Most At Risk Populations' Society in Uganda (MARPS in Uganda)

Over 30 judges and magistrates from Africa and around the world gathered last week in Johannesburg for the annual Africa Regional Judges Forum to discuss the progress, challenges and latest developments in the human-rights based response to HIV and tuberculosis (TB). “Experience from the last six years – since the launching of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law’s report in July 2012 and the convening of the first Africa Judges Forum – shows us that despite numerous challenges, there have been some extraordinary advances in terms of laws and rights-based jurisprudence in the context of HIV and TB in our part of the world,” said Justice Oagile Key Dingake, in his opening remarks. This was the sixth and largest forum to date, with a total of 54 participants coming from 22 countries,[1]  including judges, magistrates and representatives from judicial training institutes. Non-judicial participants included experts from the Center for Reproductive Rights, UNAIDS, the Int...

An ongoing study finds that considerable challenges in such women’s lives may compromise their adherence to antiretrovirals says Benjamin Ryan. Beset with numerous life challenges that may compromise their adherence to antiretrovirals (ARVs), many women living with HIV are at substantial long-term risk of developing a detectable viral load. Publishing their Findings in JAMA Network Open, researchers from the Women’s Interagency HIV Study, an ongoing longitudinal cohort study, analyzed data on 1,989 women with the virus who made at least five study visits between 1994 and 2017. The study sites were in Brooklyn and the Bronx in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, DC. Upon entering the study, the women had an average age of 36.9 years, an average CD4 count of 467 and a median viral load of 6,200. A total of 1,305 (65.6%) of the women were African American. At study visits conducted every six months, the women received viral load testing and were ...

Nearly $200 million of the pledge will go to DREAMS programs in Africa and the Caribbean reports Caroline Tien. In an effort to support gender equality, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) pledged over $2 billion this year to support women and girls affected by HIV/AIDS. Founded in 2003, PEPFAR has invested over $85 billion dollars so far in the global fight against HIV. Nearly $200 million of the multibillion-dollar investment will be channeled into DREAMS programming for adolescent girls and young women,  according to a PEPFAR press release . DREAMS is PEPFAR’s public-private partnership with organizations that include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Girl Effect, Johnson & Johnson, Gilead Sciences, and ViiV Healthcare. Since 2015, DREAMS has provided more than $800 million to women and girls living in Africa and the Caribbean, which respectively have the highest and second-highest prevalence of HIV in the world. Alr...

This article is provided for you to pick up lessons. It is titled: Is the “PrEP4Love” Campaign Reaching Those Who Need It Most? The Chicago-based HIV-prevention effort garnered about 41 million views in its first four months alone. And that’s not all says Caroline Tien. The social marketing campaign “PrEP4Love” successfully raised awareness of Truvada as PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) as an HIV-prevention tactic, according to the results of a recent study conducted by the Chicago Center for HIV Elimination (CCHE), reports the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. Specifically, in the campaign’s first four months, the “PrEP4Love” ads garnered nearly 41 million unique views across social media platforms and 25,000 click-throughs. PrEP - which is approved for adults and adolescents- involves taking one pill a day and includes regular screenings for  #HIV  and other sexually transmitted infections. Medical monitoring and adherence support is also part of the...

We bring you selected readings on HIV Prevention from elsewhere as well! According to Benjamin Ryan of POZ Newsletter , a  study projected that PrEP use among adult gay and bi men would result in a considerable reduction in HIV among adolescents. "A new, highly sophisticated mathematical modeling study projects that widespread use of Truvada (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine) as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among adult men who have sex with men (MSM) would yield a major reduction in the rate of new HIV infections (known as incidence) in the overall MSM population as well as the number of MSM living with the virus (known as prevalence). The study also found that even if the adolescent MSM population did not take PrEP, they would still benefit considerably from adult MSM’s use of the prevention modality, both in terms of reduced HIV incidence and prevalence. Additional widespread coverage of PrEP among adolescent MSM would not, however, provide a con...