News (Updated September 20,
2004)
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Sat 18 September, 2004 10:27
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Half of India's new HIV infections occur in the age group of 10-to-25 years but only 59 percent of adolescents in the country know about condoms, a government report says.India currently has over 5.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS, the second largest number outside South Africa, and experts say the number of people contracting full-blown AIDS could touch 5.5 million by 2033 as the disease spreads to the countryside and among married women.
The "India Country Report" by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said data collected by the government showed that the probable source of HIV infection in 86 percent of new cases was through unprotected heterosexual sex, mainly among young people and adolescents.
The report, seen by Reuters on Saturday, paints an alarming picture of the lack of knowledge about safe sex among India's young population.
"Misconceptions among adolescents are widespread in every aspect of sexual and reproductive health. For example, many are unaware of the links of STIs (sexual transmitted infections) to HIV or even the correct way of using a condom," the 50-page report said.
Experts called for more mass education on condom use.
"Besides awareness about condom use, we need a mass campaign to ensure people actually use condoms," said Dr. Krishan Kumar Aggarwal of the Delhi Medical Association.
"We need more education, more education and more education about condom use and HIV among young people."
The ministry report also said that HIV infections among married women were a grim new factor in the Indian scenario. "The future will see increasing levels of HIV infection among Indian women, who are largely monogamous, have virtually no control over their husbands' sexual behaviour."
Fri Sep 17, 2004 06:07 AM ET
DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Medical researchers will start trials of an HIV
vaccine in Sweden in October and expect to extend the program to Tanzania next
year, a senior member of the research team said on Friday.
Tanzania estimates that 2.2 million of its 34 million people are infected with the virus that leads to AIDS.
The DNA-MVA vaccine to be tested is intended to be used against HIV sub-types prevalent in the East African country.
"Phase I trials will be conducted in Sweden starting next month, and we will do trials in Tanzania in the latter half of next year," Mohammed Bakari, a researcher at the Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences told Reuters.
The vaccine is based on isolating a safe constituent of HIV's DNA and injecting it into volunteers, who later receive an immunity-boosting shot.
The vaccine has been developed under the HIV Vaccine Immunogenicity Study, a partnership between Tanzania and Sweden funded by the European Union.
The United Nations estimates some 40 million people around the world are infected with HIV and more than 25 million people have died from AIDS. Sub-Saharan Africa is the worst affected region, with about 26 million people infected.
Thu Sep 16, 2004 04:16 PM ET
By Megan Rauscher
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The results of large study of US residents infected with HIV show that the majority of them refrain from sexual activities likely to spread the virus to others who are not infected.
Dr. Lance S. Weinhardt from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee said this study provides "very good news for those working with people with HIV, the patients themselves, and for public health in the US in general."
Weinhardt and colleagues surveyed a total of 3723 HIV-infected people living in Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York City or San Francisco between 2000 and 2002 regarding sexual and drug use behaviors that increase the risk of spreading the virus. The sample included 1918 men who have sex with men (MSM), 827 heterosexual men, and 978 women.
The findings appear in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
"Nearly 85 percent reported that they do not engage in behavior that places others at risk for infection," Weinhardt reported to Reuters Health.
"Most risky behavior that was reported occurred with other HIV-positive individuals, and when risky behavior occurred with HIV-negative partners or persons of unknown HIV status, the majority of subjects had told all of these partners about their HIV infection," he said.
Nonetheless, between 13 and 19 percent of those surveyed engaged in unprotected vaginal or anal intercourse with partners who were HIV-negative or whose HIV status was unknown. And 18 percent of injection drug users reported lending their used needles to others.
"The small percentage of HIV individuals engaging in (risky) behavior indicates a need for physicians and other health care providers to routinely discuss and counsel HIV patients regarding relationships and risk behaviors during medical treatment," Weinhardt said.
"As HIV-positive individuals live longer and healthier lives, they face challenges in achieving a satisfactory quality of life and many can benefit from supportive counseling and auxiliary services," he added.
SOURCE: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, September 2004.