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HIV/AIDS News
HIV and AIDS News from around the world
Worldwide 88.4 million people have been infected with HIV.
Worldwide 42.3 million people with HIV have died.
Practicing Safe Sex is our best resource in preventing HIV infection through sexual contact.
Sexual contact accounts for 95 percent of all new HIV infections worldwide.
Safe Sex = Disease Prevention – STAY SAFE!
Use A Condom Every Time!
“HIV needs to be in the media each and every day as most people only see snippets of news and these are not effective enough. For this reason, in 2007, I decided to include an HIV/AIDS News page where people could find information on many HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) related issues, Infectious Disease,
and more.
I collaborate with individuals, groups, and organizations throughout the world, to include their HIV/AIDS news articles, press releases, events, workshops, conferences, and more on PositivelyPositive.ca. News items stay on the HIV/AIDS News page for a month,
and then News items go into the HIV/AIDS News Archives.”
Bradford McIntyre
“Lift the Freeze”: HIV/AIDS Advocates Win Supreme Court Victory in Fight over Trump Foreign Aid Cuts
March 6, 2025 - Democracy Now! - The Supreme Court has rejected a request by the Trump administration to continue refusing to pay out nearly $2 billion for work completed by USAID, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the court’s three liberal justices in the majority. However, the court's decision did not specify when the money must be released, allowing Trump’s team to further dispute the issue in lower courts. We speak to two people involved in the lawsuit brought by the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, or AVAC. The Trump administration’s decision to unilaterally slash foreign assistance, including funding critical to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, “for no good reason and with no clear strategy,” was an unlawful “abuse of executive power,’ says attorney Nicolas Sansone, who serves as counsel for the plaintiff. “People will die,” adds Mitchell Warren, the executive director of AVAC. Warren condemns the “willful ignorance” and “disregard of science” being promoted by Trump and his allies, many of whom are former supporters of bipartisan global health initiatives.
Widespread Salmonella outbreak in the European Union/European Economic Area linked to sprouted seeds
Stockholm, 06/03/2025: - European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) - Public health and food safety authorities across Europe are investigating prolonged and widespread outbreaks of Salmonella infection linked to the consumption of sprouted alfalfa seeds, as detailed in a joint Rapid Outbreak Assessment by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Between January 2023 and January 2025, 509 people were reported with salmonellosis in nine EU/EEA countries. The most affected country was Norway, with 257 cases, followed by Sweden, Finland, and Germany. The outbreak is ongoing, and cases of salmonellosis may continue to be found until the point(s) where the seeds were contaminated is identified and properly controlled.
amfAR Announces Chief Executive Officer Succession Plan
New York, NY, March 6, 2025 - amfAR - Kevin Robert Frost to Retire at End of 2025;
Kyle Clifford to be Elevated to CEO
amfAR today announced that Kevin Robert Frost will retire at the end of 2025 after more than 30 years of service to the organization, the last 18 as its Chief Executive Officer. Last year, Frost informed the Board of Trustees of his intention to retire to spend more time with his family and the board immediately began a search for his successor. The Foundation has named Kyle Clifford, Chief Development Officer and a member of amfAR’s management team since 2020, to be Chief Executive Officer beginning on January 1, 2026.
Third measles case confirmed in B.C’s Lower Mainland since February
March 6, 2025 - By Charles Brockman - CityNews Vancouver - Health authorities in B.C.’s Lower Mainland have confirmed a new case of a person infected with measles.
Fraser Health says the virus infected a resident who travelled abroad to Southeast Asia.
Last month, two people, one in the Fraser Health region and one in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, who travelled together to Southeast Asia also tested positive.
Read more...
Philippines' LGBTQ+ groups seek options to U.S. aid
MANILA - Mar 06, 2025 - By Mariejo Ramos, Thomson Reuters Foundation - The Japan Times - LoveYourself, a Philippines-based group providing free HIV testing and treatment services, was receiving aid from the United States like innumerable groups promoting health and LGBTQ+ rights around the world.
But unlike so many of those organizations that were forced to close clinics when U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 90-day freeze on all foreign assistance on Jan. 20, LoveYourself kept 40 of its staff members affected by the freeze, and its doors stayed open.
Read more...
Patients speak out after thousands exposed to infection risk at Toronto gynecologist
Mar 06, 2025 - by lia Ricci - CBC News - Toronto Public Health says around 2,500 patients of Dr. Esther Park notified
Public health officials are warning some 2,500 people they may have been exposed to blood-borne infections at a Toronto gynecology office where medical tools were not properly cleaned.
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Shaping the Future of HIV Research
March 5, 2025 - amfAR - The amfAR Interview: Dr. Melanie Ott
Melanie Ott, MD, PhD, is Director of the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Senior Vice President of the Gladstone Institutes, and a professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco.
Dr. Ott’s work has focused on HIV and hepatitis C and expanded into other viruses such as Zika, influenza, and SARS-CoV-2. She has focused much of her work on HIV transcription and identifying new molecular targets for treatments and cure, new diagnostics, and the potential for pan-viral therapeutics. A regular reviewer of grant applications for amfAR, Dr. Ott is a recipient of NIH MERIT and DP1 Avantgarde Awards, an elected member of the Association of American Physicians, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.
Quebec becomes first province to publicly reimburse APRETUDE for HIV-1 Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)
MONTRÉAL, March 5, 2025 /CNW/ - ViiV Healthcare - ViiV Healthcare, the global specialist HIV company majority owned by GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK), with Pfizer Inc. and Shionogi as shareholders, is pleased to announce that Quebec has become the first province to publicly reimburse APRETUDE (cabotegravir tablets and extended release injectable suspension) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV-1 infection in at-risk individuals who are HIV-1 negative.1
ViiV Healthcare commends the Quebec government for its decision to grant timely access to APRETUDE for at-risk individuals who could benefit from PrEP. APRETUDE is now listed under the Régie de L'assurance Maladie du Québec (RAMQ). With cases of HIV continuing to rise across Canada, including in Quebec where cases have increased 37 per cent between 2019 and 2022,2 this decision will have a meaningful impact on HIV prevention efforts in the province.
APRETUDE is the first and only long-acting injectable approved in Canada to help reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV-1 infection in at-risk adults and adolescents aged 12 years and older, and weighing at least 35kg.1 Findings from two real-world evidence studies (OPERA and Trio Health cohorts) showed more than 99 per cent effectiveness of APRETUDE for PrEP in nearly 1,300 individuals.3,4 APRETUDE for PrEP has demonstrated superior efficacy to daily oral emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (FTC/TDF tablets) in reducing the risk of HIV acquisition in two clinical trials, providing more options for PrEP for Canadians.1
Bacteria resistant to key antimicrobials still routinely found in humans and animals
Stockholm 5 March 2025 - European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) - Recent surveillance data reveal that resistance to commonly used antimicrobials — such as ampicillin, tetracyclines, and sulfonamides — remains persistently high in both humans and animals for key pathogens including Salmonella and Campylobacter. Resistance in E. coli is also frequently observed in animals, although resistance of Salmonella in laying hens is low. These are the main findings of a report issued today by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
According to Carlos Das Neves, EFSA Chief Scientist and Piotr Kramarz, ECDC Chief Scientist: ‘A comprehensive One-Health approach is essential to tackling AMR. Robust surveillance systems, prudent antimicrobial use, and cross-sector collaboration are critical to mitigate the risk posed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can spread between animals and humans.’
New HIV vaccine candidate discovered with help from Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source
March 4, 2025 - By JARED SAGOFF - Argonne National Laboratory - Vaccine helps to create a kind of “broadly neutralizing antibody”
Though not a full vaccine yet, discovery shows important proof of concept that can neutralize a third of the strains of HIV in the U.S.
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is one of the most common and deadly viruses known to mankind. Approximately 40 million people around the world are living with HIV, and tens of millions worldwide have died from AIDS — the condition HIV leads to as it progresses — since the epidemic began in the early 1980s.
Although there are currently available antiretroviral medications for HIV, the silver bullet for it does not yet exist: an HIV vaccine. Scientists have been working on an HIV vaccine for a number of years but have had very limited success because the virus mutates so rapidly.
Measles Outbreak: NV-387 Promises To Be An Effective Drug To Treat Patients; We are Ready To Work With HHS, Says NanoViricides President Dr. Anil Diwan
SHELTON, CT / ACCESS Newswire / March 4, 2025 / - NanoViricides, Inc. - The HHS Department Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote an Opinion piece in the FoxNews entitled "Measles outbreak is call to action for all of us". He identifies an important issue that, "…there is no approved antiviral for those who may be infected…"[1].
Parents of children who are suffering, and the doctors who are treating them, are frustrated with the lack of any treatment. Mr. Kennedy clearly understands that the plight of suffering patients cannot be relieved without a drug to treat measles.
"We applaud Secretary Kennedy for recognizing the urgency of the situation and taking all possible steps including promoting vaccination in response to this outbreak, while clearly recognizing the deficiency in the response to be the lack of an effective treatment for measles viral disease," said Anil R. Diwan, PhD., President of NanoViricides, Inc.
NanoViricides believes that NV-387, the Company's flagship broad-spectrum antiviral, would be a potentially effective treatment for measles, and is worth evaluating during the current emergency situation created by the spreading outbreak. This belief has a strong rationale as explained below.
NV-387 is a broad-spectrum antiviral drug that has been found to be effective against many distinctly different virus families that use heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPG) during attachment to infect cells, including RSV, Influenza, COVID/Coronaviruses and Mpox/Smallpox[2].
Pepfar funding to fight HIV/Aids has saved 26 million lives since 2003: how cutting it will hurt Africa
March 4, 2025 - The Conversation - The US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief has been a cornerstone of global HIV/Aids prevention, care and treatment for over two decades. Pepfar has enjoyed broad bipartisan support in the US, but its future is now uncertain. Public health scholars Eric A. Friedman, Sarah A. Wetter and Lawrence O. Gostin explain Pepfar’s history and impacts, as well as what may lie ahead.
Many people today have forgotten the sheer devastation that the Aids pandemic wrought on the African continent, first spreading widely in east Africa in the 1980s. By the end of the 20th century, life expectancy in the region had decreased from 64 to 47 years.
aidsmap returns with reporting from the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI)
4 March 2025 - aidsmap - News reporting by aidsmap will be restarting next week, under the new stewardship of Terrence Higgins Trust.
As you probably know, in July 2024, the trustees of NAM Publications, publishers of aidsmap.com, decided that the charity was no longer financially sustainable. The trustees sought proposals from other UK charities to take on aidsmap’s assets and maintain access to the website. Following careful consideration and debate, the trustees selected Terrence Higgins Trust as that partner.
Read more...
‘People will die,’ says Canadian charity in Kenya as Trump's USAID cuts threaten HIV medications
Mar 4, 2025 - by Natalie Stechyson - CBC News - Kenya has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world with a prevalence of 3.7 per cent
In Nanyuki, a market town just northwest of Mount Kenya, some foreign aid workers and volunteers are worried what U.S. President Donald Trump's dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development will mean for the people there.
“It’s a concern. It’s a real issue,” said Rex Taylor, co-founder and president of The Small Project, a registered Canadian charity that helps send kids to school in rural Kenya.
Read more...
Shared Pathways in HIV and Aging May Contribute to Heart Failure Risk
Mar 3, 2025 - By Melissa Rohman - Northwestern University - Feinberg School of Medicine - Scientists have discovered a unique protein signature expressed in the blood of persons living with HIV that is also associated with aging and higher risk for heart failure, according to a recent study published in Nature Communications.
The findings may help identify new therapeutic targets for heart failure among both people living with and without HIV, said Frank Palella, MD, the Potocsnak Family — C.S.C. Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and a co-author of the study.
An estimated 40 million people globally are currently living with human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, according to recent data from the World Health Organization.
Accessible HIV science is vital in an age of disinformation
3 Mar 2025 - aidsmap - Terrence Higgins Trust is exploring a future for leading HIV website aidsmap
With deep regret the trustees of NAM Publications, publishers of aidsmap.com, decided in July 2024 that the charity was no longer financially sustainable. While honouring their commitment to staff, partners and service users, the trustees set about ensuring a longevity for the assets aidsmap had built up over four decades.
HIV Lens –which maps the impact of HIV across England – was transferred to National AIDS Trust. Proposals were sought to host aidsmap.com alongside the other resources developed by the organisation. This was with the intention of ensuring the core HIV content did not fall into disrepair and the resources could continue to be used. Following careful consideration and debate, the trustees selected Terrence Higgins Trust as that partner.
Read more...
HIV Diagnosis Market to Hit USD 5.31 Billion by 2030 with 10.3% CAGR | MarketsandMarkets™
DELRAY BEACH, Fla., Feb. 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- MarketsandMarkets™ - The global HIV diagnosis market, valued at US$2.96 billion in 2024, is forecasted to grow at a robust CAGR of 10.3%, reaching US$3.25 billion in 2025 and an impressive US$5.31 billion by 2030. The HIV diagnostics market is driven by several key factors, such as the rising prevalence of HIV/AIDS, the increasing number of blood transfusions and blood donations, advantages offered by POC diagnostic kits & instruments, and the growing focus on initiatives for HIV awareness. However, the high cost of nucleic acid testing, operational barriers, and the shortage of skilled laboratory technicians are expected to restrain the market growth to a certain extent.
Efforts driven by government health initiatives and public awareness campaigns promoting HIV testing are significantly boosting market growth. Additionally, innovations in testing technologies, such as rapid tests and self-testing kits, along with improved accuracy and ease of use, are enhancing patient compliance and encouraging wider adoption. Despite these positive developments, challenges like the high cost of diagnostic tests and complex testing procedures may slow down growth. However, the market is expected to continue progressing steadily, fueled by a stronger emphasis on early detection, improved healthcare access, and the increasing availability of advanced, convenient testing solutions.
Senate passes Liias bill codifying Apple Health coverage for HIV antiviral drugs
OLYMPIA - February 28, 2025 - SENATE DEMOCRATS - A bipartisan bill ensuring the state’s Medicaid program continues to cover HIV antiviral drugs without prior authorization passed the Senate unanimously Friday.
Senate Bill 5577, sponsored by Sen. Marko Liias (D-Edmonds), requires the Health Care Authority continue to cover all HIV antiviral drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration without prior authorization for clients enrolled in Apple Health, the state’s Medicaid program. The Legislature appropriated funds for this coverage in the operating budget for the 2023-2025 biennium, and the bill codifies the requirement in state law.
Legal recruitment firm for infected blood inquiry paid more than compensated victims
28 February 2025 - Joe Pinkstone - Telegrah - More taxpayer money has been spent on legal staff for the infected blood scandal inquiry than has been awarded to victims, analysis shows...
More taxpayer money has been spent on legal staff for the infected blood scandal inquiry than has been awarded to victims, analysis shows.
It has been nine months since the infected blood inquiry’s final report was declared a “day of shame” for the British state after it revealed the scale of the worst treatment disaster in NHS history.
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‘A bloodbath’: HIV field is reeling after billions in U.S. funding are axed
28 Feb 2025 - By Jon Cohen - SCIENCE - USAID’s promises to support lifesaving efforts are broken, putting millions in peril
The decision by President Donald Trump’s administration to cut the vast majority of its foreign aid programs has devastated the global HIV/AIDS effort—and left its leaders seething. South Africa’s HIV/AIDS program, the world’s largest, has been thrown into turmoil, researchers, clinicians, and advocates said yesterday during an impassioned press conference. And the fate of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), which relies on U.S. funds to help track and coordinate the global response, is in jeopardy.
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HIV Is Not a Crime Awareness Day 2025
February 28, 2025 - By Trent Straube - POZ - In observance of #HIVIsNotACrime 2025, watch the trailer for “To Be Free,” which documents stories of three Tennessee women living with HIV.
Friday, February 28, marks the fourth annual HIV Is Not a Crime Awareness Day (#HINACDay; #HIVIsNotACrime), a global effort to inform the public about unjust laws that target people living with HIV and the efforts to modernize those laws.
Across the world, people living with HIV continue to be criminalised, discriminated against, and denied their rights. With shrinking resources and growing political opposition, the fight for justice has never been more urgent.
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The Wistar Institute Announces Recruitment of First Caspar Wistar Fellow to Join HIV Cure and Viral Diseases Center
PHILADELPHIA — (February 28, 2025) — The Wistar Institute — The Wistar Institute welcomes its newest faculty member, Colby Maldini, Ph.D., who joins Wistar’s HIV Cure and Viral Diseases Center as a Caspar Wistar Fellow.
Dr. Maldini comes to Wistar with expertise in applying genome engineering technologies to develop chimeric antigen receptor T cells, more commonly known as CAR T cells: immune cells that scientists engineer to express certain proteins so that they can target specific threats, like cancer and viruses. As a member of the Caspar Wistar Fellows Program, which places young researchers on the fast track for faculty promotion, Dr. Maldini will receive support from the Institute to expand his laboratory and work toward building a mature research program.
Media Release: Today Marks International HIV is not a Crime Awareness Day. People Living with HIV in Canada Deserve Better.
Wednesday, February 28, 2024 -Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization - The Government of Canada has long promised law reform in this country. Why are we still waiting?
Today marks the third annual HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day, a day to raise awareness about HIV criminalization — in Canada and around the world — and elevate the voices of people living with HIV, including those who have been criminalized based on their HIV status.
“We welcome this opportunity to publicly consider the unthinkable injustice that persists in Canada, where people living with HIV continue to be singled out for criminal prosecutions, convictions, and imprisonment for allegedly not disclosing their HIV status to sexual partners in otherwise consensual sexual encounters,” says Alexander McClelland, who is living with HIV and is the Chair of the Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization (CCRHC) Steering Committee. But members of the CCRHC and the community are incredibly discouraged by the lack of political leadership that enables the status quo to continue. “People living with HIV in this country deserve more than unfulfilled promises and never-ending delays,” notes Muluba Habanyama, who is living with HIV and a member of the CCRHC Steering Committee.
Breaking my silence: A pastor’s journey with HIV
February 27, 2025 - by Andries Coetzee - THE PRESBYTERIAN OUTLOOK - Andries Coetzee shares his journey of living with HIV, confronting stigma in the church, and embracing his God-given identity with courage and dignity.
For years, I have concealed my true identity as a gay man and living with HIV. What might seem like deception was a desperate attempt to protect myself from judgment, rejection, and the burden of losing my livelihood. This inner conflict has left me physically and emotionally exhausted, and I am grateful to finally reach a point in my life to claim my God-given identity and human dignity.
Protecting key populations from abrupt disruptions to essential HIV services
27 February 2025 - World Health Organization (WHO) - Prevention, testing and treatment services for HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections (STI) have driven unprecedented progress in improving population health over the past two decades, with millions of new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths averted.
Foreign aid investments in the global HIV response, such as the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund on AIDS, TB and Malaria, have been pivotal to this success, also contributing significantly to progress towards elimination of hepatitis B and C, and STI control. However, abrupt disruptions to foreign aid and service delivery threaten these gains, putting millions of people at risk – especially people living with HIV and key and vulnerable populations.
Many essential evidence-based prevention interventions, including HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), harm reduction services for people who inject drugs, and community-led programmes have been permanently halted.
USAID cuts expected to devastate global health
02/27/2025 - By Carmen Paun and Daniel Lippman - POLITICO - The Trump administration has terminated funding for HIV, malaria and maternal health programs it had labeled lifesaving.
The Trump administration has decided that hundreds of programs aimed at helping people in the world’s poorest countries stay alive are no longer in the national interest.
The sweeping cuts in foreign aid announced Wednesday will slash HIV treatment, prevention and research, health services to treat malaria, and care for new mothers and their babies, among other lifesaving programs, say global health and humanitarian groups whose contracts were cut. It will also halt basic health services for people displaced by conflict, such as those in Sudan or Gaza.
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What Were the First Steps You Took to Get the HIV Care You Needed?
Feb 26, 2025 - TheBody - Part of Really Honest Answers: Newly Diagnosed With HIV
Activist Robert Suttle recalls how he initially entered care and treatment after receiving his HIV diagnosis.
Watch Video...
Swan Valley's spike in HIV cases triggers outbreak-like response from Manitoba health officials
Feb 26, 2025 - CBC News - More than 40 new HIV cases reported in a few months, 'many more' than normal'
The number of new HIV cases in Manitoba's Swan Valley region has soared, prompting health officials to implement an outbreak-like response to control the situation.
Since October of last year, more than 40 new HIV diagnoses have been reported in Swan Valley, according to Dr. Brent Roussin, the chief provincial public health officer.
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UNAIDS stands together with communities on Zero Discrimination Day
GENEVA, 26 February 2025 - UNAIDS - On Zero Discrimination Day, 1 March, everyone’s right to live a full and productive life with dignity is celebrated. Zero Discrimination Day highlights how people can become informed and promote inclusion, compassion, peace and, above all, it is a movement for positive change.
This Zero Discrimination Day, UNAIDS is Standing Together with communities. Communities are essential to the sustainability of the HIV response and to broader global health efforts. They must be financed and supported in their steadfast commitment to ensuring that all people living with and affected by HIV have access to the services they need and are treated with dignity and respect.
Feinstein Institutes research finds hidden genetic clues that may explain HIV resistance and treatment
February 25th, 2025 - by Julianne Mosher Allen - Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research | Northwell Health - Ancient viruses in human DNA can provide clues for researchers looking for HIV treatments
More than one million people in the U.S. live with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), less than one percent of whom are known as “elite controllers” who can suppress the virus to levels below detection without medication. New research from The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health has found that “human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs),” a subset of transposable elements (TEs) found in genomic dark matter, may play a crucial role in explaining how this group can naturally suppress the HIV virus, potentially leading to new avenues for HIV treatments.
The research, co-supervised by Douglas F. Nixon, MD, PhD, director of the Feinstein Institutes’ Institute of Translational Research, and Cedric Feschotte, PhD, of Cornell University, and led by Cornell University’s Manvendra Singh, PhD, and Sabrina Leddy published this week in Genome Biology, shows that these elite controllers have distinct patterns of HERV activity in their CD4+ T cells, immune cells targeted by HIV. These HERVs, derived from ancient retroviral infections that infected our ancestors hundreds of thousands to millions of years ago, are known as ancient deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences.
New HIV drug delivery systems are helping tackle gender-based violence
24 February 2025 - by Pascalinah Kabi - Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance - HIV-blocking prophylactic antivirals in vaginal-ring and injectable form are not only longer-acting than daily pills, they’re also more discreet.
When 30-year-old Ithabeleng Mosele (not her real name) discovered that her husband was having an extramarital affair about a year ago, the fear of being infected with HIV shattered her.
“That is when I started to feel uncomfortable and unsafe,” Mosele told VaccinesWork in a recent interview.
THIV/HBV/HDV Triple Infection Linked to Liver-Related Death
February 24, 2025 - By Sukanya Charuchandra - Cancer Health - Hepatitis D superinfection worsens clinical outcomes for people with HIV and hepatitis B, even with access to antiviral treatment.
Among people with HIV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) coinfection, “superinfection” with hepatitis D virus (HDV) is a serious risk factor for liver-related death despite antiviral treatment, according to study findings published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
HIV and hepatitis B have overlapping transmission routes, and around 10% of people living with HIV worldwide also have HBV. What’s more, people with HIV/HBV coinfection may also acquire hepatitis D, or delta, a defective virus that can only replicate when HBV is present. Over time, chronic hepatitis B can lead to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma—the most common types of liver cancer—and those who also have HDV are at higher risk.
U.S. cuts to HIV/AIDS funding will be detrimental for vulnerable groups in Kenya
February 24, 2025 - The Conversation - On his first day in office, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to freeze foreign aid funding. This was followed by a stop-work order for dozens of life-saving humanitarian programs.
One of the programs affected by this announcement is the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). This program has invested more than US$100 billion in the global HIV/AIDS response since it was founded in 2003. This makes the U.S. the largest funder of HIV/AIDS programs worldwide.
Although a 90-day waiver has since been issued which temporarily allows life-saving HIV drugs to continue being delivered, the impact of this executive order is already being felt across the globe — including in Africa, where PEPFAR funding has been integral in controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
If PEPFAR funding ends when the waiver expires — or resumes but doesn’t allow funding for services to all key populations — this will have severe impacts on those in the continent living with HIV or at high-risk of infection.
Moral Perceptions Fuel Ongoing HIV Stigma, Study Reveals
22nd Feb, 2025 - The Munich Eye - The persistent stigma surrounding individuals living with HIV has long puzzled health experts, particularly in light of numerous destigmatization campaigns launched in the United States over the past four decades. Researchers have often attributed this stigma to historical legal discrimination and its connections to LGBTQ+ communities. However, a groundbreaking study from Northwestern University has identified a new factor contributing to the ongoing stigma: the association of HIV with moral judgments.
The study's lead researcher, Shahin Davoudpour, notes that stigma tends to endure when people perceive an ethical dimension to a health condition. The underlying theory suggests that when individuals believe that someone's health status is a result of personal failings, they are more likely to distance themselves from that person.
In their research, published in the journal Public Health Ethics, the team analyzed data from the 2021 and 2022 waves of the General Social Survey (GSS), which collects demographic information and public attitudes. The findings confirm that stigma is significantly more pronounced when individuals associate HIV with immoral behavior. Those who strongly believe that people with HIV engage in immoral activities are over 13 times more likely to reject close contact with them compared to those who do not hold such beliefs.
AIDS Foundation of Chicago sues Trump administration over discriminatory executive orders
February 22, 2025 - by Jake Wittich - Windy City Times - The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) is among three nonprofits suing President Donald Trump and his administration over his discriminatory executive orders related to diversity, equity and transgender people.
AFC, the National Urban League and the National Fair Housing Alliance filed the lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in Washington, D.C. They’re being represented by the Legal Defense Fund and Lambda Legal.
The lawsuit aims to halt three executive orders that mandate an end to equity-related grants; forbid federally funded organizations from engaging in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEI) programs; and work to prevent groups from recognizing the existence of transgender people.
John Peller, president and CEO of AFC, said the three orders prevent his organization from effectively working to end the HIV epidemic.
The Global HIV Prevention Coalition warns halt in HIV prevention supported by the U.S. will result in rising new HIV infections
21 February 2025 - Global HIV Prevention Coalition - The Global HIV Prevention Coalition urges the United States Government to continue its global leadership role
For the past two decades the United States Government has been an exemplary and steadfast leader in HIV prevention, providing two-thirds of international financing for HIV prevention in low- and middle-income countries. However, a 90-day pause in United States foreign development assistance issued by the United States Government on 20 January 2025 has thrown progress in global HIV prevention into turmoil.
The high-quality HIV prevention and treatment programmes supported by the U.S. Government over the past 20 years, including during the first Trump administration, have been highly effective. In 2024, the United States Government provided over 83.8 million people with critical HIV testing services in 55 low- and middle-income countries, reached 2.3 million adolescent girls and young women with HIV prevention services, and enrolled 2.5 million people on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP, medicine to prevent HIV infections).
If the United States Government does not continue funding for the global HIV response and no alternative funding is secured, UNAIDS estimates that there would be an additional 350,000 new HIV infections in children, an additional 8.7 million new HIV adult infections, 6.3 million AIDS-related deaths, and 3.4 million additional AIDS orphans by end of 2029.
Lay low or mobilize? HIV researchers agonize over how to respond to Trump administration’s attacks on science
Feb 21, 2025 - by Tim Murphy - Positively Aware - ‘Researchers are still in deer-in-the-headlights zone... They need to talk more publicly about the fact that we are erasing a whole new generation of researchers’
“I have chronic pain from anxiety...some of my colleagues have received stop-work orders...there’s mass confusion as to what our next steps are...we are unclear about what language to use in our grants around sex and gender...some of us have built our entire research program around diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility...everything that our work stands for is under attack...it’s a scary time...we've going back to the Dark Ages.”
Those are the words of a prominent and longtime HIV researcher at an academic center well-known for its HIV research. The researcher was speaking under strict anonymity (“I have to be super careful...” ) about the extraordinary attacks that federally funded researchers have sustained in only the first month of the Trump 2.0 administration’s war on anything that so much as touches on issues of race, gender (especially transgender topics), sexuality, disability and equity and inclusion for these groups.
HIV stigma greater when associated with immorality
Chicago - February 21, 2025 - By Win Reynolds - Northwestern Now - Northwestern University - Future destigmatization campaigns must focus on disconnecting fault and HIV status
Study offers first-of-its-kind look at underlying mechanisms behind enduring HIV stigma
Individuals are 13 times more likely to reject proximity to people with HIV when they associate it with immoral behaviors
Findings are robust even when factors like awareness and opinions about same-sex sexual activity are considered
Persistence of stigma toward people living with HIV has puzzled scientists looking at the numerous destigmatization campaigns that have taken place in the U.S. in the four decades since its initial discovery. Scientists have explained the presence of stigma with the fact that people with HIV have in the past been legally excluded and marked as criminals, and because of the overlap in LGBTQ+ populations and HIV-positive people.
A first-of-its-kind research paper from Northwestern University presents another potential cause behind persistent stigma: an association of the chronic condition with a person’s morality.
U.S. aid freeze puts HIV-positive orphans in Kenya at risk as medical supplies dwindle
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - February 21, 2025 - CTV NEWS - Two-year-old Evans was brought to the Nyumbani Children’s Home in Nairobi, Kenya a year ago, suffering from HIV and tuberculosis. With no family to care for him, Evans was referred to the orphanage by a health center after he stopped responding to medical treatment.
Nyumbani Children’s Home is the reason Evans is still alive. But political decisions made thousands of miles (kilometers) away might spell the end of his short life. Nyumbani provides him and around 100 other children with antiretroviral medication, which they have been receiving from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Kenyan government.
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New Therapy May Effectively Control HIV in Uganda
February 19, 2025 - Weill Cornell Medicine - A multi-national, multi-institutional study led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators found little natural resistance to a new HIV therapy called lenacapavir in a population of patients in Uganda.
The study, published Jan. 30 in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, adds to growing evidence that lenacapavir may be a powerful new tool in the global anti-HIV drug arsenal. Approximately, 1.5 million people are living with HIV in Uganda.
“Our data shows that only 1.6% of the individuals studied are living with HIV strains that have any known lenacapavir-associated resistance mutations,” said senior author Dr. Guinevere Lee, assistant professor of virology in medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. “That’s important because it shows lenacapavir is likely to be effective against strains of HIV circulating in East Africa.”
TAG Fiercely Condemns the New Administration’s War on Science
New York City, February 18, 2025 -
Statements TAG Fiercely Condemns the New Administration’s War on Science
Treatment Action Group (TAG) is disgusted and appalled by the new presidential administration’s flagrant attack on science. Recent actions taken by the executive branch — from decimating vital research, to gutting scientific workforces, to obstructing and concealing public treatment guidelines and scientific data — take a wrecking ball to the vital scientific processes that deliver lifesaving tools to prevent, diagnose, treat, and cure disease, domestically and globally. These hostile and reckless actions will hobble the fight against HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and hepatitis C Virus (HCV), worsen human health, and weaken communities for decades to come.
New Paper-based Device Boosts HIV Test Accuracy From Dried Blood Samples
February 18, 2025 - By Joseph Caputo - Tufts Now - Tufts University - Tufts researchers collaborate with scientists in South Africa to trial a more precise medical device to measure HIV viral loads
In parts of the world where traveling to a clinic for routine blood tests is a financial and logistical challenge, HIV patients increasingly have the option to collect and ship a drop of their blood in paper-based devices that absorb the sample and store it for analysis in far-away labs.
While this technology is helpful for tracking someone’s adherence to their drug regimen or monitoring disease progression, the most frequently used devices don’t control how much blood they collect, potentially leading to inaccurate readings of a person’s infection.
Understanding this limitation, Charlie Mace, an associate professor at Tufts University’s Department of Chemistry, postdoctoral scholar Giorgio Morbioli, and colleagues engineered a paper device with wax-printed patterns that create precise channels and collection spots, ensuring it consistently collects the same volume of blood.
Transforming HIV Diagnosis: A Low-Cost, Point-of-Care Detection Solution
Newswise - 18-Feb-2025 - by Chinese Academy of Sciences - Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a global health challenge, with millions of people affected worldwide. Early diagnosis is essential for timely antiretroviral therapy and preventing transmission. However, current nucleic acid tests (NATs) often require advanced laboratory infrastructure and trained personnel, making them impractical in low-resource settings. While antibody-based rapid tests provide convenience, they lack sensitivity during the acute phase of infection and fail to distinguish between acute and chronic stages. These limitations highlight the urgent need for affordable, sensitive, and portable HIV detection tools that can be easily deployed at the point of care (POC).
On September 6, 2024, a team from the University of Florida unveiled their handheld HIV detection platform, published (DOI: 10.1038/s41378-024-00822-1) in Microsystems & Nanoengineering. This device integrates paper-based sample preparation with real-time reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP), offering an affordable and efficient alternative for HIV testing. The device stands as a breakthrough in POC diagnostics, combining simplicity, portability, and high sensitivity to create a solution that could transform global HIV testing.
U.S. FDA Accepts Gilead’s New Drug Applications for Twice-Yearly Lenacapavir for HIV Prevention Under Priority Review
FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- February 18, 2025 - – If Approved, Lenacapavir Would Be the First and Only Twice-Yearly HIV Prevention Choice –
– FDA to Review Applications Under Priority Review, with a PDUFA Date of June 19, 2025 –
– Gilead Also Recently Submitted Applications for Lenacapavir for PrEP to the European Medicines Agency That Will Be Reviewed Under Accelerated Assessment Review Timeline –
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted its New Drug Application (NDA) submissions for lenacapavir—the company’s twice-yearly injectable HIV-1 capsid inhibitor—for the prevention of HIV as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
Stigma, Unequal Access and an Aging Population: Challenges to HIV Care and Prevention
February 17, 2025 - By Lavene Gass - Rutgers University - Rutgers Health experts discuss the pressing issues in HIV treatment and prevention
Despite breakthroughs in HIV treatment and prevention worldwide, critical challenges such as stigma, unequal access and managing the virus for an aging population remain, a group of Rutgers Health experts said at a recent event to address these issues.
These experts, who gathered at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, underscored the ongoing need for innovative solutions, collective action and advocacy to effectively address these challenges.
During a World AIDS Day event themed “Collective Action: Sustain and Accelerate HIV Progress,” the experts highlighted the importance of education, advocacy and collaboration in overcoming these challenges. This annual event, hosted by the Infectious Diseases Practice (IDP), which provides care for persons with and at risk for HIV infection, was held in collaboration with the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine (DAYAM).
Shobha Swaminathan, professor and director of HIV Services in the Department of Medicine, Dominga Padilla, professor in the Department of Pediatrics, and executive medical director of DAYAM and Jamir Tuten, program manager at IDP, discuss the event and share insights into the advancements and challenges in HIV care and prevention.
Measles case reported in B.C.’s Lower Mainland, linked to international travel
February 17, 2025 - By Simon Little - Global News - British Columbia health officials have confirmed a case of measles in the Lower Mainland, and say hundreds of others may have been exposed.
The case was diagnosed in someone who lives in the Fraser Health region, and who had recently travelled to Southeast Asia, according to the Fraser Health Authority.
“Measles is very contagious,” explained Dr. Brian Conway, medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre.
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How Trump’s policies could reverse decades of progress in Latin America’s HIV response
February 16 2025 - By Hira Humayun - CNN -
It was nearly 30 years ago when Rosember Lopez received a life-altering diagnosis: He was HIV positive.
With scant government resources for HIV support at the time in Mexico, Lopez joined advocacy groups to secure the funding he needed for medication to help him survive.
“In the first years after my diagnosis, it was very difficult for me,” he told CNN. “We had to fight for access to medications,” he added of himself and others with the disease.
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Andrew Donaldson-Wheatcroft: ‘We should see HIV testing as an essential part of self-care’
14 February 2025 - By Andrew Donaldson-Wheatcroft - UK Health Security Agency - GOV.UK - If you are interested in skincare, beauty and wellness, you might know of influencer Andrew Donaldson-Wheatcroft, who has well over 200,000 followers on his social media accounts. Alongside this content, Andrew is an advocate for people living with HIV. In this blog post, he shares the story of his HIV diagnosis.
Before I was diagnosed with HIV in 2015, like many other people I assumed it was unlikely to happen to me. Now I know, HIV doesn’t discriminate and anyone can catch it. Misconceptions are harmful and allow the virus to spread because it’s damaging to people’s health when they get into the mindset of ‘this doesn’t affect me, why would I test for it?’.
My experience tells me that many people still believe HIV only affects gay men, but for the past 2 years, we’ve seen heterosexual HIV diagnoses overtake those of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM).
Here’s what happens to the body when HIV medication is stopped
February 13, 2025 - Global News - A generation has passed since the world saw the peak in AIDS-related deaths. Those deaths — agonizing, from diseases or infections the body might otherwise fight off — sent loved ones into the streets, pressuring governments to act. The United States eventually did, creating PEPFAR, arguably the most successful foreign aid program in history. HIV, which causes AIDS, is now manageable, though there is still no cure.
Now the Trump administration has put the brakes on foreign aid while alleging it’s wasteful, causing chaos in the system that for over 20 years has kept millions of people alive. Confusion over a temporary waiver for PEPFAR — and the difficulty of restarting its work, with U.S. workers, contractors and payments in upheaval — means the clock is ticking for many who are suddenly unable to obtain medications to keep AIDS at bay.
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AHF on International Condom Day: Can’t Fight HIV without Condoms
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--- February 12, 2024 - AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) - Nearly 50 AHF country teams host safer sex-themed events; U.S. stages Ohh Mamma! burlesque extravaganza in Los Angeles, Dallas, St. Petersburg, Orlando, and Atlanta
In celebration of International Condom Day (ICD), AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) – which founded the globally-recognized holiday in 2009 – is sponsoring events in nearly 50 countries around the world to provoke conversation and reignite the global commitment to condom use. Activities will spread the message that condoms remain a powerful, affordable, lifesaving tool – shielding millions from HIV, other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and unplanned pregnancies.
Trump White House’s disengagement from HIV/AIDS response could have lethal consequences
February 12,, 2025 - The Conversation - With the endless stream of announcements, reversals, measures and countermeasures coming from the new administration of United States President Donald Trump, it has become difficult to make sense of what is just noise or opening negotiation offers and what constitutes actual policy change.
Unfortunately, in the case of the global response against HIV/AIDS, it seems the attacks go beyond bluster.
The methods used in the fight against HIV/AIDS have long been disputed, but overall commitment to the response was one of the few deeply bipartisan endeavours left, until now. Undercutting this decades-long consensus would mean endangering millions of lives.
As Trump attacks, the HIV community reels—and starts fighting back
Feb 11, 2025 - by Tim Murphy - Positively Aware - People with HIV and their allies try finding a balance between staying informed and active—as they try keeping safe and sane
In Kansas City, Missouri, Brooke Davidoff, diagnosed with HIV in 2010, faces head-on what is happening with the federal government on her beloved Wednesday night Zoom with other women living with HIV from around the country. But she also admits she “numbs out” with TV shows about aliens or ancient history—and cannabis.
In Atlanta, Dazon Dixon Diallo, the HIV-negative founder of SisterLove, the longtime services group for largely Black women living with or affected by HIV, is on a daily Zoom with more than 1,000 people organized by the global-AIDS group Health GAP. But she's also determined to focus on other, happy things, like the impending release of her best friend's book.
With uncertainty over the future of Ryan White HIV funding, here’s what we know
FEBRUARY 11, 2025 - By Juan Michael Porter II - The Buckeye Flame - A memo sent out to Cleveland-based HIV providers calls into question the future of Ryan White HIV funding.
After more than 40 years of AIDS activism, Gil Kudrin had thought he’d seen it all – until he started receiving panicked phone calls over the past few weeks from HIV care providers throughout Cleveland, about a memo they’d received.
The memo said funding from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program would no longer be available to cover services after January 31, Kudrin told The Buckeye Flame.
The Buckeye Flame reached out for comment about the memo to David Margolius, M.D. ― director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health. In an email, Margolius explained that the Cuyahoga County Board of Health sent the memo, and commented, “If the checks and balances at the federal government are unable to stop the proposed cuts to Ryan White funding – that would be devastating for our community. And we will do everything in our power through our coalitions to take care of our residents.
The Buckeye Flame then reached out to Kevin Brennan, communications officer for the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, who responded: “We cannot speak directly to memos that may be circulating regarding the removal of funding for the Ryan White Care Act.”
HIV and the Brain
February 10, 2025 - By Liz Highleyman - POZ - Starting antiretroviral treatment and staying mentally active can improve your neurological health.
Severe neurological manifestations of HIV are less common today thanks to effective antiretroviral treatment, but many people living with the virus still have mild or moderate neurological and cognitive problems, collectively known as HIV-related neurocognitive disorder (HAND). What’s more, the aging HIV population is prone to age-related cognitive decline.
In the early years of the epidemic, HIV-related neurological problems—including AIDS dementia——were a major concern. HIV can enter the brain, and studies have shown that this may happen within days after initial infection. The virus can damage the brain directly, and opportunistic infections can cause serious neurological disease.
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STI cases continue to rise across Europe
Stockholm, 10 February 2025 - European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) - The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has released its latest Annual Epidemiological Reports on sexually transmitted infections (STIs), revealing continued increases across the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) in 2023. The findings highlight the urgent need for increased public awareness, prevention, testing, and treatment efforts to address this growing public health concern.
Considerable increases were seen in reported cases of syphilis and gonorrhoea in 2023, relative to 2022, and continues the increasing trend seen in 2022. The trends for all STIs that ECDC provides surveillance data on underscore the need for immediate action to prevent further transmission and mitigate the impact of STIs on public health.
In 2023, nearly 100 000 confirmed cases of gonorrhoea were reported in EU/EEA countries, showing a 31% increase compared to 2022 and a striking increase of more than 300% compared to 2014. This surge was observed across different age groups and demographics, including men who have sex with men (MSM), and heterosexual men and women. The highest rates among women were within the age group 20 to 24 and this is also the group with the steepest increase in 2023 (46%). For men, the highest rates were seen in the 25 to 34-year-old age group. If left untreated, gonorrhoea can lead to significant health problems, such as pelvic inflammatory disease, and infertility in both men and women.
Aids memorial quilt display aims to ‘break stigma’
February.9, 2025 - By Zoe Toase - BBC News - Displaying a memorial quilt, which celebrates the “forgotten” lives of people who died of Aids-related illnesses, will help "break the stigma" of the disease, a campaigner has said.
The hand-stitched UK Aids memorial quilt created by family and friends of those who died, is made up of 49 panels, one of which is being shown at St Andrew's Church in Runcorn, Cheshire.
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A breakthrough HIV injection was set to change the game in 2025 – until Donald Trump took office
8 February, 2025 - ScienceNorway - Now, HIV-positive individuals in Africa are met with closed doors at US-supported clinics.
An injectable drug that protects against the HIV virus for six months was named the breakthrough of the year in 2024 by the scientific journal Science.
Then, on January 20, 2025, Donald Trump was inaugurated as the President of the United States for the second time.
Not only did he withdraw the US from the World Health Organization (WHO). He also suspended foreign aid for 90 days.
So how does Trump's policy impact the fight against HIV and AIDS?
More than 20 million HIV-positive people in 55 countries receive their treatment from US aid, according to UNAIDS, the UN agency for combating HIV.
How USAID freeze could be the most catastrophic for women and girls
Feb. 8, 2025 - By Kimmy Yam - NBC NEWS - “I fully expect to see an exponential increase in new HIV infections,” one expert said. Women and girls are more susceptible to HIV and malaria in many developing countries.
In Malawi, clinics could soon be running out of critical HIV medication, unable to replenish their supply since the Trump administration ordered a freeze to U.S. foreign aid. The pause has halted HIV programs spearheaded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, said one worker, potentially impacting some 142,000 girls and young women who received care from one of the agency’s programs last year alone.
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Living a Long Life With HIV: CU Research and Care Strive for Successful Aging
February 7, 2025 - by Mark Harden - CU Anschutz News - University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus - The virus is no longer a death sentence, but CU Department of Medicine faculty help people with HIV face health challenges as they age.
For many people with HIV, living a long life requires successfully managing health challenges that can accompany the virus, some of which can occur at a younger age than for those without HIV, as well as navigating emotional stresses.
“It’s a kind of accelerated aging,” Erlandson says. “People with HIV are experiencing what the general population experiences with aging, only at an earlier age: Increased risks of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, frailty, falls and fractures, dementia, and so on.”
Helping people face those challenges is the focus of extensive research and care programs led by Erlandson, Walker, and others in the CU Department of Medicine and across the CU Anschutz Medical Campus.
“You hear this over and over again” from older people with HIV, Walker says. “It’s not the HIV; it’s everything else. They’re encountering conditions common to aging that they never thought they would have to deal with. And they’re thinking about things like planning financially for their future, having a medical power of attorney, needing caregivers, needing nursing home care. All of those are things they didn’t even consider in their 30s and 40s because they didn’t think they’d live that long.”
(BPRW) PrEP In Black America and Black Leaders Issue a Statement for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
(Black PR Wire) February 7, 2025 - Black Public Health Academy - Resolve, Respect, and Restore
On February 7th, we commemorate National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. This year, we have adopted a unique theme: "Resolve, Respect, and Restore." This theme highlights the vital contributions of Black leaders worldwide toward implementing the vision and strategies necessary to eliminate new HIV diagnoses and support people with HIV seeking care and treatment within Black communities. Given the recent suspension of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), US-based leaders must stand in solidarity with leaders across the entire African diaspora as we strive to achieve freedom from new HIV diagnoses, as well as to eliminate pervasive HIV-related health disparities among all Black people with HIV (PWH) in our communities.
Still in the Fight
February 7, 2025 - amfAR - “Although we’ve made huge progress over the last 40 years, the epidemic is not over and we’re still in the fight.” Those words from Phill Wilson, amfAR trustee and founder and former president and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute, are a timely reminder as we mark National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on Friday, February 7.
The health of Black communities in the U.S. continues to be hindered by structural racism, discrimination, and medical mistrust, among other drivers of inequity. As a result, HIV/AIDS continues to have a disproportionate impact on African-Americans.
DC Health to Host National Black HIV Awareness Day Event and Release New Surveillance Health Report
February 7, 2025 - District of Columbia Department of Health (DC Health) - The District of Columbia Department of Health (DC Health) is proud to announce the observance of National Black HIV Awareness Day (NBHAAD) on Saturday, February 8, 2025. In honor of the awareness day, DC Health released the Annual Epidemiology and Surveillance Report which highlights the progress made in HIV testing, diagnosis and treatment in the District.
To celebrate National Black HIV Awareness Day, DC Health will host and event on Saturday, February 8, 2025 from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM EST, at the MLK Library, located at 901 G St NW, Washington, DC 20001. This important event is organized in partnership with the American Cancer Society and the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and will focus on addressing the intersection of HIV and Cancer within the Black community, with an emphasis on increasing awareness, education, and engagement around clinical trials and screenings.
The event’s theme, “Engage, Educate, Empower: Uniting to End HIV/AIDS in Black Communities,” aims to dismantle the stigma surrounding these critical health issues while promoting health and wellness within the community. Attendees will gain valuable insights into the unique challenges Black individuals encounter in accessing care and explore ways to foster meaningful conversations about HIV and cancer prevention, treatment, and the vital role of early screening.
6 million people could die from HIV, AIDS amid USAID funding freeze, UN warns
FEBRUARY 7, 2025 - Global News - More than six million people could die from HIV and AIDS over the next four years if the U.S. government pulls its global funding for prevention and relief programs, the United Nations (UN) AIDS agency warned Friday.
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New York State Department of Health Recognizes National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
ALBANY, N.Y. (February 7, 2025) - New York State Department of Health - Awareness Day Honors Resilience of Black New Yorkers Impacted by HIV
State Department of Health Remains Committed to Ending the Epidemic and Addressing Systems of Health Inequity
The New York State Department of Health recognizes National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, honoring the resiliency of Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) who are affected by HIV/AIDS and acknowledging the historically disproportional impact of HIV on these communities. While strides have been made to reduce HIV in Black communities, more must be done to reduce new infections, improve care and end health disparities.
A new way to detect inflammation
February 7, 2025 - The Daily | Case Western Reserve University - Chemistry researchers at Case Western Reserve University have found specific markers that may lead to new blood tests for disease
Nearly every disease has an inflammatory component, but blood tests can’t pinpoint inflammation in specific organs or tissues in the human body.
Now researchers at Case Western Reserve University have developed a method to detect inflammation using antibodies, potentially leading to blood tests for disease-specific biomarkers such as for heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease and various cancers. Their breakthrough also holds promise for drug discovery.
“This research opens up an amazing number of pathways for future studies,” said Greg Tochtrop, professor of chemistry at Case Western Reserve. “It will lead directly to better understanding inflammation and detecting diseases, as well as to discovering new drugs.”
Mahlon Johnson, former Vanderbilt pathologist whose story was featured on ‘60 Minutes,’ dies at 70
February 6, 2025 By: Wayne Wood - VUMC News - VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER - Dr. Johnson was performing an autopsy in 1992 when his hand slipped and he sliced through his protective gloves. He cut his finger and infected himself with AIDS.
Mahlon Johnson, MD, PhD, who as a Vanderbilt pathologist in 1997 briefly became a national media figure after he successfully treated himself after he contracted HIV during an autopsy, died Feb. 3 at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York. He was 70.
At the time of his death, Dr. Johnson was a professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.
He was a native of Lexington, Massachusetts, who received his medical degree and PhD from the University of Tennessee and came to Vanderbilt for an internship and residency in Pathology.
Dr. Johnson was an assistant professor in Pathology and Cell Biology at Vanderbilt when, during an autopsy in 1992 at the Veterans Administration Hospital, his hand slipped, and he sliced through his protective gloves. He cut his finger and infected himself via the blood of the patient, who had died of AIDS.
Georgia leads in U.S. HIV cases. Here’s why the lifesaving drug PrEP faces barriers in the state.
February 6, 2025 - By Rebecca Grapevine - Healthbeat - Latonia Wilkins knows she needs to be on PrEP due to her non-monogamous lifestyle. But the 52-year-old Atlanta mother has faced repeated challenges getting the lifesaving drug that can prevent new HIV infections.
Years ago, Wilkins was dating a man newly diagnosed with HIV and went to get tested, she said, but was not offered PrEP.
Since then, Wilkins said, doctors either have told her she doesn’t need the drug or were reluctant to prescribe it. Her insurance through work would not cover a long-acting injectable form that tends to have better results than the original pill form. Getting to appointments across Atlanta for the pills was a challenge. She is now enrolled in a drug trial for a promising PrEP injection but worries about future access and cost.
‘Confusion'’ in South Africa over US HIV funding
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - February 06, 2025 - By Kate Bartlett - VOA News - Some South African organizations that assist people with HIV are in limbo, after the United States put a 90-day freeze on most foreign aid. The U.S. State Department later added a waiver for "lifesaving" aid, but NGOs that have already shut their doors say the next steps aren't clear, and they are worried this could set back years of progress.
South Africa has the highest number of HIV-positive people in the world — about 8 million — but has also been a huge success story in terms of treatment and preventing new infections.
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U of Manitoba-led program tackling HIV in Kenya in jeopardy after Trump's cuts to USAID
Feb 06, 2025 - By Arturo Chang - CBC News - Climate initiatives halted as non-profits warn of growing humanitarian need
The Trump administration's freeze on American foreign aid is sending a chill into the Manitoba non-profit space, with some humanitarian workers saying it's putting the global initiatives they're working on at risk.
Julie Lajoie, an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba, said the billion-dollar freeze in humanitarian assistance puts at risk the future of a decades-long initiative spearheaded by Manitoba researchers to care for and prevent HIV and sexually transmitted diseases in Kenya.
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Health District observes National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
LAS VEGAS - February 6, 2025 - Southern Nevada Health District - February 7 events to feature free HIV testing and other services
In observance of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, the Southern Nevada Health District will join with community partners for a community health fair on Friday, February 7, to provide additional health services to the community. National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day highlights efforts to reduce HIV as well as other sexually transmitted infections and address HIV stigma in Black/African American communities.
The health fair, presented by the Southern Nevada Health Consortium, is scheduled for noon–4 p.m. at Mario’s Westside Market, 1425 W. Lake Mead Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89106. The Henderson Equality Center will offer free HIV testing, while the Health District will provide Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) testing, in addition to safe sex kits and education about pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP, PEP).
Additionally, the Health District will provide blood pressure screenings, smoking/vaping cessation information and vaccinations at the health fair from 11 a.m.–2 p.m. for mpox, COVID-19 and flu. The event will also include food, vendors and free entertainment.
BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS research reveals gains in life expectancy for females with HIV lags gains for males with HIV
VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 6, 2025 /CNW/ - BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) - New study, published in Lancet Public Health, points to immediate need to address structural and socio-economic impacts on health for women with HIV
A new research study from the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) shows that people with HIV (PWH) in British Columbia, Canada are now living much longer than just a few decades ago, but gains in life expectancy for women with HIV are significantly lower than men's.
The study, published in The Lancet Public Health today, shows that both sexes have seen substantial increases in their life expectancy since 2012, when a province-wide expansion of the BC-CfE's Seek and Treat for Optimal Prevention of HIV/AIDS Program (STOP HIV/AIDS) led to intensified HIV testing, treatment and engagement in care.
While the total life expectancy for males with HIV in BC aged 20 rose from 44 years old in the period 1996-2001 to 68 years old in the period 2012-2020, the life expectancy of females with HIV rose from 42 years old in 1996-2001 to 61 years old in 2012-2020. Life expectancy at age 40 and 55 also remained lower among females than males. Meanwhile, the sex gap in life expectancy at ages 20 and 40 increased over time.
CDC resumes publishing top scientific journal
February 06, 2025 - HEALIO - The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report had not been published since Jan. 16.
The first issue back contained two wildfire-related studies. Other reports “remain in the pipeline,” the CDC said.
The CDC on Thursday published its famed Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for the first time since the Trump administration ordered the nation’s various health agencies to freeze public communications.
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Thousands Protest at U.S. State Department to Restore Global HIV and AIDS Programs
February 6, 2025 - By Laura Schmidt - POZ - HIV activists demand the Trump White House fully restore PEPFAR funding following a deadly freeze.
Today, February 6, activists are rallying at U.S. State Department headquarters in Washington, DC, to condemn the Trump administration’s attack on people living with and at risk of HIV and AIDS throughout the world, including dismantling USAID and freezing billions in funds to the President’s Emergency Plan to Fight AIDS (PEPFAR), a global health initiative that aims to save lives and prevent HIV and AIDS. PEPFAR provides lifesaving treatment to over 20 million people living with HIV, mostly in Africa.
Treatment Action Group (TAG)—an advocacy think tank focused on eradicating HIV, hepatitis C and tuberculosis—coorganized the action in DC, which included well-known HIV activist groups such as ACT UP, HealthGAP, Housing Works and others.
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‘I’m alive thanks to US foreign aid’
February 06, 2025 - Noah Vickers - BBC World Service - “I’m alive thanks to USAID,” says Dmytro Sherembey.
He's been living with HIV for 24 years in Ukraine, and says the agency, which distributes billions of dollars of aid around the world, has helped prevent the virus from spreading there.
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Elliot Lake lawyer recognized with prestigious coronation medal for decades of HIV/AIDS advocacy
February 5, 2025 - By Dan Bertrand - CTV NEWS -Douglas Elliot, a lawyer from Elliot Lake, Ont., will be awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal for his decades-long contributions to the HIV/AIDS movement in Canada. The prestigious honour, presented by Canada’s Governor General, recognizes 30,000 Canadians who have made significant impacts in their communities.
Elliot, who has been involved with the Canadian AIDS Society for over 40 years, said the award holds special meaning.
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$20.6M NIH Grant Establishes School of Dentistry-Led Human Virome Characterization Center
February 5, 2025 - UCLA School of Dentistry - UCLA School of Dentistry Associate Dean of Research Dr. Yvonne Hernandez-Kapila will serve as primary investigator for the largest NIH grant awarded to the School of Dentistry in its 60-year history.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a $20.6M million grant over five years to establish one of five Human Virome Characterization Centers (HVCC), leveraging UCLA leadership and the collective expertise of interdisciplinary scientists nationwide to advance understanding of the virome's role in human health and disease across the oral–gut–brain axis. (NIH U54 AG089335 Human Virome Characterization Center for the Oral-Gut-Brain Axis)
Life-saving HIV drugs missing in Africa as US halts aid
[NAIROBI] 05/02/25 - By: Dann Okoth - SciDev.Net - Milicent Muyoma has been turned away twice from the clinic where she collects her HIV medication in Mathare, an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya.
The last time she visited, about a week ago, she was told the medicines had not arrived. When she returned three days later as advised, she found the clinic closed.
She fears missing her medication could have devastating consequences.
WHO announces the development of updated recommendations on antiretroviral therapy, management of vertical HIV transmission and TB prevention in people living with HIV
5 February 2025 - World Health Organization (WHO) - WHO is convening a Guideline Development Group (GDG) for the development of Updated recommendations on antiretroviral therapy, management of vertical HIV transmission, and TB prevention in people living with HIV.
GDG members will contribute to the review of systematic reviews, evidence summaries, technical updates, and will propose recommendations. They will participate in the GDG meeting, which will be held in a series of virtual sessions on 18, 19, 20, 25, 26 February 2025, and on 4, 5, 25, 26, 27 March 2025.
The general objective of this meeting is to develop recommendations on use of newer antiretroviral drugs or regimens for HIV treatment and update existing recommendations on preferred drugs or regimens to be used in second- and third line ART, prophylactic regimens and breastfeeding practices for management of infants at risk of vertical transmission, and preferred tuberculosis preventive therapy (TPT) in people living with HIV who start or are receiving antiretrovirals for HIV treatment.
CDC Pulls, Partially Restores HIV Web Content
February 5, 2025 - By Liz Highleyman - POZ - Federal health agency websites are largely back online, but information about transgender people has been removed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal health agencies removed hundreds of pages of HIV-related information from their websites last week as part of a government-wide purge triggered by President Donald Trump’s executive orders on “gender ideology” and “DEI” (diversity, equity, and inclusion). Much of the content was back up by Tuesday, but transgender people have largely been edited out.
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As Trump Admin Cripples HIV Response, Leading Activists Consider Next Steps
Feb 4, 2025 - By Tim Murphy - TheBody - The morning of Jan. 28, Carl Baloney Jr. joined other HIV advocates at a Funders Concerned About AIDS meeting in Washington, D.C. Baloney, the vice president for public affairs at the national HIV advocacy group AIDS United, was already worried: Both the Trump 2.0 administration and the newly GOP-led Congress were talking about making deep cuts to social services to offset their goal of lowering taxes for the ultrarich.
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7MM Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Epidemiology Forecasts 2023-2033
Dublin, Feb. 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ResearchAndMarkets.com - The “Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV): Epidemiology Forecast to 2033” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
This report provides an overview of the risk factors, comorbidities, and the global and historical epidemiological trends for HIV in the seven major markets (7MM: US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, and Japan). It includes a 10-year epidemiological forecast for the total prevalent cases, diagnosed prevalent cases, and diagnosed incident cases of HIV segmented by age (< 18 years, 18-29 years, and by 10-year age groups for 30 years up to 80 years and older) and sex.
Gilead Submits Marketing Authorization Applications to European Medicines Agency for Twice-Yearly Lenacapavir for HIV Prevention
Foster City, Calif., February 3, 2025 - Gilead - One Application Seeks European Commission Authorization; Other Application Would Help Facilitate Availability in Low- and Lower-Middle-Income Countries
Both Applications Will Be Assessed Under Accelerated Assessment Review Timeline Based on Agency’s Belief in Potential Public Health Importance of Lenacapavir for HIV Prevention
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced the company has submitted a European Commission marketing authorization application (MAA) and an EU-Medicines for All (EU-M4all) application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) as it seeks licenses for an investigational use of lenacapavir—the company’s twice-yearly injectable HIV-1 capsid inhibitor—for the prevention of HIV as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
Removal of online health resources ‘dangerous’ to public health, experts say
February 03, 2025 - By Stephen I. Feller - HEALIO - A Trump administration effort targeting “gender ideology” led to the removal of pages from government websites.
The CDC was among the agencies that began removing pages related to HIV, STIs and more.
The CDC’s removal of online resources related to HIV, STIs and other health topics following a Trump administration order to scrub references related to “gender ideology” has alarmed experts, who say it threatens public health.
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Battle against HIV in London 'needs scaling up'
February. 2, 2025
- By Noah Vickers - BBC - London's battle against HIV will need to be stepped up to meet the goal of ending new transmission by the end of the decade, the mayor's health adviser has warned.
Prof Kevin Fenton, who is Sir Sadiq Khan's statutory health adviser, told the London Assembly testing and treatment for the virus needs “strengthening and scaling [up]”.
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Still Positive: Stories of people in Ottawa navigating life with HIV
Feb. 2, 2025
- By Christine Maki - CBC News - HIV rates are rising in Canada and Ottawa — but with medical advances, the significance of the diagnosis is very different than in its early days.
In this series, CBC Ottawa shares first-person experiences of those living with HIV over the decades and how they view being positive.
After a difficult childhood in Lebanon, Ahmed Muslimani says they finally felt free to express their sexuality in Canada. Then came the HIV diagnosis. The newcomer to Canada is one of a growing number of recent arrivals grappling with the virus and what it means in their community.
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UNAIDS urges that all essential HIV services must continue while U.S. pauses its funding for foreign aid
GENEVA, 1 February 2025 - UNAIDS - The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is urging for a continuation of all essential HIV services while the United States pauses its funding for foreign aid.
On 29 January, UNAIDS welcomed the news that United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, had approved an “Emergency Humanitarian Waiver,” allowing people to continue accessing lifesaving HIV treatment funded by the U.S. in 55 countries worldwide. More than 20 million people – two-thirds of all people living with HIV accessing HIV treatment globally – are directly supported by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
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