By Jeffrey T. Safrit, PhD | March 14, 2012
Last week, Seattle was host to the 19th annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, colloquially known as CROI.
It is the largest North American conference on HIV/AIDS, and attracts more than 4,000 leading clinicians and basic scientists studying HIV and associated diseases for presentations and discussions of their latest results.
Maternal and pediatric issues were again important at this year’s conference, and Foundation-supported scientists past and present were at the forefront.
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By Evon Von Leer | March 13, 2012
On November 7, 1991, Earvin “Magic” Johnson made an announcement that shook the country: he was HIV-positive, and would have to retire from the Los Angeles Lakers.
Earlier this week, ESPN premiered a film documenting Magic’s career, the historic announcement, and his life since. In the film and subsequent interviews, Magic discusses the important role Elizabeth Glaser played in helping him and his family understand, accept, and embrace his HIV status, and become a public face and voice for ending the pandemic.
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By Lethia McFarland | March 9, 2012
Saturday, March 10th, is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, a day to reflect about the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls in the United States.
This year's theme, "What's Your Deciding Moment?" asks people about everyday moments that inspire thoughts and opportunities to take action against HIV.
One of our amazing interns decided she would commemorate the awareness day by sharing her three deciding moments that have elevated her personal desire to take action against HIV/AIDS. Click through the jump to find out what her moments are.
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By Laura Roads | February 28, 2012
Dance Marathon is a fundraiser unlike any other at Baldwin-Wallace; since its debut in 2001, the B-W Dance Marathon has raised over $197,000 in support of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. On this past Saturday February 25th, DM in its eleventh year surpassed our longtime goal of $30,000 by raising $36,819.25! There were a total of 112 dancers pledging 12 hours of continuous dancing from noon to midnight.
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By Josephine Nabukenya | February 24, 2012
Josephine Nabukenya, a Foundation Ambassador from Uganda, was recently in the United States to speak at the Foundation's headquarters in Washington, D.C., meet with members of Congress, and participate in the 11th annual Dance Marathon at UCLA.
Wherever she went, Josephine shared her personal story of growing up HIV-positive and answered questions about her role as a peer counselor in her community. Read about her whirlwind tour inside! (reprinted from Huffington Post)
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By Trish Karlin | February 23, 2012
Over the past two years, the Foundation is proud to have supported the development of new local partners to join the fight against pediatric AIDS. Because of the work of the groundbreaking Project HEART program, three new Foundation Affiliates are currently leading efforts in Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, and Tanzania. These new Affiliates have just launched their websites, and the Foundation has released a toolkit of resources on how to successfully transition HIV programming to local organizations.
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By Jeffrey T. Safrit | February 15, 2012
While all eyes have been on the African Cup of Nations football tournament, audiences at the Pan African Film & Arts Festival in L.A. have been watching a movie about a different type of contest – an African football player versus HIV. The movie had its genesis six years ago, when the Discovery Channel began an innovative filming project to bring HIV prevention and treatment messages to a new generation in sub-Saharan Africa. Now, that movie – “Inside Story: The Science of HIV/AIDS” – is a reality.
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By Samantha Ritter | February 7, 2012
This week, we’ve been reading about the crucial role of preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) as a part of a larger prevention strategy to help end the AIDS epidemic. A packed briefing covered this important topic on Capitol Hill last week, featuring speakers discussing a number of innovative methods to reduce HIV infections. The panel included the Foundation’s own Dr. RJ Simonds talking about PMTCT and the potential to virtually eliminate pediatric AIDS as the first step to an AIDS-free generation.
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By Heather Mason | January 31, 2012
Last week, EGPAF-South Africa marked the conclusion of eight successful years of a groundbreaking HIV prevention, care, and treatment program called Project HEART. A celebratory event in Johannesburg highlighted the program’s achievements in South Africa: more than 215,000 people received HIV care and support services, and well over half a million women received PMTCT services, averting at least 30,000 pediatric HIV infections.
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By Charles Lyons | January 27, 2012
A new ally has joined mothers around the world fighting to ensure that their babies are protected from the ravages of HIV. The Business Leadership Council for a Generation Born Free of HIV officially launched today at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The Business Leadership Council is comprised of representatives from diverse industries and countries, but all committed to the same ambitious goal: ending mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015.
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