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Greece faces return of malaria, other public health issues since 2009 economic crash

The Wall Street Journal examines how "Greece has seen decades of advances in public health rolled back, as a flood of illegal immigrants, a dysfunctional government and budget cuts ravage a once proud health-care system."

15 Nov 2012

Obama, congressional leaders stake out positions in 'fiscal cliff' face-off

President Barack Obama and GOP congressional leaders signal what they're looking for in a budget deal to avert the looming "fiscal cliff," offering their respective takes on tax increases, spending cuts and changes to entitlement programs.

15 Nov 2012

Demand growing for female condoms despite myths

Mary Beth Hastings, vice president of the Center for Health and Gender Equality (CHANGE), writes in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog that despite "the pervasive myth that no one wants female condoms," "[d]emand is increasing because female condoms provide men and women with something they want: more options when it comes to protecting themselves."

15 Nov 2012

Ebola, Marburg and Lassa viruses must be designated as emerging diagnoses

The Ebola, Marburg and Lassa viruses are commonly referred to as emerging diseases, but leading scientists say these life-threatening viruses have been around for centuries.

15 Nov 2012

New report shows slight increase in U.S., E.U. philanthropic funding for AIDS

"Private philanthropists in the European Union and the U.S. spent some $644 million on global HIV/AIDS programs in 2011, a five percent increase from 2010, largely driven by funding from a small number of large donors, a new report has revealed," IRIN reports.

14 Nov 2012

Malaria Box helps identify three chemical series that target treatment of NTDs

The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) announce today the identification of three chemical series targeting the treatment of deadly neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), through DNDi's screening of MMV's open access Malaria Box.

14 Nov 2012

New intervention strategies needed to reach HIV-infected youth at birth

As youth infected at birth with HIV reach adolescence and young adulthood, a new study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases underscores the need to promote healthy behaviors as some of these young people become sexually active.

9 Nov 2012

Scarce resources threatening progress against AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa

"With donor money to fight HIV and AIDS falling, spending in sub-Saharan Africa must be targeted to get the best results," Bjorn Lomborg, director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, writes in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters" blog, noting, "Sub-Saharan Africa has 10 percent of the world's population but is home to 70 percent of those living with HIV and AIDS."

9 Nov 2012

Elevated ST2 biomarker levels strongly indicate heart failure and mortality in HIV patients

Critical Diagnostics, makers of the Presage ST2 Assay, announced today that during a presentation at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Los Angeles, the results of a study demonstrated that elevated levels of the biomarker ST2 in HIV patients was strongly indicative of the development of heart failure and mortality.

9 Nov 2012

Key areas of disease neglected by UK funding for infectious diseases

UK funding for infectious diseases research is neglecting some of the diseases that result in the highest rates of death and disability, according to an Article published Online First in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

8 Nov 2012

Blog series on global AIDS blueprint features post about harm reduction

As part of its "Blueprint" series discussing the creation of a U.S. global AIDS blueprint called for by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in July, the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog features a guest post by Allan Clear, executive director of the Harm Reduction Coalition, in which he highlights an existing "WHO, UNODC, UNAIDS Technical Guide [.pdf] for countries to set targets for universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care for injecting drug users."

8 Nov 2012

IRIN examines adult male circumcision campaign in Uganda

As part of the Ugandan government's HIV prevention program, "[m]ore than 380,000 Ugandan men have been circumcised in the last two years," according to new data, IRIN reports. "Uganda's male circumcision program was launched in September 2010, targeting 80 percent of uncircumcised men -- about 4.2 million men -- by 2015," the news service writes, adding, "According to the Uganda AIDS Commission's (UAC) annual performance review of the National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan (2011/2012), 380,000 men were circumcised by March 2012 under the program."

8 Nov 2012

Knowledge management can help improve health systems

In this post on Management Sciences for Health's "Global Impact Blog," Liz McLean, a senior technical adviser at MSH, writes about a K4Health Malawi project that she says "provides an interesting case study of the connection between improved knowledge management [KM] and health systems strengthening."

8 Nov 2012

Blog examines PEPFAR-funded program to improve access to HIV/AIDS treatment in Ethiopia

Writing in USAID's "IMPACTblog," Dereje Bisrat, monitoring and evaluation adviser for the Supply Chain Management System (SCMS), discusses the PEPFAR-funded program, which is administered by USAID and "works with Ethiopia's Pharmaceutical Fund and Supply Agency (PFSA), nine regional health bureaus, and more than 1,717 health facilities to improve access to HIV/AIDS treatment" in the country.

8 Nov 2012

EUROECHO 2012 reveals how imaging improves early diagnosis of atherosclerosis

"Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease and the leading killer in Europe," said Professor Patrizio Lancellotti, President-Elect of the EACVI and Chairman of the EUROECHO Scientific Programme Committee. "Many of these deaths could be averted by diagnosis at a preclinical stage or early after the onset of symptoms."

8 Nov 2012

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine creates International Diagnostics Centre

Today sees the launch of the International Diagnostics Centre (IDC), a global research collaboration hub, created at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine to undertake innovative research on the development and deployment of new diagnostic tests that enable patients to be diagnosed faster, more accurately and cost effectively.

8 Nov 2012

Kenya ramping up male circumcision efforts to meet 2015 goal

"With just over one year left to achieve its target of having some 1.1 million men circumcised as part of HIV prevention efforts, Kenya's government is ramping up efforts to bring more men into clinics, compensating them for their time and encouraging them to bring friends in for the procedure," IRIN reports.

7 Nov 2012

AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses journal publishes special issue on prevention

The journal of AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses has published a special issue examining the "complex factors involved in the sexual transmission of HIV, the urgent need for new preventive approaches, and the most promising methods currently in development," according to a press release from the publisher, Mary Ann Leibert, Inc.

7 Nov 2012

Alpha-herpesvirus axon-to-cell spread involves limited virion transmission

New research suggests that just one or two individual herpes virus particles attack a skin cell in the first stage of an outbreak, resulting in a bottleneck in which the infection may be vulnerable to medical treatment.

7 Nov 2012

Recent Africa Braintrust 2012 forum 'informative, inspiring' for those committed to continent's advancement

"Recently I attended the Africa Braintrust 2012 forum entitled 'Africa Rising: A Continent of Opportunity,' hosted by U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) as part of their Annual Legislative Conference, in Washington, D.C.," human rights activist Ivanley Noisette writes in the Huffington Post's "World" blog.

7 Nov 2012