Twenty-five years ago, we were horrified to see the toll HIV/AIDS was taking in the developing world. Not only did it wipe out nearly a generation of adults in sub-Saharan Africa, it also killed countless children and left many more orphans. After several decades of improving indicators of health, life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa began…
Answering the Call to Action with Science
July 25, 2012 • 0 comments • By Roger I. Glass, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Fogarty International Center, and Associate Director, Global Health Research, U.S. National Institutes of Health.
USG at AIDS 2012: Video with Dr. Anthony Fauci
Dr. Howard Koh, Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS, sat down with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH to discuss his speech at the opening plenary of AIDS 2012 and his 31 years as a physician and leader in HIV/AIDS scientific research. Having participated in International…
NIH Leadership at the XIX International AIDS Conference
July 17, 2012 • 0 comments • By Jack Whitescarver, Ph.D., NIH Associate Director for AIDS Research and Director, NIH Office of AIDS Research
The hosting of the XIX International AIDS Conference in our nation’s capital, Washington, DC, is a tremendous opportunity to reflect on how AIDS has affected the United States, and how the United States has worked to reduce the impact of the epidemic in the U.S. and around the world. The first cases of what we…
FDA approves first drug for reducing the risk of sexually acquired HIV infection
Today (July 16, 2012), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Truvada (emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), the first drug approved to reduce the risk of HIV infection in uninfected individuals who are at high risk of HIV infection and who may engage in sexual activity with HIV-infected partners. Truvada, taken daily, is to be used for…
Increasing HIV Testing, Including Rapid Testing, in Substance Abuse Treatment Programs
June 20, 2012 • 0 comments • By Ronald Valdiserri, M.D., M.P.H., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Infectious Diseases, and Director, Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Although the U.S. has made progress in reducing the number of new HIV infections among injection drug users and their sexual partners, CDC estimates that injection drug users represented 9% of new HIV infections in 2009 and 17% of those living with HIV in 2008. Since the U.S. HIV/AIDS epidemic began, more than 175,000 injection…
Turning the Tide Together: Looking To the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C.
June 14, 2012 • 0 comments • By Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, and Gregory K. Folkers, M.S., M.P.H., Chief of Staff to Dr. Fauci
Next month, the International AIDS Conference returns to Washington, D.C., where it was last held in 1987. One of us (ASF) had the privilege of speaking at the 1987 conference, and will do so again this year. At the Washington conference 25 years ago, the mood was somber. The HIV/AIDS pandemic was expanding rapidly. Although…
FDA Advisory Committees to Examine a Number of HIV Issues in May
April 18, 2012 • 1 comment • By Richard Klein, Office of Special Health Issues, Food and Drug Administration
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has three important advisory committee meetings scheduled in May that may impact HIV prevention, detection, and treatment. On May 10, 2012, FDA’s Antiviral Advisory Committee will discuss expanding the indication of Truvada (emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) tablet, made by Gilead Sciences, Inc., to include use for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP),…