Cape Town, South Africa | AFP | A deadly virus was ravaging South Africa when Belgian doctor Eric Goemaere first set foot in Cape Town’s sprawling Khayelitsha township on a chilly southern hemisphere winter of 1999. By then HIV had infected more than 5.6 million South Africans, causing thousands of deaths …
Read More »COVID-19 disruptions could cause 500,000 extra deaths from HIV
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Disruptions of antiretroviral therapy could lead to more than 500,000 extra deaths from AIDS-related illnesses in sub-Saharan Africa if efforts are not made to overcome interruptions in health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The estimates were unveiled by a modelling group convened by the …
Read More »Researcher studies how long it takes for HIV positive person to develop AIDS
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Using genes, Makerere University based Researcher Dr. Gerald Mboowa can determine how many years it will take a person living with HIV without treatment can progress into AIDS. Dubbed, ‘Functional host-genetic loci associated with pediatric HIV-disease progression in Uganda and Botswana”, his research reveals that …
Read More »Health should not be a privilege for the rich – Byanyima
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The UN agency devoted to ending AIDS as a public health threat is calling on top politicians and governments across the world to ensure the right to quality healthcare is upheld, and not just a privilege to be enjoyed by the wealthy. UNAIDS executive director …
Read More »New strain of HIV discovered
Keeping Global Health Community a Step Ahead of the virus | THE INDEPENDENT | Abbott announced today that a team of its scientists identified a new subtype of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), called HIV-1 Group M, subtype L.1. The findings, published Nov.06 in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency …
Read More »UNAIDS: 52% of young Ugandans don’t know about HIV
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Only 48 per cent of young people have comprehensive knowledge about how HIV is spread and how they can guard against it, according to data shared by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Uganda, this afternoon. For one to have comprehensive knowledge …
Read More »Growing number of Ugandan men opting out of circumcision
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | There has been a drop in the number of men opting for safe male circumcision- SMC over the past three years. Information from Uganda AIDS Commission shows that 703,997 men were circumcised in the last 2018/2019 financial year compared to 747,244 in 2017/2018. In …
Read More »Why UN appointed new HIV/AIDS chief
UN appoints new HIV/AIDS chief after controversy United Nations, United States | AFP | United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed a new HIV/AIDS chief on Wednesday after the previous incumbent left accused of serious mismanagement. Oxfam International executive director Winnie Byanyima of Uganda will lead UNAIDS, a spokesperson for …
Read More »Winnie Byanyima takes top UNAIDS job
New York, United States | THE INDEPENDENT | The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has named Winifred ‘Winnie’ Karagwa Byanyima as the next Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). The Ugandan leader on women’s rights, democratic governance and peace building has been Executive Director of Oxfam International …
Read More »High cost of HIV misdiagnosis
Retesting people to confirm HIV positive results might appear costly but is cheaper than treating people wrongly diagnosed THE INDEPENDENT | Julian E. Sabiiti | It is well-known that an HIV-positive diagnosis can have detrimental results on people affected. A person diagnosed as HIV positive can undergo depression, withdraw from the public …
Read More »