declared at the time, and the rest is history.

For more related news about the CDC, be sure to check out CDC.news.

Did the CIA create HIV 10 years before the CDC began administering it in vaccines?
This type of human medical experimentation is really nothing new for our country. In fact, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is said to have intentionally created HIV as far back as 1970 when Dr. Donald MacArthur, the then-Deputy Director for Research and Technology at the Department of Defense, requested $10 million from Congress to develop a synthetic biological agent with resistance “to the immunological and therapeutic processes upon which we depend to maintain our relative freedom from infectious disease.”

Though it hasn’t technically been proven that the CIA is responsible for HIV, and thus AIDS, we know that CIA-supervised mycoplasma research that took place at Fort Detrick’s Special Operations Division had been working on creating a synthetic immunosuppressive agent, which very likely turned out to be HIV.

One year later in 1971, then-President Richard Nixon actually converted Fort Detrick from an “offensive biowarfare laboratory” into the Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, which today is known as the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at Frederick.

The handling of HIV appears to have then transferred hands to the CDC, which plotted to set it loose in many of America’s major cities in order to create a new public health crisis, specifically within the homosexual community.

Little-known PBS interview that was never aired linked HIV to Merck’s polio vaccine, which contained AIDS-causing SV40

Several years after the CDC declared AIDS to be an epidemic, medical historian Edward Shorter and Dr. Maurice Hilleman, the foremost vaccine developer at Merck at the time, appeared on PBS to discuss SV40 contamination in Merck’s polio vaccine.

Though this 1987 interview never actually aired, for reasons you’re about to learn, it was submitted to the Library of Congress making it available for access. In 2011, it was also uploaded to YouTube, though it has since been pulled “due to a copyright claim by Leonard G. Horowitz.”

Its contents, however, are now widely known by those who’ve been following this scandal, revealing that SV40 is not just associated with cancer, but also with AIDS. According to Dr. Hilleman, SV40 itself could be the source of AIDS, as he once declared, “I didn’t know we were importing AIDS” in reference to Merck’s SV40-contaminated polio vaccines.

Suffice it to say that HIV and AIDS, as well as other novel diseases that originated in primates, were delivered to human populations intentionally through the administration of vaccines. Since AIDS specifically can be traced to these CDC hepatitis B vaccine experiments, it’s safe to say that our own government is directly responsible for an untold number of injuries and deaths caused by diseases that were laced into government-mandated vaccines.

“Efforts to obtain this information have been rebuffed invoking the ‘confidential’ nature of the experiment to deny access,” the group goes on to explain, suggesting that folks who are interested in this scandal further investigate the works of Dr. Alan Cantwell, MD, and the books Gay Vaccine Experiments and the American (Not African) Origin of AIDS and The Virus Cancer Program.

The post Bombshell: HIV/AIDS was developed as a bioweapon, administered thru CDC-approved vaccine trials targeting GAY men in 1970s appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

HIV/AIDS is one of the deadliest diseases in the world, and a permanent cure has yet to be developed. As countries all over the globe face this problem, The United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS or UNAIDS announced their approach to getting rid of the disease in a span of 10 years.

The Geek Herald reports that the organization announced its 90-90-90 approach for 2020. 90-90-90 meaning having 90 percent of individuals who are infected properly diagnosed, 90 percent of those diagnosed treated, and 90 percent of those who are treated receiving viral suppression. Come 2030, UNAIDS plans to increase that rate to 95-95-95, with the hopes of ending the epidemic once and for all since then.

While the United States has achieved a goal close to UNAIDS, with a 79-78-86 rating, other countries where the disease is prevalent still have a long way to go. With those countries in mind, it is important that the disease should be made treatable and a solid cure found to get rid of the disease for good. This is why the organization plans to support those countries with very limited resources by providing HIV/AIDS testing and treatment programs that are not only accessible but also affordable.

If technological breakthroughs over the past hundred years are able to get rid of once-deadly diseases like the plague and smallpox, then the future is bright for further research into developing a cure for the disease. Scientists are all on a united front when it comes to beating this disease as more and more progress is made in terms of properly treating HIV/AIDS. A new study as reported by Medical Xpress, reveals that while research has gone on mainly on killing off infected cells, it may not be as necessary.

Explaining further, the researchers focused on the individuals who are HIV-positive but are also able to live without treatment. They found that these individuals had lymphocytes that only suppress the virus but do not kill the infected cells. Analyzing blood samples from these individuals, the researchers saw that they had HIV-specific CD8-T cells in their lymphoid tissue, and these specific cells were able to suppress the virus by an enhanced ribosomal function, and thus were better at determining proteins from amino acids.

This resulted in producing more varieties of cytokines, which are small protein molecules that play a big role in cell communication, and promoted the polyfunctionality of the cells.

The post HIV/AIDS cure: UNAIDS announces new approach in ending epidemic appeared first on MyMedicPlus.