JOHANNESBURG, 28 July 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – As many African countries battle to bring down staggering rates of maternal and child mortality, maternal and child health made for a fitting theme at the African Union (AU) Summit this week in Kampala, Uganda.

NAIROBI, 27 July 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – HIV-positive people on treatment will be switched from regimens containing the antiretroviral Stavudine to less toxic combinations in line with UN World Health Organization guidelines, according to a senior official.

JOHANNESBURG, 26 July 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – A new, global survey has revealed the conversations healthcare providers aren’t having with their HIV-positive patients with potentially negative consequences for their treatment and health.

JOHANNESBURG, 23 July 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – Giving young women small, regular cash payments can reduce their dependence on sexual relationships with older men, which also lowers their HIV risk, according to a new study by the World Bank.

VIENNA, 23 July 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – There is a tug-of-war going on with governments trying to criminalize the transmission of HIV on one side, and activists who say such laws are not only ineffective as a deterrent but are also harming the fight against AIDS, on the other.

VIENNA, 23 July 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – I’m so used to, and bored by, the bland white packaging that carries the underused female condom that at this year’s International AIDS Conference, I walked past several press releases and demonstrations of it without much interest. So it was with some surprise that I came upon a stand at the Global Village where a young woman was demonstrating the use of not one, but two versions of the female condom I had never seen before.

VIENNA, 22 July 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – Speaking at the International AIDS Conference earlier this week, former US President Bill Clinton told delegates that the credit crunch meant HIV programmes would need to work “faster, better and cheaper”.

JOHANNESBURG, 21 July 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – About half the babies exposed to HIV may not be getting the antiretroviral (ARV) drugs they need to be born HIV-free and stay that way, say the findings of a four-country study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

VIENNA, 20 July 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – Discordant couples, in which one partner is HIV-positive and the other HIV-negative, are increasingly common in African countries with high prevalence, but there is often little support to help them navigate the complexities that the virus adds to a relationship.

HARARE, 19 July 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – Zimbabwe’s government has adopted new guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO) for treating people living with HIV, but there may not be enough money to implement them.

NAIROBI, 7 July 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – Local East African programmes are discovering the benefits of bringing HIV services closer to rural communities, with mobile drug distribution improving HIV-positive patients’ adherence to antiretroviral treatment.

JOHANNESBURG, 14 July 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – AIDS is the world’s most important health-care issue according to people all over the world who were polled for their perceptions of the AIDS epidemic in a new survey commissioned by UNAIDS.

JOHANNESBURG, 16 July 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – UNAIDS has launched a simpler, more cost-effective approach to HIV treatment, aimed at simultaneously achieving two holy grails of the AIDS response: drastic reductions in AIDS-related deaths and new HIV infections.

VIENNA, 15 July 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – “Rights Here, Right Now” is the theme of the 18th International AIDS Conference, also known as “AIDS 2010″, opening on 18 July in Vienna, Austria. Around 25,000 policy-makers, programme implementers, scientists, community workers, activists and people living with HIV will gather to discuss the latest developments in the field of HIV/AIDS.

JOHANNESBURG, 14 July 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – Across the world, but especially in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, young people are taking action to protect themselves from HIV, says a new study by UNAIDS.