A cross-section of articles we've read this week about HIV/AIDS, STIs and a wide cross-section of structural and systemic factors impacting HIV/AIDS in Black communities.

AIDS and TB Down Globally, Study Finds

Dedicated efforts to fight the AIDS virus and tuberculosis are paying off: both infections are on the decline, according to new research published Monday. And while more people are being infected with malaria, fewer people are dying from it, especially children.

Antiretroviral Drug Therapy Can Treat Hepatitis C and HIV

For patients diagnosed with both the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the hepatitis C virus (HCV), antiretroviral drug therapies were effective in treating both infections, a new study reported.

Hepatitis C Cured in Co-Infected HIV Patients, Study Reports

A team of researchers has reported in a phase III clinical trial that a combination drug therapy cures chronic hepatitis C in the majority of patients co-infected with both HIV and hepatitis C.

HIV and Hepatitis C Risk Factors and Prevention Among People Who Inject Drugs

More than half of young injection drug users in the U.S. shared syringes previously used by others and a large majority reported unprotected sex, according to the latest data on people who inject drugs from the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System, published in the July 4 edition of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly ReportSurveillance Summaries. The survey found that 9% had HIV and 41% had hepatitis C More than half of young injection drug users in the U.S. shared syringes previously used by others and a large majority reported unprotected sex, according to the latest data on people who inject drugs from the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System, published in the July 4 edition of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Surveillance Summaries. The survey found that 9% had HIV and 41% had hepatitis C.

HIV Pills Show More Promise to Prevent Infection

There is more good news about HIV treatment pills used to prevent infection in people at high risk of getting the AIDS virus: Follow-up from a landmark study that proved the drug works now shows that it does not encourage risky sex and is effective even if people skip some doses.

Most Comprehensive Study to Date Shows Success of the Millennium

A major new analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 published in The Lancet, shows that accelerated progress against the global burden of HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis (TB) has been made since 2000 when governments worldwide adopted Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 6 to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB.

New TB Drugs Likely Following Mycobacteria Metabolism Discovery

The mystery of why mycobacteria - a family that includes the microbe that causes TB - are extraordinarily hardy organisms is being unravelled by University of Otago, New Zealand, research that offers new hope for developing a revolutionary class of antibiotics to tackle TB.

Ruling on Health Care Subsidies Puts Coverage at Risk

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Even with a federal subsidy to help cover the cost, Gloria Spottswood has had to squeeze her household budget to afford the health insurance she bought this year through the Affordable Care Act

Senate Committee Is Investigating Pricing of Hepatitis C Drug

Gilead carges $84,000 for a standard 12-week regimen of Sovaldi.

What Has TB Got to do in an AIDS Conference?

Well almost everything. Tuberculosis (TB) remains the most common AIDS-defining illness and the leading cause of death in people living with HIV (PLHIV) with 1 in 5 HIV-associated deaths in 2012 attributed to TB. At least one third of the 35.3 million living PLHIV worldwide are infected with latent TB. An estimated 1.1 million (13%) of the 8.6 million people who developed TB in 2012 were HIV-positive too.

Who Gets Saved? Hepatitis Cure at $84,000 Makes Doctors Choose

Early this year, liver specialist Ken Flora and his colleagues sent letters to 1,300 patients announcing exciting news: powerful new drugs to cure the lethal hepatitis C virus were finally available.