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Query: UMLS:C0019693 (HIV)
 170,526 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The statement made by Health Minister Mantho Tshabalala-Msimang on the cause of the death of trial participants evoked a contradictory response from the South Africa's Medicines Control Council (MCC). In his speech, the minister attributed the cause of these deaths to nevirapine, whose trial has been suspended but the study still continues. Opposition parties have accused the minister of trying to demonize nevirapine as justification for not providing free antiretroviral treatment to pregnant women with HIV. The trial in question, FTC-302, is a combination therapy in the long-term treatment of adult HIV infection. The trial compares Triangle's emtricitabine with lamivudine when combined with stavudine and nevirapine. Two days after the statement was made public, MCC responded that evidence is still inconclusive while, at the same time, points the cause of these deaths to drug interaction. Furthermore, Tshabalala-Msimang's comments irritated AIDS activists, who had already expressed outrage at the exclusion of top AIDS researchers from the controversial panel of experts being set up to advice President Thabo Mbeki on AIDS. Despite the controversy, AIDS activists had some cause to celebrate when Pfizer announced the donation of free fluconazole that is used to prevent relapse of cryptococcal meningitis.
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PMID:South Africa's Medicines Control Council contradicts Health Minister. 1090 48

In Swaziland, a legislation was proposed by some members of the parliament that calls for mandatory sterilization of the country's HIV-infected citizens. The bill tabled by Sikakadza Matsebula and Timothy Buthelezi, calls on the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to introduce urgently the legislation to control the spread of HIV. To this effect, the country's parliament will hold a debate over the implementation of such a legislation. Opposition argues that instead of controlling the spread of the virus, such a program will further increase its spread because people would not get tested for HIV. Arthur Caplan of the Center of Bioethics, University of Pennsylvania warns that such a policy would violate the human right to reproduce, and may actually increase the risk of HIV transmission if the consequences of sexual intercourse are removed. In addition, Pamela Sankar also from the Center for Bioethics, says the proposal is medically and ethically unsound and urges people to speak out against it.
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PMID:Swaziland debates sterilisation of HIV patients. 1107 Dec

As approval of the first home-access HIV test kit appears inevitable, various health care agencies are anticipating how the kit would change HIV testing methods. One survey indicates that home testing would be favored by minority groups, would decrease the burden on public testing sites, and would lessen the use of blood donation as a means of HIV testing. Three companies have home-access kits awaiting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval: Johnson & Johnson of New Brunswick, NJ; Chem Trak of Sunnyvale, CA; and Home Access Health Corp. in Chicago. The Johnson & Johnson kit provides a lance for pricking the finger, filter paper on which to place a drop of blood, and a sealed envelope for mailing to a laboratory, which provides results by telephone within several weeks. Opposition to the concept of home-access testing has dwindled as the need for more accessible HIV testing takes on added urgency now that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended routine, voluntary HIV testing for all pregnant women. The CDC reversed its earlier position and now supports the concept of home-access HIV testing and feels that it has the potential to expand access to testing. Of concern is the adequacy of telephone counseling. In addition, health officials are concerned about the impact on public testing sites and the possible threat to HIV prevention funding for HIV clinics.
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PMID:Home-test support grows as more questions arise. 1136 58

The US government, ignoring the almost unanimous recommendation of medical and public health experts throughout the world, continues to ban both immigration and travel by people with HIV. Following recommendations from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US Department of Health and Human Services indicated its intention to reduce the list of dangerous and contagious diseases for excluding entry to the US to include only active tuberculosis. That decision would have removed HIV/AIDS from the list. However, due to the subsequent 35,000 letters and postcards, mostly generated by conservative religious broadcasters and mailing houses opposed to lifting the ban, AIDS remained on the list. Opposition to lifting the ban came from the US Justice Department, as well as in the form of a signed statement to that end from 67 Republican members of the US Congress. US AIDS activists have organized their own letter campaign to support the removal of HIV/AIDS from the list. The June 1990 Sixth International Conference on AIDS was disrupted because of the travel ban. More than 70 AIDS, medical, and governmental organizations, including the International Red Cross, the British Medical Association, and the European Parliament boycotted the conferences. Planning for the 8th International Conference on AIDS, scheduled to be held in Boston in May 1992, is already being disputed and may not be held.
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PMID:US refuses to issue entry visas to people with HIV / AIDS. 1217

Opposition parties in the House of Commons have forced changes to legislation introduced by the minority Conservative government designed to eliminate conditional sentencing for certain offences. The legislation no longer applies to drug offences.
HIV AIDS Policy Law Rev 2007 May
PMID:Bill eliminating conditional sentences amended to exclude drug offences. 1771 24

This article reports on qualitative research investigating key challenges and barriers towards human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine introduction in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. A total of 50 in-depth interviews and 6 focus groups were conducted at policy, health service and community levels of enquiry. Respondents expressed overall support for the HPV vaccine, underscored by difficulties associated with the current cervical screening programmes and the burgeoning HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa. Overall poor community knowledge of cervical cancer and the causal relationship between HPV and cervical cancer suggests the need for continued education around the importance of regular cervical screening. The optimal target populations for HPV vaccination was influenced by the perceived median age of sexual activity in South African girls (9-15 years), with an underlying concern that high levels of sexual abuse had significantly decreased the age of sexual exposure suggesting vaccination should commence as early as 9 years. Vaccination through schools with the involvement of other stakeholders such as sexual and reproductive health and the advanced programme on immunization (EPI) were suggested. Opposition to the HPV vaccine was not anticipated if the vaccine was marketed as preventing cervical cancer rather than a sexually transmitted infection. The findings assist in identifying potential barriers and facilitating factors towards HPV vaccines and will inform the development of policy and programs to support HPV vaccination introduction in South Africa and other African countries.
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PMID:Preparing for HPV vaccination in South Africa: key challenges and opinions. 1897 71

While Chile sees itself as a country that has fully restored human rights since its return to democratic rule in 1990, the rights of teenagers to comprehensive sexuality education are still not being met. This paper reviews the recent history of sexuality education in Chile and related legislation, policies and programmes. It also reports a 2008 review of the bylaws of 189 randomly selected Chilean schools, which found that although such bylaws are mandatory, the absence of bylaws to prevent discrimination on grounds of pregnancy, HIV and sexuality was common. In relation to how sexual behaviour and discipline were addressed, bylaws that were non-compliant with the law were very common. Opposition to sexuality education in schools in Chile is predicated on the denial of teenage sexuality, and many schools punish sexual behaviour where transgression is perceived to have taken place. While the wider Chilean society has been moving towards greater recognition of individual autonomy and sexual diversity, this cultural shift has yet to be reflected in the government's political agenda, in spite of good intentions. Given this state of affairs, the Chilean polity needs to recognise its youth as having human rights, or will continue to fail in its commitment to them.
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PMID:Teenage sexuality and rights in Chile: from denial to punishment. 1996 42

This paper explores a discourse of war against HIV/AIDS evident in the Daily Dispatch, a South African daily newspaper, from 1985 to 2000, and discusses the implications of this in terms of the way in which HIV/AIDS is constructed. The discursive framework of the war depends, fundamentally, on the personification of HIV/AIDS, in which agency is accorded to the virus, and which allows for its construction as the enemy. The war discourse positions different groups of subjects (the diseased body, the commanders, the experts, the ordinary citizens) in relations of power. The diseased body, which is the point of transmission, the polluter or infector, is cast as the 'Other', as a dark and threatening force. This takes on racialised overtones. The government takes on the role of commander, directing the war through policy and intervention strategies. Opposition to government is couched in a struggle discourse that dove-tails with the overall framework of war. Medical and scientific understandings pre-dominate in the investigative practices and expert commentary on the war, with alternative voices (such as those of people living with HIV/AIDS) being silenced. The ordinary citizen is incited to take on prevention and caring roles with a strong gendered overlay.
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PMID:Waging war: discourses of HIV/AIDS in South African media. 2587 40

Psychological reactance is defined as the drive to re-establish autonomy after it has been threatened or constrained. People living with HIV may have high levels of psychological reactance due to the restrictions that they may perceive as a result of living with HIV. People living with HIV may also exhibit levels of HIV-related stigma. The relationship between psychological reactance and HIV-related stigma is complex yet understudied. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to examine the association between psychological reactance and HIV-related stigma among women living with HIV. Data were obtained from one time-point (a cross-sectional assessment) of a longitudinal HIV disclosure study. Psychological reactance was measured using the 18-item Questionnaire for the Measurement of Psychological Reactance. HIV-related stigma was measured using the HIV Stigma Scale, which has four domains: personalized, disclosure concerns, negative self-image, and concerns with public attitudes. Principal component analysis was used to derive components of psychological reactance. Linear regression models were used to determine the association between overall psychological reactance and its components, and stigma and its four domains, and depressive and anxiety symptoms. The associations between stigma and mental health were also examined. Three components of psychological reactance were derived: Opposition, Irritability, and Independence. Overall psychological reactance and irritability were associated with all forms of stigma. Opposition was linked to overall and negative self-image stigma. Overall psychological reactance, opposition, and irritability were positively associated with anxiety symptoms while opposition was also associated with Centers for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression depressive symptoms. There were also positive associations between all forms of stigma, and depressive and anxiety symptoms. Health-care providers and counselors for women living with HIV addressing feelings of irritability and opposition toward others may reduce HIV-related stigma. Future research should examine the link between psychological reactance, mental health, and HIV-related stigma among other populations living with HIV.
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PMID:Psychological reactance and HIV-related stigma among women living with HIV. 2688 96

Fear is now commonly used in public health campaigns, yet for years ethical and efficacy-centered concerns provided a challenge to using fear in such efforts. From the 1950s through the 1970s, the field of public health believed that using fear to influence individual behavior would virtually always backfire. Yet faced with the limited effectiveness of informational approaches to cessation, antitobacco campaigns featured fear in the 1960s. These provoked little protest outside the tobacco industry. At the outset of the AIDS epidemic, fear was also employed. However, activists denounced these messages as stigmatizing, halting use of fear for HIV/AIDS until the 21st century. Opposition began to fracture with growing concerns about complacency and the risks of HIV transmission, particularly among gay men. With AIDS, fear overcame opposition only when it was framed as fair warning with the potential to correct misperceptions.
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PMID:The Two Faces of Fear: A History of Hard-Hitting Public Health Campaigns Against Tobacco and AIDS. 3116 28


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