Nation+Beyond

The number of HIV-positive prisoners in the United States dropped by 3.1% between 2005 and 2006, according to the Justice Department. There were 21,980 HIV-positive inmates nationwide in 2006, down from 22,676 in 2005. New York reported the largest decline in HIV-positive prisoners, while Texas saw the biggest increase. -------------------- Health officials in Canada say they need $200,000 to better collect discarded needles distributed through a needle-exchange program in Ottawa. More than 2,000 of the 300,000 needles distributed in 2007 were improperly discarded and brought to the attention of city officials. -------------------- A peer-education program in the Pinar del Rio province of Cuba aims to reduce HIV and sexually transmitted disease rates among low-income women. Overall, only about 20% of the nation's new infections occur among women, but that figure is nearly 30% in Pinar del Rio. -------------------- A new condom factory in Brazil will not only produce about 100 million condoms per year but will also help slow rain forest destruction by encouraging landowners to maintain the trees that produce condom manufacturing materials. -------------------- Health officials in Sweden want to stop letting immigrant parents opt their girls out of sex education classes, saying the girls need to learn how to protect themselves against HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. -------------------- New exposure-law guidelines in the United Kingdom state that criminal charges will be brought only against individuals with a 'sustained course of conduct,' including adults who transmit HIV to multiple partners or who infect a single partner through numerous high-risk encounters. -------------------- To help reduce the spread of HIV among injection-drug users, health officials in Iran have installed vending machines that provide condoms and clean needles in five Tehran housing facilities. Each condom or needle costs about five cents. -------------------- Indian Railways, the largest transportation service in India, now offers a 50% second-class fare discount to HIVers to help them afford travel to regional treatment centers. -------------------- Based on studies showing that circumcision dramatically lowers a man's risk of HIV infection, government officials in Kenya are urging the nation's men to undergo the procedure. Circumcision is now part of Kenya's official 'ABCC' HIV prevention approach: practice abstinence, be faithful, use condoms, get circumcised. -------------------- The health ministry of South Africa has changed its guidelines for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission to urge the use of two drugs'AZT and Viramune'for both mothers and newborns. Previous guidelines called for only Viramune use.