HIV: trials on women-controlled methods soon

Posted: Monday , Nov 30, 2009 at 2321 hrs Pune:

With half of the 2.5 million Indians infected with HIV being women, researchers are developing women controlled methods that include vaginal microbicides and female condoms to prevent HIV.

Indian Express

World AIDS Day 2009

World AIDS Day is fast approaching and this year we have organised the JOIN THE FIGHT FORTNIGHT. What does this mean...

JOIN THE FIGHT FORTNIGHT begins on the 19th of November. From this event onwards we are organising a fortnight of events throughout Pune for the run up to World AIDS Day (1st December). Here's what we have planned:

19th Nov - Koregaon Park (12 pm to 3 pm) & MG Road (5 pm to 7 pm) - awareness session throughout the area. We will be wearing our HIV POSITIVE t-shits and handing out leaflets.
21st Nov - Mariplex Mall (11 am to 6 pm) - the team will be at Mariplex Mall from 10am - 5pm with our Kiosk where we will be playing awareness games, handing out leaflets, raising money and getting people clued up about the cause.
22nd Nov - CONDOM CRICKET FINALE! - Wake Up Pune will play against the winning team of Condom Cricket. Come on down, support the team and join the fun!
23rd Nov - Railway Station - The team will be handing out ribbons and leaflets at the railway station and encouraging people to ask questions about HIV and AIDS.
24th Nov - JM Road (12 pm onwards) - awareness session throughout the area. We will be wearing our HIV POSITIVE t-shits and handing out leaflets.
25th Nov - 'GET WET AT THE MANSOON' (7 pm onwards) - A huge fundraiser at High Spirits, Koregaon Park where we will be auctioning off guys all in the name of charity! And it's exactly half way through the FORTNIGHT! Come and JOIN THE FUN!
27th Nov - Laxmi Road (12 pm to 4 pm) - We will be hitting the road hard with our t-shirts and leaflets for people to find out more about Wake Up Pune.
28th Nov - INOX (11 am to 6 pm) - Awareness at INOX multiplex & street play
29th Nov - HIV POSITIVE DAY! (7 pm onwards) - Wear your T-shirt and hit your local area with ribbons, disruptive theatre and general awareness about HIV/AIDS. We will then meet at the Grand Hotel at 7pm in the evening and discuss the events of the day. We will be using handicams, cameras etc to really raise awareness about HIV.
1st Dec - WORLD AIDS DAY - The end of the fortnight! Join us for the rally from Sasson Hospital to Shaniwar Wada and watch this space for events in the evening!
2nd Dec - Did someone say after party?! (7 pm onwards) We are going to be at Curve Bar, ABC FARMS to celebrate the success of the fortnight!

We are always keen for more volunteers and for more people to show their support. {cms_selflink page='volunteer' text='Get involved!'}

AIDS: Panel Warns That Without New Direction, Epidemic Will Remain Out of Control at 50

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Published: November 2, 2009

Unless there is a drastic change in approach, the AIDS epidemic will still be out of control on its 50th anniversary in 2031, a panel of AIDS experts predicted in an analysis being published Tuesday in the journal Health Affairs.

The New York Times

U.S. to lift travel ban on HIV-affected

Washington: President Barack Obama said on Friday that a U.S. travel ban on people infected with the HIV would be overturned early next year.

"If we want to be a global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it," the President said at the White House before signing a Bill to extend the Ryan White HIV/AIDS programme.

The United States is one of about a dozen countries that bar entry to travellers based on their HIV status. The ban has been in place for more than 20 years. Mr. Obama said it would be lifted just after the new year, after a waiting period of about 60 days.

AP, for  The Hindu

More than 5m HIV+ patients have no access to treatment

NEW DELHI: First, the good news. More than four million HIV positive adults and children were receiving the life saving anti-retroviral therapy(ART) in low and middle income countries at the end of 2008 -- one million more (36% increase) than in 2007 and a 10-fold increase in five years.

The bad news, however, is this -- despite the increase in treatment and care, more than five million of the 9.5 million HIV-infected people needing ART, still have no access to treatment.

Times of India

The price one pays for being HIV positive

ANCHETTY (KRISHNAGIRI): A kattai panchayat in Sesurajapuram village in Krishnagiri district assumed "extra constitutional powers" and fined a woman recently. Her supposed sin: she is HIV infected.

The Hindu

HIV child refused treatment

Cuttack, Sept. 20: A case in which an HIV positive two-year-old was allegedly refused treatment both at Cuttack and Bhubaneswar private and government hospitals is now under judicial scrutiny for redress against stigma and discrimination.

The Telegraph

Maharashtra has largest number of HIV+ kids

MUMBAI: Maharashtra has the largest number of HIV-positive children in the country with fresh cases increasing 10-fold in the last three years.

Times of India

Out of brothel, Latur woman fights HIV, child abuse

NEW DELHI: Rekha (name changed) is a key member of a Gurgaon child helpline which comes to the aid of children in distress. From the confidence and activism this 25-year-old displays, no one can tell that she is HIV-positive, has fought her way out of the brothels of Delhi's largest redlight area, G.B. Road where she was forced into prostitution for nearly four years and is now fighting against her trafficker and the brothel owner in the Tis Hazari courts. It's her fight, she says, to restore her honour.

Times of India