The Washington, D.C., Health Department and NIH are preparing to launch a study to determine whether aggressive treatment of all adults living with HIV could stop the spread of the virus and prevent AIDS, the Washington Post reports. The study’s premise is based on a mathematical theory presented in 2008 by doctors at the World Health Organization, who said that global universal HIV treatment with antiretroviral drugs could reduce the virus’ transmission rate to one case per 1,000 by 2016.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the purpose of the study is “to get the … level (of HIV in the blood) down so that people will not infect anyone because their viral load is so low.” He added, “When you follow couples — one who’s infected, the other who’s not — the probability of infection diminishes when the viral load is very low. The philosophy is if you test everybody, and treat everybody who has HIV, you could use treatment as prevention.” However, Fauci also cautioned that the WHO theory is “so far in the hypothetical stage that I wouldn’t even rank it” with proven prevention methods, such as condoms and needle-exchange programs. A similar study will be conducted in the Bronx, N.Y.

NIH will provide the health department with experts who will help modernize patient record-keeping at clinics to better track people living with HIV. The experts will show social workers how to monitor patients to ensure compliance with drug regimens, the Post reports.

The Post reports that researchers face major challenges to the study, including whether testing every adult for HIV is feasible. Researchers also must determine if people who test positive for HIV will opt for treatment.

The study is scheduled to begin around Dec. 1, which is World AIDS Day. According to the Post, Fauci would not say how much money or other resources would go toward the study. He and other officials also declined to say which areas of the District would be included in the study, aside from the area of Anacostia. Currently, about 50% of people who test positive for HIV in the district and other cities wait for treatment for an average of six months, during which time they risk spreading the virus (Fears, Washington Post, 11/13).

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Twenty-six people representing a coalition of five HIV/AIDS groups from Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York were arrested on Thursday for unlawfully demonstrating in the Capitol rotunda, the AP/Washington Post reports (7/9). According to Politico, the protestors were demanding “congressional action on three AIDS priorities: the end of the federal ban on syringe exchange, increased housing funding for [people living with AIDS] and significant increases in U.S. international AIDS contributions” (McGrane, 7/9). The group contends that the Obama “administration’s budget proposal ‘essentially flatlines global AIDS funding,’” CNN.com reports. In a statement, Omolola Adele-Oso of DC Fights Back, said, “HIV is not in recession. So why are we bailing out the bankers with $9 trillion, but breaking promises to fund life-saving AIDS programs in the U.S. and around the world at a fraction of that cost?” (7/9).

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An international contingent of nearly 500 researchers and physicians are taking part in the International HIV Controllers Study, which is examining “the phenomenon,” in which certain people living with HIV seem “somehow protected from AIDS,” the Washington Post reports. Fewer “than one in every 300 cases, or perhaps 5,000 of the more than 1 million infected Americans” living with HIV are deemed “‘elite controllers’ because their ability to combat the virus puts them in exceptional company among infected individuals,” according to the Post. The article states, “No one knows how their bodies keep AIDS at bay. Are their immune systems exceptionally strong and effective? Do they possess some genetic trait that protects them? Or does a combination of still-unknown factors set them apart?” Researchers anticipate that studying the T cell levels - which helps determine the progression to AIDS - of the elite controllers, will enable them “to uncover what shields these rare few from AIDS. And perhaps in the process they’ll find a way to safeguard everyone else as well,” the Post reports (Slack, 7/7).

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The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced on Capitol Hill on Wednesday that it will help fight the spread of HIV in Washington D.C., New York City and Oakland, Calif., cities among the 20 areas in the U.S. with the highest rates of HIV and AIDS, the Washington Post reports. The coalition - which includes Pfizer, the National Basketball Association, Facebook, Nike, Nokia and others - said it will offer financial donations to city health departments, marketing expertise to promote prevention and treatment campaigns and appearances by professional basketball players for events, as part of their effort. John Newsome, a spokesperson for the coalition, said, “I think the ability of our corporate partners to help develop really effective messages, help provide resources to get the message out, contribute talent, air time and media space” is crucial to HIV/AIDS awareness efforts. The coalition plans to expand the effort to other cities in the future (Fears, Washington Post, 6/25).

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Black women in Washington, D.C., have higher rates of AIDS and other chronic health conditions such as Washington Post reports. According to the study - which is based on CDC and federal population data - the incidence of AIDS cases for black women is 176 per 100,000, higher than that of any other group of women in the district. Lack of education, poverty, unemployment, stress, and inadequate living conditions and health care coverage contribute to black women’s poorer health, the study finds (Fears, Washington Post, 6/10).

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