Gay Black Men Are More Protected from HIV - http://clapway.com/2015/12/07/gay-black-men-are-more-protected-from-hiv123/

HIV infections in black gay men have seen a steady decline. Overall diagnoses of HIV have fallen in the United States, and the rates for gay or bisexual black men is less than 1%. As for younger black gay men, the level of diagnoses has dropped 2% since 2010.

There Were About 40,000 Cases Diagnosed in 2014

Only 10,000 of the total cases of HIV diagnosed concerned black gay men, and the new numbers are a sure cause for hope. The stabilization of this rate gives headway to further improvements in medical care. Better treatments will help HIV infected people get lower levels of the virus in their blood, which will make them less infectious.

Most groups have seen a decline in the rate of diagnoses, but some have seen a rise. Gay Hispanic men, for one, have seen an increase in HIV diagnoses. This should have the same effect as the news of declining rates, which also concern bisexual white men, heterosexuals and people who contact the disease through the injection of drugs.

Better Treatments for HIV Are Important To Keep Figures Down

In 2014, about 27,000 gay and bisexual men were diagnosed HIV positive. An additional 10,000 heterosexuals and 2,000 injection drug users were diagnosed. The importance of getting all patients to good treatment to help keep them on solid ground and prevent them from being too infectious is still prevalent.

Many say that these announcements are not cause for joy nor for sorrow. It just calls for more work. Patients and the medical community should both work together to ensure that patients get the best care possible, and that patients are diagnosed in a timely manner. It’s also important that all cases are reported, as it helps communities better adjust to treatments and medicines needed to keep patients in good health and keep them safe from further harm.

Gay Black Men Are More Protected from HIV

RF AIDS Center: Russia is Full of HIV and Aids - http://clapway.com/2015/12/01/russia-is-full-of-hiv-and-aids/

The World AIDS Day did record a global decline with the rate of HIV and Aids, but that does not do much for Russia. Russia’s Federal AIDS Center has estimated that the country could see around 1 million people diagnosed with HIV and Aids by 2016. This is a shocking and very depressing statistic to be completely honest. Russia is going the opposite way of what they want to decrease the people diagnosed with HIV and Aids.

THE REASON WHY HIV AND AIDS ARE UP IN RUSSIA

The Russian government has announced refusal in any sort of harm reduction programs stating that they do not want people to continue their dangerous lifestyle if they had them. This would include distribution of clean needles and clean condoms. However, this has no chance of happening according to the Russian government. The Global Fund project manager for Eastern Europe and Asia reported that Russia was no longer funding any outreach organizations. The Global Fund then stated that only 4,300 people are receiving anti-retroviral drugs, which was over 55,000 less than the amount that were getting treated in 2009. The Health Ministry also stated that around 30 percent of all people in Russia who have HIV or Aids do not have access to anti-retroviral drugs. Unfortunately, things do not look good for Russia right now as the amount of people without access to these drugs is increasing.

Some sympathy must be given to Russia, but the government has turned down a few solutions that would most likely help them decrease HIV and Aids in Russia. The government of Russia seems like they are not going to accept any solution, which might end up being their problem. Government officials have also stated that they turned down the idea of implementing sexual education programs in Russian schools. They stated that this would just give the kids the idea of performing sexual activities. As can be seen, it appears like Russia is not willing to take a chance with some of these solutions.

RF AIDS Center: Russia is Full of HIV and Aids

Ryan White HIV-AIDS Program Gets $2.2 Bn Award - http://clapway.com/2015/11/02/ryan-white-hiv-aids-program-gets-2-2-bn-award/

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program would be awarded $2.2 billion for the fiscal year of 2015-2016 to continue to aid in the fight against these two diseases.

The award is proof that the agency fully supports the care system that the Ryan White CARE Act has created, which has helped over 500,000 people diagnosed with AIDS and HIV to have a better quality of life in the United Sates. They’ve been a key part of the public health response to HIV, and this award hopes to aid populations that are vulnerable in medical care coverage or finances when it comes to these two diseases.

Through treatment 81% of patients under the program were preserved in care and 78% were virally subdued, extending life expectancy and reducing HIV transmission.

Ryan White, head of the movement, was diagnosed with HIV at age 13 in 1984. Due to the stigma attached to the disease, he was alienated from friends and family, and though doctors told him he would not live beyond six months of diagnoses, he survived another six years. This prompted him to begin the program, and 25 years later, his program has become a leading organization in AIDS-HIV patient care.

Ryan White HIV-AIDS Program Gets $2.2 Bn Award

The needle exchange program could revolutionize public #health. It prevented 120 cases of #HIV in just two years, according to #AIDS and Behavior journal. - http://clapway.com/2015/09/06/needle-exchange-program-hiv123/

In just two years, a needle exchange program instituted in Washington, DC, prevented 120 new cases of HIV infection and saved $44 million as a result.

Surveillance data to predict HIV prevention

The needle exchange program was started by the city’s Department of Health after a DC ban on the program was lifted in 2007. The needle exchange program offers free sterile needles to drug users, along with free HIV testing and referrals to programs for treating drug addiction. Published in the journal AIDS and Behavior, the authors examined the rate of injection drug use-related HIV infection before and after the ban. Using forecasting techniques, there were able to predict how many cases of HIV would have occurred had the ban not been lifted.

The program caused a 70% drop in new HIV cases

Had the ban stayed in place, the study predicted that 296 new HIV cases would have been diagnosed over two years. However, the city saw only 176 new cases of HIV linked to injection drug use, thereby potentially preventing 120 HIV cases. The authors also noted that the needle exchange program continues to prevent the occurrence of drug use related HIV cases in the city.

The researchers looked at the estimated savings associated with treating fewer HIV patients than before the ban. Using the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) guidelines for the lifetime cost of HIV treatment, they calculated savings of $44.3 million for the 120 cases averted. While needle exchange programs have previously shown success in studies conducted by Washington and New York, this is the first to calculate the economic benefits of the program.

The program warrants policy changes at the federal level

The cost of running the needle exchange program is just $650,000 per year, with far more benefits both in terms of taxpayers’ money and public heath. These statistics should convince policy makers to take a second look at the federal funding status for such programs. While critics contend that these programs encourage illicit drug use, they have provided one of the most at-risk communities with possibly their only access to regular healthcare.

Here’s what you need to know about the HIV vaccine

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Needle Exchange Program Prevented 120 HIV Cases

Extensive #AIDS and #HIV research has lead to the discovery of a new #drug that could prevent the spread of the #HIV virus. - http://clapway.com/2015/09/04/hiv-prevention-drug123

A new study found that PrEP, a drug created to prevent the contraction of HIV, is showing success at mitigating the virus’ spread.

HOW THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED

More than 650 people receiving PrEP were evaluated for the study over a period of more than 2.5 years. The average age of the participants was 37, and 99% of them were men who were having sexual encounters with men.

During the period, no new HIV infections were recorded. The report was published Wednesday in the Clinical Infectious Diseases medical journal.

The research was led by Dr. Jonathan Volk of the Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center, where the tests on the study’s participants were conducted.

WHAT THE STUDY MEANS

“Our study is the first to extend the understanding of the use of PrEP in a real-world setting and suggests that the treatment may prevent new HIV infections even in a high-risk setting,” Volk said in a statement to the press. “Until now, evidence supporting the efficacy of PrEP to prevent HIV infection had come from clinical trials and a demonstration project.”

As the study was done in a “real-world setting,” it has exciting implications and provides another layer of evidence for PrEP’s potential.

MORE OUTREACH IS NEEDED

However, as most of the study’s participants were men who had sexual encounters with men, the press release noted that the study’s researchers acknowledged that outreach is still necessary for other groups that are at a risk for HIV, like heterosexual women and men and transgender women.

HIV DRUG: WHAT IS PrEP?

PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) is a HIV prevention drug that is often recommended to be used everyday by people “at ongoing substantial risk of HIV infection” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). An important thing to note is that it is not a vaccine and even if taken properly, it does not provide absolute protection from the virus.

It is estimated that a person taking PrEP has a 92% smaller chance of contracting HIV than someone who isn’t taking the drug, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2012 according to TIME. Check out these infographics that the CDC made to learn more about PrEP.

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A New PrEP HIV Prevention Drug is a Success

Is it possible? An #AIDS free world? - http://clapway.com/2015/07/14/is-the-world-going-to-be-aids-free-by-2030-234/

AIDS is the final stage of HIV infection, when the body can no longer fight life-threatening infections. However, in the present, with early diagnosis and effective treatment, most people who have been diagnosed with HIV will not go on to develop AIDS.

In accordance to the declarations of the United Nations Aids Agency, the goal to get HIV treatment to 15 million people by the end of 2015, has already been met. But this is not the only news related to AIDS epidemic.

It seems that the world can end it and become AIDS-free by the end of 2030. This declaration was based on the success in saving lives through medicine in the last 15 years.

Are We Going to Be Aids-Free in 2030?

An impressive amount of efforts is being driven by the UNAIDS, in order to bring their plans to an end. Getting rid of the AIDS epidemic by 2030 can be possible, by enabling people everywhere to have access to prevention services, treatment and support. This plan to have the world be AIDS-free is considered ambitious, but not far from being realistic, when seeing how much there was accomplished in the last 15 years.

What Are the Achievements so far today in 2015?

At this moment, around 15 million people are receiving treatment for AIDS. This is an amazing improvement, comparing it to the number of people who got medicine in 2000, when only 700,000 were treated.

Less Expensive Treatment

In present, people who suffer from AIDS, can buy the medicine necessary for $100 per year, which is very affordable comparing this price to the early prices of the pills, that used to cost $10,000 a year.

Aids-related Deaths Have Dropped

In the past, many people who had AIDS died. Fortunately, deaths caused by AIDS have dropped more than 40 percent since 2004. In addition, by ensuring women with AIDS receive medicine to prevent them from passing on the disease to their babies, infections among children have been reduced by 58 percent between 2000 and 2014.

The medicines keep the virus from growing and multiplying. Making it available and affordable to people helps them live longer and reduces the chances of transmitting tHIV to others. Based on the progress made through the last 15 years, the ambitious plan to become an AIDS-Free world by 2030 seems full of hope, and not as far from being realistic as it might have been 15 years ago.

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Is the World Going to Be Aids-Free by 2030?

Education introduces HIV and aims to prevent it in their futures. - http://clapway.com/2015/06/29/study-discerns-secondary-education-can-close-the-hiv-gap-234/

Longer secondary schooling reduces the risk of contracting HIV, particularly for girls. Harvard researchers found this trend after a study in Botswana.

According to the research an estimated 2.1 million individuals are newly infected with HIV every year. Education is known to be closely associated with health, but whether or not it actually protects against HIV infection has been a debated topic for decades.

ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EDUCATION AND HIV RISK

The research used a policy reform in secondary schooling in Botswana as a ‘natural experiment’ to determine a casual effect for education on HIV incidence.

Botswana has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world, with nearly a quarter of the population aged 15 and above infected, according to Avert.

For each additional year of secondary school (grades 8-12), students appeared to decrease cumulative their risk of HIV infection. Individuals with an extra year of secondary schooling were 8% less likely to test positive for HIV about a decade later, when most of those exposed to the education system reform were in their mid 20s. Effects of education on the spread of the virus were particularly significant in women, whose HIV risk dropped by 12% with each added year of secondary school.

EDUCATION A COST-EFFECTIVE PREVENTIVE MEASURE

The first author of the study, Jan-Walter De Neve said the findings confirm that secondary schooling is a crucial structural determinant of HIV infection. Researchers also believe that education could actually be a cost-effective way to prevent HIV infections.

“Expanding the opportunities of young people through secondary schooling will not only have economic benefits but will also yield health benefits and should be a key priority for countries with generalised HIV epidemics.”

HIV IN BOTSWANA

Researchers examined data from about 7,000 people who participated in the Botswana AIDS Impact Surveys-national household surveys. The survey included HIV-testing to people who were at least 18 years old at the time of the surveys.

The study, published online in The Lancet Global Health, suggests that schooling should be considered alongside other interventions a part of a “multi-pronged ‘combination’ HIV prevention strategy.”

GUINNESS WORLD RECORD – CLOSING THE HIV GAP

Recently a HIV testing and counseling campaign in Botswana, South Africa and United Republic of Tanzania has set a new Guinness World Record by testing 4367 people over an 8-hour period.

“This is a true testament of the coordination and mobilization of local resources to achieve a magnificent result within such a short period of time. We hope to do more in actively involving civil society organizations and the community to achieve greater outcomes,” said Grace Muzila, National Coordinator of the Botswana National AIDS Coordinating Agency.

Keisha Eldred Mushi, one of the participants said that he decided to get tested so that he could be aware of his HIV status. “I have big dreams that I would like to achieve in life like everybody else and I want to stay healthy and prevent myself from HIV infection.’’

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Study Discerns Secondary Education Can Close the HIV gap

Curing HIV: One Step Closer With Experimental Vaccine - http://clapway.com/2015/06/19/curing-hiv-one-step-closer-with-experimental-vaccine-987/

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are approximately 35 million people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS. The good news is that scientists are now one step closer to curing HIV.

HIV is considered one the most devastating viruses ever, not only in the number of people affected and geographical coverage, but also in terms of social impact. Science has been fighting back, but as of today, HIV remains challenging to control and impossible to cure.

CURING HIV IS EXTREMELY CHALLENGING. HERE’S WHY.

According to the European Research Council, the virus evolves so quickly to repel drugs and immune defenses that it is known as ‘the ultimate evolver’ – an “example of evolution-in-action that would normally take millennia.” In fact, during the infection of a single patient, parts of the HIV genome can diverge from the original strain innumerable times, “the evolutionary distance of a human and a chimpanzee.”

Although curing HIV is extremely difficult, due to the virus’ ability to “evade detection from the immune system” and “mutate rapidly into new strains,” researchers are designing a vaccine that stimulates the body to produce antibodies, which bind to the HIV virus and ultimately block the infection.

SCIENCE FIGHTS BACK BY DEVELOPING AN ANTIBODY FOR CURING HIV

The three studies which are developing a potential HIV vaccine are being funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. According to Dennis Burton, chair of the The Scripps Research Institute Department of Immunology and Microbial Science, the results are extremely promising.

The phases of the procedure have already been lab tested on animals, increasing the hopes of finding a way to produce antibodies, thus impeding the human immunodeficiency virus from attacking human beings.

THE TRIO OF STUDIES BRIEFLY EXPLAINED

In the first study, scientists engineered an immunogen that could activate cells to produce antibodies needed to fight HIV. In a concurrent study, the same eOD-GT8 60mer immunogen was used, launching the immune system in the right direction. The third study showed engineered immunogens also prompting immune responses in rabbit and monkeys.

The studies were led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), The Rockefeller University, and other institutions. They were published today in the journals “Science” and “Cell.” Researchers curing HIV are now investigating other immunogens and have urged the scientific community to bring different disciplines together in order to defeat one of the greatest epidemics of modern history.

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Curing HIV: One Step Closer With Experimental Vaccine

U.K.: Researchers Uncover the Mystery Behind Immune Cells - http://clapway.com/2015/05/28/u-k-researchers-uncover-the-mystery-behind-immune-cells/

When you fall down and scrape your knee, or nick yourself cutting food in the kitchen, you expect your body will react the way it always does. Human bodies have an amazing feature that helps to prevent infection, and heal wounded areas. When you are hurt the immune cells inside of you move toward your wound and patch it up to prevent any further damage to the body. However until now scientists were unaware what it was in the body that caused it to perform this amazing and critically important task.

Benefits of the discovery of the cause of immune cell migration

Thinking about immune cells in terms a small cut makes it difficult to see the scope of the discovery scientists have made at Bristol University in the U.K. For these scientists the next phase of understanding how the cells function, is direct manipulation of the cells to help aid in human recovery. One of the key scientists who aided in the discovery of the cause of immune cell migration Will Wood elaborates on the importance of being able to manipulate the cells inside of a human body, “While inflammation is critical to prevent infection, too much of a response by immune cells can cause or worsen a wide range of human diseases and conditions autoimmunity, atherosclerosis, cancer and chronic inflammation.” essentially too many immune cells migrated to one place can cause a plethora of problems inside of the body, with a wide range of possible serious complications, but being able to alter the immune cell migration process would help millions dealing with health issues related to the traveling cells.

How immune cell migration works

In research the team at Bristol University discovered the highly functional signaling pathway that alerts the body to an area where inflammation may be necessary, and sends more Immune cells that space. A press release from Bristol University explains exactly how the cell migration functions, “After dissecting the signaling occurring in immune cells responding to wound induced (H2O2), the team found that it involved a well-established immune signaling pathway used in vertebrate adaptive immune responses.” Discovering the reason that immune cells in the human body function in an attempt to aid us in recovery, will not only change the way we view human biology, but change the way we treat patients in modern medicine. It could even lead to longer healthier lives for humans across the board.

U.K.: Researchers Uncover the Mystery Behind Immune Cells