Morung Express News, 14 April 2014

The increasing cases of HIV/AIDS in Nagaland are particularly based on intravenous drug use and unsafe sex, informs a study published in the International Research Journal of Medical Science. The study titled 'Assessment of HIV/AIDS Sero Positivity in Nagaland' states that the prevalence of infection among IDUs has been a cause of major concern.

It further notes that instances of HIV cases has been gradually increasing among "vulnerable" population groups, including women, young people, high risk groups and bridge populations. It added that young people within the age group of 20-29 are contributing the highest number of HIV/AIDS patients in Nagaland state. In this age bracket, the report informed that the highest mode of transmission is through the sexual route. It further stated that the incidence of HIV/AIDS infection among STD clinic attendees and ante natal (transmission from mother to child) cases in "rural" Nagaland have also been increasing, thereby posing a major challenge for health managers. It said that rising numbers of pregnant women, "whose sexual behavior is not believed to be risky," are testing to be HIV positive.

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UCLANewsroom, 14 April 2014

Communities in Africa and Thailand that worked together on HIV-prevention efforts saw not only a rise in HIV screening but a drop in new infections, according to a new study in the peer-reviewed journal The Lancet Global Health.

The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health's Project Accept — a trial conducted by the HIV Prevention Trials Network to test a combination of social, behavioral and structural HIV-prevention interventions — demonstrated that a series of community efforts boosted the number of people tested for HIV and resulted in a 14 percent reduction in new HIV infections, compared with control communities.

Much of the research was conducted in sub-Saharan Africa, which has particularly high rates of HIV. The researchers were interested not just in how the clinical trial participants' behavior changed, but also in how these efforts affected the community as a whole, said Thomas Coates, Project Accept's overall principal investigator and director of UCLA's Center for World Health.

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GBCGhana, 14 April 2014

Dwindling funds from external sources is likely to halt successes attained by Ghana if internal financial resources are not secured to sustain the great efforts, Dr Fred Nana Poku, Technical Manager for Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), has said.

He said over 70 per cent of funds for HIV programmes in Ghana came from external sources, most especially the Global Fund, and with the gradual shifting of focus of the Fund, "it is likely to affect us heavily if serious attention is given to HIV activities".

Dr Poku said this at an HIV training workshop for editors from selected media houses in the Greater Accra Region on Saturday.

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ThanhNienNews, 14 April 2014

Sexual intercourse has surpassed intravenous drug use as the leading means of HIV transmission, a concerned Ho Chi Minh City official announced Saturday.

"Although HIV infections have fallen over the years, we saw double the number of new infections last year compared to 2010," Nguyen Tan Binh, director of the HCMC Health Department said.

Binh was speaking at a meeting held to review of anti-HIV/AIDS activities from 2011-2013 and present the 2014-2015 agenda.

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