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TUESDAY, July 1 (HealthDay News) -- Death rates for HIV-infected people lucky enough to get their hands on antiretroviral medications have decreased dramatically since the introduction of these drugs in 1996, new British research shows.

For most, the five-year, post-diagnosis survival for those infected sexually is now about equal to that of the general population.

Death rates were higher, however, for older individuals, for those who had been infected for a longer time, and for those who had been infected through intravenous drug use.

Yesterday was National HIV Testing Day. Americans, especially between the ages of 13-64 are encouraged to get tested for HIV in an effort to have everyone ultimately tested for this disease that often leads to death if not diagnosed and treated.

The bad news is that HIV/AIDS still has no cure, and although many people are living healthy lives after an HIV diagnosis, the reality is that many will succumb to the disease of AIDS - particularly poorer individuals who may have no access to health care and may not even know they have HIV in the first place (and thus spreading the virus).

THURSDAY, June 26 (HealthDay News) -- The latest data on HIV infection across 33 states finds new diagnoses jumping by 12 percent annually between 2001 and 2006 among young gay and bisexual men.

Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say the rise is "especially concerning" for young black men aged 13 to 24 who have sex with men. For this group, the annual rate of new HIV diagnoses rose by 15 percent annually, compared to a 9 percent and an 8 percent annual rise among their white and Hispanic peers, respectively.

The New York City health department plans to announce on Thursday an ambitious three-year effort to give an H.I.V. test to every adult living in the Bronx, which has a far higher death rate from AIDS than any other borough. The campaign will begin with a push to make the voluntary testing routine in emergency rooms and storefront clinics, where city officials say that cumbersome consent procedures required by state law have deterred doctors from offering the tests.

By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, June 19 (HealthDay News) -- Drugs that suppress HIV are keeping infected individuals alive and relatively healthy for years, even decades. But studies suggest that a new health risk is emerging for these long-term survivors: increased odds for heart attack and stroke.

It's not clear whether the cause is the virus itself or the drugs used to treat it, said Dr. Steven Grinspoon, professor of medicine at Harvard University.

THURSDAY, June 19 (HealthDay News) -- Due to problems with false-positive results, the use of an oral rapid HIV test was recently halted by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which operates 10 sexually transmitted disease walk-in clinics.

In January 2004, the clinics introduced on-site, rapid HIV testing of finger-stick, whole-blood specimens using the OraQuick test. Then, in March 2005, the clinics replaced the finger-stick test with an oral fluid test, the OraQuick Advance Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Test.

I hate to be such an old misery guts on a nice day like Father's Day.

But why is the news on AIDS still so terrible?

Why has a completely avoidable disease taken millions of women's lives and rendered children unwanted, unloved and uncared for? And why are so many babies still born with this disease?

The number of people becoming infected with HIV is far higher than those beginning treatment with antiretroviral drugs, according to United Nations officials. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.

Last year, 2.5 million people were infected with HIV, while 1 million started using antiretroviral drugs, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told world leaders on the first of several days of U.N. debate on AIDS prevention, the Associated Press reported.

By Randy Dotinga
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, June 4 (HealthDay News) -- Each year, an estimated 200,000 babies worldwide are infected with the AIDS virus through their mother's breast milk. Now, a new study suggests that a short-term drug regimen could provide significant protection for infants.

"It is very practical, and these drugs are relatively cheap. We believe a large proportion [of infants] can be protected," said study co-author Dr. Taha E. Taha, co-director of the infectious disease program at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health.