China’s HIV Epidemic could Hinge on Doctor Training

Source: Futurity

Jan. 4 (Futurity) -- Providing training and education to doctors on sexually transmitted infection can significantly reduce infection risk among patients, new research conducted in two Chinese provinces suggests.

The study was a randomized controlled trial of an intensive, customized training program for physicians in sexually transmitted infections.

Patients who saw a doctor who had received the training had a 38 percent lower chance of being infected with gonorrhea or chlamydia within the next nine months than patients of doctors who had not received the training.

“Our trial showed, for the first time, that providing systematic training about HIV and STI prevention, treatment, and behavioral counseling to physicians in China can lead to improved levels of knowledge among those physicians as well as lower levels of new STIs among their patients,” says lead author Don Operario, associate professor of behavioral and social sciences at Brown University. More

03/1/2016

Chinese herbal innovation to fight HIV/Aids

 Source: People Daily

The Tian Immunity Booster TIB, registered by Pharmacy and Poisons Board under Kenyan Ministry of Health was invented by Professor Tian Shengxun and is said to be providing a new and effective approach to support those affected by HIV/Aids.   Used therapeutically for the the last 20 years, the doctor says patients using TIB can survive for more than 12 years.

Research on TIB by  Dr Josef Schneider at Freiburg University in Germany and a similar study by Dr Peter Nara of Biological  Mimetics  Incorporated in Maryland State (USA) shows that the drug can reverse HIV/Aids symptoms. More

05/1/2016

Over 12,000 receive TCM HIV/AIDS treatment in Yunnan

Source: Xinhua

KUNMING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Around 12,800 people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in southwest China's Yunnan Province have benefited from a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) project over the past decade, the local government said Tuesday.

Jiang Xu, deputy head of the province's TCM administration, said the pilot project, which was launched in June 2005, includes a combination of TCM and antiviral therapies as well as herbal remedies, which suppress the virus load and help the immune system.

After comparing data collected from 1,131 PLWHA before and after the TCM treatment, Jiang said more than 40 percent gained weight and 18 percent reported fewer colds.

"TCM treatment can strengthen the immune system and alleviate symptoms such as fever, cough and diarrhea," said He Lisheng, head of Yunnan Academy of Chinese Medicine.

There were 575,000 PLWHA in China by the end of October. Of that number, 87,634 were living in Yunnan.

30/12/2015

PharmaPoint: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) - Global Drug Forecast and Market Analysis to 2023

Source:PR Newswire

NEW YORK, Dec. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- PharmaPoint: Human Immunodeficiency  Virus (HIV)  -  Global Drug Forecast and Market Analysis to 2023.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that infects the cells of the immune system, destroying or impairing their function. As the infection progresses, the immune system becomes increasingly weaker, making the infected person more susceptible to other infections. Since the first anti-HIV drug, GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK's) Retrovir (azidothymidine), was approved in 1987, major improvements have been made in the field of antiretroviral therapy (ART). This rapid progress has been headlined by the emergence of once-daily, single-tablet regimens (STRs) such as Gilead Science's Atripla (efavirenz/emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate [TDF]), which offer patients an unparalleled level of convenience.

GlobalData projects the global HIV marketplace - which, for the purposes of this report, comprises nine major pharmaceutical markets  ( US ,  France,  Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Japan, Brazil, China) -  to experience modest growth during the forecast period. This growth will be driven primarily by the highly anticipated arrivals of novel integrase inhibitor- (INI-) and protease inhibitor- (PI-) based STRs, which include ViiV Healthcare's Triumeq (dolutegravir/abacavir/lamivudine), Gilead's Quad 2 (elvitegravir/cobicistat/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide fumarate [TAF]), and Gilead's and Janssen's darunavir/cobicistat/emtricitabine/TAF. Nevertheless, looming patent expiries of high-grossing branded drugs in the US, 5EU (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK), and Japan, along with compulsory licensing and generic erosion in Brazil and China, are expected to curtail market growth.

28/12/2015

Chinese Youngsters Need Better Sex Education

Sourse: Counterpunch

Lack of proper sex education, particularly in schools, is having some serious health consequences on Chinese youngsters. Today, an increasing number of Chinese adolescents are engaging in premarital sexual activity in many cases without any knowledge of how to better protect themselves from its effects. As a result, teenage pregnancy and premarital abortion have become major public health issues.

There are increasing numbers of unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) –including HIV/AIDS- among young adults. In recent years, China has had an upsurge of syphilis, gonorrhea and Chlamydia, and the country is in an early stage of a major HIV/AIDS epidemic. It is estimated that at least 7,000 youths are HIV positive.

Increasingly, schools and communities have been implementing sex education programs for adolescents. In many cases, emphasis on those programs is generally placed in increasing adolescents’ knowledge of anatomical and physiological facts of human reproduction. Contraceptive methods, however, are usually excluded from these classes. This happens because sex education teachers, school administrators and policymakers are concerned that they would be blamed for condoning or encouraging adolescent sexual activities.

Fortunately, “the Chinese government’s general attitude toward sexuality and sex education has become more open,” told the China Daily Li Yinhe, a Fellow with the Institute of Sociology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. “Compared to older generations in China, teenagers in the 21st century have more access to sexual knowledge,” she added.

Sex education is compulsory in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, which are countries that share similar cultural values. China has begun to move forward on providing sex education for its younger generations. Now is the time to make it more comprehensive, and more effective.

11/1/2016

ART uptake increases among pregnant Chinese women

Sourse:Healio

Data from a recent meta-analysis suggest that the proportion of pregnant Chinese women with HIV who initiated ART has doubled within the past decade.

Despite this, proper adherence was only observed in approximately 75% of these women and remains a barrier to widespread viral suppression, the researchers wrote.

“HIV has advanced from high-risk groups, such as injecting drug users, female sex workers, and men who have sex with men, to the general population,” the researchers wrote. “According to recently reported data, the proportion of HIV-infected women has doubled over the last decade, and sexual transmission remains the main route of transmission. These data all suggest a continued risk of vertical transmission of HIV in China.” More

12/1/2016

World: AIDS conference; Grindr and China; Estonia partnership law

Source:WINDY CITY TIMES

The 21st International AIDS Conference will take place in Durban, South Africa, on July 18-22—and scholarships are available for the event, according to its website. The website says, "The conference organizers are committed to doubling the number of scholarships for AIDS 2016 to make the conference even more accessible to people from resource-limited settings, researchers, young people, community activists and civil-society representatives." Financial awards, including media scholarships.

14/1/2016

Mouth, skin tissue can spread HIV, Chinese scientists find

Source:SCIENCE&RESEARCH

A type of cell commonly found in skin, mouth and gut tissue may be able to “capture” the HIV virus and introduce it to other cells where it can spread much more easily, according to a new study by Chinese scientists.

This mechanism for transmitting the disease suggests oral sex could be even riskier than was previously thought in terms of spreading this as-yet incurable disease, which can lead to AIDS.

The research team confirmed for the first time that the human immunodeficiency virus can bind with mast cells, which are found in connective tissue. The team was led by Professor Wang Jianhua at the Institute Pasteur of Shanghai, which runs under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Outer skin layers still separate the mast cells from the as-yet incurable virus, which is why healthy people can’t get infected from a simple handshake or hug, team says. More

17/1/2016

Taking China’s Fight Against AIDS Online

Source:The Diplomat

As China becomes increasingly connected, LGBT organizations are turning to the Web to combat misinformation on HIV/AIDS. While China decriminalized homosexuality in 1997, significant societal stigma remains regarding men who have sex with men; one of the primary at-risk populations for the disease. Official figures from October 2015 estimate that 575,000 people in the country are now living with HIV or AIDS.

The HIV/AIDS fight in China is going online, with support from an unlikely ally: the Chinese government. More

20/1/2016

Lawsuit renews dilemma over privacy of AIDS patients

Source: Xinhua News Agency

KUNMING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- To tell or not to tell. The old dilemma of whether or not doctors should disclose HIV status to spouses has been renewed after a Chinese man filed a lawsuit against a hospital for failing to inform him of his wife's illness.

The young husband, Xiao Xin (pseudonym), brought the lawsuit against a hospital in Yongcheng, Henan province, after he found he was infected with HIV last year.

Last March, he and his wife went for a premarital health check at the Yongcheng Women's and Children's Hospital. "My check went smoothly, but doctors asked my wife to take three more blood tests. I had my concerns, but doctors said there was nothing to worry about," Xiao told Xinhua.

The hospital told Xiao's wife she was infected with HIV, but kept the information from the husband.

Xiao insisted that his wife was not properly informed of the risks of HIV either. He filed to sue the hospital for 1.2 million yuan in damages last July. The city court has not yet accepted his case, citing a backlog in cases as the reason.

The Yongcheng Women's and Children's Hospital has not responded to requests for an interview.

In recent weeks, Xiao's lawsuit has sparked new debates in medical and legal circles about the privacy of HIV-positive patients. More

22/1/2016

Chinese surgical ring helping to fight AIDS in Africa

Source: ECNS

It's a simple device - two concentric plastic rings - but its use could help turn the tide on Africa's AIDS epidemic.

The Shang Ring circumcision device - invented in China and lauded by Bill Gates - is being used in Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia and 10 other African countries affected by AIDS.

Invented by wholesale trader Shang Jianzhong, from south China's Anhui Province, the Shang Ring is a disposable device comprising two plastic rings that lock together over the foreskin. Unlike conventional surgery, the Shang Ring does not require sutures, involves minimal bleeding and shortens the procedure to just three to five minutes.

"The whole circumcision process is as simple as having a cup of coffee or grabbing a hamburger," says Shang, 60.

A report from the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said 36.9 million people were living with HIV globally in 2014, and 70 percent of them lived in sub-Saharan Africa.The WHO and UNAIDS recommend that countries include male circumcision as part of their HIV prevention programs. But because surgical circumcision requires a trained physician or surgeon, circumcision rates remain low in developing countries.

Though circumcision is minor surgery, the risks posed by traditional methods and traditional notions in Africa mean many adult males are unwilling to undergo it. Despite the urgent recommendation of the WHO and UNAIDS, just 44 percent of men in the 14 worst affected countries were circumcised - far short of the 80-percent goal. More

23/1/2016

The First Ever Chinese Christian NGO to Fight AIDS, Shares Goals of 2016

Source: CHINA CHRISTIAN DAILY

The first ever AIDS-caring Fund initialed by Chinese Christian, established by Shanghai Charity Foundation, wish to serve more in 2016. 
Last week the committees of AIDS-Caring Team of Shanghai Charity Foundation hold the new year meeting. The founder, Bian Bingbin, encourage all of the members to serve more and serve better in 2016. 
The AIDS-caring Fund is beefed up with 5 new-coming volunteers at the end of the meeting. 
AIDS-caring Fund, established on the world AIDS day a year ago, aims at helping IDS patients and caring the medical staff who are fighting against AIDS. Bian Bingbin, the founder, used to be diagnosed with thyriod cancer five years ago.  
Members of the AIDS-caring Fund wish to raise fund, besides collect supplies and art works since there are many artist participating.