Nearly 51 600 people in the WHO European Region were newly diagnosed as infected with HIV in 2008, more than double the annual rate in 2000.

The recent failure of an HIV vaccine was probably caused by the immune system reacting to the virus ’shell’ used to transmit the therapy around the body, according to research published 16 November 2009 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Changes Planned For Ugandan HIV/AIDS Campaign “The Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) is revamping its national HIV information campaign after HIV prevention messages were less successful than hoped,” PlusNews reports.

Chembio Diagnostics, Inc., a NY-based company that develops, manufactures, licenses and markets proprietary rapid diagnostic tests, is donating more than 4,500 rapid HIV test kits to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s 2009 Testing Millions Global Campaign, based in Los Angeles, to commemorate World AIDS Day 2009 on December 1st.

World AIDS Day 2009 will be marked with both grim and hopeful data: more than 25 million people have died of AIDS worldwide since 1981; 33 million are living with HIV/AIDS. While potent, effective medications have changed an HIV diagnosis from death sentence to manageable chronic illness in resource rich countries, global rates of infection still outstrip prevention and treatment capacity.