Category: HIV/AIDS

Fourth person likely cured of HIV with fifth ‘in remission’

Healthtimes

For the fourth time since the global epidemic began, a person appears to have been “cured” of HIV. The 66-year-old man, named the “City of Hope patient” after the Californian centre he was treated in, has been in remission from HIV for 17 months. Having lived with the virus since the 1980s, the patient underwent a risky treatment for his leukaemia that coincidentally eradicated HIV from his body. He no longer takes HIV drugs and is “beyond grateful” to not only be cured of cancer but HIV too. Researchers made…

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Uproar Over Delayed Visas To AIDS Conference In Canada

Healthtimes

HIV and AIDS activists and advocates  have raised a red flag over the delayed granting of Visas to AIDS Activists, speakers, public health experts and advocates by the Canadian government ahead of International AIDS Confrence to be held in Canada from 29 July to 2 August 2022. By Staff Reporter The delays have been described as horrendous and unacceptable and will likely see key speakers and stakeholders failing to attend. UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Banyima said, “We appeal to the government of Canada to grant Visas expeditiously to experts, activists…

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Zim ready for long term injectable PrEP-MoHCC

Healthtimes

IN a bid to increase adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) in Zimbabwe, the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) said it welcomes obtaining studies to advance prevention therapy through long term injectable Pre-Exposure prophylaxes medications. By Staff Reporter This follows the approval of Apretude (cabotegravir extended-release injectable suspension) in 2021 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This will be taken in at-risk adults and adolescents weighing at least 35 kilograms (77 pounds) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV. However, in Zimbabwe, current…

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One In Every Five People Is Living With HIV In Mat South

Michael Gwarisa

MATABELELAND South (Mat South) has an HIV prevalence of 20%, a figure higher than the national prevalence which currently stands at 11.6%, making it the provinces with highest number of people living with HIV in the country. By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe has a total 1.3 million people living with HIV and basing on the national HIV and AIDS prevalence percentage of 11.6%, this translates to one in every nine people living with HIV across the country. Giving an epidemic update, National AIDS Council (NAC) Monitoring and Evaluation National Coordinator, Mr…

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Don’t Let The HIV Story Die, Gvt Tells Journalists

Michael Gwarisa

THE Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) says even though Zimbabwe is moving closer to epidemic control, more still needs to be done in terms of amplifying the message of HIV prevention, treatment and control. By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe is one of the countries most affected by HIV and the pandemic has had a reversal effect on the socio-economic progress that our country achieved over the years. Officiating at the National AIDS Council Editors and Station Managers Workshop in Mazowe on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Child…

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Parliament Wants Presidential Amnesty For All Wilful Transmission Of HIV Prisoners

Michael Gwarisa

THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health chairperson, Dr Ruth Labode says they have already lobbied President Emerson Mnangwa through the Speaker of Parliament seeking amnesty for everyone who was imprisoned on the grounds of wilful transmission of HIV. By Michael Gwarisa in Mazowe The development follows Parliament of Zimbabwe’s recent repealing of section 79 of the Criminal Law Code, which criminalized wilful HIV transmission. According to the National Aids Council (NAC), Zimbabwe currently has the highest rate of HIV criminalization prosecutions in Sub-Saharan Africa and the sixth highest in the…

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Study Reveals Substantial Weight Gain In African Women Taking Dolutegravir HIV Drug

Healthtimes

A study analysing data from four African countries found that people living with HIV who switched to a dolutegravir-based antiretroviral regimen had a four-fold increase in average weight gain, compared to the year before the switch. AIDS MAP The World Health Organization endorsed dolutegravir as part of first-line antiretroviral therapy in 2018. It is a preferred antiretroviral medicine, for a range of reasons: it suppresses viral load very quickly, is well tolerated, shows fewer side effects and fewer drug-drug interactions, has a higher genetic barrier to developing drug resistance (as…

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Governments announce increased financial support to the global AIDS response

Michael Gwarisa

Geneva, 22 June 2022—Addressing the UNAIDS Programme Coordination Board, governments have begun to pledge new investments to advance the end of AIDS. The United Kingdom and Germany were among those pledging increased resources to support the work of UNAIDS, the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS. The UK will increase funding to UNAIDS to £8 million per year, up from £2.5 million in 2021. The UK emphasised the importance of sufficient, predictable and timely funding towards enabling UNAIDS to deliver on its mandate. Germany will increase its funding to UNAIDS…

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South Africa approves 4-in-1 HIV Antiretroviral treatment

Healthtimes

SOUTH Africa’s medicines regulator, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has approved a 4-in-1 fixed dose combination of four antiretroviral treatments namely abacavir, lamivudine, lopinavir and ritonavir which is meant for infants and young children with HIV. By Kudakwashe Pembere The sweet-tasting, and heat stable was developed by Cipla Limited and the not-for-profit Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi). “This new formulation represents a significant improvement over protease inhibitor-containing paediatric ARV formulations that have been used in South Africa for decades. It does not require refrigeration, has a…

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Hitting Three Birds with One Stone: Low Cost Boarding Facilities to Address Teen Pregnancies, Early Marriages and New HIV Infections in Chimanimani Adolescent Girls

Michael Gwarisa

HILDER Muwani* (16) is doing Form 3 at Mhakwe Secondary school in Chimanimani. Every day, she walks 30 kilometers to and from school. She at some point contemplated moving to a bush boarding or renting a room near the school just to cut on the distance, but her parents would have none of it. They feared she would mix with the wrong crowd, fall pregnant and end up dropping out of school as has become the fate of many girls in Chimanimani. By Michael Gwarisa recently in Chimanimani The risk…

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