God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

Reflections / Gedanken

07/16/2013 • 6:04 am Comments Off on More therapy = more unprotected sex?

More therapy = more unprotected sex?

Scenery around KLCC park at night

 KLCC park at night (Photo: Wikipedia)

There is the argument, that antiretroviral therapy seen as prevention could lead to more unprotected sex in the future. That, so argue the people following this line,  will jeopardize treatment success and discourage from using a condom or taking other measures of protection. On the 7th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention in Kuala Lumpur a study was presented addressing the issue. The results are encouraging:  A meta-analysis has found no increase in risk taking in people who are
taking antiretroviral treatment, compared to other people with HIV. In
fact, people on treatment had less unprotected sex and fewer sexually
transmitted infections. For more on this topic please continue reading here.

Filed under: HIV and AIDS, HIV Prevention, HIV Treatment, Medical and Research, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

07/12/2013 • 8:01 am Comments Off on HIV transmission and questions around it…

HIV transmission and questions around it…

HIV Particle

HIV Particle (Photo credit: AJC1)

Even in a world where all information about HIV is out in the public there are still questions around transmission and viral load of people living with HIV. Especially when it comes to couples with one being positive and the other negative  these questions arise. In our South African context where there is a whole generation with many people being born and living with the virus, those questions are essential to be asked and answered properly.
Questions like:

* What is exactly viral load and how is it affected by HIV Treatment?
* What is a normal “viral load”?
* What does it mean to have an “undetectable” blood viral load?
* Is the viral load in the blood associated with a person’s risk of transmitting HIV?
* Does HIV treatment reduce the risk of sexual transmission of HIV?
* Is HIV transmission possible when the viral load in the blood is undetectable?
* What is the risk of HIV transmission when the blood viral load is undetectable?
* What does this all mean for people who want to use HIV treatment to prevent HIV transmission

The Body published an article from the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange Project on all these questions and it is worth reading for those interested. Click here to read the article.

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Filed under: HIV and AIDS, HIV Prevention, HIV Treatment, Medical and Research, , , , , , , , , , , ,

06/29/2013 • 8:16 pm Comments Off on HIV infections down in children, U.N. says

HIV infections down in children, U.N. says

Reducing HIV infections in children is a very important step towards a zero infected generation to come. This figures of Africa are encouraging.

Related articles

 

Filed under: HIV and AIDS, HIV Prevention, HIV Treatment, Medical and Research, , , , , , , ,

04/27/2013 • 4:15 pm Comments Off on Cure Is On The Way

Cure Is On The Way

There is indeed hope on the horizon and it is good to express this hope for the millions infected and affected.  And yes, we should not be overenthusiastic but there is light at the end of the tunnel. And light gives life..

 

lynneaispositivelybeautiful's avatarlynneaispositivelybeautiful

http://www.thebodypro.com/content/71343/12-year-old-boy-receives-cord-blood-transplant-in-.html?ap=1100

It started with Timothy Brown AKA The Berlin Patient AKA The first Person to be cured of HIV. He found out he was HIV positive in 1995. His life was saved by the medication that made living with HIV a reality. In 2006 he received a new threat to his life, leukemia. he under went chemo therapy just the same as many cancer patients but the leukemia came back. the next step was a bone marrow transplant.

Many years ago there was a documentary on people who were resistant to HIV. It was late one night and I couldn’t sleep so I flipped through the channels and stopped on one with a graphic showing how HIV entered a cd4 cell. I remember them following a man who described how he began to lose all his friends due to complications of AIDS and he noticed that many of them were…

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Filed under: HIV and AIDS, HIV Treatment, Medical and Research, Reflection, , , , , , , , ,

04/23/2013 • 8:01 am Comments Off on More Resources Are Needed for Pediatric AIDS

More Resources Are Needed for Pediatric AIDS

Especially for Southern Africa it is true: More resources, more research for pediatric AIDS needed…

annikour's avatarannikour

In recent years, in developing countries, adults infected with HIV have had greater access to treatment. But UNAIDS says children still lag behind in accessing antiretroviral drugs, especially those formulated just for children. It warns that most who go untreated will die by their fifth birthday.

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation says progress is being made in preventing new infections in children. It says there’s been a 24 percent reduction in new infections since 2009. Much of that is due to providing antiretrovirals to more HIV positive pregnant women.

Nevertheless, there’s much more to be done.

“We still have way too many children being infected and just in sub-Saharan Africa last year there were 300,000 kids with new infections. That’s way too many. So, we have the new infections and we’re having problems in identifying those kids and getting them on…

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Filed under: HIV and AIDS, HIV Prevention, HIV Treatment, Medical and Research, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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