Revamped AIDS web site tailored to diverse users
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AIDSinfo, a Web site offering comprehensive information on
HIV/AIDS treatments and clinical trials, will go live on
December 2 to mark World AIDS Day. The site at
http://aidsinfo.nih.gov merges two popular information
services, the HIV/AIDS Treatment Information Service (ATIS)
and the AIDS Clinical Trials Information Service (ACTIS).
Catering to the needs of health care providers,
researchers, people living with HIV/AIDS and the general
public, the combined site provides a single, searchable
resource of HIV/AIDS treatment guidelines and information
about all federally funded and privately sponsored HIV/AIDS
clinical trials.
AIDSinfo retains and improves upon the earlier phone- and
Web-based services. By continuing to provide trained
specialists who speak English and Spanish, the new service
ensures that individuals with or without Web access have an
opportunity to receive information on clinical trials and
treatment guidelines. The site's developers studied how
people search for information on the Web, allowing them to
create a site that is more than a simple database. Each
page of AIDSinfo gives users opportunities to go beyond
their specific queries and discover related material.
The streamlined site is divided into four main areas:
guidelines, drugs, clinical trials and vaccines. Current
guidelines on such topics as preventing and treating HIV in
adults and children; treating and preventing opportunistic
infections and other co-infections; and preventing mother-
to-child transmission of HIV can all be viewed, printed and
downloaded into a computer or personal digital assistant,
if desired.
In the clinical trials section, users can customize their
searches to match their needs. For example, the database
may be searched for trials open to different categories of
volunteers, such as those newly infected or those in whom
previous therapy has failed. The database also can be
searched by location of the trial and by the specific
products being tested. AIDSinfo offers extensive
information on FDA-approved therapies for HIV/AIDS and
opportunistic infections along with an HIV glossary, news
releases about HIV/AIDS research efforts and links to
further information.
In 1989, ACTIS began providing up-to-date information on
HIV/AIDS clinical trials through a toll-free number.
Staffed with trained information specialists, the telephone
information and referral service provided callers with
information about HIV treatment and prevention clinical
trials in English or Spanish. The Web site, established
later, offered direct access to clinical trials databases
and various educational resources. A similar telephone
resource for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention guidelines
was established soon after. From 1990 until 1995, the
clinical trials service alone assisted between 25,000 and
32,000 callers each year. With the advent of the World Wide
Web, phone inquiries dropped while the number of requests
to the service's Web site soared. In 1999, almost 285,000
Web site hits were recorded.
AIDSinfo is jointly sponsored by several agencies within
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including
three components of the National Institutes of Health --
the Office of AIDS Research, the National Library of
Medicine and the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases. Other contributing agencies included
the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services; the Health
Resources and Services Administration; and the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. |
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AIDS/HIV
