univesal health 26

The continuum of HIV care is a framework that enables countries to monitor the effectiveness of their HIV response -- from diagnosis towards viral suppression (which means that the virus is no longer detectable in the blood). This report provides a snapshot of the status of the continuum of care for the whole region as well as each of the 48 countries reporting at least some continuum data. Based on the findings of the ECDC Dublin Declaration report on the continuum in 2015, ECDC now monitors a four-stage continuum that is directly relevant in the European region: Stage 1 -- the estimated number of all people living with HIV (PLHIV); Stage 2 -- the number of all PLHIV who have been diagnosed; Stage 3 -- the number on PLHIV who have been diagnosed and who are on ART; and Stage 4 -- the number of PLHIV on ART who are virally suppressed. Between 2014 and 2016, there was a substantial increase in the proportion of countries able to report on all four stages of the continuum, f...

Scientists have discovered a key molecule linked to Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection, which is harmless for healthy people but can cause miscarriage and birth defects during pregnancy. Tests on infected cells found that blocking the molecule with a chemical inhibitor stops the virus from multiplying. The molecule -- called VCP -- is a component of the infected cell rather than a substance produced by the virus itself. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute found the virus is dependent on VCP to replicate its genetic material and multiply. Chemicals that block the activity of VCP are 10 times more powerful at stopping the virus than existing medications that target HCMV directly, the study found. By targeting the affected cells instead of the virus, the approach could also cut the chances of the virus becoming resistant to the therapy, researchers say. Drugs that target VCP are already being developed as potential therapies for cancer. Stu...

The findings, appearing May 14 in  The Lancet HIV , suggest that the so-called War on Drugs, which called for stiff penalties for possession of illegal drugs, has been unsuccessful in reducing drug use and has put thousands of people in jail who might be better served through drug treatment. The United States, for example, is in the midst of an unprecedented crisis of opioid use and abuse and, in many parts of the world, HIV rates are being driven up by the unmet HIV prevention and treatment needs among people who inject drugs. The use of injection drugs continues to be a key driver of the global HIV epidemic, with 51 percent of new HIV cases in eastern Europe and central Asia occurring in people who inject drugs, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. The researchers systematically reviewed 106 peer-reviewed studies published between Jan. 2006 and Dec. 2014 on criminalization and HIV prevention or treatment among people who use injection drugs. "Mor...