The New York state health department released a report this week saying that an organ transplant recipient contracted HIV from a kidney donation at a New York hospital. It’s the nation’s first documented case of HIV transmission via a living donor transplant since the 1980s. How did this happen? And what are the repercussions? 

Currently, more than 1.1 million Americans live with HIV. Every year, another 56,000 people contract the virus: a figure that has been relatively constant over the past decade. Today, the Obama administration announces a new strategy to combat this epidemic with the goal of reducing the rate of infections by 25 percent over the next five years and getting treatment to 85 percent of HIV patients within three months of their diagnosis. We talk with Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, about the new policy.

Today, the Obama administration unveils a new plan to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic in this country. Currently, more than 1.1 million Americans are infected with the virus, and infection rates are highest in the African-American community. African-Americans make up 12 percent of the US population, but make up more than half of new HIV/AIDS cases. It seems conventional methods of education on prevention and access to medicine are not effectively reaching this high-risk community. Many people pay attention to words from the pulpit: In some communities, the church might be the place where HIV prevention can best be taught.

Despite the giant strides made in recent years to provide effective drug treatments to combat HIV and AIDS, there's still a long way to go. Particularly in Africa, where the virus has hit hardest and thousands continue to die every year. One of the biggest problems in tackling the epidemic is the reluctance of those carrying the virus to come forward for testing. But an extraordinary group of women in Zimbabwe has found a new way to beat the stigma of HIV by forming a womens soccer league where all the players are HIV positive.

 

I still remember the fear that was instilled in me when I was pulled over and refused entry to the US for being HIV+, November 11, 2007.

I was interrogated, treated like a terrorist (actually the definition of terrorist is "one who instills fear to terror in others"), photographed, finger printed and run through the FBI most wanted list: all because I was supposed to know that I had to carry a medical waiver as a person who was HIV+ to enter the US, even if only for a shopping trip expected to last no longer than 3 hrs.

This not only angered me, but the event caused a major change to my life and left me restricted as to where I could go and how I could continue my HIV work with my partners in the U.S. and Tijuana, Mexico. (...continue reading)

The Obama administration has lifted a ban on travellers with HIV/AIDS who wish to visit the United States. The controversial ban went into effect in 1987, when the US became one of only thirteen nations in the world to restrict HIV positive foreign visitors. Martin Rooney was turned back from the U.S. border in Western Canada in 2007, and yesterday he entered without any trouble at all. Rooney is an advocate for people living with HIV/AIDS.

(Read Rooney's account of being denied entrance to the U.S. in 2007 and his happy crossing yesterday.)

Donald G. McNeil Jr., a science reporter for The New York Times, joins us with a look at what could be a significant breakthrough in the fight against the spread of HIV. Researchers have announced the results of a six-year, 16,000-person study in Thailand, and it appears that an experimental HIV vaccine has cut the risk of infection by almost one-third when compared to a placebo. This is the first time a vaccine has cut the risk of infection at all.

In an attempt to slow the spread of HIV, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention might begin recommending circumcisions for all infant boys. The announcement comes out of this week's National HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta. The CDC likely won't release a formal draft of the proposal for another four to six months, but speculation on it already has emotions flaring.

For more on the debate, we are joined by Dana Goldstein, public health reporter and associate editor for The American Prospect magazine; and Dr. Roy Gulick, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

The famous AIDS cocktail, a blend of life-prolonging drugs with wicked side effects, could be a thing of the past. At this year’s International AIDS Conference, scientists announced that they are testing a vaccine designed to give HIV patients an extended break from their regular medication.

Last week the Black AIDS Institute, an advocacy group, reported that if Black America were its own nation it would rank 16th in the world in the number of people living with AIDS. Among its findings the report also states that nearly 600,000 blacks are living with HIV and up to 30,000 are becoming infected each year. The report provides a new perspective on the AIDS epidemic and negligence in its treatment.

A new CDC study finds that the annual HIV infection rate is higher than previously estimated. The country had roughly 56,300 new HIV infections in 2006 — about a 40 percent increase from the 40,000 annual estimate used for the past dozen years. What do these new numbers mean for how the community handles AIDS prevention?

The 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City runs August 3 to 8, 2008. This year’s conference coincided with the startling revelation that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had underestimated new HIV cases by 40 percent.

Guest: Duncan Kennedy, BBC Correspondent in Mexico City