DHS Rule To Streamline Temporary Visas For HIV Positive Visitors To USA

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security ( DHS ) has issued new procedures that will streamline the issuance of certain short-term non-immigrant visas to people infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus ( HIV ) who are otherwise qualified to enter the United States. Under this new regulation, Department of State consular officers overseas will now have the authority to grant temporary, non-immigrant visas to otherwise eligible applicants who are HIV-positive and meet certain requirements.

Previously the Department of State would request permission from DHS for HIV positive travelers to enter the U.S. It was at the discretion of DHS as to whether those persons could enter into the U.S. The process proved cumbersome at best.

The HIV Waiver Final Rule will apply to foreigners who are HIV-positive and seek to enter the United States as visitors for up to 30 days; these individuals still must meet all of the other normal criteria for the granting of a U.S. visa. The issuance of visas under the rule will also be subject to certain criteria designed to ensure an HIV-positive person’s activities while in the United States do not present a risk to the public health. Travelers who do not meet the specific requirements of the rule, or who wish to follow the pre-existing process, may elect to follow the existing procedure for a case-by-case determination of their eligibility for a visa and admission authorization.

Visas issued under this final rule will not publicly identify any traveler as HIV-positive.

The DHS rule change is not part of the recent passage of the United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008, which President Bush signed on July 30, 2008. The act removed the inclusion of HIV on a list of diseases of public health significance that made any person infected with those conditions ineligible from admission to the United States. The department of Health and Human Services is still determining the rules process to remove HIV from the list.

Considering that the DHS rule change took nearly two years from the date of initial inception, it is unlikely that the HHS changes will occur any time prior to the end of the Bush presidency, and most likely will occur well into the next presidency. The Final Rule is available at http://www.dhs.gov/xprevprot/laws/.

Competition Heats Up For HIV Drug Makers

Patent expiries combined with new drugs, drug classes and an increased need worldwide will stir up the HIV market in the coming years, according to a new Datamonitor report.

The report anticipates a growth from $9.3 billion in 2007 to $15.1 billion in 2017 – across the seven major markets: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, UK and the US.

In conjunction with the market's growth, the competition will grow as well, across all antiretroviral drug classes, the report posits. According to Mansi Shah, an analyst at Datamonitor, California biotech Gilead leads the market currently with four marketed products.

Gilead's Truvada was the “bestselling drug in 2007 with revenues of $1.5 billion, while Atripla, a Gilead and Bristol-Myers Squibb's product generated 2007 sales of $920 million.

GlaxoSmithKline has led the category in the past, but faces patent expiries and other research and development hurdles. A further setback for GSK arrived when several independent studies found its Epzicom FDC – a Truvada competitor – is both less effective in certain patients and may have an increased risk of causing heart attacks.

Competition among protease inhibitors has accelerated based on two pivotal clinical trials, CASTLE and ARTEMIS. The trial results caused Kaletra, previously the undisputed leader in the category, to falter, with BMS's Reyataz and Tibotec/Johnson & Johnson's Prezista picking up the slack. Datamonitor predicts that Reyataz and Prezista will become the leading PIs by 2017.

Between September 2007 and January 2008, three new HIV drugs were approved, two of which have seen a significant uptake in the market. Merck's Isentris, and Tibotec's Intelence are already being widely used in highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) regimens.

The Datamonitor report, titled Commercial Insight: HIV – The battle for market share is getting fiercer, also points out that emerging markets outside of the major seven will become more important, given that HIV rates in the major seven markets represent only three to six percent of the globally infected population. Canada's HIV market, for instance, grew by 24% from 2004 to 2007, to $272 million, according to the report. Courtesy mmm-online.com

HIV Rate Among Drug Users Rising Worldwide

The rate of HIV infection among injecting drug users appears to be rising, according to a report published in the British Medical journal, The Lancet.

Researchers say that 3 million drug users worldwide could now be HIV positive. In nine countries, more than 40% of drug users were infected. The report also concludes that both the numbers of injecting drug users and the prevalence of HIV infection among them are on the increase.

The high prevalence of HIV among many populations of injecting drug users represents a substantial global health challenge In some countries in South East Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe the rates of infection among injecting users are above 40%. In Estonia it is more than 72%. But some countries have maintained very low rates of infection, such as Great Britain, New Zealand and Australia where only 1.5% of injecting drug users are HIV-positive. Researchers say that this was due to the swift introduction of needle exchange programs in the 1980s.

The report says that there is a clear mandate to invest in HIV prevention programs such as needle exchanges and drug substitution treatments. There is also a clear need for education to help prevent the spread of infection in countries where injecting drug use is common but where the virus has not yet become widespread among users. Courtesy BBC

Iowa Man Drops HIV Lawsuit Against Mcdonalds Franchise

A man who filed a lawsuit claiming he was fired from his job at a Dyersville Iowa McDonald's because he was gay and has HIV has dropped the case. Daniel Carver of Epworth dropped the lawsuit last week. Court records did not indicate whether a settlement was reached in the case, but an attorney for the restaurant's owners say the case was satisfactorily resolved.

Carver worked at the restaurant between October 2007 and February 2008.

He claimed that he was not promoted, had his work hours reduced and was harassed after other employees learned he was gay and had HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

In court documents, the restaurant's owners, Glenn and Lois Karpinske, denied Carver's claims of discrimination and said that he was fired because of poor work performance and excessive absenteeism. Source Associated Press.

Ground Has Been Broken!

After too few hours of sleep I climbed out of bed this gloomy Saturday morning to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility of Open Arms of Minnesota. Open Arms prepares and delivers meals to those living with HIV, breast cancer, ALS and MS. With of client base of 500, they perform a miracle not unlike the 'loaves and fishes' of the bible, preparing and delivering thousands of meals every week.

I started volunteering at Open Arms about two years ago when a friend of mine who is HIV positive suggested it was a good place to volunteer, and I had been looking for an opportunity to volunteer within the GLBT community. I was immediately struck by the caring and dedication not only of the Open Arms staff, but also of the countless volunteers who give of their time preparing and delivering an endless stream of nutritious food. And they perform this miraculous task in a building which is now stretched beyond it's original capacity.

I am often frustrated that HIV has become the forgotten disease. While it's true that HIV positive people live longer and healthier lives, it comes at a terrible financial cost. The escalating cost of medical care and presciptions eat away at the meager budgets of those with HIV, leaving them with less money for basic necessities like food. But there's another face to living with HIV; the isolation, the loneliness and the stigma of the disease. When an Open Arms volunteer shows up at your door with two sacks of food and a smile, it can do more to heal a soul than any pill or doctor.

While I can't say I am the most dedicated volunteer at Open Arms, I can say with modest certainty that I am their most grateful volunteer. I cannot imagine living in the Twin Cities without such an organization that is dedicated day in and day out to alleviating the suffering of those with HIV, breast cancer, ALS and MS. We are truly blessed to be in their company.

And now for the hard financial reality. Open Arms needs $2.5 million additional dollars to help build a new facility that will serve their ever growing client base, from now and into the future. The need is great and sadly, the need is growing. To donate to this worthwhile cause, click on the Open Arms logo and you will be directed to their website. If you can't give from your pocketbook, I urge you to give of your time. Volunteer drivers and food preparers are always needed, 7 days a week 12 hours a day. Help Open Arms achieve their dream where no one who is sick will go hungry.

AIDS Sufferers Still Hide In The Shadows Even During Fundraising Walk

Even as people with HIV are living decades longer, the faces of the virus and AIDS remain largely hidden in mid-Michigan.'We don't have a sign on our buildings,'' said Tom Brubaker, care outreach coordinator for Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Center's BASIS HIV/AIDS Care Program, 515 Adams in Bay City Michigan. ''Clients may face discrimination from landlords and neighbors if they find out their status. They live in the shadows. Sometimes their case manager is the only person who knows they are sick,'' Brubaker said.

An estimated 18,000 Michigan residents are infected with HIV, including 360 in Saginaw, Bay and Midland counties, according to Michigan state records.

Unlike cancer survivors who declare their battle with the disease at Relay for Life walks, most people living with HIV won't proclaim their status at the AIDS Walk Michigan on Saturday in downtown Bay City, Brubaker said. But they will walk with residents from their community who have raised pledges to support their care.

''We had more than 400 people participate last year and raised $38,000,'' Brubaker said. ''Even if others don't know you have the disease, it's heart-warming to know your community supports you.''

BASIS started its HIV/AIDS care services 20 years ago. BASIS serves about 150 clients a year in 8 mid Michigan counties. It offers case management, drug and dental assistance, help with housing, referrals to other agencies, a food pantry and support groups.The agency's primary funding source is the federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. White was an Indiana teenager with hemophilia when he contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion. He and his mother, Jeannie White-Ginder, fought AIDS-related discrimination and helped educate the nation about his disease. He died in 1990 at 18, just a few months before Congress passed the act bearing his name. The Saginaw News

Breast Milk Purged Of HIV Virus

A simple nipple shield that prevents HIV transmission from a breast-feeding mother to her child has been devised by a Cambridge University engineer. Stephen Gerrard, a chemical engineer, has helped devise the shield that can disinfect milk as it leaves the breast.

The device uses a detergent used by biochemists to denature proteins for analysis. A layer of cotton-wool soaked in sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) is added to a conventional shield and this deactivates the virus.The layer deals with the virus without having to go through heat treatment which is the normal treatment to deactivate the HIV virus. Initial research had looked at heat treatment, but researchers determined the heat process may be impractical for women in developing countries.

Their project could also have benefits beyond prevention of HIV. "We were concerned that using our nipple shield could be stigmatizing, since it would identify a mother as HIV infected," said Mr Gerrard. "We're considering marketing it as a way to deliver medicines or micronutrient supplements to aid breast feeding. For example, they can also be used for iron or iodine deficiency." Courtesy BBC news.

Good News For Co-Infected AIDS Patients

It is a bold step, but the signs are that it is a breakthrough in the ongoing battle to stop the death march of HIV/Aids.That is the message from researchers at Durban's Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, who believe they have found the key to treating thousands of South Africans co-infected with tuberculosis and HIV.

A clinical trial integrated the HIV and TB treatment, a joint strategy which, until now, was not implemented adequately in a clinical setting because of concerns about drug compatibility and toxicity. Initial trial results show that by combining treatment the death rate can be reduced by 55 percent. The results are so significant that an independent safety monitoring committee has recommended that patients enrolled in the sequential treatment arm of the trial (where patients were prescribed antiretrovirals only after completing their TB treatment) should be initiated on ARVs as early as possible, so that they, too, can benefit from the combined treatment.

Explaining the background to the trial, Prof Salim Abdool Karim - the trial's principal investigator and director of the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa (Caprisa) - said that from the data, it was clear that the two diseases needed to be treated jointly."There are many challenges in treating both conditions simultaneously. As a result, integration of TB and Aids treatment has not been as widely implemented as we would like. This study's findings make a compelling case for greater linkages between TB and Aids services."Implementing an integrated TB and HIV treatment program in South Africa could, he says, prevent about 10 000 deaths a year and lead to an additional 100 000 to 150 000 patients (with TB and a CD4 cell count of less than 500) being given life-saving medication.

The next step, once the optimum integration treatment strategy is established, will be to urge the health sectors nationally and internationally to actively promote integrated TB-HIV treatment as standard practice.

More than 350 000 people in South Africa are infected with TB, of which 70 percent are believed to be co-infected with HIV.The groundbreaking trial involved 645 men and women 18 years or older with smear-positive pulmonary TB and HIV infection, with a CD4 count of less than 500. Courtesy Independent Online of South Africa

Prominent AIDS Researcher Awarded MacArthur Fellowship

Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, an infectious disease specialist and director of the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs at Columbia University as been named a recipient and 2008 fellow of the McArthur Foundation. The $500,000 fellowships were announced Tuesday by the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

El-Sadr has developed a multi-pronged approach to treating some of the most pressing pandemics of our time – HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis – diseases that disproportionately afflict people with the least access to quality health care. El-Sadr regularly applies her clinical and public health expertise to studies of pharmacologic treatment protocols to identify alternative medications for patients who are unable to tolerate a preferred therapy.

She also has led investigations of preventive measures, such as early trials of anti-microbial gels that may inhibit HIV transmission, as well as behavioral factors related to treatment, such as when and how impoverished patients seek help. El-Sadr develops treatment strategies by considering such factors as access to health care, education, social status, and economic stressors.

El-Sadr is also recognized internationally for her leadership in preventing maternal-child HIV transmission. Though perinatal retroviral drugs reduce infant risk of contracting AIDS, she has shown that aggressive drug therapy throughout pregnancy and beyond is vital to preserving the integrity of the family, thereby maximizing the long-term health prospects of the child.

Through her work developing effective treatment programs in impoverished and immigrant communities in Harlem, as well as in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, El-Sadr sets ever-improved standards for health care delivery for patients facing devastating disease under severe economic hardship. Information courtesy of the MacArthur Foundation.

Open Arms Groundbreaking Is This Saturday

Open Arms of Minnesota is an organization that is near and dear to my heart. While I am blessed that I do not require their services, I know of many who desperately need their help.

Open Arms serves meals to people living with HIV/AIDS, going through treatment or surgery for cancer, or living with other chronic illnesses such as MS and ALS. With the help of hundreds of volunteers each week, they prepare and deliver nutritious, delicious meals to those living with illness, as well as their dependent children and caregivers. It's more than just food - it provides independence for some who may not otherwise be able to live in their own. There's also a portion of dignity, comfort and care in each meal that gets delivered to our clients.

After 20 plus years of working in a tiny building on Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis, Open Arms is expanding to be able to help even more folks who are in need. I hope you can join us at the groundbreaking ceremonies this Saturday September 27th 2008 at 11 AM at the corner of 25th and Bloomington in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis.

To learn more about their programs, to volunteer or to even become a client, click on the Open Arms link to the right of this message. You will be directed to their website.

Mariah Carey To Act In Film WIth HIV Character

Grammy award winner and sometime actor Mariah Carey has been cast in Lee Daniels indie feature "Push", according to the New York Daily News. She will play a Harlem social worker ministering to an obese, HIV positive woman impregnated twice by her father. Carey has an older sister who is reportedly HIV positive.

Stand Against AIDS Caravan On The Move To Mississippi

Nine separate Stand Against AIDS caravans are snaking across the United States, making their way to Oxford, Miss., where Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain will hold their first presidential debate. The Campaign to End AIDS organized the caravans; it’s supported by hundreds of nationwide HIV organizations.

The caravans focus on the need for what’s called a National AIDS Strategy. Under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), President George W. Bush has allocated $50 billion over five years to fighting the epidemic overseas. For countries to receive U.S. funds, they must develop a National AIDS Strategy, a plan that lays out how it will combat the epidemic and track its progress. Ironically, the United States has no such unified plan: We would be ineligible for our own funding. More than 300 HIV-positive activists in the caravans want the next president to implement such strategy, unified under one department, within his first 100 days in office.

The caravans, whether by foot, train, plane or vehicle, started on September 13 in California, Washington, Texas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Maine, Virginia and Florida. When the caravans converge in Oxford, they’ll present “messages in a bottle,” which have been collected along the way, with a press conference to reiterate the need for a National AIDS Strategy. In the four days leading up to the debate, barbecues, rallies, town-hall meetings and a mock funeral will ensue where nearly 3,000 journalists from around the world are expected to converge. “We are basically taking over [Oxford] for the three days leading up to the debate,” said Dennis Weakly, New York State community organizer for Housing Works, who’s traveling with the caravan.

Organizers and activists created the Campaign to End AIDS in 2004 to promote a National AIDS Strategy that would focus on condom use, safe needle exchange and other proactive programs.

The Sept 26 debate between Obama and McCain at the University of Mississippi will focus on domestic policy focus. Courtesy New York Blade.

Pitt And Jolie Donate 2 Million To Build New HIV Clinic

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s foundation has announced a 2-million dollars donation to Global Health Committee to set up a TB and HIV/AIDS clinic in Ethiopia to help treat the affected children.

The clinic shall be named after their eldest daughter, Zahara, 3, adopted from Ethiopia.

Like the Cambodian Health Committee's Maddox Chivan Children's Center in Cambodia, the center will provide medical education and social services to the children. "Our goal is to transfer the success we have had in Cambodia to Ethiopia where people are needlessly dying of tuberculosis, a curable disease, and HIV/AIDS, a treatable disease," according to a statement released by Jolie's publicist.

The centre in Ethiopia would also concentrate on tuberculosis, a disease that accounts for nearly 2 million deaths in a year, and is the principal source of death in children and AIDS in adults, globally.

The Jolie-Pitt Foundation was established in September 2006, when the duo had supported the Global Action for Children organization and Doctors Without Borders by donating 1 million dollars to each. Courtesy The Times Of India.

Bush Adminstration Slow To Reverse HIV Travel Ban

Experts at an early August international AIDS conference in Mexico City were full of praise for the United States for having reversed a 15-year-old law banning HIV-positive people from entering the country.

But nearly two months after President George W. Bush signed that act into law, his administration has yet to do what is required to put the new law into practice. Lawmakers and advocacy groups are wondering what is going on.

Last week, 58 Democrats in the House of Representatives went right to the top, writing a letter to Bush that urged him to take "swift action on this issue." The signees included California Reps. Barbara Lee, Democratic chief sponsor in the House, House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, all California Democrats.

Last July 30, Bush signed into law a five-year, $48 billion bill to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis around the world and to end the ban on HIV travelers. But before the statutory ban effectively can be ended, the department of Health and Human Services must write a new rule, submit it for public comment and complete it.

"We're working hard to revise the regulation, and it's our goal to have it completed during this administration," said HHS spokeswoman Holly Babin. She said it was "a time-consuming process, and we are giving it the attention it deserves in an effort to anticipate all issues and get it right."

HHS added HIV to the list of communicable diseases that disqualified a person from entry in 1987, a time of widespread fear and ignorance about the disease. The department in 1991 tried to reverse that decision but was opposed by Congress, which in 1993 went the other way and made HIV infection the only medical condition explicitly listed under immigration law as grounds for inadmissibility.

While there is a cumbersome waiver process, the law has effectively kept out thousands of students, tourists and refugees and complicated the adoption of children with the HIV virus. No major international AIDS conference has been held in the United States since 1993 because activists or researchers who had the virus cannot gain entry. There also is the possibility that foreign nationals in the country with the virus might not seek treatment because of fears of being deported.

Only about a dozen countries around the world, including Libya, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, ban travel and immigration for people with HIV. Courtesy Associated Press

VIagra Use May Increase HIV Infection Among Gay men

Gay men who take the erection drug Viagra or the stimulant methamphetamine to enhance sex are at greater risk of contracting HIV, a new Australian study has confirmed, but researchers say the drugs themselves are not to blame.

A study presented at an HIV conference in Perth on Wednesday is the first in Australia to prove that sex enhancement drugs are independently associated with a higher risk of getting the immune deficiency virus. The findings are in line with US studies showing an increasing number of young American men being diagnosed with HIV are taking substances.

Dr Garrett Prestage from the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research in Sydney recorded the drug-taking habits of 1,427 HIV-negative gay men and tracked them over four years to find patterns in HIV infection. "The drugs that were independently associated with seroconversion (an illness occurring after being infected with HIV) are the drugs that enhance sexual pleasure like amyl nitrate, methamphetamine and Viagra," Dr Prestage said. But, he said, the drugs themselves were not responsible for the unprotected, risky sex that led to HIV infection..

"It's not because they take drugs that they become infected. It's because these men are into taking risks in general, whether it be with sex or with drugs." Dr Prestage said his findings show risk is not universal among gay men but specific to a small group of risk takers.

"We need to be targeting our messages to the men who play in more sexually adventurous scenes where risks with both drugs and sex are common," he said. Copyright 2008 AAP

On The Runway With Jack Mackenroth

The United States Conference on Aids held a fashion show Thursday at the Fort Lauderdale Broward County Convention Center. The event is designed to promote HIV and AIDS awareness and give comfort to those who are already battling the disease.

Among the models at the event, Project Runway designer, Jack Mackenroth.

For Mackenroth, HIV is an issue close to home. “I personally have been living with HIV for 20 years, so it is a very personal issue for me. I think a lot of the HIV education out there is geared toward prevention, which is fabulous. But there is a huge community of HIV positive people who need some guidance.”

Mackenroth hopes to offer those living with HIV and AIDS assistance through the program “Living Positive By Design”. The program is designed to combat the stigmas associated with HIV and provide support to those with it.

The United States Conference on Aids will continue through Sunday.