Tag: HIV
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Uganda Advances Integrated Health Services to Tackle CDs and NCDs
Uganda Moves to Integrate Communicable and Non-Communicable Disease Services Uganda is taking bold strides to unify the delivery of health services for communicable diseases (CDs) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), a strategic response to the country’s shifting disease landscape. Faced with persistent infectious diseases alongside rising chronic conditions, the government, donors, and health partners are exploring…
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Low HBV Reactivation Risk After Tenofovir Withdrawal in People with HIV: New EACS 2025 Findings
Background: Tenofovir and HBV in HIV Care Tenofovir has been a cornerstone of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for people living with HIV, partly because it also provides activity against hepatitis B virus (HBV). For patients with past HBV exposure who are virologically suppressed, clinicians have explored strategies to reduce long-term drug toxicity—especially renal and bone side…
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Low Risk of HBV Reactivation After Tenofovir Withdrawal in People With HIV
New evidence supports safety of tenofovir-sparing ART in HBV-immune people with HIV Emerging data presented at the 2025 European AIDS Clinical Society (EACS) Congress suggest that stopping tenofovir in people with HIV who have prior hepatitis B exposure poses a very small risk of hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation. The findings come from the Swiss…
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Immunotherapy for HIV: Early PD-1 Treatment Shows Potential for Drug-Free Viral Control
Overview: A new immunotherapy approach in HIV Researchers report promising safety data from the first-in-human trial of an anti-PD-1 antibody, budigalimab, in people living with HIV. The study, published in Nature Medicine, explored whether a cancer immunotherapy could be used at low doses to augment the immune system’s ability to control HIV without daily antiretroviral…
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Determinants of mpox vaccination uptake among MSM during the 2022 outbreak: A Lyon, France, single-centre retrospective study
Overview The 2022 mpox outbreak prompted targeted vaccination campaigns for men who have sex with men (MSM) at risk. A large retrospective study from Lyon University Hospital, France, assessed first-dose uptake of the modified vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic (MVA-BN) vaccine among MSM attending STI and HIV clinics between January 2022 and February 2023. The study categorized…
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Immunotherapy Trial: PD-1 Inhibitor Budigalimab Shows Potential for Drug-Free HIV Control
New Immunotherapy Approach Sparks Hope for HIV Management Researchers have taken a bold step in the hunt for HIV strategies that could reduce or even eliminate the need for daily antiretroviral therapy (ART). A first-in-human, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 1b trial published in Nature Medicine explored budigalimab, a monoclonal antibody that targets the PD-1 protein, a…
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What India Can Learn from Maldives’ Triple Elimination of Mother-to-Child Infections
Carving a path from Maldives to India On October 13, 2025, the World Health Organization confirmed that the Republic of Maldives became the first country to eliminate mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of HIV, syphilis, and Hepatitis B. While Maldives’ population is small and geographically discreet, the core principles behind its achievement offer actionable lessons for India’s…
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Determinants of mpox vaccination uptake among MSM during the 2022 outbreak: Insights from Lyon, France
Overview and context The 2022 mpox outbreak prompted a targeted vaccination campaign for at-risk populations, notably men who have sex with men (MSM) with multiple sexual partners. A large retrospective study from Lyon University Hospital in France evaluated first-dose mpox vaccination (modified vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic) uptake among MSM and explored several determinants that influenced whether…
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Immunotherapy for HIV: Early Trials of Anti-PD1 Drug Budigalimab Suggest Drug-Free Viral Control
Immunotherapy Offers a New Avenue in HIV Management Researchers are cautiously optimistic about a novel immunotherapy approach that could one day reduce or even eliminate the need for daily HIV medications. In a first-in-human Phase 1b trial, budigalimab, a monoclonal antibody that blocks the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) pathway, was tested in people…
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What India Can Learn from Maldives’ Triple Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission
Introduction: A landmark in public health On October 13, 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) validated the Republic of Maldives as the first country to eliminate mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of HIV, syphilis, and Hepatitis B virus (HBV). This triple elimination marks a historic achievement: transmission from mothers to newborns for all three infections has fallen…