NEW DELHI, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Activists slammed a life sentence handed down by an Indian court to an internationally acclaimed doctor who was found guilty of supporting Maoist rebels. Binayak Sen was found guilty of carrying messages and setting up bank accounts for the rebels who are active in large areas of central and
NEW YORK, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- New York s hip-hop radio station HOT 97 says it has suspended indefinitely DJ Cipha Sounds for making a tasteless joke about Haitian women and HIV. Although the radio personality apologized for saying he is HIV negative because he doesn t date Haitian women, Emmis Communications, HOT 97 s par
BERLIN, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Britain s Prince Harry said in Berlin his mother, the late Princess Diana, serves as his role model for his charity work with AIDS-orphaned children. Harry, 26, received a Golden Heart award at the A Heart for Children gala in Berlin for his charity work in Lesotho . He said the late Prin
MIAMI, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Doctors in Berlin say they have cured an American patient of HIV and leukemia using stem cells, but experts warn a general therapeutic cure is years away. In 2007, a 44-year-old Timothy Ray Brown, who had both HIV and leukemia, was set to undergo stem cell therapy in Berlin to fight his leukemia
MIAMI, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Doctors in Berlin say they have cured an American patient of HIV and leukemia using stem cells, but experts warn a general therapeutic cure is years away. In 2007, a 44-year-old Timothy Ray Brown, who had both HIV and leukemia, was set to undergo stem cell therapy in Berlin to fight his leukemia
NEW DELHI, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Hundreds of school children, health workers and people living with HIV/AIDS marched in northeast India to mark World AIDS Day, officials said. Rehabilitated drug addicts joined the march to raise awareness in a region where the presence of large numbers of drug users has sparked fears of a wo
SYDNEY, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard was joined by U2 frontman Bono at a ceremony to mark World AIDS Day in Sydney Tuesday. The event saw the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge bathed in red lights, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported. Standing on the stage with Australia s first f
ANQING, China , Nov. 29 (UPI) -- A Chinese teacher is fighting a school s refusal to hire him because he is HIV-positive. The case of Wu -- who would not give his full name for fear of discrimination -- is the first HIV employment bias matter to reach a Chinese court, Xinhua reported. On Monday, Wu appealed a rulin
CANBERRA, Australia , Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd said he met Sunday with U2 front man Bono to discuss poverty and aid to developing countries. Tim Costello of Christian organization World Vision and Andrew Hewett from Oxfam also attended the meeting, the Australian Broadcasting Corp
ROCHESTER, N.Y., Nov. 24 (UPI) -- A former New York college student charged with stealing money through identity theft says he did it because he wanted to find a cure for the AIDS virus, While attending Monroe Community College in Rochester, Terry Zimmerman, 19, worked at the college s computer center and assisted othe
CHICAGO, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Men who have sex with men reduced their HIV risk if they took an anti-retroviral tablet daily compared with those who took a placebo, U.S. researchers say. Jim Pickett, director of advocacy at AIDS Foundation of Chicago and chairman of the International Rectal Microbicide Advocates, says the p
YANGON, Myanmar , Nov. 21 (UPI) -- The director of an AIDS clinic in Myanmar says the military government has been leaning on him ever since a visit by dissident leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Yazar, who uses only one name, told CNN Sunday that shortly after Suu Kyi s visit on Wednesday, the government told him to move out b
VATICAN CITY, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI, in a book to be published by the Vatican, tells an interviewer condom use is acceptable to prevent the spread of disease. Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times, is to be released Tuesday, the BBC reported. Excerpts from the pope s interview
DAVEYTON, South Africa , Nov. 20 (UPI) -- It will take more than $100 billion over the next 20 years to keep new cases of AIDS at current levels, a report presented in South Africa says. South Africa already has nearly 6 million HIV-positive residents -- more than any other country -- and the study presented Friday in
PRINCETON, N.J., Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Republicans and Democrats agree cost, obesity and cancer are health worries, but they disagree on access and government involvement, a U.S. survey indicates. Gallup s Health and Healthcare poll, conducted Nov. 4-7, finds almost identical percentages of Republicans and Democrats say cos
WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Former U.S. surgeon general C. Everett Koop says complacency on HIV/AIDS is as dangerous as the irrational fear of the virus in the 1980s. Today, one in five people with HIV (in the United States ), or 21 percent, don t know they are infected, Koop said in a news conference in Washington Tu
CHICAGO, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Alcohol not only hurts the liver, it can weaken the immune system, slow healing, impair bone growth and raise the risk of HIV transmission, U.S. experts say. Elizabeth J. Kovacs, director of Loyola s Alcohol Research Program and of Loyola s Burn & Shock Trauma Institute in Chicago, says al
PHOENIX, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Arizona voters have approved the use of medical marijuana by a razor-thin margin, election officials announced. Maricopa County officials finished counting ballots Saturday on Proposition 203 and said of 1.67 million ballots counted, proponents of medical marijuana use won by 4,341 votes, or 5
UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Tuberculosis killed 1.9 million people worldwide in 2009 and is the world s biggest infectious killer mainly because of rampant poverty, the World Health Organization said in its Global Tuberculosis Control Report 2010. In the United States , incidence of TB among residents
NAIROBI, Kenya , Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Cellphone text messages are being used to help Kenyans infected with HIV stay healthy and stick to their medication regimens, health researchers say. A study led by a University of British Columbia researcher and published in the U.K. medical journal The Lancet shows that patients in K
NEW YORK, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Thousands of AIDS babies are now growing up, but they face more challenges than adults with the disease, researchers say. Children born beginning in the 1980s with HIV inherited from their mothers now number 10,000 in the United States , The New York Times reported. They were not expected to s
UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- World income, education and health improved in the last 40 years, but gains are uneven, and war and AIDS have shortened some life spans, a U.N. report says. From 1970 to the present, the report says, average life expectancy around the globe jumped to 70 years from 59; school enrollment t
PRETORIA, South Africa , Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Authorities in South Africa say they re overwhelmed with the number of prisoners wanting circumcision to fight the spread of HIV. We ve had more people wanting to be circumcised than our resources can actually manage. In fact, we re overwhelmed, South Africa s KwaZulu-Natal pr
ATLANTA, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Although getting an HIV infection via a blood transfusion in the United States is rare, federal health officials say it is possible and has occurred. A report, published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, details the case of a patient who
ATLANTA, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Hispanics represent approximately 16 percent of the U.S. population and account for about 17 percent of new HIV infections, federal health officials say. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, released Thursday, says 18 percent of people living
TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Roberto Alomar s wife accuses the former MLB star of having unprotected sex with her even though he is HIV-positive, Florida divorce papers indicate. Maria Del Pilar Rivera Alomar, 33, says the former all-star second baseman intentionally, with corrupt intent, concealed from (her) his physi
ATLANTA, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Twenty-five percent of young U.S. adults ages 18-34 report they engaged in binge drinking within the past 30 days, federal health officials say. A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta says each year, 33 million adults have reported binge drinking -- defined for th
MARTINEZ, Calif., Oct. 5 (UPI) -- A male prostitute has been convicted in California of murdering a retired bank executive, stealing his prized flute and setting his townhouse on fire. A Contra Costa County jury deliberated for two days before finding Alejandro Hernandez Rivera, 24, of Vallejo, guilty of first-degree m
WICHITA, Kan., Oct. 4 (UPI) -- An airman stationed in Kansas faces military charges of having unprotected sex without telling partners he was HIV-positive. Tech. Sgt. David Gutierrez will have a hearing Tuesday at McConnell Air Force Base to determine if there is enough evidence for a court-martial, The Kansas City (Mo
GENEVA, Switzerland , Sept. 29 (UPI) -- In 2009, 5.25 million people, 36 percent of those in need, had access to HIV treatment in low- and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization says. A report by the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children s Fund and the Joint United Nations Program on HI
SAN ANTONIO, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- An animal-rights group says it is protesting the planned move of almost 200 chimpanzees from a New Mexico Air Force base to a Texas research facility. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine submitted a legal petition to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius aski
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- A researcher reports progress has been made against heart disease, breast cancer and cervical cancer among U.S. women, but has lagged in other areas. Nancy Adler of the University of California, San Francisco, reports women s health research has also yielded progress in depression, HIV/
LONDON, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- British officials have issued a warning about a health supplement marketed and sold online they say is similar to industrial-strength bleach. Miracle Mineral Supplement is 28 percent sodium chlorite, which becomes bleach when mixed with citric acid, the BBC reported Friday. Even taken as instr
ALBANY, N.Y., Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Older adults should take precautions to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS, says New York s health commissioner, noting it is not just a disease of the young. There is a misperception among some people that persons age 50 and older don t get infected with HIV -- that it is something tha
WILMINGTON, Del., Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Christine O Donnell, Delaware s Republican U.S. Senate candidate, once stated homosexuality is a disorder, an interview she gave four years ago reveals. Newly revealed comments from 2006 indicate O Donnell once believed gays and lesbians have an identity disorder, putting her squarel
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- World leaders are meeting in New York for a U.N. summit on Millennium Development Goals to fight poverty, hunger and disease, the United Nations said. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged delegates to turn what he called a blueprint for ending extreme poverty into reality, a U.N. statem
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- The United Nations is convening a meeting of global leaders this week in New York as it struggles to maintain its relevance on the world stage, observers said. From diplomacy efforts regarding North Korea s nuclear capabilities, economic negotiations among the Group of 20 nations and p
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Countries in sub-Saharan Africa are leading a global decline in the number of new HIV infection cases, the United Nations says. UNAids said there was a drop in new cases of more than 25 percent in 22 countries in the world s worst affected region, the BBC reported Friday. The drop was
TUCSON, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- An ancestor of the AIDS virus is thousands of years older than previously thought, suggesting HIV will be around for some time yet, U.S. scientists say. Simian immunodeficiency virus or SIV, which infects monkeys, took thousands of years, not hundreds as previously believed, to evolve into a m
HYATTSVILLE, Md., Sept. 15 (UPI) -- More than 95 percent of U.S. teens got formal sex education, but a much smaller percentage received instruction on birth control methods, health officials say. Using data from the 2006-2008 National Survey of Family Growth, a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention f
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Canadian researchers suggest addicts who use supervised injection centers are more likely than others to quit drugs. Researchers at the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS at St. Paul s Hospital and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver link a pilo
CARDIFF, Wales, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Scientists in Wales say their successful cloning of a human virus could lead to new treatments for life-threatening diseases. Cardiff University researchers say human cytomegalovirus , or HCMV, is a major infectious cause of congenital malformations worldwide and is also known to cause
VICTORVILLE, Calif., Sept. 8 (UPI) -- A Southern California man has pleaded guilty to knowingly exposing a woman to human immunodeficiency virus, but authorities say there may be more victims. San Bernardino County sheriff s investigators say it is likely some of Dennis Rios sexual partners over the past 10 years haven
LONDON, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Computer-based interventions on sexual health -- successful for HIV prevention -- may help with family planning or relationship issues, U.K. researchers say. Lead researcher Julia Bailey of University College London says patients may be unlikely to discuss sexual health concerns because of the
ALBUQUERQUE, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they are training world laboratory leaders to secure deadly biological agents such as anthrax and HIV from accidental or intentional misuse. To safeguard the world s most dangerous biological agents, researchers at the Sandia National Laboratories, working with the
GHENT, Belgium , Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A significant number of new HIV infections occur through high-risk behavior between young white homosexual men, researchers in Belgium say. Researchers at Ghent University in Belgium compared the genetic information of human immunodeficiency virus samples from more than 500 patients --
NEW YORK, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- New York residents should expect to be routinely offered a voluntary HIV test when receiving healthcare, health officials say. An amendment of the New York state Public Health Law requires healthcare providers, beginning Sept. 1, to offer all patients ages 13-64 a voluntary test for human imm
ANQING, China , Aug. 31 (UPI) -- A man infected with the virus that causes AIDS is likely to be the first test case of a 2006 Chinese anti-discrimination regulation, his lawyer said Tuesday. Zheng Jineng told The New York Times a district court in Anhui province has accepted the case. The plaintiff, an unidentified man
OMAHA, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Sixteen protesters at a military funeral in Omaha were doused with pepper spray from passing motorists, police said. The funeral for Staff Sgt. Michael Bock, killed in Afghanistan , included about 600 members of the Patriot Guard Riders, who protectively ringed the church, and members of the Wes
DARMSTADT, Germany , Aug. 26 (UPI) -- German pop star Nadja Benaissa, who was found guilty of infecting a former sexual partner with the HIV virus, has received a two-year suspended sentence. Benaissa, 28, was convicted in a German court of causing bodily harm to a man who contracted the virus, and of two counts of att
LA JOLLA, Calif., Aug. 16 (UPI) -- The Salk Institute in California will lead a $21 million study on the human immune system s response to initial exposure to the AIDS virus, officials said. The study is intended to provide clues to a process that is poorly understood despite the existence of drugs that have been found
SHANGHAI, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- China pledged to step up efforts to fight AIDS, the country s No. 1 infectious disease killer, the health ministry said Thursday. China sees prevention of AIDS and the human immunodeficiency virus that causes it as a key priority that will be tackled by China s government and all of society w
MOSCOW, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Some 90 percent of Russian prisoners have diseases such as tuberculosis or are infected with the virus that causes AIDS, the Prosecutor General s office said. Russian prisons last year registered 1.2 million cases of illness, including tuberculosis, hepatitis and HIV, the human immunodeficiency
BALTIMORE, July 28 (UPI) -- A Baltimore woman sentenced to 40 years in prison for abusing and killing a child she was caring for has asked a judge to overturn her conviction. Satrina Roberts entered a guilty plea six years ago. Her lawyers now argue that she did not understand what she was doing when she pleaded guilty
WASHINGTON, July 28 (UPI) -- A baby in a Virginia hospital was given to the wrong woman for breast-feeding, a mix-up U.S. experts say is not that uncommon. When mother Suzanne Libby discovered her newborn baby boy was missing from the nursery at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington County, she frantically searched unt
WALTHAM, Mass., July 23 (UPI) -- French and U.S. researchers say treating intravenous drug users for HIV has been effective and saved money. The researchers concluded drug users -- including those actively injecting -- were capable of positive choices to protect their health and that of their communities. Treating huma
PITTSBURGH, July 23 (UPI) -- Gay and bisexual men reporting sex abuse and social shame as children may have psychosocial problems later putting them at risk for HIV, U.S. researchers say. University of Pittsburgh researchers conducted a study of 1,000 HIV-positive and HIV-negative gay and bisexual men enrolled in the M
GENEVA, Switzerland , July 20 (UPI) -- HIV treatment for children has improved but World Health Organization officials in Switzerland say more lives could be saved if medication began earlier. It is encouraging that more children are getting access to HIV treatment, but we have opportunities to do more to promote healt
VIENNA, July 19 (UPI) -- A gel with an anti-retroviral drug used to treat HIV was effective in reducing a woman s risk of HIV and genital herpes , researchers from South Africa said. Co-principal investigator Dr. Quarraisha Abdool Karim of the Center for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa and Columbia Univers
BUFFALO, N.Y., July 19 (UPI) -- A New York judge Monday ruled that the so-called HIV Predator could remain locked up even though his prison sentence has been served in full. Nushawn Williams completed his 12-year stretch in April; however the state has thus far refused to release him on the grounds he is a threat to so
SAN FRANCISCO, July 16 (UPI) -- Gay partners form sexual agreements not to have sex outside of the relationship to strengthen their bond, not to protect against HIV, U.S. researchers found. Colleen Hoff, professor of sexuality studies at San Francisco State University, said gay male couples make sexual agreements -- ru
NEW YORK, July 15 (UPI) -- About 75 percent of HIV-positive New Yorkers are now age 40 or older, and more than one-third are 50 or older, city health officials say. Although HIV/AIDS and the behaviors that spread it are often associated with younger adults, and younger adults still account for most new infections, 17 p
WASHINGTON, July 13 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama has announced a National HIV/AIDS Strategy, calling for a commitment to a sustained effort to end the HIV epidemic, the White House said. In a memorandum to the heads of U.S. executive departments and agencies Tuesday, the president said success of the NHAS will require
DALLAS, July 13 (UPI) -- A trial started in Dallas Tuesday for an HIV-infected man accused of assaulting a woman with a deadly weapon by having unprotected sex with her. Nathaniel Tumbwe of Zambia shook his head with his arms crossed as prosecutor Josh Healy said in his opening statement that Tumbwe s alleged victim ha
WASHINGTON, July 13 (UPI) -- The Obama administration said it is changing tactics in the United States fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS. The White House showed off the new policy Monday ahead of a speech by U.S. President Barack Obama on the domestic epidemic. The program doesn t increase funding on HIV/AIDS -- cur
WASHINGTON, July 13 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama discusses a comprehensive strategy for combating HIV in the United States Tuesday at a reception honoring the HIV/AIDS community. The National HIV/AIDS Strategy will include a commitment to making the United States a place where new HIV infections are rare and wh
ALBUQUERQUE, July 9 (UPI) -- University of New Mexico researchers brought sci-fi technology to the doctor s office by creating a device that can diagnose a number of ills in seconds. Best of all, researchers said, the hand-held biosensor eliminates the need for expensive and time-consuming tests, The Albuquerque Journa
BOSTON, July 6 (UPI) -- In a study of men age 40 and older, U.S. researchers found those who used erectile dysfunction drugs have a higher rate of sexually transmitted diseases. Lead author Dr. Anupam B. Jena of Massachusetts General Hospital said when a man has an appointment to get a drug for erectile dysfunction suc
MIAMI, July 3 (UPI) -- Miami-Dade health officials say they will investigate a complaint alleging adult movies fuel the spread of human immunodeficiency virus and similar diseases. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed a complaint in January against several makers of adult entertainment, The Miami Herald reported Friday
LOS ANGELES, July 2 (UPI) -- Primitive blood cells could be modified to be resistant to HIV and transplanted into patients to control HIV infection, a study suggests. Researchers have known some people with a mutation in a gene called CCR5 have resistance to infection from the most common, CCR5-tropic strains of human
OTTAWA, June 30 (UPI) -- As a deadline approached Wednesday for Canadians who received tainted blood to apply for compensation, lawyers said they were concerned funding is running out. Despite a variety of funds totaling about $2.7 billion set aside by the government to compensate those who contracted HIV/Aids, or hemo
ST. LOUIS, June 30 (UPI) -- Hundreds of veterans may have been exposed to viruses when they had dental work performed at a St. Louis facility, the Department of Veterans Affairs said. The federal agency said it is sending letters to 1,812 veterans who received treatment at the St. Louis VA Medical Center during a 13-mo
STOCKHOLM, Sweden , June 21 (UPI) -- A male doctor was jailed in Stockholm, Sweden, for having unprotected sex with two other men despite knowing he was HIV positive, court documents show. The physician was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment for reckless endangerment and ordered to pay 26,900 kronor ($3,483.44) in com
WASHINGTON, June 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced approval Monday of the first diagnostic assay to detect both HIV antigens and antibodies. Officials said the newly approved test advances science s ability to detect human immunodeficiency virus infections earlier than before possible. This
CAPE TOWN, South Africa , June 18 (UPI) -- Twenty South African boys in the country s Eastern Cape province have died following incorrectly performed circumcisions, health experts say. A provincial health department representative said the deaths occurred over the past 12 days, with nine of them occurring over the past
DUARTE, Calif., June 16 (UPI) -- U.S. medical researchers say they have demonstrated the first successful gene therapy in patients with AIDS-related lymphoma. City of Hope researchers in California said their study showed the long-term persistence of anti-HIV genes in patients with the AIDS-related cancer. In the inves
CHICAGO, June 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it seeks to disqualify a Chicago HIV doctor from further research after he allegedly gave false data in a drug trial. The FDA said Dr. Daniel Berger failed to protect the rights, safety and welfare of his patients, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 9 (UPI) -- Canadian scientists say they ve determined adherence to updated HIV therapy guidelines would result in increased benefits for patients and society in general. Researchers from the British Columbia Center for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and the University of British Columbia say t
LOS ANGELES, June 5 (UPI) -- More than 400 medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles must close by Monday under a new city ordinance that withstood a legal challenge. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant rejected more than a dozen requests from dispensaries and patients for a temporary restrain
ST. LOUIS, June 4 (UPI) -- A U.S. researcher says there is a need for cessation programs to help smokers who have human immunodeficiency virus. Jenine Harris of the Saint Louis University School of Public Health in St. Louis says the rate of smoking among people with HIV, the precursor of AIDS, is as much two or three
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., June 1 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they ve discovered the oral antibiotic azithromycin is as effective as penicillin injections in curing early-stage syphilis. In a National Institutes of Health-supported clinical trial, HIV-negative volunteers with early-stage syphilis aged 18 to 55 were enrolled at
WINDHOEK, Namibia , June 1 (UPI) -- Three Namibian women are suing their country s health ministry for sterilizing them without their informed consent, their lawyers say. The three, all diagnosed as HIV positive, are seeking $130,000 in compensation, the BBC reported Tuesday. Legal Assistance Center, the rights group
PITTSBURGH, May 25 (UPI) -- Researchers in Africa found men doubled their risk of HIV if their partner is pregnant and infected with human immunodeficiency virus. Researchers in Botswana , Kenya , Rwanda , South Africa , Tanzania
SYDNEY, May 25 (UPI) -- Police in Australia say a circus acrobat accused of spreading HIV has given authorities the names of 12 women with whom he had unprotected sex. Godfrey Zaburoni, 31, is being extradited to Queensland where he was to appear in court Wednesday, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Tuesday.
FAIRFAX, Va., May 20 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists suggest the end of widespread small pox vaccinations toward the end of the 20th century might have resulted in the rapid spread of HIV. Dr. Raymond Weinstein of George Mason University and a team of researchers from UCLA and George Washington University said the vaccine giv
DURHAM, N.C., May 17 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say they have discovered a new role for a host protein, providing more insight into how T cells work to control HIV and other infections. The scientists from the Duke University Medical School and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine say their findings might lead to new stra
ARDEN HILLS, Minn., May 11 (UPI) -- Five seniors at Bethel University in Minnesota have apologized for a blackface skit during a campus fundraiser. Only one of the five appeared in blackface, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. He stood with his back to the audience through early numbers and then turned around, show
TORONTO, May 11 (UPI) -- The Canadian Revenue Agency says it has shut down a fraudulent AIDS charity that took in about $15 million in donations in 2006 and 2007. Donations to the Orion Foundation largely were used by founder James Arion, of Stouffville, and his board of directors to pay for trips to Las Vegas, home re
BUFFALO, N.Y., May 5 (UPI) -- New York state prosecutors say an AIDS-infected man who was imprisoned for having unprotected sex remains a danger to society. A hearing is scheduled Thursday morning in Buffalo for Nushawn Williams, 33, The Buffalo News reports. The state wants Williams to be committed to a mental hospita
TORONTO, May 3 (UPI) -- Trafficking charges against volunteer workers at a Toronto medical marijuana club have been stayed, although its owner still faces charges, authorities said. The eight staff members worked at a compassion club selling medical marijuana to patients with chronic diseases including HIV, the Toronto
BRISTOL, England, May 3 (UPI) -- A British-led group of scientists says it has discovered anti-retroviral therapy is dramatically reducing rates of HIV mortality in high-income countries. The scientists said the therapy has resulted in non-AIDS-related deaths exceeding AIDS deaths after patients spend approximately fou
BEIJING, April 27 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday praised China s decision to lift the country s travel ban for people with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. I commend President Hu Jintao for China s decision to remove travel restrictions based on HIV status, Ban said in a release. Punitive policies
NEW YORK, April 27 (UPI) -- Malnutrition, overcrowding and grossly inadequate medical care are just some of the problems with which prisoners in Zambia must deal, a report said Tuesday. The 135-page report prepared by Human Rights Watch and two other groups says prisoners also face the risk of torture or rape and the t
VATICAN CITY, April 25 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI may cancel a planned visit to Britain after a memo by government workers mocked him and criticized the Catholic Church, published reports say. The Daily Telegraph and The Times of London Online cited Vatican sources saying the memo prompted the pope to consider scuttlin
DURHAM, N.C., April 23 (UPI) -- A strain of an airborne fungus that has caused several deaths in Oregon appears to be moving toward California, researchers said. Edmond Byrnes III, a graduate student at the Duke University Medical Center, said the mortality rate for Cryptococcus gattii fungi in the Pacific Northwest is
NEW YORK, April 22 (UPI) -- Women in New York are less likely than men to use condoms when having anal sex, putting them at risk of HIV infection, city health officials said. Tens of thousands of New Yorkers are engaging in sexual behavior that is especially risky, Dr. Thomas Farley, New York City health commissioner,
BALTIMORE, April 16 (UPI) -- Boys engaged in high-risk sexual behaviors get little counseling about HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, U.S. researchers said. Lead investigator Dr. Arik Marcell, a pediatrician at Johns Hopkins Children s Center, and colleagues analyzed data from the 1995 National Survey of Ado
LAS VEGAS, April 13 (UPI) -- Jury selection has begun in Las Vegas in the first suit involving a huge hepatitis C scare in southern Nevada. The suit by Henry Chanin, headmaster and upper school director at the Meadows School in Las Vegas, is the first of thousands to go before a jury, the Las Vegas Sun reported. The Ch
WASHINTON, D.C., April 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. agency that regulates the nation s blood supply says it s reviewing whether to repeal its lifetime ban on donations from gay men. We are considering the possibility of pursuing alternative strategies that maintain blood safety, a recent Food and Drug Administration statement s
ATLANTA, April 2 (UPI) -- More than $31 million has been added to a U.S. program to aid people, especially those at risk, to be tested for HIV, federal health officials said. Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said with the additional funds the program should total approximately $142
PROVIDENCE, R.I., April 1 (UPI) -- Teens who use crack or cocaine are more likely to have unprotected sex, increasing their risk of HIV, U.S. researchers found. The study involved 280 teens -- more than half male and three-quarters Caucasian -- ages 13-18 from therapeutic psychiatric day programs, who exhibited a range
OTTAWA, March 31 (UPI) -- The Canadian government is in its second year of withholding funding to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, government officials said. Canada was one of the largest contributors to the initiative to find a vaccine for HIV and AIDS, contributing almost $80 million to research from 2001-0
BOSTON, March 30 (UPI) -- Nurses in Massachusetts say they want two bills in the state Legislature that would stiffen the penalties of those who assault nurses. Officials of the Massachusetts Nurses Association are holding a news conference Wednesday to support the bills HB1696/SB1753 and afterwards hundreds of nurses
DALLAS, March 30 (UPI) -- There is a major health gap between U.S. minority children and Caucasian children, a review of studies found. Study author Glenn Flores, a professor of pediatrics at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, examined racial/ethnic disparities in pediatric care, in studies cond
WASHINGTON, March 26 (UPI) -- The HIV rate for gay men in Washington was nearly five times higher than the overall rate for adults and teenagers in the city, a study indicated. More than 14 percent of the 500 gay men interviewed for the study were HIV positive as opposed to more than 3 percent of adults and teenagers,
SAN FRANCISCO, March 25 (UPI) -- Delivering HIV prevention services to people living with HIV in clinical settings can sharply reduce their sexual risk behaviors, U.S. researchers found. Lead author Janet J. Myers of the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at the University of California, San Francisco, said when HIV pa
CHICAGO, March 25 (UPI) -- A U.S. study shows HIV-infected patients suffer a significantly increased risk for community acquired Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections. The research -- conducted in Chicago at the John Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County (formerly Cook County Hospital) and the Rush Unive
BALTIMORE, March 24 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers said an antibiotic used to treat acne for more than 30 years may help treat HIV infection. Scientists at John Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore found minocycline -- the antibiotic used for acne -- targeted the infected immune cells in which human immunodefi
BETHESDA, Md., March 24 (UPI) -- One-third of the world s population -- 2 billion people -- are believed to have the organism that causes tuberculosis, U.S. health officials say. Christine F. Sizemore, chief of the Tuberculosis and Other Mycobacterial Diseases Section in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
NEW YORK, March 22 (UPI) -- A New York physician was sentenced to 21 months in prison and ordered to make restitution of $1.7 million for Medicaid kickbacks, officials said. Dr. Muhammad Ejaz Ahmad, 52, of Albertson, N.Y., specialized in infectious diseases, including the treatment of AIDS/HIV patients. Ahmad paid an i
PRETORIA, South Africa , March 18 (UPI) -- South African President Jacob Zuma, dogged by the revelation he had a child out of wedlock, withstood a parliamentary vote of no confidence Thursday. The motion, submitted by the opposition party Congress of the People with support from the Democratic Alliance, failed 241-84 w
WASHINGTON, March 17 (UPI) -- Mississippi says it will stop segregating HIV-positive prisoners, a policy opponents say hampers inmates ability to transition back into society. The decision leaves Alabama and South Carolina as the only states segregating prisoners because of their HIV status, Human Rights Watch and the
ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 10 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say they have found a new site in the body where HIV-infected cells may hide. Scientists at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor discovered bone marrow -- thought to be resistant to the virus -- may contain latent forms of the infection not affected by current ant
FLEMINGTON, N.J., March 10 (UPI) -- A young HIV-positive New Jersey man who advised those with the virus to be sexually abstinent has been charged with sexual assault. Rick Webster, 20, of Clinton allegedly had sex with a girl under the age of 16, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported. Dan Hurley, who heads the detectives
LOS ANGELES, March 8 (UPI) -- The 18th Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party in Los Angeles Sunday night raised $3.7 million for the fight against AIDS, organizers said. Celebrity couple Elton John and David Furnish served as hosts of the event at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. The eveni
REGENSDORF, Switzerland , March 8 (UPI) -- A new smaller condom, called the Hotshot, has been designed to fit males ages 12-14, officials at Lamprecht AG, a condom manufacturer in Switzerland, said. Nysse Norballe, a spokesman for Lamprecht AG, said the company had been approached by an AIDS awareness organization in S
ATLANTA, March 8 (UPI) -- The United States suffers high rates of herpes, particularly among women and African-Americans, health officials said. More than 750 public health leaders convened in Atlanta Monday for the three-day National Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention Conference featuring more than 300 studies.
WASHINGTON, March 6 (UPI) -- Washington city officials say the planned distribution of free female condoms will focus on areas of the city with high HIV rates. The plan, part of a larger project intended to fight HIV and AIDS, will make Washington the first U.S. city to offer female condoms for free, The Washington Pos
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., March 2 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say women given nevirapine to protect the fetus from HIV should not use that drug for at least a year after childbirth. University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers said despite nevirapine working well to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the human immunodefic
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Entertainer Grace Jones is to perform at the upcoming 18th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Viewing Party in Los Angeles, organizers said. The fundraising gala is to take place March 7 at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. Grace Jones is not only an amazing perform
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say a genetic modification of immune cells significantly reduced the number of infected cells in HIV patients who stopped antiviral treatment. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the VIRxSYS Corp. of Gaithersburg, Md., said they investigated the effects of
GREENWOOD, Ind., Feb. 23 (UPI) -- An Indiana HIV-positive man faces a felony charge for having sex with as many as 100 partners without telling them he is carrying the AIDS virus, police said. Greenwood police said they received between 40 and 48 phone messages over the weekend saying Tony Perkins, who contracted the A
WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says preliminary study data suggest Invirase used with Norvir in HIV therapy might have adverse effects on the heart. The FDA said when used together, Invirase (saquinavir) and Norvir (
OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 18 (UPI) -- An $8.7 million California university program running out of money amid a fiscal crisis shows medical marijuana s promise and should continue, researchers say. The state-funded program, which sponsored 14 University of California studies, showed cannabis can reduce muscle spasms in mul
MANILA, Philippines , Feb. 13 (UPI) -- The Philippine Department of Health initiated an anti-AIDS campaign Saturday by giving away condoms at florists. Health officials say the condom giveaway does not promote artificial birth control, banned by the Roman Catholic Church, The Philippine Star reported. This is not
LONDON, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. and British scientists say they have determined the three-dimensional structure of a critical enzyme found in HIV and other retroviruses. The study s lead author, Dr Peter Cherepanov of Imperial College London, said the precise structure of the enzyme called integrase was determined by grow
LEIDEN, Netherlands , Feb. 8 (UPI) -- The quality of care and the relationship between children and caregivers play a key role in development for HIV-infected children, Dutch researchers say. The researchers at Leiden University looked at 58 Ukrainian 4-year-old children, with and without human immunodeficiency virus.
PRETORIA, South Africa , Feb. 7 (UPI) -- South African President Jacob Zuma, a father of 20 children, has apologized for the one he fathered out of wedlock. It has put a lot of pressure on my family and my organization, the African National Congress, he said in a statement Friday. I deeply regret the pain that I have
ATLANTA, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- African-Americans are the racial group most disproportionately affected by HIV in the United States , a federal health official says. Dr. Kevin Fenton of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta says while African-Americans represent 12 percent of the U.S. population, blacks ac
LA JOLLA, Calif., Feb. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they ve discovered two compounds that might lay the foundation for the development of a new class of anti-HIV drugs. Scripps Research scientists said the compounds act on novel binding sites for an enzyme used by the human immunodeficiency virus -- the virus that ca
WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says a rare but serious liver disorder has been reported in some HIV patients taking Videx /Videx EC. The FDA said Videx (didanosine) is an antiretroviral medicine first approved in 1991, while Videx EC is a delayed-release version of Videx.
STOCKHOLM, Switzerland , Jan. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates say their foundation will spend a record $10 billion over 10 years to develop vaccines for AIDS and other diseases. We must make this the decade of vaccines, Bill Gates said Friday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
CHESTER, Pa., Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Pennsylvania state police allege a 38-year-old man robbed a tanning salon and a bathing-suit store using needles he claimed were infected with HIV. State police said they are seeking Kevin Michael Cox in connection with this week s robberies in Delaware County, Pa., that resulted in the t
INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say treating herpes may not reduce human immunodeficiency virus transmission. Dr. Kenneth Fife of the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis and colleagues found the commonly prescribed drug for genital herpes , acyclovir
ST. LOUIS, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Human immunodeficiency virus infection or its treatments age the brain prematurely, U.S. researchers found. Dr. Beau Ances of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and colleagues at the University of California-San Diego reported brain blood flow of patients infected with HIV
COLUMBIA, Mo., Jan. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. medical researchers say they are developing an anti-HIV compound that is substantially more potent and longer-lasting than existing therapies. University of Missouri Assistant Professor Stefan Sarafianos said current therapies targeting the human immunodeficiency virus have helped p
PRAGUE, Czech Republic , Jan. 26 (UPI) -- New known cases of HIV in the Czech Republic rose from 148 in 2008 to 157 last year, federal health officials in Prague said. In all, the Czech Republic has 1,344 known cases of HIV, most of them in Prague, Central Bohemia and South Moravia, said Dzamila Stehlikova of the Natio
DAYE CITY, China , Jan. 22 (UPI) -- HIV-contaminated blood sold to a Chinese hospital in the 1990s and used in transfusions has infected 74 people, a health official said. The director of a health center in central China discovered in 2003 a patient with HIV had sold his blood to the hospital, China s state-run Xinhua
BOSTON, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- AIDS denialists persist in denying the value of HIV treatments despite irrefutable proof they have proven benefits, U.S. researchers said. AIDS denialists refute that HIV causes AIDS, that anti-retroviral drugs are useful and that millions of people worldwide have died from AIDS. In 1988, the I
NEW YORK, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- A study in Zambia suggests HIV-infected mothers breastfeed their babies longer than the previously recommended four months, researchers say. Study author Louise Kuhn of Columbia University in New York says the study suggests stopping too soon may cause more harm than good for children born to
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Nineteen percent of all people with HIV/AIDS in the United States are age 50 and older, researchers say. Diane Sublets, an associate professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina Charlotte, says the number reflects a combination of people age 50 and older who have been rec
DETROIT, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- A Detroit woman who sparked worries with an Internet hoax video in which she claimed to be intentionally spreading AIDS says she did it to raise awareness. Jackie Braxton, 23, was arrested and released by police Friday after they determined she was the masked woman in the Internet video claimi
DETROIT, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- People from all over the country are calling Detroit police after a woman posted a video on the Web saying she infected men with the AIDS virus, police say. Deputy chief James Tolbert says authorities are taking the allegations seriously even though investigators think the video could be a hoa
BOSTON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Relatively young men with longstanding HIV infection may be at greater risk for heart attack or stroke, U.S. researchers say. Researchers at Boston s Massachusetts General Hospital used angiography to find coronary atherosclerosis in 59 percent of the human immunodeficiency virus-infected patie
HOUSTON, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. health officials need to initiate an AIDS-type public awareness campaign to dispel the stigma of hepatitis B and hepatitis C, a report said. The report by the Institute of Medicine said chronic hepatitis B and C cause thousands of cases of liver cancer, liver disease and death each year -
BALTIMORE, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- High anti-retroviral therapy adherence, a major predictor of HIV disease progression and survival, has lower healthcare costs, U.S. researchers say. Researchers at The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore found that anti-retroviral therapy improves health outcomes for
BALTIMORE, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Circumcision, which lowers HIV risk in men, also dramatically changes the bacterial communities of the penis, U.S. researchers found. Scientists at the Translational Genomics Research Institute and Johns Hopkins University said the bacterial changes may be associated with earlier observations
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