The first complete treatment for AIDS that is taken once a day as a single pill is expected to be available soon.

The pill, which combines three drugs made by two companies, would be a milestone in improving the simplicity of treatment for the disease, experts say. It should make it easier for people to take their medicine regularly, which is important for keeping the virus that causes the disease in check. (nytimes.com)

June 25, 2006

A new drug to treat HIV won federal approval Friday. The Food and Drug Administration said it approved Prezista for the treatment of the human immunodeficiency virus. The drug is the first approved HIV medication for its maker, Johnson & Johnson. (JNJ) It's also the first new HIV drug approved since June 22, 2005. (excite.com)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: HIV/AIDS

April 25, 2006

A safe and effective gel allowing women to protect themselves from HIV may be available by 2010 if current trials involving thousands of women are successful, researchers said Sunday. Gita Ramjee, director of the HIV prevention research unit at South Africa’s Medical Research Council, said microbe-killing vaginal gels offer huge potential for stemming the epidemic, especially in societies where men are reluctant to use a condom. (Advocate.com)

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February 13, 2006

Researchers are reporting some encouraging news on the HIV prevention front: Preliminary tests have found no safety problems with a vaginal gel designed to keep the AIDS virus at bay during intercourse.

The gel includes a dose of tenofovir, an AIDS drug normally given orally to people already infected with the virus. In recent years, scientists have been studying whether the antiviral drug can stop the virus from infecting people in the first place. (excite.com)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: HIV/AIDS

January 19, 2006

Two drug companies say they've put aside commercial rivalry to achieve a goal that seemed out of reach for 20 years: a single-pill, once-a-day AIDS treatment.

The pill is to contain a regimen of three drugs already available on pharmacy shelves and shown to be effective in multiple studies, including one coming out today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Barring last-minute problems in formulating the pill, doctors expect it to be approved by the end of the year. (Washington Post)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: HIV/AIDS

December 01, 2005

Dozens of HIV-infected women stepped out of the shadows in eastern India to acknowledge they have the disease and say they should not be shunned. China, in its marking of World Aids Day, began an educational campaign targeting millions of migrant workers Thursday.

In Jakarta, the head of UNAIDS criticized Indonesia's leaders for not taking a more active role in combatting the disease, and thousands marched in anti-AIDS rallies in India's plagued northeast, including in Golaghat, a town in the eastern state of Assam, where HIV-infected women spoke publicly. (Washington Post)

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November 23, 2005

HIV infection rates are starting to decrease consistently in some countries for the first time, indicating that prevention programs set up over the last five years are finally yielding results, the United Nations said. (Washington Post)

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November 01, 2005

New research in monkeys suggests a combination of AIDS drugs applied as a vaginal gel might prevent infection with HIV, and two major drug companies said Monday they would license promising compounds at no charge so that such a product can be created. (Washington Post)

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October 13, 2005

Federal drug regulators have agreed to consider allowing a Pennsylvania company to sell the first rapid, at-home AIDS test that would make testing for the virus about as easy and accessible as a pregnancy screen. (NYTimes.com)

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October 08, 2005

Several months ago, a Ugandan legislator proposed offering "chastity scholarships" in this poor farming district 150 miles southeast of the capital, Kampala. His hope was that the program, in which proven virgins can attend college at no cost, would encourage girls to resist entreaties from older men offering them money and security in exchange for sex. (Washington Post)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: HIV/AIDS

September 28, 2005

Hoping to speed AIDS drugs from port to patient, the Bush administration awarded a $77 million contract Tuesday to help establish a new supply system for medicines and other HIV-related aid to Africa. (Washington Post)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: HIV/AIDS

September 26, 2005

Long before Madondile could accept that he had AIDS, with its heavy stigma of sin and death, he began seeking relief from tuberculosis. Treating one disease became the gateway to confronting -- and ultimately controlling -- the other. (Washington Post)

Posted by news editor | Filed under: HIV/AIDS