Women, girls in AIDS fight

WINDHOEK, Namibia — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the Obama administration will put women and girls first in the fight against AIDS.


Clinton addressed an international AIDS conference in Namibia by video hookup Wednesday.

She said the American government will prioritize preventing mother-to-child transmission of the virus that causes AIDS, and work to ensure girls are not forced into prostitution or early marriages.

Africans have welcomed the election of Barack Obama, who has roots in Kenya and is America’s first black president.

But many Africans also applauded President George W. Bush, Obama’s predecessor, for a campaign launched in 2003 that expanded AIDS prevention, treatment and support programs in 15 hard-hit countries, 12 of them African.



by the associated press

South African HIV rate drops

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — The number of new HIV infections among South African teens has dropped significantly, prompting hope that efforts to tackle the epidemic have finally turned a corner after years of denial and delay.

A report by the Human Sciences Research Council released Tuesday said that although young people continue to have multiple sexual partners — which drives South Africa’s epidemic — they are increasingly heeding advice to use a condom.

"There is clearly light at the end of the tunnel,” Health Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi said.

Motsoaledi became health minister last month. He must overcome the legacy of former President Thabo Mbeki, who denied the link between HIV and AIDS.


by the associated press

Not a way to link cases with VA, doctors says

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Former patients who tested positive for HIV or hepatitis will not be able to show they were infected by equipment at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals, Dr. Jim Bagian, the VA’s chief patient safety officer, said Friday.

Bagian said the patients won’t be able to prove they were even exposed to endoscopic equipment that wasn’t properly sterilized. It was discovered in December that equipment was either not properly cleaned or set up.

Five patients have tested positive for HIV and 33 have tested positive for hepatitis since February.

Dr. David A. Greenwald, a spokesman for the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, said that although the patients recently tested positive, they could have had the viruses for years without showing symptoms.


by the associated press

Clinic Mistakes in HIV Cases , from VA reports

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Three patients exposed to contaminated medical equipment at Veterans Affairs hospitals have tested positive for HIV, the agency said Friday.

Initial tests show one patient each from VA medical facilities in Murfreesboro, Tenn., Augusta, Ga., and Miami, Fla., has the virus that causes AIDS, a VA statement said.

The patients are among more than 10,000 getting tested because they were treated with endoscopic equipment that wasn’t properly sterilized.

The VA also said there have been six positive tests for the hepatitis B virus at the three locations

by the associated press