NAPWA

The Australasian HIV/AIDS Conference opened today in Canberra with a bold challenge for Australia to up its game and reduce transmissions of HIV amongst men who have sex with men, by 80 per cent by 2015. read more »

NAPWHA regularly receives requests to endorse or support research in the area of HIV. Such support may take the form of active involvement as an investigatorA medical researcher in charge of carrying out a clinical trialA clinical trial is a research study to answer specific questions about vaccines or new therapies or new ways of using known treatments. Clinical trials are used to determine whether new drugs or treatments are both safe and effective. Carefully conducted clinical trials are the fastest and safest way to find treatments that work in people. Trials are in four phases: Phase I tests a new drug or treatment in a small group; Phase II expands the study to a larger group of people; Phase III expands the study to an even larger group of people; and Phase IV takes place after the drug or treatment has been licensed and marketed. 's protocolA study plan on which all clinical trials are based. The plan is carefully designed to safeguard the health of the participants as well as answer specific research questions. A protocol describes what types of people may participate in the trial; the schedule of tests, procedures, medications, and dosages; and the length of the study. While in a clinical trial, participants following a protocol are seen regularly by the research staff to monitor their health and to determine the safety and effectiveness of their treatment ., help in designing a research project or simply assistance with recruitment. NAPWHA recognises the importance of research to improving the health and well-being of PLHIVPerson (or people) Living with HIV. This term is now preferred over the older PLWHA. and in most cases is willing to provide support where it is able. read more »

A groundbreaking study underway in Melbourne aims to show that a potential new HIV treatment is able to do what current antiretroviralsA medication or other substance which is active against retroviruses such as HIV. cannot: eradicate HIV from latently infected cells.

Kirsty Machon reports on some exciting new research. read more »

In June this year, I had the opportunity to the represent HIV positive people of Australia at a UN special session on HIV. The meeting coincided with the 30th anniversary of the first public report of AIDS in June 1981.

NAPWHA’s president, Robert Mitchell,reports back from the UN special session on HIV in New York. read more »

The 6th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention was held in Rome last week from 17-20 July. This meeting is held every two years and alternates with the much larger World AIDS Conferences also organised by the International AIDS Society (IAS). read more »

‘So, what’s the big deal about having HIV?’ This is what a friend asked David Menadue, recently.

‘You look okay. It’s a manageable condition, now,’ he said. ‘Sometimes I think you guys make too much fuss about it all.’ read more »

David Menadue questions the use of fear in HIV prevention campaigns.

‘Bring back the Grim Reaper!’ they say. ‘You need a fear-based campaign to shock people into the awful reality of HIV.’

We’re familiar with this type of sentiment. It usually appears in the letters column of the gay press following any announcement that HIV numbers are up in the community. read more »

The united Nations has set an ambitious goal of no new HIV infections or AIDS related deaths by 2015.

The UN Secretary General’s 2011 Report on AIDS highlights new strategies in the fight against the disease and urges universal access to treatment, care, and support, and an end to discrimination. read more »

I will not be silenced and I will not give up and I will not be ignored.

With these words, Elizabeth Taylor lent her voice to the voiceless, her iconic image to those who had previously been invisible, and her compassion and determination to a cause many others had shunned: the fight against HIV. read more »

Melbourne university researchers have identified antibodies in a breakthrough that brings closer the hope of developing an effective vaccine.

A study of 100 people with HIV, recruitedThe act of signing up participants into a study. Generally this process involves evaluating a participant with respect to the eligibility criteria of the study and going through the informed consentThe process of learning the key facts about a clinical trial before deciding whether or not to participate. It is also a continuing process throughout the study to provide information for participants. To help someone decide whether or not to participate, the doctors and nurses involved in the trial explain the details of the study. process. from The Alfred Hospital and the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, has shown that antibodies were so successful in suppressing the virusA small infective organism which is incapable of reproducing outside a host cell. that it had to mutate around them. read more »