What We’re Reading: EGPAF’s New COO, Controversy Over Mandatory Testing, and Cheaper HIV Drugs
Posted by
Jane Coaston
Washington, D.C.
March 1, 2013
This week, we’re welcoming Chief Operating Officer Brad Kiley to EGPAF, thinking about human rights and mandatory HIV testing, learning about a new partnership to provide pediatric HIV medications for more children, and reading about how HIV can affect the brain.
EGPAF – “Meet Brad Kiley” After working in the White House and prior stints at the Center for American Progress and the International AIDS Trust, Brad Kiley joined EGPAF in January as Chief Operating Officer. In this interview, Brad talks about his focus on operations, the Foundation’s role in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and even his favorite college football team.
New Vision (Uganda) – “Rights body opposes mandatory HIV testing” HIV rates in Uganda have risen since 2005, from 6.4 percent to 7.3 percent. To combat the epidemic, the Ugandan government created and is currently debating the HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Bill. But critics, including the Ugandan Human Rights Commission, are blasting the bill for promoting the criminalization of accidental HIV transmission, mandatory HIV testing of sex workers and drug users, and disclosure of HIV test results by medical officials to sexual partners without the consent of the tested person.
Bloomberg News – “Glaxo’s, Pfizer’s ViiV Licenses HIV Drug for Kids to Patent Pool” This week, ViiV Healthcare, a venture comprised of three international drug companies, signed an agreement to provide the licenses of pediatric HIV medications to the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), a UN-backed patent-sharing group. The agreement will expand the availability of pediatric HIV medications to millions of children in 118 countries.
LiveScience – “People With HIV Struggle to Recognize Fear” As the lifespans of people living with HIV increase because of improved and more widely available medical treatments, scientists are taking the opportunity to learn more about how the virus affects the body in unexpected ways. This week, a new study indicates that HIV’s impact on the frontal section of the brain affects the abilities of some people living with HIV to recognize some emotions, including fear.
Jane Coaston is Media Relations Coordinator for the Foundation, based in Washington, D.C.