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 Islamic religious leaders in Somalia are increasing efforts to reduce stigma and discrimination against HIV-positive people in the country, IRIN/Plus News reports. Religious leaders in the predominantly Muslim country are encouraging people to treat HIV-positive people with respect and are becoming involved in HIV prevention efforts, according to IRIN/Plus News.

Sheikh Mohamed Haji Mahamoud Hersi, who is part of a traveling organization of Muslim leaders, said, “As religious leaders we feel it is one of our main duties to be kind and helpful to the less fortunate members of society,” adding, “Islam is about compassion, and people living with HIV deserve to be treated with kindness.” IRIN/Plus News reports that Hersi was one of the first religious leaders in the country to advocate for better treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS, who face “constant stigma, are ostracized and often even thrown out of their homes.” According to Hersi, people in Somalia “really listen” to religious leaders and might “accept” HIV-positive people if they see leaders engaging people living with HIV/AIDS. Talowadag, a coalition of nongovernmental organizations that provides care for people living with HIV/AIDS, recently held a meeting with 24 religious leaders, and all but one agreed to provide counseling to HIV-positive people, according to Gulleid Osman, executive director of the group.

IRIN/Plus News reports that the United Nations Development Program and UNAIDS have trained religious leaders to help local residents change their behavior toward HIV-positive people. UNDP is also partnering with the Somaliland AIDS Commission, local NGOs and Muslim scholars to agree on the formal role of religious leaders in HIV prevention (IRIN/Plus News, 3/27).

WASHINGTON —  At least 3 percent of residents in the nation’s capital are living with HIV or AIDS and every mode of transmission is on the rise, according to a report to be released Monday by D.C. health officials.

The findings in the 2008 epidemiology report by the D.C. HIV/AIDS Administration point to a severe epidemic that’s impacting every race and sex across the population and neighborhoods.

“Our rates are higher than West Africa,” said Shannon Hader, the administration’s director, who used to spearhead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s work in Zimbabwe. “They’re on par with Uganda and some parts of Kenya.”

The report, obtained by The Washington Post, updates a landmark 2007 study that discovered the epidemic had moved from affecting a mostly gay population to a general one, and that it disproportionately affected blacks.

The study found that the number of HIV and AIDS cases jumped 22 percent from the 12,428 reported in 2006. Almost 1 in 10 residents between 40 and 49 are living with the virus, and black men had the highest infection rate at almost 7 percent, the report said. It added that 3 percent of black women in D.C. have HIV.

“This is very, very depressing news, especially considering HIV’s profound impact on minority communities,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Health’s program on infectious diseases. “And remember: The city’s numbers are just based on people who’ve gotten tested.”

The epidemiology report warns that the true number of D.C. residents infected with HIV “is certainly higher.”

Meanwhile, another study scheduled to be released Monday by city health officials looks at heterosexual sexual behavior, and attempts to dissect people’s choices before they are tested for or become infected with HIV. It was conducted by the George Washington University School of Health and Health Services with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study found that three in five D.C. residents who had connections in neighborhoods with high poverty and AIDS rates were aware of their HIV status and that three in 10 had used a condom the last time they had sex, among other findings.

According to Gandhi, asking patients themselves for information about their drug regiments can have inherent issues. “We often ask the patient what is their adherence to their medication,” she said, adding that physicians ask, “How much are they taking of their medication when we’re trying to predict why they’re not doing well. And self-reported adherence has its own set of limitations. There’s, you know, bias in how people present their level of adherence and there’s literally just memory problems in people not remembering how much they’re taking.” In addition, blood samples to test antiretroviral levels can present problems, according to Gandhi. “The problem there was everyone’s blood levels of drugs varies day by day,” she said, adding, “So depending on what I ate for breakfast that morning or if I smoked that morning or if I took another medication that interfered, the levels are sort of going to be up and down every day.”

Although some hairs are useful for testing, others are not, according to Gandhi. “We have tested it on all types of hair, African hair,” she said, adding, “We actually have some projects in Uganda with African hair. It works on fine hair. It works on gray hair. One thing is that people ask can we use pubic hair for these measurements. And we don’t’ think that those are going to be useful because hair in those areas grow to a certain length and then they stop. … But you really want to measure hair that’s sort of growing continuously and that’s really scalp hair.”

VOA News reports that the test has been called easy, painless, bloodless and free of biohazards. Although hair clipping can be conducted in rural areas in developing countries, a costly machine at a central laboratory still is needed for analysis (DeCapua, VOA News, 3/13).

For the study, Rockefeller University researchers examined antibodies present in the blood of six long-term HIV survivors who appeared to have a degree of natural immunity to the virus (Connor, Independent, 3/16). The researchers isolated 433 antibodies from the patients, all of which targeted HIV’s protective outer coating, or “envelope.” The researchers then cloned the antibodies and observed which elements of the envelope each antibody targeted and how effectively it neutralized HIV. During the research, Johannes Scheid, a doctoral student at Rockefeller University, identified a new structure on the HIV envelope that scientists previously had not recognized as an antibody target. Although the researchers determined that each antibody individually had a weak effect on HIV, they also found that the antibodies as a group effectively targeted the virus (PA/Google.com, 3/15). In addition, the researchers determined that a prototype vaccine developed from several of the antibodies can prevent the growth of HIV in human cells in a test tube.

Nussenzweig said the study identified “many different antibodies that individually have limited neutralizing ability but together are quite powerful.” According to Nussenzweig, only about one in every 1,000 HIV-positive people produces the neutralizing antibodies. He said the research attempts a new approach to HIV vaccine development by “copying what exists in nature and that we know can work because of the long-term survivors.” He added, “Instead of inventing something that doesn’t exist, it’s trying to copy something that does exist.” Nussenzweig said the study’s results “should make people think about what an effective vaccine should look like.” According to the Independent, the researchers next plan to conduct further trials of vaccine candidates on laboratory animals and human volunteers.

The Independent also profiled Kai Brothers, a San Francisco man who has been living with HIV for 28 years without developing AIDS or requiring antiretroviral medications. The Independent reports that Brothers, who did not participate in the new study, might be one of “a few — perhaps as few as one in 5,000″ — HIV-positive people who have natural immunity to the virus. Brothers said he has participated in HIV research for 10 years, adding, “I feel dedicated to giving back something because of my good fortune” (Independent, 3/16).

USAID/GHARP, a President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief program, was launched in 2004 and will come to a close at the end of April, the Stabroek News reports. According to Ramsammy, the project has a place in Guyana’s development because of its contribution to reducing the spread of HIV. He said that 1.1% of pregnant women tested HIV-positive at the end of last year, compared with between 4.9% and 7% in 2000. Ramsammy reported that over the past two years, 90 pregnant women tested positive for HIV and that three infants were born with the virus. According to the health minister, the number of HIV cases among commercial sex workers and men who have sex with men remains high, although there has been some reduction in the number of cases. According to the News, Lisa Thompson, senior USAID/GHARP program officer, said that the program has helped to refurbish health care facilities to improve prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission and to increase the number of facilities offering these services. In addition, Thompson said voluntary counseling and testing centers were rebuilt under the program, adding that mobile testing teams brought these services to hard-to-reach rural communities.

According to the News, USAID/GHARP worked with other stakeholders to develop HIV/AIDS programs targeting young people still in school, as well as programs for youth no longer in school. The program also launched a condom marketing initiative. Family Health International, Management Sciences for Health, Cicatelli Associates Incorporated and Howard Delafield International also supported the program.

Ramsammy said that in order for Guyana to continue to be successful in curbing the spread of HIV, a national strategy is needed. He also noted that the ministry is developing its third strategy (Alleyne, Stabroek News, 3/14).