-The United Nations The United Nations agency at the forefront of the global AIDS response today welcomed new evidence which shows that antiretroviral therapy can help prevent HIV infections.   Researchers from the Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies presented the results, which show that in areas where antiretroviral therapy uptake is high, people who do not have HIV are 38 per cent less likely to acquire the virus than in areas...

-The United Nations An estimated 910, 000 lives were saved globally in six years due to guidelines intended to ensure that people living with HIV/AIDS are protected from tuberculosis, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) said today, releasing an updated policy on joint prevention, diagnosis and treatment of both diseases. TB is a leading cause of death among people living with HIV/AIDS, which weakens the immune system, making those infected much...

-The Indian Express Section 377 violates the right to equality, whatever be the gay or HIV numbers Examining the appeal on Section 377 (which had been struck down by the Delhi high court, effectively decriminalising homosexuality), the Supreme Court had been careful to unpack many of the terms that obscure the issue, like “unnatural” and “abnormal”. The government, after confusedly spinning around on its stand, finally went with the health ministry’s earlier...

Discovery of a deadly form of TB in a Mumbai hospital  underscores mismanagement In December last, when doctors at Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai raised the alarm over a deadly form of tuberculosis, the Union health ministry was quick to refute the claim. In its press release on January 17, the ministry said the term “totally drug resistant TB” is “misleading”; it is neither recognised by the national programme for TB control...

-The Economic Times   Vaccines are a true gift of science to humanity. In developing countries, prevention is better than cure. Vaccines have a great track record of safety and efficacy and they are amongst the most cost-effective products, which even the poor have access to due to effective systems of procurement and delivery. India's contribution in the vaccine arena is noteworthy. The primary reason behind the country's vaccine success story is...