Recently in HIV/AIDS Awareness Category

UN health agencies on Wednesday gave the stamp of approval for including male circumcision in the panoply of arms to fight the spread of AIDS, stressing though that its success also depended on safe-sex awareness, sensitivity and resources.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the specialised agency UNAIDS declared that millions of lives could be saved if circumcision were widely and safely practised.

They issued guidelines at a press conference in Paris following a debate among experts, health officials and grassroots groups in Geneva on March 6-8. 

"The recommendations represent a significant step forward in
HIV prevention," said Kevin de Cock, director of the WHO's HIV/AIDS Department.

The German cabinet approved a national action plan against the spread of HIV and AIDS, which focuses on increased preventive measures and research into new strains of drug-resistant viruses.

When it comes to HIV and AIDS, the discrepancy between knowledge of the disease and actual behavior is widening, German leaders warned this week.

According to government statistics, almost 100 percent of the German population is aware of the most frequent modes of HIV transmission and ways to protect against infection.

BANJUL, Gambia -- From the pockets of his billowing white robe, Gambia's president pulls out a plastic container, closes his eyes in prayer and rubs a green herbal paste onto the ribcage of the patient -- a concoction he claims is a cure for AIDS.

He then orders the thin man to swallow a bitter yellow drink, followed by two bananas.

''Whatever you do, there are bound to be skeptics, but I can tell you my method is foolproof,'' President Yahya Jammeh told a reporter. ''Mine is not an argument, mine is a proof. It's a declaration. I can cure AIDS and I will.''

Author: Toni Lawson

Has HIV-AIDS been created in laboratories funded by neo-conservative ideologues and "religious fascists" to depopulate vulnerable target groups, including blacks and other minorities, homosexuals, and perceived "decadent" sexually active individuals?

Wangari Maathai suggests that HIV-AIDS is "man-made", and consistent with depopulation policy agenda. Depopulation has been a pivotal agenda of the neo-conservative American Eugenics Movement, in order to "free-up" resources for rich elites, and away from "inferior groups".

The first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Wangari Maathai of Kenya, spoke out on the AIDS virus saying it was man-made and deliberate ploy created as a weapon of 'biowarfare'.

MUMBAI, India —  Actor and AIDS activist Richard Gere brought thousands of sex workers to their feet on Wednesday, urging them to insist their clients use condoms.

"No condoms, no sex!" Gere shouted at an AIDS awareness event in Mumbai, the country's financial and entertainment hub.

He urged the crowd of more than 15,000 people to repeat the chant after him. Gere and Indian actress Bipasha Basu presented awards to those spearheading HIV prevention campaigns.

Earlier, Gere met sex workers who explained how they use pictures and books to persuade fellow prostitutes to insist on safe sex. But they said it was difficult getting regular customers to use condoms.

Bill Clinton was back on CNN on World AIDS Day being portrayed as an expert on how to stop AIDS. It shows how the media will not let any of Clinton's sex scandals interfere with his public rehabilitation. The Clinton answer, which is quite unique, is to use an international airline tax to buy more anti-AIDS drugs of dubious value.

The U.N.-backed Unitaid agency is using the proceeds from a global airline tax to pay the Clinton Foundation to buy and distribute the drugs. They don't tell you that the drugs are toxic and can kill, or that they may cause the AIDS virus to mutate, making the disease even more deadly. In other words, it's not an issue that the Clinton plan could make the problem worse.

By Raymond S. Blanks, The Washington Post

The promises made by former mayor Anthony A. Williams more than a year ago to bolster the battle against HIV have not been realized.

The HIV-AIDS epidemic in the District remains disturbing and depressing. The rate of infection remains 10 times the national rate. African American women make up 90 percent of all infected female residents, and many thousands of residents with HIV do not know their status.

Black residents make up 60 percent of the District's population but represent more than 80 percent of AIDS cases. Nearly 20,000 of the city's residents are living with HIV. Recent tests indicate that, among the 16,700 persons tested, 580 tested positive, a new increase of nearly 4 percent.

Youngsters in western China know more than their parents about how HIV and AIDS are spread, but they still lag well behind their peers in more developed parts of the country, a recent survey suggests.

The survey found 73.3 percent of youth in western China know how the HIV virus is spread and what they can do to protect themselves. That is about 20 percent points lower than youth in the rest of the country.

Many young people in the west know the HIV virus can be contracted through unprotected sex and blood transmission, according to the survey, which was published by China's Juvenile Research Center and the National Research Center for Science and Technology for Development.

During Sex, Vaginal Gel Would Liquefy, Release Anti-HIV Drug.

Dec. 11, 2006 - University of Utah scientists designed a "molecular condom" women could use daily to prevent AIDS by vaginally inserting a liquid that would turn into a gel-like coating and then, when exposed to semen, return to liquid form and release an antiviral drug.

"We have developed a new vaginal gel that we call a molecular condom because it is composed of molecules that are liquid at room temperature and, when applied in the vagina, will spread and turn into a gel and effectively coat the tissue," says Patrick Kiser, an assistant professor of bioengineering. "It's a smart molecular condom because we designed this gel to release anti-HIV drugs when the gel comes into contact with semen during intercourse."

A stocky woman in blue jeans with spiky, gelled black hair dances on stage at one of Vietnam's rural rehabilitation centres, leading a hip-hop style chant.

"Hold hands together, we'll stop AIDS together," shouted the former heroin addict patient who returned to the rehabilitation centre to encourage over a thousand recovering drug users and prostitute inmates, a third of whom have HIV or AIDS.

People face stigma and discrimination when they leave the minimum security centres, especially if they are infected with HIV or have AIDS. HIV-infected people are often refused employment and their children denied schooling.

"Everybody should unite in combating this disease," said Danh Thu Hanh, 36, a former addict who spent two years as an inmate.