At the 122nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Bangkok, parliamentarians from around the world sought to encourage governments to remove travel restrictions on individuals living with HIV.

The United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UNAIDS are working to persuade parliamentarians of countries with current travel restrictions to be actively involved in removing them. Additionally, they are recommended to support legislation that protects HIV individuals from discrimination based on disease status.

Currently, a total of 52 countries have some kind of restrictions regarding entry,…

Every year, March 10 marks the National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Coordinated by the Office on Women’s Health, the day is meant to encourage nationwide discussion about HIV and AIDS among women and girls.

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day provides an opportunity to educate women and girls about prevention, testing, and how to live a healthy life even after becoming infected with HIV.

To meet these goals, organizations across the country are sponsoring events to jumpstart dialogue about HIV and AIDS.

The Office on Women’s Health…

This fall the Joint United Nations Programme On HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) launched AIDSspace, a social networking site for the global AIDS community.

The site will span country and continental borders to connect the 33.4 million people living with HIV to each other and to people and organizations working for the cause.

“The premise behind AIDSspace is simple,” states the AIDSspace Web site. “If hundreds of millions of people can connect on some of the most popular social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube) to chat, share content, and…

According to a recent report, more than four million people living in low- to middle-income countries are now receiving antiretroviral therapy.

The report, released by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), details other improvements in HIV/AIDS care as well, including figures related to treatment, testing and counseling, women and children, and at-risk populations.

Forty two percent of the estimated 9.5 million people in need of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in low- to middle-income countries are receiving care.…

In Bangkok earlier today, U.S. Army researchers announced the outcome of their recent Phase 3 HIV vaccine trial, the largest yet in history. The results of the trial, known as RV144, were promising – infection was reduced by 31.2 percent among more than 16,000 Thai volunteers.

Although the vaccine does not guarantee complete immunity, “these new findings represent an important step forward in HIV vaccine research,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in a press release.

A vaccine that is only…