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NPR's 'All Things Considered' examines HIV among India's gay community

NPR's "Shots" blog includes an "All Things Considered" story that examines how "a 2009 benchmark ruling in Delhi's High Court," which "struck down a 148-year-old law known as Section 377, a holdover from British colonial rule that made homosexual acts illegal," has led to a wider level of HIV outreach to Mumbai's gay community.

16 May 2012

Lab21’s HCV drug resistance genotyping receives new patents in the U.S., Europe

Lab21 Limited, the Cambridge, UK-based specialist in personalised medicine has secured new patents in Europe and the USA relating to Hepatitis C (HCV) drug resistance as it continues to expand its intellectual property portfolio in infectious disease testing.

15 May 2012

State roundup: Health jobs brightening local economies but workers paying more for care

About 1 in 5 private-sector employees works in health services, which has replaced manufacturing as the region's powerhouse. It's a transformation happening across the U.S., but many worry about long-term side effects.

15 May 2012

Microbiome of young men depends upon circumcision status, patterns of sexual activity

The first study using cultivation independent sequencing of the microorganisms in the adolescent male urinary tract has revealed that the composition of microbial communities colonizing the penis in young men depends upon their circumcision status and patterns of sexual activity.

15 May 2012

As MDGs set to expire in 2015, U.N. panel to advise on approaches to development; African Progress Panel calls for 'big push' on continent

"The presidents of Indonesia and Liberia -- Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf -- and the prime minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, are to co-chair a U.N. panel to advise on approaches to development after the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) expire in 2015," SciDev.Net reports.

14 May 2012

HIV prevention treatment must include medical, behavorial approaches: APA

A drug that has been shown to prevent HIV infection in a significant number of cases must be combined with behavioral approaches if the U.S. health care establishment is to succeed in reducing the spread of the virus, according to the American Psychological Association.

14 May 2012

National program in Botswana focuses on increasing male circumcision rate

Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe all have launched national campaigns urging men to undergo circumcision to help reduce their risk of contracting or transmitting HIV infection, but "all the countries are lagging far behind their targets," Agence France-Presse reports in an article focusing on efforts in Botswana.

14 May 2012

New Jefferson Hepatitis C Center

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital recently opened its new Jefferson Hepatitis C Center, one of only a few comprehensive, multidisciplinary centers dedicated to the study of hepatitis C virus and hepatic disease in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware tri-state area.

14 May 2012

FDA ADAC recommends approval of Quad for HIV-1 infection

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced that the Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has voted 13 to 1 in support of approval of the Quad, a complete single tablet regimen of elvitegravir, cobicistat, emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in treatment-naïve adults.

14 May 2012

HIV community supports rapid OTC testing

Who's Positive, a national HIV awareness organization, today announced the results of a year-long online survey measuring support for over-the counter (OTC) HIV testing. The organization will present these results at the upcoming U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Blood Products Advisory Committee (BPAC) on May 15, 2012.

11 May 2012

Viewpoints: Two views on how to fight obesity; Tough choices for big business on health costs

Forgive us if we don't cheer at the prospect of adding 32 million to the total number of Americans who are dozens of pounds too heavy, a count that stood in 2010 at 78 million.

11 May 2012

Study looking at impact of HIV funding on Rwanda's health system has 'serious limitations'

In this post on the Center for Global Development's (CGD) "Global Health Policy" blog, Research Fellow Victoria Fan, Director of Global Health Policy Amanda Glassman, and Research Assistant Rachel Silverman of the Center for Global Development (CGD) examine what they call the "serious limitations" of a study published recently in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene that looked at the impact of HIV/AIDS funding on Rwanda's health system.

11 May 2012

FDA panel recommends approval of Truvada as preventive treatment for HIV

"In a move that could lead to a new milestone for treatment in the evolution of the worldwide AIDS epidemic," a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel on Thursday recommended Gilead Sciences' Truvada as a treatment for preventing HIV infection among healthy people at risk of contracting the virus, Reuters reports, noting, "It already has FDA approval to treat people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus".

11 May 2012

U.S. investment in global health has been successful, deserves continued congressional support

"Over the next few weeks, appropriators will be engaged in the challenging task of evaluating U.S. foreign assistance funding, including how effectively Congress' global health investments are being used," Charles Lyons, president and CEO of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation; Molly Joel Coye, interim president and CEO of PATH; Carolyn Miles, president and CEO of Save the Children; and Richard Stearns, president of World Vision, write in this Roll Call opinion piece.

11 May 2012

Algeria, UNAIDS to build first HIV/AIDS research center in MENA region

"Algeria will partner with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to build the first HIV/AIDS research center in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)," Nature Middle East reports.

11 May 2012

HIV prevention drug receives FDA panel's backing

The drug has already been approved as a treatment for HIV/AIDS. The FDA is expected to decide about approval by June 15.

11 May 2012

Safer indoor sex work spaces promote health and safety of street-involved women

Safer indoor sex work spaces provide important and potentially life-saving benefits to sex workers including reduced exposure to violence and HIV and improved relationships with police, according to a study published by the Gender and Sexual Health Initiative of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) and the University of British Columbia.

11 May 2012

This Mother's Day, ensure babies everywhere are born free of HIV

Ahead of Mother's Day on May 13, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe writes in this post in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog, "Together we can go from 390,000 children becoming infected with HIV each year to zero," and he highlights "three simple things we can all do to ensure babies everywhere can be born free from HIV."

11 May 2012

MSF says additional resources needed to improve ART access in Burma

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the largest provider of antiretroviral treatment (ART) in Burma, also known as Myanmar, are calling for the gap between the need for and access to ART in the country to be closed, the Guardian reports.

11 May 2012

Female Presidents of Liberia, Malawi pledge to address gender equality, improve women's health

"The only two female heads of state in Africa, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Malawian President Joyce Banda, have just committed to using their positions to improve the lives of women across the continent," Inter Press Service reports.

11 May 2012