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World's AIDS Day
It's been called the closest the world has ever come to a vaccine against the AIDS virus. The twice-yearly shot was 100% effective in preventing HIV infections in a study of women, and results published Wednesday show it worked nearly as well in men. Drugmaker Gilead said it will allow cheap, generic versions to be sold in 120 poor countries with high HIV rates mostly in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. But it has excluded nearly all of Latin America, where rates are far lower but increasing, sparking concern the world is missing a critical opportunity to stop the disease. This is so far superior to any other prevention method we have, that it's unprecedented, said Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS. She credited Gilead for developing the drug, but said the world's ability to stop AIDS hinges on its use in at-risk countries. In a report issued to mark World AIDS Day on Sunday, UNAIDS said that the number of AIDS death last year an estimated 630,000 was at its
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday said though the southern state has low density of HIV-affected persons, the odds of contracting the infection is very high there. The disease prevention activities and awareness programmes have great significance and the state government is making various interventions to keep the disease at bay, he said in a Facebook post marking the "World AIDS Day" today. The CM said the day was a reminder to ensure public participation in the rehabilitation of HIV-infected persons across the world and to contain the spread of the disease. He pointed out that as per the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, it is necessary to create a situation where there are no new cases of the disease by 2030. But, Kerala is going to achieve this target much earlier, he said adding that the LDF government is making comprehensive interventions through the campaign "Onnayi Poojayathilekk" (loosely translated as "Together to Zero") as part of this. "We ar