Category Archives: HIV news

HIV news

Hetrosexuals highest risk group for HIV infection in Bali

Posted on by May 1, 2013
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Professor Nyoman Mangku Karmaya, Indonesia's National AIDs Control Commission, 75% of Bali's HIV/AIDS cases due to heterosexual activity.

Indonesia’s National AIDS Control Commission says 75 per cent of people known to be living with HIV in Bali are heterosexuals and aged between 20 and 29-years-old. According to Indonesian government’s newswire, Antara, there are a known 3,832 people infected by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and 3,459 known cases of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). Quoting Indonesia’s AIDs Control Commission coordinator Professor Nyoman Mangku Karmaya, Antara reports that HIV infection in Bali though heterosexual encounters the next highest risk group of HIV infection in Bali is intravenous drug users at 11.08 per cent, followed by homosexual HIV transmission in Bali at 4.16 per cent, with almost 10 per cent of Bali HIV infections attributed to other causes. Antara quotes Professor … Continue reading →

HIV “Functional Cure” Found in Thai Red Cross Trial

Posted on by March 16, 2013
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92% of people who commence antiretroviral drug treatment witin two weeks of infection receive "functional cure" Thai Red Cross study finds.

A human HIV trial conducted as part of a Thai Red Cross Society (TRCS) research project has produced promising results for those who commence a course of antiretroviral drugs within two weeks of being infected by the HIV virus. The study, part of a “search 0101” research project by the Thai Red Cross, commenced in 2009 and involved 96 people. Lead researcher on the Thai Red Cross project, Dr Jintanat Ananworanich, said antiretroviral drugs were given to 26 people who had been infected with the virus for no more than two weeks. Blood tests taken after two weeks of treatment revealed that the white blood cells of 24 people, or 92 per cent of participants, contained no HIV virus. Describing … Continue reading →

Thailand in HIV/AIDS Crisis

Posted on by December 10, 2012
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Of 9,470 new HIV/AIDS cases in 2012 37% were men having sex with men but less than 3.4% were sex workers

Thailand’s Aids Access Foundation (AAF) says news that Thailand is recording more than one new HIV infection each hour is proof the “country is in a crisis”, blaming the alarming number of new HIV infections on a lack of government interest and an inadequate allocation of money for HIV/AIDS prevention. Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) estimates that more *464,414 people are currently living with HIV/AIDS in the Southeast Asian kingdom renowned internationally for the accommodating males and females who work in the country’s thriving sex industry, though sex workers are said to represent the lowest at-risk group. (*Ed: Independent figures put the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Thailand at more than 530,000) The ministry says almost 9,500 new HIV … Continue reading →

Thailand records more than one new HIV case every hour

Posted on by December 10, 2012
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Soi Cowboy, Bangkok. Part of Thailand's notorious sex industry

Widely known as the sex tourism capital of the world, Thailand appears to be losing the battle against the spread of HIV with fresh statistics showing more than one new infection every hour and more than 8,700 new HIV positive infections annually. The alarming figure, which primarily includes only Thai citizens and few of the 15 million foreign tourists who visit the country annually, show that education programs regarding safe sex practices in the Southeast Asia nation are failing to halt the spread of the disease, despite the country having received almost $US235 million in Global Fund grants since 2003. The figures also raise questions over the success of the Thailand government HIV treatment program, with little more than half … Continue reading →

Australia records 8% increase in HIV infection

Posted on by December 10, 2012
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HIV infection rates have grown in Australia by 50 per cent over the last 10 years with health researchers believing up to 10,000 people in Australia have undiagnosed HIV leading one peak HIV body saying undiagnosed HIV infection and inadvertent transmission would drop dramatically if rapid HIV test kits were approved for sale there. According to an annual HIV surveillance report HIV infection rates in Australia grew by 8 per cent in 2011 with 1,137 new HIV diagnoses in 2011, compared with 719 in 1999. At the same time sexually transmitted diss eases such as gonorrhea and chlamydia are also being increasingly detected. Professor John de Wit, director of the National Centre in HIV Social Research, said a further 30 … Continue reading →