Heena Sharma Blog

The proportion of Indian sex workers with HIV/AIDS declined over four years to 2017, more use condoms than ever before and funding to control the disease rose 21% over the period, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of national health data. But there appears to be little change in violence, stigma and discrimination against sex workers, how Indian states treat them varies, and funding and drugs are not always available when and where they should be. Over 91% of Indian sex workers used condoms in 2018, and no more than 1.6% of female sex workers had HIV (human immunodeficieny virus) and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) in 2017, down from 2.75% in 2013, mirroring a decline reflected among the general population, according to the latest available data. Over four years to 2017, the “HIV prevalence rate”, the percentage of people tested and found infected, among men who have sex with men also dropped from 4.4% to 2.7%, said a 2018 report from UNAIDS, a United Nations or...

This week a team of scientists and physicians from the U.K. published news of a second HIV positive man, in London, who is in long-term (18-month) HIV remission after undergoing treatment for Hodgkins lymphoma. The unexpected success has launched a new round of discussion about a potential cure for HIV. Since 2008, scientists have been trying to replicate the treatment that cured the “Berlin patient” of HIV. At the time, many in the field of HIV research were excited to learn that this man, who tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus in Berlin and had recently undergone treatment for acute myeloid leukemia, appeared to have been cured of his HIV. Until now, success in replicating that cure has been limited. What is HIV? HIV is the virus that causes AIDS . Since the virus was first discovered in the 1980s, more than 75 million people worldwide have been infected with HIV. Today, almost 37 million people live with HIV. Of these, about 1.1 million live in the U.S....

Stigma related to human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV ) impairs cognition in men living with the condition, finds a study. The findings of the McGill University study have been published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. The participants filled out a questionnaire asking how much stigma they experience. Their answers were related to their results in cognitive testing and mental health questionnaires. Researchers found that HIV-related stigma had direct effects on cognitive test performance and anxiety. There was also a direct but weaker link between stigma and depression. Through its effects on cognition, stigma was found to reduce participation in social activities and impair function in everyday life. This study is the first to draw a direct connection between stigma and cognitive performance in people with HIV. The mechanisms through which stigma affects cognition are unclear, but might range from the impact of chronic stress on the brain, t...

A scientist in China claims to have produced the world’s first genome-edited babies by altering their DNA to increase their resistance to HIV . Aside from the lack of verifiable evidence for this non peer-reviewed claim, this research is premature, dangerous and irresponsible. He Jiankui from the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen (which has reportedly since suspended him) said he edited the DNA of seven embryos being used for fertility treatment, so far resulting in the birth of one set of twin girls. He says he used the tool known as CRISPR to delete the embryos’ CCR5 gene (C-C motif chemokine receptor 5), mutations in which are linked to resistance to HIV infection . If true, this is a significant advance in genetic science, but there are some very serious problems with this news. First, the research has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal so we cannot be sure of the exact details of what has been done. Instead, the scientist made ...

A Chinese researcher claims that he helped make the world's first genetically edited babies twin girls born this month whose DNA he said he altered with a powerful new tool capable of rewriting the very blueprint of life. If true, it would be a profound leap of science and ethics. A US scientist said he took part in the work in China, but this kind of gene editing is banned in the United States because the DNA changes can pass to future generations and it risks harming other genes. Many mainstream scientists think it's too unsafe to try, and some denounced the Chinese report as human experimentation. The researcher, He Jiankui of Shenzhen, said he altered embryos for seven couples during fertility treatments, with one pregnancy resulting thus far. He said his goal was not to cure or prevent an inherited disease, but to try to bestow a trait that few people naturally have an ability to resist possible future infection with HIV , the AIDS virus . He...

Despite a landmark verdict on Section 377 by the Supreme Court, which decriminalised gay sex in the country, the Maharashtra arm of National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) recently issued a newly-updated blood donor screening questionnaire to Mumbai-based blood banks. The new questionnaire, designed on the lines of developed nations, will now mandate the blood collectors to ask the male donors about their sexual behaviour and whether they have multiple partners or engaged in the male-to-male sexual activity. For decades, the ban on homosexuals to donate blood exists in India and those who are at high risk of suffering from prolonged diseases such as cancer, allergies, respiratory ailments and organ failure are also not allowed to donate blood. ALSO READ: Blood banks gasp for oxygen, India sees shortage of 1.9 mn units in 2016-17 NBTC’s 2017 revised guidelines, on the selection of blood donors reiterate that transgenders, bisexual men and female sex workers can never don...

The report underscored the public health benefits of decriminalising sex work Health News : India saw a major reduction in the number of new HIV infections, AIDS-related deaths and people living with HIV from 2010 to 2017 on the back of sustained and focussed efforts, according to a UN report which warned that the epidemic was growing in Pakistan. The Joint UN Agency on AIDS (UNAIDS) report titled 'Miles to go closing gaps, breaking barriers, righting injustices' said Asia and the Pacific regions have made strong inroads with its HIV response. Sustained and focused efforts to reach key populations have led to major reductions in HIV infections in Cambodia, India, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam between 2010 and 2017. The report, however, warned that the global new HIV infections were not declining fast enough. It also noted that the epidemics were expanding in Pakistan and the Philippines. In India, new HIV infections dropped from 120,000 in 2010 to 88,...