AIDS Alert Archives – May 1, 2003
May 1, 2003
View Issues
-
AIDS directors seek help to fight epidemic in the South
As HIV continues to spread faster in the South than in any other region, health officials from 13 states are sending out a strong message: The South needs help fighting an epidemic that is becoming increasingly rural, female, African-American, and poor. -
High rates of trauma, distrust in rural HIV-positives
Chronic violence and abuse, often stemming from childhood neglect, are pervasive among HIV-positive people living in the rural South, according to two new studies. The findings suggest that clinicians need to address a host of interpersonal issues, ranging from sexual abuse to post-traumatic stress syndrome. -
New testing strategy to help track HIV
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is moving quickly to monitor HIV incidence across the country using its detuned testing technology, with nearly $6 million this year committed to 24 sentinel cities. -
Syphilis role in HIV being studied in California
For the past three years, syphilis outbreaks in men who have sex with men (MSM) have worried health officials because of what they indicate about a resurgence in high-risk behaviors. But are these syphilis outbreaks facilitating HIV transmission or is syphilis contained mostly to MSM who are already HIV-positive? -
CDC ramps up HIV behavioral surveillance
Ask public health officials what behaviors are driving the recent syphilis epidemics, and their answers are limited at best. That may change in the next year as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) implements behavioral surveillance systems in 15 cities across the country. -
Coalition seeks funds for HCV/HIV co-infection
After years of neglect, efforts are building to form a coalition that will draw more attention to the treatment and care needs of patients co-infected with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV). And while federal and state funding for HCV has remained flat or is being cut, health experts say integrating services is not as demanding as is often assumed. -
States going at slow pace developing hepatitis plans
Lack of funding and resources, combined with competing demands, help explain why only a handful of states have hepatitis prevention plans in place, according to a recently completed survey. -
Resources for integrating HCV and HIV services
The National Association of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) in Washington, DC, has a Viral Hepatitis Program that provides guidance and information for HIV/AIDS programs. The materials help staff develop training on viral hepatitis and assess how to incorporate viral hepatitis issues into their existing program. -
Computer tool helps plan cost-effective strategies
With hundreds of HIV interventions available, community planning groups often are at a loss for deciding which ones to use. Now a new tool will allow health departments to enter local data and determine which programs are most cost-effective. -
FDA News: Price criticized for new anti-HIV drug
The FDAs accelerated approval of Fuzeon (enfuvirtide) for use in combination with other anti-HIV medications has drawn mixed reactions: excitement that a new class of drugs is now on the market and disappointment that its manufacturer, Trimeris, has priced the drug so high. -
Facts: HIV/AIDS in the South
Facts: HIV/AIDS in the South -
AIDS Alert International: U.S. AIDS funding is smoke and mirrors, critics charge
When President George W. Bush announced at his January State of the Union address that he would provide a five-year, $15 billion Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief worldwide, his efforts were lauded internationally. -
AIDS Alert International: High-income countries see increase in epidemic
The HIV/AIDS epidemic has grown to include about 1.6 million people who live in high-income countries, including the estimated 76,000 people who became infected with the virus in 2002.