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People with HIV will be able to receive kidney or liver transplants from donors who also have HIV, federal health officials announced Tuesday. Until now, such transplants were only allowed as part of research studies. Otherwise, people with HIV could not donate their kidneys or livers. The landmark move, which takes effect Wednesday, is expected to shorten wait times for organs for all patients and reduce hurdles to lifesaving care for those with HIV. It’s also a testament to medical progress in treating HIV and bolsters efforts to lessen stigma around the disease, experts say. (Kaur, 11/27)

Fewer people contracted HIV last year than at any point since the rise of the disease in the late 1980s, the United Nations said Tuesday, warning that this decline was still far too slow. Around 1.3 million people contracted the disease in 2023, according to the new report from the UNAIDS agency. Around 630,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses last year, the lowest level since a peak of 2.1 million in 2004, the report said ahead of World AIDS Day on Sunday. (Lawler and Dury, 11/27)

In other news about organ transplants —

A nonprofit that collects donated organs and transports them to transplant patients around the U.S. used its airplanes for other purposes, including travel for employees and for fundraisers. Indiana Donor Network operates a fleet of small jets that fly kidneys and other vital organs to desperate patients across the U.S. The mission, the fleet says, is to ensure “that each donor’s gift of life is transported to transplant recipients quickly and safely.” (Walker, Bernstein and McGinty, 11/27)

Identical twins Linda Thomas and Karen Rodman, 56, have shared everything from the moment they were born. The Las Vegas residents live less than five miles from each other. They work together, carpool together, shop together. Their phone numbers would be identical, save for the last digit. Now, the sisters share more than just their DNA—they share a kidney. They also share an uncommon transplant experience, said Irene Kim, MD, the Esther and Mark Schulman Chair in Surgery and Transplantation Medicine and director of the Cedars-Sinai Comprehensive Transplant Center. “It’s a rare event to transplant a patient with a genetically identical organ because it requires having an identical twin,” Kim said. “This is only the second time in my career that this has happened.” (11/26)