A shocking new survey has uncovered that the international community of Aids scientists are giving up hope of finding a vaccine for the virus.

The growing pessimism of scientists comes after the disastrous failure of a trial vaccine. The trial drug, manufactured by pharmaceutical company Merck, has been found not to work and in some cases it has increased the likelihood of being infected with HIV.

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Rethinking AIDS, an international group of more than 2,500 scientists, doctors, journalists, health advocates and others, has established April 23, 2008, as the first Rethinking AIDS Day.

On April 23, 1984, Dr. Robert Gallo of the U.S. National Institutes of Health announced that he had discovered "the probable cause of AIDS," a new virus later named HIV. The world media and health authorities accepted HIV as the sole cause of AIDS as fact even though no proof was presented, on that day or afterward, that this type of virus can cause or is actually present in AIDS patients.

According to statistics released today by the Minnesota Department of Health, 325 new cases of HIV were reported in Minnesota during 2007. The Minnesota AIDS Project, the leading source for HIV information and services in Minnesota, noted specific areas of concern including:

The Thai Ministry of Public Health has just released figures detailing the dramatic rise of HIV infection among MSM (men who have sex with men). Estimated at 28% in 2005, that number has increased to an all-time high of just under 31% in 2007.

A modest, 27% increase in global HIV/AIDS spending was authorized this week in an important vote in the House of Representatives.

"We welcome this reauthorization of the AIDS program and congratulate members for avoiding a partisan logjam on this crucial issue," said Dr. Paul Zeitz, Executive Director of the Global AIDS Alliance. "We can only hope that the Senate quickly follows suit, since the President hopes to use the bill at the upcoming G8 Summit to leverage other countries to do more."

The Health Protection Agency made the warning after new diagnoses among gay men topped 2,600 for the third year.

But the figures do seem to have begun to plateau after a surge at the turn of the century.

Overall, the number of new cases hit an estimated 6,840 in 2007 - a fall of 1,400 from the previous year.

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