How many times have you started to have a conversation with someone about Hepatitis C only to have it blow up in your face? Have you ever heard someone say something about Hep C that didn't seem quite right to you? You were probably right something was amiss. A discussion about Hepatitis C can...
As per Wikipedia, the definition of a stigma is as follows: "Stigma is a word that originally means a "sign", "point", or "branding mark"." Wikipedia goes on to call stigma "A badge of shame, a physical mark of infamy or disgrace." Damn that w...
Recently, the CDC (Center for Disease Control) issued a statement that all Baby Boomers should be tested for Hepatitis C. The question often comes up as to why this particular segment of people is so vulnerable. What does being born between 1945 and 1965 have to do with Hepatitis C? What was di...
Buyer Beware! There are several snake oil salesmen out there who are claiming to have cured their own Hepatitis C with herbs, supplements and parking lot gravel. Okay, maybe not the parking lot gravel but it might as well be. What you need to remember is that there are two different types of...
Most every adult woman (and an occasional man) has enjoyed a manicure and a pedicure at a nail salon or spa. That 30 minute pedicure can be so relaxing but are you aware of the danger lurking in that nail salon? Although few individuals recognize the medical risks associated with this common pr...
The Programme Coordinating Board - governing body of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) - concluded its 30th session on 7 June calling for a range of recommendations to strengthen the global HIV response. During the three-day deliberations, the Board received progress reports on issues related to the work of UNAIDS and its Cosponsors.
In his report to the Board, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé underscored the progress made towards the targets of the 2011 Political Declaration on AIDS. The Global Plan to eliminate new HIV infections among children and reduce AIDS-related maternal deaths is on track, said Mr Sidibé. UNAIDS and partners are advancing their commitment to empower and protect women and girls, he added.
“Let me be clear: with your continued support, we will end new HIV infections from mother to child by 2015, and we will do all we can to keep women living with HIV alive and healthy,” said Mr Sidibé.
Women and girls
The Board called on Member States to implement programmes that ensure national HIV responses meet the specific needs of women and girls—including those living with and affected by HIV—across their lifespan.
Delegates unanimously welcomed UN Women as the eleventh Cosponsor of UNAIDS. The new partnership with UN Women is expected to further strengthen the UNAIDS family’s work on gender equality and HIV, as well as enhance collaboration with governments, international partners, women’s organizations and the women’s rights movement.
Other key decisions and recommendations
The Board called on Member States to support effective national AIDS responses by intensifying their efforts to create enabling legal frameworks. Countries were requested to review laws and policies that adversely affect the successful, effective and equitable delivery of HIV prevention, treatment, care and support programmes to people living with and affected by HIV.
Recognizing the critical role that civil society organizations play in the HIV response, the Board called on UNAIDS, in collaboration with Member States, to advocate for continued funding for civil society, as well as for enhanced mechanisms for civil society support and accountability within the new funding architecture of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Board members also urged UNAIDS to use its convening role to facilitate more strategic, country-driven and coordinated technical support. They accepted the UNAIDS financial report and audited financial statements for the period 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2011.
A thematic segment focused on combination HIV prevention approaches provided an opportunity for delegates to exchange information and perspectives on the latest developments and strategies to prevent the spread of HIV. Outcomes from the session will feed into discussions at the July 2012 International AIDS Conference, to be held in Washington DC.
The Programme Coordinating Board meeting—chaired by Poland, with India as vice-chair and the United States of America as rapporteur—was attended by participants and observers from UN Member States, international organizations, civil society and non-governmental organizations. The UNAIDS Executive Director’s report, decisions, recommendations and conclusions from the meeting to the Board can be found at: unaids.org.
Please sign the ATC Salvage Therapy Petition Join us in asking Congressman Alcee Hastings and Congresswomen Maxine Waters to send a ‘Dear Colleague’ letter to Anthony Fauci, Director of NIAID, asking for the federal facilitation of apricitabine (ATC). ATC is a phase III nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) that has been shown to be safe and effective in treating people with HIV. It works against viruses that are resistant to several other nukes and could ...
Researchers from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the University of Massachusetts Medical School announced today at CROI2013 the discovery of the first infant functionally cured of HIV. The baby, a female now two and a half years old, received 3 HIV medications when brought to the hospital at 30 hours old. Viral load tests were performed during the first few weeks that showed a rapidly decreasing viral load which reached ...
At the 19th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) in Washington D.C., the CDC reported that only 1 out of 4 HIV patients in the U.S. have HIV under control, which is defined as complete viral suppression. Warning bells should be ringing in the scientific and HIV advocacy communities. While much progress has been made in the last three decades in the treatment of HIV, tens of thousands of people living with HIV (PLWH) are currently struggling to construct viable treat...
Paige Rawl is 17 and HIV positive, but while her life has been shaped by HIV it isn't ruled by it. When Paige Rawl starts her senior year at Indianapolis’s Herron High School next month, she'll be cheer captain and a member of the student government and prom committee. This summer, the 17-year-old held down a part-time job at Hollister, hawking the popular Southern California-inspired clothing brand. The all-American girl — who happens to be HIV positive. Paige was in...
The HIV community has been abuzz with the August FDA approval of what had been termed “the Quad”, the second one-pill-once-a-day combination antiretroviral drug. Marketed by Gilead under the name Stribild, the drug contains two NRTIs (tenofovir and emtricitabine), an integrase inhibitor (elvitegravir) and an integrase booster (cobicistat) and is approved for use in treatment naïve patients with either drug resistant or wild type virus. In comparison to Atripla, the first...

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) for SUSTIVA® (efavirenz), including dosing recommendations for...

California and other states would be pressured to amend or repeal criminal laws that single out HIV-positive people under a bipartisan bill co-authored and introduced this week by Rep. Barbara...
Mission Statement
At HIV Haven we wish to provide our readers with vital cutting edge information to help expand HIV knowledge and promote activism, particularly that which works towards an end to the HIV pandemic. It is our desire to bring to you the scientific, medical and social advances that given the appropriate attention and support, could change the course of the HIV pandemic, lessen the devastating effects of HIV and AIDS, better the quality and quantity of life for people living with HIV and even yield an eventual end to the HIV pandemic. We also provide the basics of HIV transmission and treatment.
We will focus on issues such as innovative drug development, strategic activist campaigns, HIV relationships and novel HIV and HIV cure research. We also will bring you advances in Hepatitis C (HCV), a common HIV co-infection. Whether you are living with HIV/AIDS, HIV and HCV, love someone who is, are an activist, advocate, researcher, physician or just an interested party, we hope here at HIV Haven we can help you find what you are looking for.