Late last week, the Vatican hosted a major meeting on "The Centrality of Care for the Person in the Prevention and Treatment of Illnesses Caused by HIV/AIDS.” This was the first meeting of its kind since last fall when Pope Benedict commented that in some narrow circumstances, condoms might sometimes be morally acceptable.
For World AIDS Day, UNICEF released their fifth annual stock-taking report looking at the current state of HIV among children and young people. Overall, the number of people getting care and treatment is on the rise, but it’s still not high enough to stop the epidemic.
Thailand's "Mr. Condom," Mechai Viravaidya discusses his country's very successful public health campaign around condom usage during the TedXChange event. Penile Puns and vaguely inappropriate language abound.
U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby said today, "There is no stronger supporter of the Global Fund than the United States." He is right. But it would appear that the global financial crisis is taking a big hit on the Global Fund's ability to raise money.
How much will the global financial crisis impact funding for the fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria? By the end of next week, we may have a fairly precise answer to that question when donors meet for a replenishment conference of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Microbicides are one of the least known technologies for fighting HIV. Everyone knows that condoms can prevent AIDS. But who thinks about microbicides? Microbicides are products – gels, rings, or other suppositories that can be inserted into vagina or anus before sex to kills viruses on contact. No physical barrier is involved, and they can be applied hours before intercourse occurs.
It feels, sometimes, like HIV is the only global health issue that ever gets covered in the mainstream media. It's everywhere, especially on December first. And every AIDS story is a plethora of numbers, heartbreaking facts, and worn faces of sick people.
As a result, we get tired of AIDS. It’s a massive epidemic, it’s horribly complex, we keep throwing money and nothing seems to help. We want AIDS to go away, and if it won’t go away, we want to just stop thinking about it.
Here’s why we shouldn’t do that:
I don't know what's more sad - to actually hear about this news, or that I wasn't too surprised to hear it. In its first-ever study done on women's global health, the World Health Organization (WHO) found that the AIDS virus is the leading cause of death and disease among women aged 15 to 44. Unsafe sex is the leading risk factor in developing nations:
