The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week gave its first ever nod for an anti-HIV drug, Truvada, to pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences.

PANJIM: The number of HIV cases registered between 2009 and 2011 in Goa are reported to be 2445 according to statistics furnished by Health minister Laxmikant Parsekar while replying to queries from Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte, at the Goa Assembly’s monsoon session.

In 2009, 959 HIV cases were registered, whereas in 2010 and 2011 there was a declining trend in HIV registered cases from 821 to 665 cases. As far as the number of Goan affected by HIV are concerned, the figure was pegged at 1939 between 2009 and 2011.

JAIPUR: Six new antiretroviral therapy (ART) centres will be opened this year in the state to provide free drugs to people living with HIV, as the National Aids Control Society (NACO) has approved funds for the purpose in its annual action plan 2012-13.

The new centres would come up at Bharatpur, Jhunjhunu, Barmer, Dungarpur, Nagaur and Jalore. The NACO has approved Rs 32 crore for preventing new infections, care support and treatment, institutional strengthening and strategic management information system. Last year too, NACO had approved almost an equal amount for the state.

The third edition of HIV-awareness train, best known as the Red Ribbon Express, completed its journey in the State on Friday with a record high 5,97,788 people visiting the train in all the distric

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court on Thursday issued notice to the National Aids Control Organization (NACO) over a PIL demanding a change in standard testing method for detection of HIV prior to blood transfusion. It demanded adoption of a faster method of detection.

One Babulal Thakkar filed the PIL citing a TOI report on the new method of testing. Thakkar has identified himself as a lecturer from Ahmedabad. He requested the court to direct the authorities including NACO to do away with the present method of detecting HIV in India, which through the Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test or the anti body test.

A global study mapping human diseases that come from animals like tuberculosis, AIDS, bird flu or Rift Valley fever has found that just 13 such diseases are responsible for 2.4 billion cases of hum

SHILLLONG: AIDS, one of the most dreaded diseases of the immune system has a high rate of occurrence in the world and has claimed the lives of many.

The Northeastern part of the country has recorded a staggering increase in the number of AIDS cases over the past few years. As per the available statistics, there are altogether 915 people in the State who have been tested HIV positive between 2002 and March 2012. The total number of people who underwent HIV testing at Integrated Counseling and Testing Centres (ICTCs) was 61,848 between the same period.

The AIDS Prevention and Control (APAC) project, managed by non-governmental organisation Voluntary Health Services, has transferred its AIDS-related projects to the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control So