The Indian media has hailed a ruling by a court ruling decriminalising homosexuality in the country. The ruling on Thursday overturns a 148-year-old colonial law which describes a same-sex relationship as an "unnatural offence". Homosexual acts were punishable by a 10-year prison sentence. Many people in India regard same-sex relationships as illegitimate. Rights groups have long argued that the law contravened human rights.

An Indian court ruling to decriminalize gay sex will boost the fight against AIDS, but a powerful stigma against homosexuality and uneven quality of healthcare will still hamper efforts, a top AIDS worker said. The Delhi High Court on Thursday overturned a British colonial era law on gay sex to the delight of gay activists and health workers, and the consternation of some religious leaders. But the verdict can be challenged in the Supreme Court and an 1861 law banning "sex against the order of nature" -- widely interpreted to mean homosexual sex -- has not yet been repealed and carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years. In India, which numbers at least 2.5 million HIV infected people among its 1.1 billion-plus population, prejudice against homosexuals as well as AIDS sufferers will still likely deter many afflicted with the disease from seeking treatment.

Nice and unusual personal blog

Guardian article about Rath libel case related to vitamin vs. antiretrovirals contrversy in South Africa

New chapter in Ben Goldacre's book 'Bad Science' on the Vitamin tablet vs. Antiretroviral's for AIDS therapy.

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The National HIV/AIDS Atlas provides a powerful new tool to the public, health care professionals, policy makers and elected officials to access and map local, state and national data in order to see how HIV/AIDS is impacting their community.

A new Internet data map offers a first-of-its-kind, county-level look at HIV cases in the U.S. and finds the infection rates tend to be highest in the South. The highest numbers of HIV cases are in population centers like New York and California. However, many of the areas with the highest rates of HIV - that is, the highest proportion of people with the AIDS-causing virus - are in the South, according to the data map, which has information for more than 90 percent of the nation's counties and Washington, D.C. HIV infection rates are higher in African-American communities, and high minority populations in the South help explain the finding. While that's not surprising, the high rates seen throughout states like Georgia and South Carolina were, said Gary Puckrein, president of the National Minority Quality Forum, the nonprofit research organization that put the map together.

Cambodian authorities on Thursday evicted 20 families afflicted with HIV from their homes in the capital, forcing them to move to a tiny settlement on its outskirts in an action critics called discriminatory. The evictions from the Borei Keila community came after several months of strong protests by the families, who complained that they would be without basic services, have no means of income and lose access to medical treatment at the new location. Human rights groups charged that the evictions amounted to segregation. Amnesty International said the housing at the new site at Tuol Sambo, 12 miles (20 kilometers) from Phnom Penh, is made from distinct green metal sheets, and local residents call it the "AIDS Village."