CALL TO ACTION Over thirty years ago, when the fight against HIV first began, the outlook for tackling the pandemic was bleak. Across the world, AIDS was seen as a death sentence. Within just a few years, it had devastated communities from the United States to South Africa. But the world continued to fight, and the past three decades have seen tremendous progress in HIV research, prevention and treatment, thanks in large part to the leadership of the United States. Today, we can build … [Read more...]
Victims Without a Voice – 18 month old dies from RAPE – Take Action!
May 23, 2012 by
- Fighting child sexual abuse - "18-month old baby boy died of internal damage after being raped" "I am not sure which of the following story is more painful; the pain of the children without a voice OR the spiritual condition of the souls inside these perpetrators, brutally pillaging INNOCENCE. WHAT compels a grown man to violently hurt a child let alone penetrate and violate through RAPE?" KINGSTON, Jamaica, May 2012 – A nine-year old boy was systematically raped by his … [Read more...]
New Asia – Pacific report focuses on transgender persons
May 22, 2012 by
Bangkok – A lack of targeted research on transgender persons in Asia and the Pacific is significantly hindering their access to health services and blocking effective responses to HIV, says a groundbreaking study released here today to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. In this region, where long marginalized sexual minorities are already bearing the brunt of the HIV epidemic, transgender persons are among the most socially ostracized, lacking fundamental … [Read more...]
Facebook Timeline: A Tool in Response to HIV
May 22, 2012 by
It’s estimated that 96% of Facebook users never revisit fan pages1 once they hit the “like” button. We at AIDS.gov hope this changes with the new features of the Facebook timeline for Facebook Pages. Three months ago, Facebook announced that Facebook Page owners had a month to update their profiles to the new timeline format . Brands could enable the new timeline at anytime, and on March 30 brand pages were automatically converted to the timeline. Some of the Facebook timeline features … [Read more...]
Hepatitis Awareness Month: May 19th, FIRST Hepatitis Testing Day
May 14, 2012 by
During May’s annual observance of Hepatitis Awareness Month, May 19th will be recognized as the first-ever Hepatitis Testing Day in the United States. The Action Plan for the Prevention, Care, and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis (Action Plan) called for the establishment of this national testing day as one of the important actions to be taken to address the fact that millions of Americans have chronic hepatitis, but most of them do not know they are infected. Establishing this national … [Read more...]
Interested in Hosting an AIDS 2012 HUB?
May 11, 2012 by
More than 20,000. That’s the number of delegates that are expected to attend AIDS 2012. According to organizers, the conference received 11,715 abstracts from scientists around the world seeking to showcase their research at the conference. That is a 15% increase from the 2010 conference in Vienna, Austria. After a rigorous peer review process, the Scientific Programme Committee accepted 3,600 abstracts for presentations. Activity in the Global Village is also up; conference organizers accepted … [Read more...]
Hepatitis Awareness Month, Mothers Can Make a Difference
May 10, 2012 by
As we approach Mother’s Day this Sunday and then observe Women’s Health Week (May 13-19), it is an excellent opportunity to focus on actions that can be taken to improve the health and well-being of mothers and their infants. Since May is also Hepatitis Awareness Month, I would like to highlight perinatal hepatitis B transmission and the actions needed to eliminate this preventable disease. An estimated 1.4 million Americans are living with chronic (lifelong) hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. … [Read more...]
Funding Availability to Support HIV Care – HRSA Announces
May 8, 2012 by
Last week, the HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) that will support between 5 and 10 new Part C programs offering HIV early intervention services (EIS) in areas of the country where the HIV epidemic is increasing, demand for services has increased, and the availability of other HIV/AIDS services is limited. This funding opportunity stems from President Obama’s 2011 World AIDS Day initiative to expand … [Read more...]
Pre-Conference Events Planned for AIDS 2012
April 10, 2012 by
Many Pre-Conference Events Planned for AIDS 2012 Though the Opening Session on Sunday evening, July 22nd marks the official start of XIX International AIDS Conference AIDS 2012 , delegates may wish to consider arriving well before then to participate in the many pre-conference events taking place in Washington, D.C. As of today, a number of activities have been announced (see below). Participation in some of these meetings is by invitation only, but others are open to all delegates … [Read more...]
Open Data in Action: What is an API?
April 4, 2012 by
In the past, information or data sharing typically required a fee or specific agreements. For example, if you wanted to get content from a news article, you had to buy a newspaper. Technology has changed how we share information: it has removed barriers and created incentives for open data sharing. One way that online data can be made more available is through an “application programming interface” or API. While the name may be intimidating, you probably use APIs every day. APIs bring us … [Read more...]
