Blog - AIDS Help Desk

New Study: Injectable Contraceptive May Double HIV Risk

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:26 GMT

New research out of Africa has potentially devastating news for women there, who rely on the convenience and confidentiality of injectable contraception. The study, published Monday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, indicates that the injectable contraceptive may double their risk of acquiring HIV, and also increases the risk of transmitting it to a male partner.

Reporting from Bangkok: J2J Fellow Stories from AIDS Vaccine 2011

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 16:21 GMT

NPF’s J2J program arm has just completed training for 20 journalists who now are fanning out to cover AIDS Vaccine 2011, the international gathering of scientists seeking a vaccine against HIV. Over two days here in Bangkok, Thailand, our fellows heard from 20 researchers, most of whom are making important presentations at the conference. The briefings and extensive question-and-answer sessions helped prepare our group to report on the news from the conference, including an important development that moves the field significantly ahead.

CNN producer believes Alzheimer’s is “inherently a national story”

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:27 GMT

The topic of Alzheimer’s disease has always been a personal one for CNN.com Health producer Elizabeth Landau. Her grandmother suffered from Alzheimer’s, and the effects of her disease took a toll on Landau’s entire family. Landau’s grandmother passed away in 2007, and Landau has been interested in reporting on Alzheimer’s research ever since.

Landau earned her master’s in journalism from Columbia University before starting out with CNN as a Master’s Fellow in 2007. She returned in 2008 after interning for Dow Jones and writing for law360.com, and was promoted to CNN.com health writer in June that same year. In May, she participated in the NPF program Alzheimer’s Issues 2011, which focused on ethical issues, global aging and the personal cost to care-givers.

How Will DC’s Shifting Demographics Affect Diabetes and Health Care Issues?

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:05 GMT

Wednesday’s Washington Post reported that the Washington metro region was among eight in which minorities became a majority in the past decade, according to a new analysis of census data. The well-done piece, by Carol Morello and Ted Mellnik, touched on implications for the area’s workforce, schools and politics.

One area not mentioned was health-care, but this is on our minds here at NPF, because we know that the burden of diabetes is much higher for racial and ethnic minorities than for whites. As the minority population grows, so will the importance of understanding diabetes. It’s one of the issues we’ll talk about during our one-day program, Diabetes Issues Today, which is offered free to area journalists on September 27th.

IOM’s New Report Reaffirms Safety of Vaccines

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 20:13 GMT

The Institue of Medicine of the National Acadamies (IOM) has relased a new report, titled “Adverse Effects of Vaccines: Evidence and Causality.” From the report’s summary:

“Immunizations are a cornerstone of the nation’s efforts to protect people from a host of infectious diseases. Though generally very rare or very minor, there are side effects, or “adverse effects,” associated with some vaccines. The IOM reviewed a list of adverse events associated with eight vaccines to evaluate the scientific evidence about the event—vaccine relationship. Using epidemiologic and mechanistic evidence, the committee developed 158 causality conclusions, assigning each relationship between a vaccine and an adverse health problem to one of four causation categories. Overall, the IOM committee concludes that few health problems are caused by or clearly associated with vaccines.”

J2J Fellow Takes On China’s Health Problems

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:17 GMT

Thomson Reuters correspondent Sui-lee Wee works in a country where health issues are at the forefront of the public discussion and a matter of international scrutiny. Sui-Lee started out covering the Southeast Asian stock markets before completing her master’s degree in business journalism at New York University in 2008. She now covers politics and general news in China, but also deals with human rights and health issues.

AIDS Drugs: What about side effects?

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 14:11 GMT

This is a guest post by Kenny Goldberg, health reporter for KPBS News in San Diego. He is a former J2J fellow.

The results of three new studies about the effectiveness of daily use of the medication tenofovir, Truvada and other drugs to prevent transmission of HIV are impressive. The idea that a pill could act as a prophylactic against the spread of the virus has been a longtime dream.

But as anyone who’s been covering the epidemic knows, when it comes to antiretroviral drugs, there is no free lunch. All medications have side effects. As journalists responsible for reporting on advances in the field, we need to communicate those risks and put them in their proper context.

Story Ideas for Journalists from Rome (IAS 2011)

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 19:37 GMT

ROME – A wealth of potential story ideas came out of the Rome AIDS conference. This is a list I discussed with people attending a media briefing organized by the IAS prior to the conference. What are the ideas you’d like to share? Fill in the comment box at the end of this post.

The BIG story coming out of the Rome AIDS conference were the results from three separate trials seeking to determine of available drugs used for the treatment of HIV could be used for the prevention of transmission.

What the HIV Experience Can Teach the NCD Community

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:43 GMT

ROME – The AIDS Conference held here may have opened a window onto the next big story in public health issues – the benefit for the non-communicable disease community in building on the infrastructure that the HIV/AIDS community has spent 30 years putting into place.

The show-stoppers at the conference were the three trials that show that drugs like tenofovir and others, when used in certain combinations, can prevent the transmission of the AIDS virus (see a blog post I did after the conference that has many links to critical information).

But there was a great deal of buzz before and during the Rome conference on the anticipated attention about to be paid diseases other than AIDS.

Lowering the Cost of AIDS Drugs While Searching for a Cure

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:13 GMT

ROME—With all the excitement generated at the recent AIDS conference around Treatment as Prevention, the question that never goes away is – who pays? In the developed world – generally speaking, the northern hemisphere – a higher degree of affluence and insurance infrastructure can handle the costs. In the developing world – generally, the southern hemisphere – the impact of poverty makes treatment for the disease all that more difficult, if not impossible.

It is believed that today only one out of every three people who need AIDS drugs for treatment is able to access them. A unique mechanism has been developed to try to change that situation.

Exactly one year ago, in July 2010, the Medicines Patent Pool was established to bring down the cost and increase the availability of HIV/AIDS drugs. It does this through voluntary licensing arrangements with the drugs’ manufacturers, protecting their rights to the drugs in the developed world but then, by agreement, turning around and licensing the drugs for generic manufacturers in India, for sale in low and middle income countries.

So far, the only company to have signed on to this agreement is Gilead Sciences, the manufacturer of tenofovir, an antiretroviral drug, and Truvada (which includes tenofovir). The company says that the lowest available price for its drugs under this arrangement is $6.15 per patient per month, or 21 cents a day – dramatically less than an AIDS patient in the U.S. or Western Europe would pay.