An array of potential formats for microbicides:
gel, ring, cream… exist also in suppository and foam.

Reacting to a peripheries post on microbicides, Cheryl Overs commented “These [definition of microbicides] are a hint of the skewed propaganda about microbicides and an insight into the absence of consideration of how they will affect the millions of sex workers worldwide. Sex workers will lose any hope of using a 99% effective product against STIs, HIV and unwanted pregnancies, condoms” adding that, “The idea that sex workers will buy and use a combination of different …

Another must see talk from the TED conference. The message to take home is that no simplification can be made neither is it valuable to try to make one.
“We hope that when we act on global problems in the future, we will not only have the heart, we will not only have the money, but we will also use the brain”
Hans Rosling
Professor of global health at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute

The interactive animation in this video is accessible on the Gapminder website.

Rating 3.00 out of 5

33 million people are infected with HIV worldwide. But what does that tell us? The world is big. 67% of those infected lives in Sub-Saharan Africa. Still, Africa is a very large continent. 35% of all those infected live in southern Africa and within South Africa, the KwaZulu Natal province has the highest prevalence of HIV infection; 39% of women who attend an antenatal clinic are HIV positive.
Knowing the HIV epidemic is fundamental when setting up interventions and my opening statement clearly shows that generalisation are not very useful or …

The head of the Catholic Church in Australia has open his mouth to add primate bunk to previous pontifical nonsense.
Unsurprisingly, the Cardinal Pell from down under endorsed the papal comment made in Africa that condoms “can even increase the problem” of HIV, adding that, “The idea that you can solve a great spiritual and health crisis like AIDS with a few mechanical contraptions like condoms is ridiculous”.
HIV and AIDS have been jumbled with quite a lot of nonsense but to relate it with a great spiritual crisis is a …

Prof Montagnier who co-discovered the HIV virus that causes AIDS (always worth repeating) warmed in Calgary that HIV prevention should not be forgotten. Montagnier also criticised people’s complacency towards HIV and AIDS:
“It seems that the young generation has forgotten about prevention, because they think there are cures for HIV, that it’s no big deal”
Montagnier’s comments come at a time when treatment as prevention is one of the hottest topics at the 16th Conference on Retrovirus and Opportunistic Infections where two studies have demonstrated that there is a lower risk of …