FDA Approves New HIV Screening Test

Federal regulators said Tuesday they have approved a new HIV test that screens for two, less common forms of the virus.

The Food and Drug Administration said the TaqScreen MPX Test is the first to simultaneously detect HIV-2 and HIV-1 Group O strains. Both types of HIV are mainly found among patients in Africa, but the FDA said they have recently been detected in the U.S.

The test, which is made by a division of Swiss drugmaker Roche, also screens for the most common forms of HIV and hepatitis.

The MPX test is designed to screen for infectious diseases in human blood and tissue samples from donors.

"Blood donor testing laboratories will be able to use nucleic acid technology to screen for additional HIV strains, further assuring that donated blood and tissue are free from infection," FDA division chief Jesse Goodman said in a statement.

Other companies offering HIV tests include Abbott Laboratories and Gen-Probe Inc.

On Monday the FDA also approved the release of a generic version of HIV drug Zerit by drugmaker Mylan. Zerit is a NRTI type drug that was originally released by Bristol Myers Squibb in 1994.

Christine Maggiore, Prominent HIV Skeptic, Dead At 52

Christine Maggiore, a Van Nuys California woman who garnered national attention as an outspoken skeptic of HIV, has died, according to the L.A. County coroner's office.

Maggiore, 52, was founder of Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives, a nonprofit that challenges "common assumptions" about AIDS. Her group's website and toll-free hotline cater to expectant HIV-positive mothers who shun AIDS medications, want to breast-feed their babies and seek to meet others of like mind. She also had written a book on the subject, titled "What if Everything You Thought You Knew About AIDS Was Wrong?"

In 2006, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office decided not to file criminal charges against Maggiore, whose daughter died the year before in what the county coroner ruled was AIDS-related pneumonia.

Los Angeles police had been investigating whether Maggiore and her husband, Robin Scovill, were negligent in not testing or treating Eliza Jane Scovill for the human immunodeficiency virus before her May 2005 death.Maggiore had said that she did not take antiviral medications during her pregnancy and that she did not have her daughter tested for the virus after birth.

According to the website, "the symptoms associated with AIDS are treatable using non-toxic, immune enhancing therapies." (Clearly, she was wrong.) Courtesy Los Angeles Times.

California Ordered By Courts To Fund Care For HIV'ers

California was ordered by a court to provide Medi-Cal coverage to poor people who are HIV-positive but who haven’t been diagnosed with AIDS, said a nonprofit organization that had sued the state.

A Superior Court judge in Los Angeles found that California’s Department of Health Care Services must comply with a 2002 state law intended to extend Medi-Cal benefits to people with HIV, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation said Tuesday in a statement. Medi-Cal is the California Medicaid program that provides health-care services to low-income people.
Before the 2002 law, only HIV positive people who had developed AIDS were eligible for Medi-Cal, according to the statement.

Implementing the bill wasn’t possible in a “cost neutral environment,” Anthony Cava, a spokesman for the Department of Health Care Services in Sacramento, said in an e-mailed statement.

“The law was very clear that it should not be implemented if the costs could not be offset by savings,” Cava said. The department “will continue to work with its partners to implement the law in a cost-neutral manner, just as the legislature intended.” Source Bloomberg.

Rising HIV Rates May Prompt Dallas County To Drop Condom Distribution Ban

The number of Dallas County residents living with HIV and AIDS has steadily increased during the past five years.

But county health workers still are not allowed to distribute condoms in high-risk neighborhoods because of a controversial Commissioners Court policy passed 13 years ago.

At least two court members, however, are hoping to reverse that policy.

"I can't continue to join the ostrich head-in-the-sand group given the numbers," said Commissioner John Wiley Price, a Democrat who raised the issue during a recent meeting.
Dallas County had the highest HIV rate in Texas last year and in 2006, state officials say, although the reported number of new cases has been decreasing.

Before 1995, county health workers routinely ventured into local communities to hand out condoms and needle sterilization kits to those with the greatest risk of infection. But that year, a narrow majority of commissioners voted to end the practice, saying it encouraged illegal and immoral behavior.

Mr. Price, who is black, said he is alarmed by the number of AIDS cases in local black communities and said he doesn't want to see the numbers continue to increase "under my watch." Local Hispanic communities also have been hit hard, mirroring a national trend.
In Dallas County, condom availability is not a question of money.

The Texas Department of State Health Services provides free condoms to all county health departments in Texas.

County Judge Jim Foster, a fellow Democrat of Mr. Price's, said it's time to end the ban on condom distribution.

It's not clear whether Mr. Foster and Mr. Price have enough votes to reverse the county's condom policy. Two of the court's three Republicans – Kenneth Mayfield and Mike Cantrell – voted for the condom distribution ban in 1995.

Shortly after commissioners enacted the 1995 ban, they agreed to a compromise under which privately donated condoms would be available in county health clinics.

Local medical professionals blasted their decision at the time, saying it would endanger public health. Federal and state agencies cut some grant funding to the county for disease prevention and education. Courtesy Dallas Morning News.

Merry Christmas!

Non Profit Issues Challenge In Search For The Cure

The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the development of safe, effective and accessible, preventive HIV vaccines, has posted a $150,000 challenge on to AIDS researchers. The challenge seeks proposals for and a sample of the protein that will provide researchers with new avenues for furthering HIV vaccine design and development.

Specifically, the challenge calls for the design of a protein that mimics the part of the HIV envelope that is first visible to the body's host defenses. In animal models and other experimental systems, this protein has triggered antibody immune responses that have successfully blocked HIV from entering cells and thus prevented HIV infection. Unfortunately, the protein, in its natural state, is unstable and breaks down easily when it enters the body. To date, investigators have been unable to engineer a stable protein that remains consistently intact in laboratory testing. The winner of this challenge will be the researcher who successfully designs and creates a stable functional HIV envelope protein, which will then be tested to see what kinds of immune responses it generates. If the protein is sufficiently immunogenic, (able to block HIV from entering human cells) researchers will also be eligible for a bonus of up to $1M dollars and/or the opportunity to pursue their research further with support from IAVI.

In 2007, 33.2 million people were living with HIV worldwide, with at least 70 percent of those in clinical need of ARV treatments worldwide not receiving them. IAVI estimates that the potential positive impact of HIV vaccines would be enormous, especially in the developing world.

The challenge is being supported in part by The Rockefeller Foundation, as part of its Accelerating Innovation for Development Initiative, which supports the application of new innovation models to solve challenges facing poor or vulnerable populations around the world. Source press release.
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Making Egg Nog Safe For HIV'ers

Holiday time is full of traditions from making sugar cookies and fruitcakes to whipping up a batch of homemade eggnog.

But beware grandmas traditional eggnog recipe; for those of us with HIV, it can be a killer.

The practice of mkaing eggnog with raw eggs is never recommended; raw eggs are a dangerous and deadly source of the bacterium salmonella, which can cause food-borne illness.

To continue to make eggnog at home, use of the following food safety substitutions.

Use commercially-prepared eggnog, which contains pasteurized eggs.

Or in place of raw eggs, use an equivalent amount of pasteurized (frozen or refrigerated) egg product that has never been opened. Because of the risk of bacterial contamination after opening, any leftover egg product should be used only in cooked products.

Cooked eggs can also be used in your eggnog recipe. Combine the raw eggs with half of the milk and sugar in a 4-quart double boiler. Cook and stir over medium heat, approximately 10 to 15 minutes, until the mixture coats a metal spoon and the temperature reaches 160 degrees F. Continue preparing your recipe as directed.

NEVER use unpasteurized whole eggs or even egg whites. Eggs with clean, uncracked shells can still be contaminated with salmonella bacteria and it has not been proven that raw egg whites are free of salmonella bacteria. Courtesy Utah State University Extension.

Cell Phone Enabled To Detect HIV And Other Diseases

A new MacGyver-esque cellphone hack could bring cheap, on-the-spot disease detection to even the most remote villages on the planet. Using only an LED, plastic light filter and some wires, scientists at UCLA have modded a cellphone into a portable blood tester capable of detecting HIV, malaria and other illnesses.

Blood tests today require either refrigerator-sized machines that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars or a trained technician who manually identifies and counts cells under a microscope. These systems are slow, expensive and require dedicated labs to function. And soon they could be a thing of the past.

UCLA researcher Dr. Aydogan Ozcan images thousands of blood cells instantly by placing them on an off-the-shelf camera sensor and lighting them with a filtered-light source. The filtered light exposes distinctive qualities of the cells, which are then interpreted by Ozcan's custom software. By analyzing the cell types present in a much larger sample, a more accurate diagnosis can be made in a matter of minutes. No more sending blood away to a lab and waiting days or weeks for the results.

Starbucks RED Product Program To Continue Into 2009

Since Starbucks began donating a portion of its sales on Nov. 27, customers have generated contributions equal to more than 1.4 million daily doses of antiretroviral medicine, which would provide a year of therapy to more than 3,800 Africans with HIV, the company said Thursday.

The Starbucks beverages that help the fund are peppermint mocha twist, gingersnap latte and espresso truffle. (RED) products do not cost extra.

Also Thursday, Starbucks gave details on how it would continue its partnership with (RED) in 2009.

(RED) is a private organization that benefits health programs in Africa through the Global Fund. Rock singer Bono and Bobby Shriver (President John F. Kennedy's nephew) founded (RED) in 2006 to benefit the Global Fund. It works with other companies, including Apple, Dell, Gap and Microsoft.

On Jan. 3, Starbucks will release a new type of customer rewards card designed for its (RED) campaign. From Jan. 3 until Dec. 31, 2009, every time a customer uses the (RED) stored-value card to make a purchase, 5 cents will go to the Global Fund.

Before this announcement, it was unclear what Starbucks' partnership with (RED) would look like in 2009. Currently, 5 cents from the sales of certain types of holiday beverages go to the fund, but Starbucks has said that the partnership would change once the holiday beverages finished the season. Courtesy Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Newly Released Research Sheds Light On Hiv Transmission And The Importance Of Condom Usage

Researchers at Northwestern University are reporting today that HIV can penetrate the lining of a woman's vaginal tract during intercourse.

Previously, researchers thought the lining served as a barrier to the virus. HIV was probably transmitted through skin lesions or a thin layer of cells lining the cervical canal, they speculated.

Instead, it appears that the HIV can enter a woman's system through areas where the vaginal tract sheds skin cells, according to Thomas Hope, professor of cell and molecular biology at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine.

He presented the findings today at the American Society for Cell Biology annual meeting in San Francisco.

Hope and colleagues from Northwestern and Tulane University observed the movement of HIV, tagged with a flourescent marker, in animals and human tissue discarded after a hysterectomy. These only approximate the virus' behavior in women and results need to be replicated.

"We urgently need new prevention strategies or therapeutics to block the entry of HIV through a woman's genital skin," Hope said in a statement.

The finding is timely as the female condom gains new attention this week, following the unanimous approval of a second-generation version of the product by an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration. Courtesy Chicago Tribune.

I'm Happy Happy Happy

I have my 5 plus month checkup with my doctor this week. But I have already received my lab results which make it all seem anti-climatic.

I am usually a wreck when doctor time rolls around, but my T cell counts are very good and my viral load is undetectable, which makes me a very happy (and grateful) person. I would not be here to today without Atripla. I just wish the other 90 percent of those infected with HIV had the same access to retro viral medications.

Your DNA May Determine Your HIV Fate

An HIV positive patient's DNA can indicate how quickly the virus will develop into full -blown AIDS, according to a new research.

A team at the National Cancer Institute in Maryland has found that some variations in the DNA in mitochondria, the powerplant of a cell, actually make AIDS develop twice as fast as others.

Researchers, led by Stephen O'Brien, have based their findings on an analysis of data from five studies tracking 1,833 HIV positive people during the 1980s and early 90s, the 'New Scientist' reported.

And, by studying the time it took for the subjects to develop AIDS-related diseases and relating it to their genetic information, the researchers found that some mitochondrial DNA genotypes are associated with rapid development of AIDS.

For example, subjects with specific sets of variations known as U5a1 and J haplogroups progressed to AIDS at almost twice the average rate of the studied population. In contrast, people with the H3 haplogroup progressed more than twice as slowly, the study found.

This supports existing theories that mitochondria are implicated in the progression of HIV/AIDS. "Having less energy available seems to exacerbate the effects of the disease," said team member Sher Hendrickson.

"The U5a1 and J haplogroups seem to be responsible for this lack of energy. This means mitochondrial DNA tests could one day give an accurate prognosis for people with HIV, though further work on other genetic and environmental influence factors would be necessary first," said Hendrickson. Source The Hindu.

New York Man Accused Of Forging HIV Status For Sex

A man who sought to have unprotected sex with a woman allegedly gave her a forged medical document stating he had tested negative for HIV. The man, who apparently knew he was HIV positive, now might face prison time.

Duane Lang, 47, was arrested Monday and charged with reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a forged instrument. He could face up to eight years in prison.

The woman, whose identity is being kept private, wanted proof from Lang of his HIV status before agreeing to unprotected sex. He allegedly presented her with a forged document purportedly from the AIDS Center of Queens County, where Lang had formerly worked as a volunteer. The document stated that as of Dec. 12, 2007, Lang was “negative/non-reactive for the HIV-1 antibody based upon the rapid HIV antibody test.”

They subsequently had unprotected sex between eight and 10 times from December 2007 to March 2008. In March, the woman apparently questioned Lang about the document’s authenticity, and he allegedly admitted he had been HIV positive since 2002 and that he had created the fake document. “With deceit and depravity, the defendant repeatedly endangered the life of a person he supposedly cared for, according to the criminal complaint,” said Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn. Courtesy Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

USA Winning The War On New HIV Infections But Falling Behind In Funding AIDS Prevention

Twenty four years ago, the AIDS epidemic peaked in the U.S. as 130,400 people contracted the HIV virus that causes this devastating illness.

Back then, before most Americans knew about AIDS, before antiretroviral treatments were available, 44 of every 100 HIV-positive people conveyed the virus to someone else.

Today, only 5 of every 100 people with HIV infect others, according to data released this week by researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Credit goes to prevention programs that promote safe sex and needle use and have helped change behavior, experts say. But inflation-adjusted funding for HIV/AIDS prevention has actually declined recently and advocates worry that gains in combating this disease could be undermined.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, only 4 percent of the nation's $23 billion spending on AIDS goes to U.S. HIV/AIDS prevention efforts. The remainder goes to research, treatment and overseas programs.

In a statement, Richard Wolitski, acting director of the CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention sounded a note of caution.

"Despite this success, we can't forget that new HIV infections are increasing among gay and bisexual men and that African Americans and Hispanics continue to experience disproportionate and unacceptable high rates of HIV and AIDS," said Wolitski, co-author of the research letter published this week in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

"The fight against HIV is far from over."

Indeed, about 1.1 million Americans are living with HIV/AIDS, compounding the risk of transmission. And 55,000 people still become newly infected with the virus annually.

The new research letter provides a reminder of the human toll of HIV infections. It shows that 540,432 Americans died of AIDS between 1978 and 2006, the latest year for which data is available. Thirty years ago, one person was recorded as perishing from the disease; two years ago, it claimed the lives of almost 14,000 Americans. Courtesy Judith Graham and the Chicago Tribune.

Making A Case For HIV Testing Among Teens

The Los Angeles Times on Monday examined new practice guidelines issued recently by the American College of Physicians recommending routine HIV testing for all patients beginning at age 13, regardless of whether they engage in high-risk behaviors. The Centers For Disease Control (CDC) in 2006 also released recommendations for HIV screening as part of routine medical care.

Bernard Branson of the HIV/AIDS prevention division at CDC, who helped develop the agency's current recommendations, said that although physicians in the past might have limited HIV screening suggestions to high-risk patient groups, this approach often failed to identify new HIV cases. By recommending routine HIV screening for all patients, physicians can avoid asking patients sensitive questions about sexual activity and high-risk behavior.

In addition, universal HIV testing can benefit teenage patients, who may be reluctant to discuss their sexual activity if they are accompanied by parents, Branson said. He added that patients can benefit from early HIV diagnosis because early treatment is more effective and can delay progression to AIDS. In addition, HIV/AIDS researchers say that increased awareness can slow the spread of HIV, because people who are aware of their HIV-positive status might engage in fewer risky behaviors.

According to the Times, obstacles to universal HIV screening are "falling away" as some states are requiring health insurers to cover HIV testing costs and fewer states are requiring counseling and informed consent before conducting blood tests. However, some physicians still might hesitate to suggest HIV screening because it could "open up a discussion that the physician feels he or she doesn't want to get into or doesn't have time for or doesn't have training for," Thomas Coates, director of the global health program at the University of California-Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine, said.

He added that recommending universal HIV screening also raises questions about counseling, referrals and partner notification if the patient tests HIV-positive. However, Coates said it is important to recommend HIV screening even without follow-up discussions because it indicates to patients that HIV tests are an important component of medical care. adding that when a physician recommends HIV testing, "it's kind of a signal to the adolescent that this is something that he or she needs to think about." Courtesy Kaisernetwork.org and The Los Angeles Times.

Profectus BioSciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that develops vaccines, announced Monday that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded to Profectus two contracts totaling $21.6 million to develop a preventative HIV vaccine.

Both HIV vaccine products are expected to begin human clinical trials by late 2009. The vaccines were originally developed by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and licensed to Profectus in 2008. Profectus BioSciences is based in Baltimore Maryland.

HIV Infections Increasing In Rural Georgia

HIV is no longer a 'big city' problem, according to a Georgia Health official.

In rural Georgia, the number of cases is spiking, said Donald Slakie, public health educator and AIDS expert with the Georgia Health Department. “The rural areas are being much more severely affected with HIV than ever before,” Slakie said. He blames the fact on both resources and treatment not being readily available and on the greater difficulty in reaching people through prevention efforts.

The epidemic is shifting to smaller cities, towns and farms. A third or more of new cases that are men are outside Atlanta’s 20-county metropolitan area. Almost half the women and children are in rural areas, according to governmental statistics. Georgia ranks seventh in the nation for AIDS cases — and more than half the cases reported as recently as 2004 have died.

One group is being hit harder than all others. “We know that more African-Americans are being infected than any other ethnic group in the United States at this time,” Slakie said. “ … Particularly between the ages of 18 and 44.” Of the 6,348 AIDS cases reported in rural Georgia from 1981 to 1999, more than two-thirds — 70 percent — are among minorities. Of all cases in the state, 83 percent are now black — more than three-fourths — up from just over half in 1996. Persons 30 to 39 years old have the largest number of cases.

The reasons for such high numbers in this area are many, according Raphael Holloway from the Georgia Department of Human Resources. “I think it’s different for different people,” he said. “An inability to prioritize, their sex behaviors that put them at risk; it may be housing, it may be income, it could be other pressing health issues.”

More teenagers are becoming infected, according to government statistics. Teens, the prevention plan states, are less likely to perceive themselves at risk and more likely to take chances with unprotected sex. Many of the 19 percent of Georgians who were diagnosed in their 20s were likely infected as teens. In Georgia’s North Health District, 490 cases of HIV/AIDS have been diagnosed since 1981 and 143 have died. Since 2004, 104 cases have been diagnosed and nine have died. Courtesy IndependantMail.com

Nobel Winner Sees End To AIDS Spread Within His Lifetime

A French scientist who shared this year's Nobel prize for medicine said on Saturday in Stockholm Sweden that he believes the transmission of AIDS could be eliminated within years.

Luc Montagnier, director of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention, told a news conference that halting the transmission of AIDS would make it a disease much like others.

"Our job, of course, is to find complementary treatment to eradicate the infection. I think it's not impossible to do it within a few years," Montagnier said.

"So I hope to see in my lifetime the eradication of, not the AIDS epidemic, but at least the infection," the 76-year-old said. "This could be achieved."

Montagnier and Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, of the Institut Pasteur, shared half of the 2008 Nobel prize for discovering the virus that has killed 25 million people since the early 1980s.

There is no cure for AIDS, which infects an estimated 33 million globally, but cocktails of drugs can control the virus and keep patients healthy.

There is no vaccine either, although researchers are trying to find vaccines that either prevent infection or would control the virus so that patients are less likely to transmit it -- a so-called therapeutic vaccine.

Montagnier said he hoped such a therapeutic vaccine could be developed within about four to five years, noting he and colleagues had already been working on this for a decade.

The only impediment to eradicating the illness, according to Barre-Sinoussi, is money. She fears the global financial crisis could lead some countries to water down their commitment to the fight against diseases such as AIDS, so it was important Nobel winners tried to use their influence.

Montagnier and Barre-Sinoussi expected to use the prize money to further their research. They also said the award was important in that it shed a bright light on the issue of AIDS.

"Still, 25 years after the HIV discovery, (there is) discrimination, stigmatisation against HIV-infected individuals, even criminalization. This is not acceptable. This is really not acceptable," Barre-Sinoussi said. Information from Reuters.

Experimental Vaginal Gel Proves Ineffective Against HIV Transmission

A microbicidal vaginal gel called Carraguard doesn't protect women from HIV infection.

That's the conclusion of a study that included more than 6,200 sexually-active, HIV-negative women at three sites in South Africa.

The women were given either Carraguard or a placebo gel and told to use one applicator of gel and a condom each time they had vaginal sex. The women, who were followed for up to two years, visited a clinic every three months to have tests for HIV infection.

The rate of HIV infection among women using Carraguard was 3.3 per 100-woman years, compared with 3.8 per 100-woman years in the placebo group. Rates of self-reported gel use were similar in both groups (96.2 percent Carraguard, 95.9 percent placebo), but applicator testing indicated that actual gel use was much lower (41.1 percent Carraguard, 43.1 percent placebo). Self-reported condom use was 64.1 percent for both groups.

The findings were published in this week's issue of The Lancet.

"This study did not show Carraguard's efficacy in prevention of male-to-female transmission of HIV, although no safety concerns were recorded. Low levels of gel use could have compromised the potential to detect a significant protective effect. Although the results from this and other completed microbicide efficacy trials have been disappointing, the search for female-controlled HIV-prevention methods must continue," wrote researchers from the Population Council in New York City and their colleagues.

Carraguard, a carrageenan-based compound, was developed by the Population Council. Source Forbes Magazine.

China Sees Sharp Rise In HIV-Positive Gay Men

The number of gay men in China who are HIV positive has risen sharply in the last three years, according to a survey of Chinese cities conducted by the Ministry of Health.

Men with HIV make up 4.9 percent of the gay population, up from 0.4 percent in 2005, the Xinhua news agency said Friday, citing Hao Yang, deputy director of the disease control department under the Ministry of Health. "Sex becomes the major way of AIDS transmission in China and its spread among men having sex with men is worsening notably. I think whether we can well control AIDS transmission among gays will greatly affect the future of the whole country's battle against the epidemic," Hao said.

Heterosexual sex was still by far the most common way for HIV to spread in China, accounting for 40.4 percent of new cases in 2008. Same-sex intercourse accounted for 5.1 percent of new infections, up from 0.4 percent on 2005, and drug use accounted for 28.3 percent, according to Hao.Xinhua did not give comparative figures for heterosexual transmission or transmission through use of injected drugs.

The survey was carried out in 61 Chinese cities on more than 18,000 gay men, said Wu Zunyou, director of the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.The health department surveyed gay men in three cities in 2005, and in five cities in 2006. In one unidentified city surveyed this time, 15 percent of gay men surveyed were HIV positive, Xinhua said. China has become more open about addressing AIDS and HIV in recent years, but embarrassment about talking directly about sex hinders frank education. Many people also avoid testing for HIV, for fear of losing their jobs or being socially ostracized.

Although homosexuality is also more tolerated, it is still taboo in many socially conservative Chinese families and cities. By September, China reported about 260,000 HIV positive in total, among whom 77,000 had developed AIDS, and 34,000 have died. The number of HIV-positive people increased by 50,000 in 2007, Xinhua said. Courtesy Reuters.

Abusive HIV Plan Rejected By Indonesian AIDS Commission

The Indonesian AIDS commission has rejected a plan by the lawmakers of Papua province which requires microchips to be implanted in HIV/ AIDS patients to monitor the spread of disease. It is expected that the bill would be passed on a majority vote and would implemented in January 2009.

The implicit reason behind the bill is to track sexually active people who have HIV/AIDS who could be prosecuted if they are suspected of infecting others. According to lawmakers, the proposed bill would also give a permission to the authorities to identify and ultimately punish "sexually aggressive,” HIV-positive individuals.

Nafsiah Mboi, chairperson of the National AIDS Control Commission has said that they have rejected such a plan as it clearly violates human rights. Moreover it seems to be a plan that is impractical and impossible to be implemented. She expressed hope that local lawmakers in Papua would reconsider the implementation of the law as it was not in line with human rights. She urged the Papuan lawmakers to conduct public hearings before the bill is passed.

If Bill is cleared it would mean that anyone found guilty by a court of law of deliberately spreading the virus could be fined up to $4,000 dollars or given six months in jail.

World AIDS Day: A Day Of Reflection, Remembrance and Hope

Since 1988 the first day in December has been set aside to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic, as well as remember those who both live with HIV and have died from this terrible disease.

Across the world 32 million persons live with HIV everyday. Sadly millions have died from the disease and millions more will succumb to the illness even in an age of miracle drugs and distant hopes for a cure.

It was a mere 10 years ago that retroviral drugs were introduced that gave hope to HIV sufferers. What was once considered a certain killer, the disease has changed into a chronic but manageable illness. But retrovirals reach only 10 percent of those infected, leaving 90 percent of infected persons to needlessly die from HIV and AIDS.

Despite the dismal news, there is one bright hope that comes with World AIDS Day; awareness and recognition. If you are in a high risk group for HIV infection, I urge you to take advantage of the many opportunities to be tested. Timing is crucial in the treatment of this still deadly disease. If you are infected, the outcome is far greater with early intervention and treatment.

I am so grateful for the doctor I visited three years ago who INSISTED I have an HIV test. He saved my life. While we cannot predict our future, there is no need to foolishly cut short a life over fear of an HIV diagnosis. I have far too many journeys to go before I pass to the next plane of existence. As Doctor Seuss would say, "Oh the places you will go!"