Regional Arab Network Against Aids

The proportion of people living with HIV in a population who have a detectable viral load is much more strongly associated with the rate of ongoing HIV infection in that community (HIV incidence) than the average viral load in people living with HIV (community viral load), a large study in men who have sex with men and people who inject drugs in India has shown.

Read more: Indian study proves that more people virally suppressed in a population equals fewer HIV infections

Access to antiretroviral treatment is worryingly low in West and Central Africa, with little priority given to HIV in the region, according to a report from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Currently, just 24% of people have access to treatment in the region, which accounts for one in five new infections worldwide.

Read more: West and Central Africa ‘overlooked’ in HIV response

A global drive to help curb the HIV epidemic by 2020 will fail unless millions of people with the virus in West and Central Africa receive life-saving drugs, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Wednesday.

Read more: Global HIV drive hampered without drugs for "neglected" West and Central Africa

Doctors at Georgetown University in the USA have reported the first diagnosed case of Alzheimer’s disease in a person living with HIV. It was previously thought that HIV-related inflammation in the brain may prevent amyloid deposition – one of the likely causes of Alzheimer’s disease. 

Read more: First diagnosed case of Alzheimer’s in a person living with HIV