The hunt for an HIV vaccine has gobbled up US$8 billion in the past decade, and the failure of the most recent efficacy trial has delivered yet another setback to 26 years of efforts.

Big names in medicine are set to give an upbeat assessment of the war on AIDS on Tuesday, 30 years after French researchers identified the virus that causes the disease.

In another major setback for efforts to develop a vaccine to boost immunity to the human immunodeficiency virus, known as HIV, a key clinical trial was ordered shut down this week after an independent panel of safety experts found that participants getting the vaccine appeared to be slightly more likely to contract the virus and no better at suppressing its replication than those who got a placebo.

South Africa's health minister on Monday launched a new single dose anti-AIDs drug which will simplify the world's biggest HIV treatment regime to just one life-saving pill a day.

Scientists on a quest for an antibody-based AIDS vaccine said Wednesday they found promising clues in the uncommonly “robust” natural immune response of a patient in Africa.

Women in Taiwan who have HIV infections need more support from society, as several of them have been forced to give up their right to a normal life, a local association said yesterday.

A small French study of 14 HIV patients who have remained healthy for years after stopping drug treatment offers fresh evidence that early medical intervention may lead to a “functional cure” for AIDS, researchers said Thursday.

Daily doses of drugs or vaginal gels have proven ineffective at preventing HIV infections in southern Africa, a study out Monday revealed, saying most of the women failed to use them as directed.

A baby girl in Mississippi who was born with HIV has been cured after very early treatment with standard HIV drugs, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday, in a potentially groundbreaking case that could offer insights on how to eradicate HIV infection in its youngest victims.

An Australian scientist said Wednesday he had discovered how to turn the HIV virus against itself to stop it progressing to AIDS, describing it as a major breakthrough in finding a cure for the disease.