HIV

'America's Nobel' goes to a power couple who made a startling discovery about HIV

5:41pm September 30, 2024

This year's Lasker Prize for public service goes to South African researchers Salim and Quarraisha Abdool-Karim. The married couple made a startling discovery about HIV — and did something about it.

Health & Safety

One of the 7 people cured of HIV tells his story. Can his cure work for others?

11:54am July 30, 2024

by David Cox

The "Dusseldorf patient" spoke at last week's AIDS 2024 conference in Munich. Here's what doctors did — and what they say about their ability to replicate the procedure.

People with HIV are aging, and the challenges are piling up

3:35pm June 15, 2024

by Sam Whitehead

Advances in medicine mean more people are living longer with HIV. But aging with HIV comes with increased health risks, and this growing population needs specialized care that's hard to find.

Queue Listen Now

This electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health shows a human T cell, in blue, under attack by HIV, in yellow, the virus that causes AIDS.

CDC says 3 women diagnosed with HIV after receiving 'vampire facial'

2:05am April 29, 2024

by The Associated Press

Although HIV transmission from contaminated blood through unsterile injection is a well-known risk, the CDC said this is the first documentation of probable infections involving cosmetic services.

We asked our readers to send in their wishes for 2024, and many of you expressed a hope that humans pay attention to the health of the planet. The woman pictured above is one of the nomadic Wodaabe people — cattle herders who live mainly in Chad and Niger. Their lifestyle is affected by higher temperatures, shifting winds and changing precipitation patterns due to climate change.

Readers' wishes for 2024: TLC for Earth, an end to AIDS, more empathy, less light

8:02am January 21, 2024

by Gisele Grayson

As a new year dawns, we asked our readers to send us their global wishes. Here's what they're hoping for.

This is the vaginal ring that releases the antiretroviral drug dapivirine to ward off HIV infection. The ring is now going into wider distribution in sub-Saharan Africa, where girls and young women age 15 to 24 accounted for more than 77% of new HIV infections in 2022, according to UNAIDS.

Health & Safety

A vaginal ring that discreetly delivers anti-HIV drugs will reach more women

7:35am December 08, 2023

by Susan Brink

In sub-Saharan Africa, women are at high risk of contracting HIV. Some protective measures carry a stigma but this device enables them to take control without anyone knowing.

PEPFAR, the U.S. multibillion dollar effort to fight HIV/AIDS, funds organizations such as the Coptic hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.

What's behind the debate to re-authorize PEPFAR, the widely hailed anti-HIV effort?

4:05pm September 29, 2023

by Gabriel Spitzer

The program launched by President George W. Bush is credited with saving 25 million lives. Some in Congress want this year's reauthorization tied to language that PEPFAR will not "promote abortion."

President Donald J. Trump touted his plan to end the HIV epidemic during his 2019 State of the Union Address. The effort has sent $1.7 billion mainly to southern states.

Health & Safety

Trump launched an ambitious effort to end HIV. House Republicans want to defund it

4:57pm August 31, 2023

Republicans in Congress back substantial cuts to the budget of the CDC, taking aim at one of former President Donald Trump's major health programs: a push to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S.

In 2003, President George W. Bush created PEPFAR to help countries tackle the HIV/AIDS crisis. Four years later, he spoke at the Rose Garden to urge lawmakers to set aside $30 billion for the cause over the next 5 years. Joining him were Kunene Tantoh of South Africa and her 4-year-old son (pictured). Tantoh, who is HIV-positive, coordinated a U.S.-funded mentoring program for mothers with HIV.

Health & Safety

George W. Bush's anti-HIV program is hailed as 'amazing' — and still crucial at 20

12:16pm February 28, 2023

by Melody Schreiber

PEPFAR is the "most amazing thing in the history of HIV," says Dr. Sharon Lewin, president of the International AIDS Society. Bush himself came to Washington this month to urge reauthorization..

An expected change in FDA policy would make it easier for men who have sex with men to donate blood.

Health & Safety

FDA moves to ease restrictions on blood donations for men who have sex with men

3:59pm January 27, 2023

Long criticized as discriminatory, the policy has prevented many gay and bisexual men from donating blood. The Food and Drug Administration revealed a draft of its new approach on Friday.