AIDS

Dignitas Race for Dignity

- Adam Clare

I’m biking for charity and I need your help! Dignitas is an organization that aims to help those who are affected by HIV and they are having a fundraising event and it would be great if you could show your support.

On June 23, Dignitas International is holding the Race for Dignity Challenge – a fundraising spinathon on stationary bikes for people affected by AIDS in Africa.

Teams of participants will spin for 12 hours at Toronto’s Dundas Square to support Dignitas International’s innovative community-based care model.

Each month Dignitas tests thousands of people for HIV and starts hundreds on life-saving HIV medications in Africa.

Please help me fundraise for Dignitas!

Oral HIV Test Fast & Effective

- Adam Clare

Traditional HIV tests have used blood samples, but that has meant discomfort for the people being tested and not particularly easy to setup. Oral tests for HIV have been tested and have received positive feedback, people prefer the oral test than getting poked by a needle.

According to lead author Nitika Pai of the McGill University Health Centre, Canada, the test is simple and quick. Swabs of oral fluid are taken and tested for the presence of antibodies against HIV. “The test kit is all-inclusive. It contains the swab, a stand and test solution. You get the test result in less than 20 minutes,” Pai told SciDev.Net.

The study also found that 66% of those who did a blood test for HIV complained of discomfort, while only 8% of those who submitted to the oral test had complaints.

AIDS Fighting AIDS

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

A new, but very small, study has found that AIDS can be used to fight AIDS like a vaccine. The US experimenters used gene therapy techniques to tackle AIDS in the five test patients. The results are promising and “hint at something much more,” according to Dr. Carl June of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

The article points out in the second paragraph that AIDS has no cure, something that many articles fail to do when talking about proposed new ‘cures’ for HIV/AIDS. So that acknowledgment is good, because there is (for some bizarre reason) people who think that HIV/AIDS can be cured. This article talks about fighting AIDS, and in doing so also fights ignorance.

South Africa to Speak Truth About HIV/AIDS

- Adam Clare

This August we have spoken a lot about HIV and AIDS, which means that some good news is happening. Here’s some more goodness: South Africa is going to actually suggest real solutions to preventing the spread of HIV and AIDS.

South Africa has been criticized for suggesting bizarre “natural” cures for HIV, which are clearly not cures at all. Well, activists have demanded change and it looks like change will come.

Sub-Saharan Africa Makes Milestone in HIV Treatments

- Adam Clare

Universal health care for all is still years away, but the number of people receiving HIV antiretroviral therapy has reached the one million mark in sub-Saharan Africa. This is a huge milestone that was announced this week at the International AIDS Conference.

“The one million figure represents a tenfold increase since December 2003, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Sub-Saharan Africa still accounts for 70 per cent of the global unmet treatment need, however, and 95 per cent of the 38.6 million people living with HIV/AIDS live in the developing world, where countries face tremendous challenges in dealing with the epidemic.”

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