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31 MARCH 2023 VOLUME 25 ISSUE 13

Media Coverage

  • GSK Licenses Companies To Make Cheap Copies of HIV Prevention Drug

    British drugmaker GSK (GSK.L) has signed deals with three companies allowing them to make inexpensive generic versions of its long-acting HIV preventive medicine for use in lower-income countries, where the majority of new cases occur. The injected drug cabotegravir was approved by regulators in the United States in late 2021. Last July, GSK announced a program with the United Nations-backed healthcare organisation, the Medicines Patent Pool, which aims to get poor countries access to new HIV therapies far earlier than they did for previous HIV medicines.

    March 30, 2023
    PrEP
    Reuters

  • Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill Will Criminalize HIV Programs, Activists Warn

    A new anti-gay bill in Uganda, labeled as “among the worst in the world” by the United Nations would “devastate” the HIV response in the east African country, activists warn. The Anti-Homosexuality Act, which was passed by the nation’s Parliament on March 21, prescribes life imprisonment for homosexual acts and the death penalty for “aggravated offences” such as those involving minors or people with disabilities. The bill also includes a duty to report same-sex acts and imposes up to six months in prison for the failure to do so.

    March 30, 2023
    General
    Devex

  • SA’s New National Strategic Plan for HIV, TB and STIs Mostly Hailed, but Challenges Lie Ahead

    South Africa’s National Strategic Plan for HIV, TB and STIs (2023-2028) was launched on Friday at Tlhabane Stadium in Rustenburg, North West, as the world commemorated World TB Day. Among those in attendance were Deputy President Paul Mashatile; government ministers, including Health Minister Joe Phaahla; the CEO of the South African National Aids Council, Thembisile Xulu; activists; residents; and representatives of various civil society organisations.

    March 30, 2023
    General
    Daily Maverick

  • Texas Judge Strikes Down Free HIV Drugs, Cancer Screenings Under Obamacare

    A federal judge on Thursday struck down a key provision of the Affordable Care Act, jeopardizing free coverage of a wide range of preventive services including mammograms, colonoscopies and mental health screenings for nearly 168 million people on employer health insurance and on Obamacare’s individual market. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor, the author of several previous rulings against Obamacare, sided with conservative employers and individuals in Texas who argued that the US Preventive Services Task Force that set those requirements has been acting unconstitutionally since 2010.

    March 30, 2023
    General
    Politico

  • How Can HIV Cure Trials Increase Racial and Gender Diversity and Equity?

    It is crucial to apply principles of racial and gender equity to participation in HIV cure trials, a qualitative study has concluded. Beyond the lack of scientific rigour and potentially variable effectiveness of a future cure among different groups, these exclusions highlight issues such as medical mistrust. Gender and power dynamics also need to be considered, as the heightened risk of HIV transmission introduced by trials that involve a treatment interruption may endanger participants and their sexual partners.

    March 29, 2023
    Cure
    aidsmap

  • Investigational Hepatitis B Cure Therapy Begins Phase 1 Trial

    Warminster, PA-based Arbutus Biopharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced earlier this month that it had begun dosing its first participant for its phase 1 trial looking at its hepatitis B (HBV) developmental therapy for a functional cure. “We are pleased to move AB-161 into Phase 1 clinical development,” said William Collier, president and CEO of Arbutus Biopharma. “AB-161 was designed to reduce HBsAg levels and inhibit viral replication by selectively inhibiting essential host proteins that are important in stabilizing HBV RNAs from degradation.”

    March 29, 2023
    General
    Contagion Live

  • Spotting STIs: Vaginal Swabs Work Best

    Vaginal swabs are more effective than urine analysis in detecting certain types of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), researchers have found. In the study, which was published online March 27 in the Annals of Family Medicine, investigators found that the diagnostic sensitivity of commercially available vaginal swabs was significantly greater than that of urine tests in detecting certain infections, including those caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and Trichomonas vaginalis.

    March 28, 2023
    General
    Medscape

  • Young People in Africa Should Have a Say in Decisions That Affect Their Health – 7 Ways To Include Them

    Most of Africa’s population – 70 percent – is under 30 years old. In 2017 there were 628 million young people under 25 on the continent. This figure is predicted to reach 945 million by 2050. Young people bear the brunt of many challenges facing African countries. African adolescent girls and young women have the highest HIV infection rates. The continent has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in the world. Many young people in Africa live with conflict and violence and are displaced. Many lack food, education and jobs.

    March 28, 2023
    General
    The Conversation

  • Gossip About HIV Status Drives Stigma and Limits Uptake of HIV Care

    A recent study from Botswana argues that gossip is both a driver and a manifestation of stigma: gossip stigmatises people living with HIV, and the fact that people are gossiping about people living with HIV reflects the presence of HIV stigma in that community. The authors also argue that the gossip/stigma combination can be more damaging to the community than the actual threat of HIV. This is because stigma can lead people living with HIV to decline to seek HIV treatment as a way of keeping their HIV status private and of avoiding being gossiped about.

    March 27, 2023
    General
    aidsmap

  • This HIV Organization Just Shut Its Doors After 30 Years

    HIV Scotland, which has supported thousands of HIV-positive patients in Scotland over the last 30 years, is shutting its doors. In a post, the organization noted that their teams have worked on behalf of those living with and at risk of HIV to ensure Scotland has everything needed to support HIV-positive patients and allow them to live healthy and fulfilling lives.

    March 27, 2023
    General
    Plus Magazine

  • HIV Advocacy on TikTok

    There’s no denying the growing power and influence of TikTok. With 1 billion active users globally, the short-form video app has been steadily gaining users since its launch in 2016, with a notable surge in the past few years amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Khartoon Weiss, the global head of agency and accounts at TikTok, defines the app as an entertainment platform rather than a social network. TikTok users can while away hours watching short videos of dance challenges, lip synchs, makeup tutorials, workout tips, recipes, pranks and more.

    March 27, 2023
    General
    POZ Magazine

  • Myeloid Cells Can Harbor HIV in People Taking Antiretroviral Therapy

    A subset of white blood cells, known as myeloid cells, can harbor HIV in people who have been virally suppressed for years on antiretroviral therapy, according to findings from a small study supported by the National Institutes of Health. In the study, researchers used a new quantitative method to show that HIV in specific myeloid cells—short-lived monocytes and longer-lived monocyte-derived macrophages—can be reactivated and infect new cells.

    March 27, 2023
    General
    News Medical

  • Finger-Prick Test Developed for Trichomoniasis

    A quick, affordable diagnostic test developed by a Washington State University researcher may help curb one of the most prevalent but least discussed sexually transmitted infections. More common than chlamydia or gonorrhea, Trichomonas vaginalis, also known as trich, causes no symptoms in about 70 percent of those infected. Even when asymptomatic, trich is linked to a host of bad health outcomes, including increased susceptibility to HIV, prostate cancer in men and infertility and pregnancy complications in women.

    March 27, 2023
    General
    Medical Xpress

  • US Donated HIV Preventive Injection Arrives Next Year

    Uganda will receive its first batch of Injection Anti-Retroviral Therapies (ARVs) used as prevention for individuals at high risk of HIV, next year. This has been revealed by Dr. Lisa Nelson, the Uganda Country Director for the US Centers for Disease Control. Dr. Nelson said while the Cabotegravir Long Acting Injection commonly known as Cab-LA was approved for use in HIV prevention by the World Health Organization last year, the doses available are still too few to provide enough quantities for all countries in need.

    March 26, 2023
    PrEP
    Independent

  • US Federal Court Ruling Could Result in 2,000 New HIV Infections Among MSM Each Year

    The federal court ruling against requiring health care insurers to cover PrEP could result in more than 2,000 new and preventable HIV infections among at-risk populations within 12 months of the ruling. “A federal court recently ruled it unconstitutional to mandate employer-sponsored insurance coverage of HIV prevention with PrEP,” A. David Paltiel, PhD, professor at the Yale School of Public Health, told Healio.

    March 25, 2023
    General
    Healio

  • HIV Infection While Using Apretude PrEP Is Harder to Detect

    People who acquire HIV despite using Apretude (long-acting cabotegravir) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) typically have a very low viral load, and infection may not be detected by standard tests for months, according to a study presented at the 30th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). The researchers—who dubbed this phenomenon long-acting early viral inhibition syndrome, or LEVI—emphasized that breakthrough infections are rare.

    March 24, 2023
    PrEP
    POZ Magazine

  • The Cape Town Statement on Fairness, Equity and Diversity in Research

    As awareness has grown about fraud and misconduct in science, the World Conferences on Research Integrity have become a leading forum for the discussion and study of ways to promote responsible behaviour in research. Since the first meeting in 2007, which was held in Lisbon, the events have helped to establish an academic field focused on research integrity. Meetings have typically concentrated on issues such as research misconduct, responsible behaviour around data collection, analysis, authorship and publication, and the importance of reproducibility.

    March 24, 2023
    General
    Nature

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