Recognising Gender Violence is Key to Ending HIV

Everyone has heard of the different ways that HIV can spread: unprotected sex, sharing needles and childbirth to name a few. But, there is another dangerous perpetrator of HIV that is less obvious: violence against women. Violence against women is a social structure that helps spread HIV infection. It works by affecting women’s ability to…

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DTHF Partners with Coral Healthcare

Coral Healthcare (India & Australia) have undertaken to provide their top quality condoms to the DTHF as their commitment to being, “proactive doers in the worlds in which we function”. We eagerly look forward to the first consignment that should arrive at the end of October. An Agreement has been signed between the DTHF and…

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Women test discrete HIV prevention options

A daily pill, a monthly vaginal ring or an injection every two months: These were the prevention options available to young women on the uChoose study to help them prevent HIV infection. Brady Hooley, from the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation, presented the findings of this study. There are many new prevention tools becoming available to…

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HIV Cure Symposium: Experts Speak on the Elusive Cure for HIV

Key figures leading the fight against HIV discussed the status of the elusive HIV cure. Chaired by Prof Linda-Gail Bekker, Chief Operations Officer at the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation, the speakers discussed why we need an HIV cure, is a cure possible and what that cure might look like.  The landscape of the disease has…

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The Only Man Cured of HIV, Timothy Ray Brown, Speaks

Only one man has ever been cured of HIV. Timothy Ray Brown has been living ten years since an extremely dangerous procedure that removed all the HIV in his body. Frequently referred to as the ‘Berlin Patient’ based on the city the procedure was performed in, Brown came to the “Is an HIV Cure possible?”…

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Dolutegravir Access: Achieved!

At the UN General Assembly meeting Michel Sidibe, Executive Director of UNAIDS, announced that an exciting new pricing agreement has been made to accelerate the availability of the first affordable, generic, single-pill HIV treatment, which will contain Dolutegravir. A potent integrase inhibitor, Dolutegravir is an antiretroviral drug championed due to its low risk of side…

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Busting Myths about PrEP

 PrEP is an everyday pill that an HIV negative person can take to prevent getting HIV. Consistent use is essential for protection. Since PrEP is still a relatively new advancement in HIV prevention technology, there are still a lot of concerns and misconceptions around it. Fortunately, there has been a flurry of research in the…

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More Prevention Action Needed for MSM – The Sibanye Study

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are a population at high risk of HIV infection. In order to end HIV, we need targeted prevention strategies for this key population and the Sibanye study has been researching just that. The Sibanye study recorded the uptake of a package of HIV prevention tools in MSM in sites…

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Why do Some Children Struggle to Adhere to HIV Treatment?

This week, we were fortunate to have a visit from Sabine Van Elsland from the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation and VU University, who spoke about her research involving HIV positive children and how they respond to HIV treatment. Getting antiretroviral therapy (ART) to youths is one challenge, however, that is only the first…

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