LUDHIANA: After working on the oral substitution therapy, the National Aids Control Organization (NACO) will set up a community care centre for HIV patients in the city, the third such in the state.
According to information, two community care centres for HIV patients are already functioning in Patiala and Amritsar, respectively.
Talking to TOI on Saturday, an official of the health department said, “The project will be in joint collaboration with Red Cross as it has received grants of Rs 21.5 lakh for the project. The centre will …

End Of Vaccination Took Away Protection From HIV, Say Researchers
Washington: The end of smallpox vaccination in the mid-20th century could be responsible for a loss of protection that led to the rapid spread of HIV, according to researchers.
It is known that vaccinia immunization, as given to prevent the spread of smallpox, reduces HIV replication in the laboratory.
Raymond Weinstein, a scientist at George Mason University, Manassas, Virginia, US, in collaboration with a team from George Washington University and UCLA to look at …

Scientists are a step closer to understanding why some people with HIV develop full-blown AIDS, and others don’t.
Researchers in Massachusetts and California say that the answer lies in how the immune cells that recognize invaders are educated – a finding that may pave the way for new strategies for designing an HIV vaccine.
The human immune system detects foreign cells with the help of cell-surface proteins called human leukocyte antigens (HLAs). Each person’s cells carry a particular set of HLA molecules – the person’s HLA type – which bind fragments of …

The indomitable human spirit never ceases to surprise.When Pradipkumar Singh stepped forward to receive his silver medal at the 50th Senior National Bodybuilding Championship in Margao on Sunday it was one such moment.What set this 39-year-old from insurgency-ravaged Manipur apart was his HIV positive status.And,of course,his sheer grit and determination.
The story begins in 1984,when as a teenager Pradipkumar had his first brush with heroin.I started doing drugs just for fun.I was probably 14 when I tried heroin for the first time and then marijuana, he says.But the narcotic high doesnt …

Ulaganayagan Kamal Hassan, project ambassador of Hridayaragam 2010, announced the details of the upcoming event that is a fund raiser to set up an orphanage for HIV Aids affected children.
Held at the Green Park hotel this morning, the media interaction saw representatives from the World Malyalee Council and the Madras Medical Mission who have been involved with Hridayragam since 2006.
Said Kamal Hassan, “I thank the media for their support in raising awareness about the causes that Hridayaragam has been supporting so far. This year the funds collected from the event …

n a medical breakthrough that may help prevent spread of HIV among women, scientists have claimed to have solved the mystery behind how HIV virus cross epithelial cells — that keeps out infection — and find its way into the female reproductive tract.
“What it (HIV virus) does is that it makes the electrical barrier resistance of epithelial cells decrease. By doing that, the virus can cross the barrier,” said lead researcher Charu Kaushic from McMaster University. The study that appears in the journal PLoS Pathogens reveals that HIV breaks …

A UN programme on HIV/Aids has warned that HIV is fast becoming the leading cause of death and disease among women of reproductive age worldwide.
UNAids launched a five-year action plan at the start a 10-day conference in New York, addressing the gender issues which put women at risk.
And one of the key issues it said is that 70 per cent of women worldwide have been forced to have unprotected sex.
UNAids says such violence against women should not be tolerated.
“By robbing …

Preity Zinta has often associated herself with social causes. And the latest addition to her list is her fight against HIV/AIDS. The bubbly actor became the Indian ambassador for the joint United Nations Programme on HIV-AIDS (UNAIDS) . As an ambassador, she will raise awareness on HIV prevention, treatment, care and support with an emphasis on women and children.

Scientists have observed a rise in the number of HIV/AIDS cases among adults 50 and older over the course of the epidemic.
Diane Zablotsky, UNC Charlotte Associate Professor of Sociology, pointed out that “historically when you looked at AIDS diagnoses people 50 and older accounted for 10 percent of all diagnoses”, and the number was up to 12.5 by 2007 in America. Zablotsky laid the blame behind the upsurge on the lack of talk about HIV/AIDS prevention and transmission.
Zablotsky, in an analysis of National Health Interview …

Dwindling funding for HIV/AIDS threatens to leave an estimated 10 million infected people without treatment in the developing world, making it one of 2009′s Top 10 humanitarian crises, according to Doctors Without Borders.
 
Other crises that made the list released by the medical humanitarian group Monday were: governments blocking access to lifesaving assistance in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Sudan; a lack of respect for civilian safety and aid efforts in Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia; and inadequate international funds to fight neglected diseases and malnutrition.
The executive director …