A lifetime blanket ban on gay men giving blood should be reviewed, Scottish Liberal Democrats have said.

The DC Crystal Meth Working Group is hoping to raise awareness about the prevalence of crystal meth and HIV within the Latino community by unveiling a new website and outreach materials, the group announced today.

HIV positive people, educators and support workers from around the Pacific gathered in Auckland last week to discuss the realities of HIV in this part of the world. Bain Duigan observed the conference from within and filed this report to GayNZ.com.

The 19th annual AIDS Walk San Diego, presented by Nordstrom, the largest one-day HIV/AIDS fundraiser in San Diego County. Dozens of agencies -- serving thousands of clients -- rely on funds raised at the annual AIDS Walk to help provide essential prevention and care programs to thousands of men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS.

They may not even remember the onset of the epidemic, but the young, gay, black men contracting HIV at higher rates than any other group serve as a reminder that the virus continues to spread rapidly and that novel approaches to prevention are essential.

Former President Bill Clinton flew from Africa to Mexico City overnight to deliver what has been described as a rousing address at the largest ever world AIDS conference to be held in a developing country. In the speech Clinton warned of the the impending global HIV crisis and ddressed the effect that rising oil and food prices along with the current mortgage crisis further complicated the lives of people with HIV.

A new study conducted for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed the annual infection rate for HIV is 40 percent higher than previously estimated. Fifty-three percent of all new infections occurred among gay and bisexual men, with men and women in the Black community at the second highest rate of infection.

President Bush signed the President’s Emergency Program [PEPFAR] into law on Wednesday at the White House. The landmark bill, which passed in both the House and Senate by wide margins earlier this month, provides $48 billion over the next five years for the global fight of AIDS. Within the legislation is a directive to lift the HIV travel/immigration ban.

A research trial for the PAVE-100 AIDS vaccine planned in the U.S. has been cancelled over concerns that additional research is needed to prove the vaccine is safe before it is tested on a large number of human subjects. A similar vaccine from Merck was pulled from research trials last year after it failed to prevent infections and was found to have possibly increased recipients’ chances of contracting HIV.

In a decision highly praised by gay and lesbian advocacy groups, the U.S. Senate voted this week to repeal a ban on HIV positive visitors and immigrants. The ban, which has been in place for over 20 years and was officially made law in 1993, has barred visitors and immigrants with HIV from traveling to the United States unless they were granted special waivers.

What makes this case particularly tragic is that the young woman does not even know she is HIV positive. Her mother has decided not to tell the young woman about her HIV status, and the Doctor is unfortunately obliged to respect her wishes.