UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe “said Thursday that global contributions to fighting [HIV/AIDS] are dropping off for the first time in 15 years amid tough economic times,” Agence France-Presse reports. “The world economic recession is pushing countries … to enforce austerity,” Sidibe said during a press conference in Tokyo during which he called upon Japan to maintain its support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. “Governments and donors are second-guessing in terms of their budget and priorities,” he added…

Free HIV/AIDS tests, other significant tests and medical exams (including physicals) will be available to uninsured residents of the area when the National Association of Free Clinics holds a massive free clinic in New Orleans on Aug. 31 and Sept. “Louisiana has a much higher rate of AIDS cases than the rest of the nation, so we are pleased to be able to provide tests for this and other conditions to local residents at no cost to themselves,” NAFC Executive Director Nicole Lamoureux said. The rate of AIDS cases per capita in Louisiana was 24…

German pop star Nadja Benaissa, on trial for reckless transmission of HIV to a former partner, has been given a two year suspended sentence. Lisa Power, Policy Director at Terrence Higgins Trust, responds: “It’s vital that we stop the onward transmission of HIV, but we don’t believe that prosecutions like this help. We support prosecutions where someone has intentionally passed on the virus, but that clearly wasn’t the case here. Nadja was a vulnerable 16-year-old when she was diagnosed and had difficulty managing her sex life…

A Scientific American series examines how recent scientific advances will guide future efforts to thwart HIV/AIDS and also looks at the epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM) and injecting drug users (IDUs). When researchers announced during last month’s International AIDS Conference-AIDS 2010 that an antiretroviral-containing vaginal microbicide used by women before and after sex had reduced their risk of HIV infection by 39 percent, “it marked a significant thinning of the line between HIV treatment and prevention…

Nadja Benaissa, 28, who had admitted having unprotected sex with three men when she knew she was HIV positive, and infecting a former partner, has received a two-year suspended sentence. She had been charged with dangerous bodily harm. Under German law, a person can be sued if they are HIV positive and have (unprotected) sex with a partner without telling them about their HIV status. Benaissa had had unprotected sex while HIV positive with three men without telling them about her HIV status. As she had clearly showed remorse for her actions, prosecutors asked the court for leniency…

Kenya Drafts Policy To Address HIV In IDUs In Kenya, “[i]ntravenous drug users (IDUs) have been largely ignored by the government’s HIV programmes on the basis that drug-taking is illegal, but a new policy is being drafted with the aim of reducing HIV transmission among this high-risk group,” IRIN/PlusNews reports. The article includes comments from Nicholas Muraguri, head of the National AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections Control Programme, who said that the policy would treat drug use as a health issue, not a criminal one…

Merck announced the Merck Company Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are committing an additional $60 million to support Botswana’s African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships (ACHAP). Merck is known as MSD outside the US and Canada. A unique program developed with and led by the Government of Botswana, ACHAP is one of sub-Saharan Africa’s oldest, most successful public-private partnerships. With today’s pledge, the Merck Foundation and the Gates Foundation’s total cash contributions now amount to $166.5 million. Merck will also continue the donation of its HIV medicines…

Global Post Examines How Global Fund Impacts HIV Care, Human Rights In El Salvador Global Post examines how the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is impacting HIV/AIDS care and human rights in El Salvador. The article profiles Carla, a Salvadorian transvestite who tested positive for HIV in jail and was able to receive anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment through a program supported by the Global Fund, which the article calls a “revolutionary model.” “To avoid corruption, the aid money is not simply handed over…

Following up a pioneering 2007 proof-of-concept study, a University of Utah biochemist and colleagues have developed a promising new anti-HIV drug candidate, PIE12-trimer, that prevents HIV from attacking human cells. Michael S. Kay, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry in the U School of Medicine and senior author of the study published Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010, online by the Journal of Virology, is raising funds to begin animal safety studies, followed by human clinical trials in two to three years…

A joint project of UCSF and the Kenya Medical Research Institute has received $7 million - the first award of a five year grant that will total about $35 million - to expand its care and support of people affected by HIV/AIDS in Kenya. The project is named Family AIDS Care and Education Services, known as FACES, and it provides a comprehensive program of HIV treatment, care, prevention and support. The grant is awarded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from funding provided through the President’s Emergency Plan for HIV and AIDS Relief…