AIDS

Biggest increase seen in young males

April 15, 2008 -- Reported new cases of HIV infection in Minnesota reached 325 in 2007 compared to 318 new cases in 2006 and 304 cases in 2005, according to a new report from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), “HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report – 2007.”

Since MDH began tracking AIDS in 1982 and HIV in 1985, a total of 8,504 cases have been reported, including 2,912 people that have died. There are an estimated 5,950 people aware of their HIV status currently living in Minnesota. On average, MDH received a new reported HIV case every 27 hours in 2007 and averaged about 300 new annual HIV infections over the past five years.    » read more »

02 April 2008 -- The House of Representatives has approved bipartisan legislation by a vote of 308 to 116 to provide $50 billion over the next five years for U.S. efforts to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS around the world, and fight tuberculosis and malaria. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill, similar legislation is pending in the Senate.

PEPFAR

The measure extends the program proposed by President Bush in 2003 called PEPFAR (President's Emergency Program For AIDS Relief) for another five years, and goes significantly above the $30 billion initially proposed by the White House.    » read more »

14 March 2008 -- India's Supreme Court has suspended legal proceedings against Hollywood actor Richard Gere, who faced obscenity charges for publicly kissing Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty last year.

Friday, the court indefinitely stayed the arrest warrant issued against Richard Gere and granted him permission to travel to and from India.

Richard Gere embraced and kissed Shilpa Shetty on her cheek at the public AIDS awareness event in New Delhi last year, prompting Hindu hard-liners to allege the pair had offended India's conservative culture.    » read more »

Includes Provisions Written by Senators Boxer and Smith to Combat Tuberculosis

March 13, 2008 -- Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act, which includes language written by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Gordon H. Smith (R-OR) to increase funding to combat international tuberculosis.    » read more »

Tuesday, March 04, 2008 -- On Sunday, March 2, 2008, stars from ABC's "All My Children," "One Life to Live," "General Hospital" and "The View" performed at the 4th Annual ABC Daytime Salutes Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS at Town Hall in New York City. The annual event raised $300,000, bringing the cumulative total to more than one million dollars since the show's inception in 2005. This announcement was made today by Brian Frons, president, Daytime, Disney-ABC Television Group and Tom Viola, executive director, Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS.    » read more »

February 29, 2008 -- Dr. Tachi Yamada, president of the foundation's Global Health program, released the following statement today on the passage of the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act (H.R. 5501) by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs:

This bipartisan bill is an important step toward renewing and strengthening the U.S. commitment to fighting AIDS, TB, and malaria—diseases that, together, kill nearly five million people every year.    » read more »

02 March 2008 -- The United Nations estimates that 2.5 million children are infected with HIV / AIDS, with nearly 90 percent of them in sub-Saharan Africa. Activists in the fight against the disease say one of the best ways to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the HIV virus is to prevent unintended births.

In recent years, anti-retroviral AIDS drugs have been in the forefront of the fight to prevent the spread of the disease from a mother to her baby.    » read more »

Disney's "The Little Mermaid" Stars Sierra Boggess And Sean Palmer Join Cameron Mathison And Susan Lucci When They Perform At The 4th Annual "ABC Daytime Salutes Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids" Benefit March 2 At Town Hall In New York City

Top political figures and HIV/AIDS survivors unveil the Quality of Life Illinois Lottery game

February 11, 2008 -- CHICAGO – Continuing his ongoing support for HIV/AIDS prevention and education, Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today announced the launch of the nation’s first instant Lottery ticket in the nation where 100 percent of net proceeds will support the fight against HIV/AIDS.    » read more »

Underscores Her Plan to Fight HIV/AIDS Plaguing the African-American Community

2/7/2008 -- On the seventh annual observance of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Senator Clinton underscored her commitment to fight HIV/AIDS at home and abroad, and to reduce the disproportionate burden of HIV/AIDS in communities of color. HIV/AIDS is a worldwide epidemic and impacts tens of thousands of Americans each year.    » read more »

Urges Focus on Treatment Delivery and Prevention

January 31, 2008 -- Washington, DC – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today introduced the PEPFAR Accountability and Transparency Act, legislation to increase global AIDS operations research. Praising recent advances in developing medical interventions and treatments for HIV, Senator Clinton urged renewed focus on identifying the best ways to deliver those treatments and important prevention messages.    » read more »

January 29, 2008 -- Approximately half of 1 percent (0.47 percent) of the U.S. household population between the ages of 18 and 49 are living with HIV, according to estimates from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) based on surveys conducted between 1999-2006.    » read more »

30 January 2008 -- One of the highlights of President Bush’s State of the Union initiatives for African countries was his appeal for congress to double his 2003 five-year commitment of 15 billion dollars for fighting HIV-AIDS.

However, advocates promoting congressional legislation in the weeks and months ahead say the president’s 30 billion-dollar request amounts to little or no new funding increases for AIDS treatment, since the raised levels he asked for Monday night have already been approved by congress in earlier budgets.    » read more »

29 January 2008 -- One of the foreign visitors saluted by President Bush during his State of the Union speech is a 35-year-old nurse from Tanzania. Tatu Msangi, a single parent, became pregnant and soon discovered she was HIV-positive. With US assistance through President Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Msangi received counseling and treatment at a Tanzanian clinic that have helped her survive and have kept her two-year-old daughter Faith HIV-free.    » read more »

Events scheduled in Minnesota to raise awareness

January 25, 2008 -- Every day, 72 African Americans are infected with HIV in the United States. Although African Americans are approximately 13 percent of the population of the U.S., they represent nearly half of the total AIDS cases reported in this country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).    » read more »