MEXICO CITY , Aug 7 (IPS) - Dealing with transgenders (TGs) can be confusing. Even the organisers of the 17th International AIDS Conference underway in this city failed to accommodate the third gender by providing them separate toilets. 'I went to the male toilet only to be told I should go to the female one, where again I was told to try the male one!' Agniva Lahiri, 28, expressed her indignation while talking with IPS at the Global Village -- the most happening and animated place in the entire more...

MEXICO CITY, Aug 7 (IPS) - 'In my community, living with HIV is synonymous with death,' Fernando Solís, a 34-year-old member of the Cuna ethnic group in Panama, told IPS. Solís, who was diagnosed four years ago, is now working in prevention efforts among other young indigenous people, which he described as 'the key to eradicating the epidemic in our communities.' 'HIV reached my community 10 years ago. I never thought I would get it,' Solís said, at this week’s 17th International AIDS Conf more...

The HIV epidemic appears to have stabilized around the world, according to “Has the HIV epidemic peaked?” published in the June issue of the Population Council’s peer-reviewed journal Population and Development Review. The authors are Population Council Vice President and Distinguished Scholar John Bongaarts and three colleagues affiliated with the United Nations Population Division. Although the rate of new infections has probably peaked in all world regions, the absolute number of HIV-po more...

With the recent endorsement by the World Health Organization (WHO) and scientists worldwide of adult male circumcision as an important strategy for HIV prevention, there is increased urgency to develop safe and cost-effective circumcision services. This is especially the case in Africa where HIV continues to spread at an epidemic rate.

The border between South Africa and Zimbabwe is more than an international boundary; it also determines the method of payment for sex workers, because on one side cash is taken, while on the other, goods are bartered. The South African frontier town of Musina is a regional trucking hub that has long been a haunt of sex workers, who use the boredom of truck drivers waiting for their cargo to be cleared by customs as a window of opportunity.

'Women tempt us. They come here in their short skirts more...

Maternal and infant mortality rates in the Republic of Congo have remained worryingly high despite measures to reduce them, a senior government official said. 'The situation is still worrying,' Emilienne Raoul, the minister of health and social affairs, said on 3 August in the capital, Brazzaville. 'We will continue with efforts aimed at reversing this level of maternal mortality.'

Some 510 women out of every 100,000 die during childbirth in the Congo, according to the UN Population Fund (UNF more...

Although only 10% of Peruvian patients on a multiple drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) treatment programme defaulted from treatment, 40% of the patients who defaulted had culture-positive sputum at the time of default and one in two of the defaulters died, according to the findings of a retrospective study published in the June 15th edition of Clinical and Infectious Diseases.

MDR TB is disease caused by a strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis that is resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin i more...

AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW) is once again proud to take part in the single largest gathering of HIV-related professionals, which takes place every two years—the XVII International AIDS Conference. This year, AFEW is a part of a group of non-governmental organisations hosting the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Networking Zone. This Russian-speaking zone (or ‘Besedka’) will highlight the particular issues common in addressing the epidemic in the region, as well as provide information o more...

Tbilisi, Georgia, August 1, 2008 — Georgia’s Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs, Alexander Kvitashvili, and H.E. John Tefft, US Ambassador to Georgia, will honor the first group of health management specialists today at the Sheraton Metekhi Palace Hotel from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

USAID’s Director of the Office of Health and Social Development, Anne Patterson; Deputy Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, Giorgi Tsereteli; Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Alex Chikvaidze; more...

AMFAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, will award more than $1.4 million in grants to fund 12 new research projects whose findings may fundamentally change the way HIV/AIDS is treated, Dr. Rowena Johnston, AMFAR’s vice president of research, announced today.

The 12 new projects will address factors, in particular beliefs and attitudes surrounding HIV, which negatively impact the effectiveness of available treatments. At the same time, AMFAR is seeking a longer-term solution to difficultie more...