Vaccine News, 9 July 2014

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) concluded a three-day session of discussion and debate in Geneva on Thursday that established a framework for combating the disease in the future.

The meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, the 34th of its kind, focused on ensuring the inclusion of HIV in post-2015 sustainable development goals, social protection and ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

The Board also called on UNAIDS and U.N. member states to pursue a clear commitment to ending AIDS as a public health threat, and stressed that achieving that goal includes the reduction of new HIV infections, stigma and discrimination of those living with HIV and AIDS-related deaths by 90 percent compared to 2010 levels.

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Punch, 9 July 2014

A Professor of Medicine at the College of Health Sciences, University of Ilorin, Salami Kazeem, has said that Nigeria ranks as the third HIV/AIDS most heavily burdened country, after India and South Africa.

He added that Africa carried the global heaviest burden of HIV/AIDS; and that about 3.5 million Nigerians are currently living with the virus.

He spoke at the Unilorin's 149th inaugural lecture on Monday, in a lecture entitled, "Realities of living with HIV.'

Kazeem said although the national median prevalence of HIV had reduced in recent years, the reality was that the number of people living with the virus had increased by almost 500,000 in three years.

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Tribun News, 8 Juli 2014

Laporan Reporter Tribun Jogja, Dwi Nourma Handito

TRIBUNJOGJA.COM, YOGYA - Jumlah kasus HIV Aids di Kota Yogyakarta meningkat dan semakin mengkawatirkan. Hingga Maret 2014, tercatat ada 714 kasus terjadi di Kota Yogyakarta, jumlah tersebut meningkat 5,4 persen dari jumlah kasus akhir tahun lalu yang mencapai 677 kasus.

Dari jumlah tersebut, penyebab paling banyak masih disebabkan karena perilaku seks heteroseksual sebesar 56 persen. Dengan rata-rata umur penderita antara umur 20 hingga 29 tahun dan 64 persen dari 714 kasus tersebut diderita oleh laki-laki.

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Capital Public Radio, 8 July 2014

Four Florida insurers allegedly discriminate against people with HIV/AIDS by structuring their prescription drug benefits so that patients are discouraged from enrolling, according to a complaint filed by health advocacy groups.

According to the complaint filed with the Office for Civil Rights at the federal Department of Health and Human Services, the insurers — CoventryOne, Cigna, Humana and Preferred Medical — violated the Affordable Care Act and federal civil rights laws by placing all covered HIV/AIDS drugs, including generics, in the highest drug tiers that require significant patient cost sharing.

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