A foundation headed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton will lead a new effort to provide cheaper generic drugs to HIV/AIDS patients in 60 countries. The Clinton Foundation reported — the drugs to be made by Indian drug companies Cipla Ltd. and Matrix Laboratories Ltd. will be what are called second line anti-retrovirals, which are used when other treatments don’t work. The foundation also mentioned that the deal will help cut drug costs by up to 50 percent and treat about 7 million patients in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, who currently cannot afford a treatment. Clinton said in a speech at the foundation’s New York office: Less than a year after the launch of an AIDS treatment that is one pill, once a day, which is so much easier for people to take, we are announcing a price of less than a dollar a day for developing countries. The pill will have the drugs tenofovir, lamivudine and efavirenz. Clinton said that the agreement was made in partnership with international drug purchase facility Unitaid and the two Indian companies were able to cut costs by using cheaper materials and improved technique. The foundation also provides access to lower-priced Aids drugs in 65 countries. Some 750,000 people are now receiving AIDS drugs purchased through the Clinton Foundation. The AIDS virus infects nearly 39 million people globally, and has killed 25 million people since it was identified 25 years ago. Image Source
Merck offers new hope for combating AIDS
There is good news for those AIDS patients who have stopped responding to available drugs in the name of Isentress [also called raltegravir], a new drug developed by Merck. The lack of response to existing drugs occurs because the HIV virus mutates constantly. The modus operandi of HIV – It attacks the human cell and injects its genetic substance into the human DNA. It does so by means of three enzymes – reverse transcriptase, protease and integrase. Existing AIDS drugs attack the first two, but Isentress will be a pioneer in taking on the third villain – integrase. Its results have been impressive. In tests conducted on two sets of AIDS patients, the first were given Isentress and other drugs. The second set of people were administered placebo and other existing medicines. After four months 61-62% Isentress patients had negligible aids virus in their blood, as compared to 33-36% of the ‘placebo’ patients. The heartening part is that the new wonder drug reduces HIV levels to 50 copies per milliliter of blood. Before the treatment by Isentress the levels were about 1000 copies per milliliter. The bad news – Isentress has side effects which include diarrhea, nausea, headache, muscle damage and increased incidence of liver cancer. But the Medical Expert Committee of FDA feels the pros outweigh the cons and have given the green signal to Isentress. This is the first AIDS drug by Merck since 1999. The stock markets too seem to have approved of Isentress. The new drug has already pushed up Merck’s stock at NASDAQ composite. Analysts say the new drug has a potential to do a business of $1 billion every year.
Extramarital sex and HIV: Who is responsible, man or woman?
When it comes to HIV risk, marital sex seems to be the biggest source of it especially for the women, unveils a new study that is based on six months of anthropological research, including participant observation, 20 marital case studies, 37 key informant interviews, and document analysis. As per the findings of this study, males’ infidelity towards their spouse is mainly to be blamed for this much of rise in HIV/AIDS cases, as a big percentage of male community takes pride in indulging in extra marital sex, as a result innocent wives and their unborn babies are exposed to bear the brunt. If we deeply ruminate over the ongoing fight against HIV/AIDS, keeping in view the stark fact, undraped by this study, then one thing could certainly be said that all effort to tide over HIV/AIDS would come to naught if this tendency of extramarital sex continuously goes on thriving. The sooner we accept the fact that extramarital sex is one of the main reasons behind HIV-transmission the better it would be. This is possible by imparting awareness among people that how detrimental unsafe extramarital sex could be. Actually, this trend of extra marital relations was already there but in the recent years, this trend has bloomed as never before. There are many factors responsible for this among which steep rise in industrialization, labor migration, are chiefly responsible. As people migrate from one place to other in search of jobs and while away for long periods, they engage in extra-marital and unsafe sex, which often expose them to deadly HIV-infection. When these men return home, they infect their wives with the deadly virus during sexual intercourse. However, saying that all is good that comes with this study would be somewhat wrong. As this study holds only men responsible for HIV transmission through marital sex, this seems somewhat lopsided because not only men but women also indulge in extramarital sex and thus contribute into HIV-transmission. On this issue, stephenj remarks sound quite plausible, when he says: I know of more females (both young and old) that cheat on their husbands, then men on their wives. Even in Hermosillo, Mexico, what do you think the wife is doing at home, while the husband is traveling at work, and the kid is at school (playing solitaire? NOT!). This study is so lopsided, there are just as many wives at home (and cheating), as there are husbands traveling (and cheating). Conclusion Therefore, we shall have to admit that not only men but women too are somewhere responsible for raising HIV risk through marital sex. Here it is not as important to discuss that who is responsible and who is not, but it is more important to know that how the risk of HIV transmission through marital sex could be reduced. When it comes to control such risk then normally monogamy is defined as the most effective tool but we shall have to admit that humans are not genetically programmed for monogamy. Therefore, it would be much better if we stress on the need of safe extramarital sex rather than asking men and women to abide by the ethic called monogamy. Image Via: Times of India
New bill to make HIV test compulsory for mother, baby in New Jersey
In a significant move which would bolster the fight against AIDS, New Jersey has introduced a new bill which would make it compulsory for pregnant women and newborns to be tested for HIV. Senate President Richard J Codey introduced the legislation which says pregnant women would be twice tested, once during early pregnancy and again in the third trimester. Codey believes the bill would have far-reaching impact in the battle against the menace. He said The key in the fight against HIV and AIDS is early detection and treatment. For newborns this can be a lifesaving measure. The bill actually stems from a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which claimed mother-to-child HIV transmission could be dramatically reduced by medical treatment. The bill, however, received some sort of resistance from a Washington-based feminist group called the Center for Women Policy Studies, which felt mandatory HIV testing is actually a violation of a woman’s right to determine her own medical treatment. Codey’s bill will be heard in the coming weeks and it must get the approval from both the state Senate and Assembly and get signed by the governor before it becomes a law. Photo: njleg.state.nj.us
Pregnancy: A blessing for HIV-infected moms!
Years ago, a HIV+ woman always kept family planning as the last thing on her mind. The fear of transmitting her HIV to her unborn baby during pregnancy was naturally too great for most women. It is also so, that pregnancy and HIV was too much for a women’s body to handle! But, do you know, the effect of pregnancy on HIV-infected mothers are found to be a blessing? Yes, defying the popular belief, researchers have come up with a new theory. They have recently found that pregnancy in a HIV+ woman may eventually retard the progression to full-blown AIDS! The study found that, pregnant women have a decreased risk of the disease’s progression and also remain healthier compared to their not-pregnant counterparts. Yet, better news for mothers who had multiple pregnancies! The study found that such women had a lower disease progression risk than women who had undergone only one pregnancy. So, your pregnancy can come as an added blessing for your HIV’s progression.
‘Humanized’ mice to boost AIDS vaccine research
What makes studying AIDS difficult is its limitation to humans and macaque monkeys only. So, the scientists up with their arms to find a cure for the disease have developed a “humanized” animal to provide a model for testing treatments! The scientists have engineered a mouse to have a human immune system capable of showing how the human infection spreads. The new human-mouse hybrid is the first mammalian model that can develop the human AIDS virus. With obvious excitement with the development, Rowena Johnston, vice president of research for the Foundation for AIDS Research hopes the mice could reveal a number of secrets about HIV. He said, the cells that it encounters first, how it reaches them, how the cells communicate with other cells, and how the virus migrates to the lymph nodes and multiplies once it gets there. But, will the mice be able to replicate exactly what happens in infected humans? Afterall, mice aren’t humans! To know more on how the scientists have given the rodents more complete human immune systems, read here… Image
Huge shortfall in realising HIV drugs target
India and Nigeria find themselves in an ‘AIDS league of shame,’ that says by 2010, the world will fall far short of its target of providing universal access to HIV treatment. Action Aid International, in its report titled ‘Tackling political barriers to end AIDS’, said in India, South Africa and Nigeria, the three nations with the highest cases, the lowest number of people have access to treatment drugs. The U.N. General Assembly decided to work towards universal access to treatment, care, prevention and support, following a declaration by Group of Eight countries the previous year. Action Aid in its report said that only five million people across the globe would be on AIDS drugs by 2010 at the current pace, which means more than five million would not get access to the drugs. At present, about two million of the estimated seven million people in need are on AIDS drugs. In India, where world’s highest cases of the virus are found, provides anti-AIDS drugs to only seven percent of the affected people in need. 5.7 million people in the country are living with HIV, according to UNAIDS. Whereas, in South Africa, with the second highest number of AIDS cases only 18 percent of people in need of drugs are getting them. Also Nigeria, where around 3.5 million people are suffering from the disease, just 10 percent have access to adequate treatment. In Asia countries like Pakistan are able to provide adequate care to only 1.2 percent of people with HIV. Aditi Sharma, international campaign coordinator for AIDS at ActionAid, said, In developing countries, HIV/AIDS is a death sentence for those who don’t get treatment. In country after country, progress is staggeringly slow and with just three years to go to 2010, the world is in danger of missing the target that gave hope to 40 million living with HIV and AIDS. Life is always full of hope. Even though, AIDS is incurable at present, still we must strive to give hope to millions suffering from the disease through adequate treatment and social care. Image Via:Reuters
New HIV drug can extend life of patients
After more than a decade of researching better treatments for HIV patients, a new drug had been found in UK to lengthen the life expectancy of the victims. The recent introduction of Pfizer’s Celsentri (Maraviroc) is truly helpful for the HIV patients as it guards the entrance of the immune system and blocks the virus, which in turn delays the process of developing into AIDS. Although the drug is not a cure-all treatment, this is an alternative that patients can look forward to, since not all symptoms are remedied by other available HIV drugs in the market. Many AIDS organizations have shown interest in the drug saying this is a good sign of giving cure to the victims and will aid in reducing the progression of HIV into AIDS. Maraviroc comprised three drugs collectively made into one creating highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART), which lengthens the lifespan of HIV patients. But, recent findings showed that some patients have resistance to the product making it not advisable for them to take. The drug was approved in August for public use in the U.S. under the brand name Selzentry. It is taken orally in combination with the other anti-retroviral drugs. The drug’s mode of action works as it becomes a microscopic blockade of the CCR5 receptor, which the HIV virus usually strikes, as it enters the immune system particularly the CD4-T-cells. When the cell receptor is blocked, it makes the body more resistant to infection of the cells and slows down the process of developing the virus into full-blown AIDS. As this happens, complications are being delayed making the HIV-positive patients to live longer. Image BBC News
HIV cure possible just in 60 dollars!
Now you need not spend thousands of dollars for curing yourself against HIV, as a Russian doctor can do this for you just in 60 dollars and that too interestingly in just one minute. However, this HIV-negative status would be there just on certificate, not in reality. According to Russian laws all guest workers, willing to receive documents legalizing their stay in Moscow must possess an HIV-negative status and in such quest they often fall prey to swindlers like Olga Varnavskya, an employee of dermatovenerologic clinic, who issued HIV-negative certificates for everyone who was ready to pay $60 dollars for it. The tumbling out of this case has sparked serious concern among health activists, who have been trying hard to stop the inundation of menace called, HIV/AIDS. Moreover, this incident confirms the fact that there are many miscreants not only in Russia but around the world who are striking at the roots of the very foundation, laid to stop the influx of HIV/AIDS in our lives. Via: English
Simple ‘flash-heating’ can kill HIV in breast milk: Study
Now, those HIV positive mothers, who have always lived worried about their breast-fed babies, have all reasons to cheer up. You can now feed your baby with your milk even being HIV positive, without effecting your child! Researchers at the Berkeley and Davis campuses of the University of California have come up with an interesting answer to HIV-infected breast milk. They have developed a simple method ‘ i.e. flash-heating of HIV-infected breast milk ‘ that can successfully and amazingly inactivate the free-floating virus. Lead author of the study, Kiersten Israel-Ballard, a doctoral candidate at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health said, We conducted this research to help HIV-positive mothers and their infants who do not have safe alternatives to breastfeeding. HIV can be transmitted to the baby via breastfeeding. But for infants in developing countries where infant mortality is already so high from diarrhea and other illnesses, they can’t afford to lose the antibodies, other anti-infective agents and the optimal nutrition found in breast milk. This study shows that an easy-to-implement heating method can kill the HIV in breast milk. Now, HIV positive mothers can easily apply it at homes, by heating a glass jar of expressed breast milk in a pan of water over a flame or single burner. And your breast milk is just as healthy to feed your child with it without worries. So now, even the mothers in resource-poor communities can lead their breast-milk HIV-free without worrying about the huge expenditures. Image