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GAPA empowers grandmothers to care for their families affected by HIV/AIDS

New research presented today at the first Africa Regional Conference on Gerontology and Geriatrics concluded that Grandmothers Against Poverty & AIDS, a nonprofit grantee of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation's SECURE THE FUTURE- programme, has been a driving force in empowering grandmothers whose families have been affected by HIV/AIDS to cope with the emotional and economic demands of caring for their families.

20 Oct 2012

Researchers concerned over likely rise in older people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa

"Sub-Saharan Africa is likely to see a more than 200 percent increase in the number of older people living with HIV in the next 30 years, thanks to improvements in life-saving treatment, experts said Thursday," Agence France-Presse reports.

20 Oct 2012

Research roundup: Financial impact of reducing surgical complications; Pay for performance to doctors, hospitals yields mixed results

The authors write: "We found that if a hospital's surgical inpatient volume is not growing, such a program results in negative cash flow. We also found that if a hospital's surgical volume is growing, and if the hospital can sufficiently reduce the average length-of-stay for surgical patients without complications, the cash flow could be positive. We recommend that hospitals with limited growth prospects that are nonetheless contemplating a surgical complication reduction program establish agreements with payers to share in any savings generated by the program."

20 Oct 2012

New data shows influenza-associated deaths among children, effectiveness of school vaccinations

New data being presented at IDWeek 2012TM shows the fatal risk that influenza poses even for children without underlying health conditions and the effectiveness of school-based vaccination programs in protecting student populations.

20 Oct 2012

Canadian journal examines HIV in Swaziland

The Canadian Medical Association Journal reports on HIV in the Kingdom of Swaziland, writing the country "now has the dubious distinction of having the world's highest rate of both HIV and tuberculosis (TB)."

20 Oct 2012

Babies born to HIV positive mothers more likely to acquire measles

Non-infected babies born to HIV positive mothers should be vaccinated early against measles, to avoid them acquiring the virus or passing it on to others.

19 Oct 2012

New report shows increasing HIV prevalence, incidence in Uganda

"An HIV/AIDS report by advocacy organizations in Uganda indicates that new transmissions are on the rise amidst troubling trends of increasing prevalence and incidence," Uganda's New Vision reports.

19 Oct 2012

Hindus and Muslims less likely than Christians and Jews to have premarital sex

Hindus and Muslims are less likely than Christians and Jews to have premarital sex, and Muslims are the least likely among people of these religious groups to have extramarital sex, according to a new study that analyzed data on premarital and extramarital sexual behaviors in over 30 developing countries around the world.

19 Oct 2012

Zimbabwe to allow trained nurses to prescribe, administer ARVs

PlusNews examines challenges and concerns over an announcement by the Zimbabwean government that it plans to train nurses to prescribe and administer antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) to people living with HIV in the country.

19 Oct 2012

TB Alliance and FIND partner to promote development of TB drugs and diagnostics

A new partnership announced today will increase efforts to coordinate the development of complementary novel tools to fight TB, including drug-resistant TB, and identify emerging drug resistance trends around the globe.

19 Oct 2012

Global anti-tuberculosis campaign now ‘at a crossroads’

Tuberculosis care and control has improved dramatically over the last two decades, but numbers of cases and deaths are still high and multidrug resistant-TB is an under-reported and ever-increasing problem, suggest findings from the World Health Organization Global TB Report 2012.

18 Oct 2012

HIV infection has been major driver of anal cancer burden

Rising rates of anal cancer among men in the USA have been heavily influenced by the HIV epidemic since the 1980s, a study shows.

17 Oct 2012

Global Fund invites Myanmar to apply for additional funding

"Health workers in Myanmar are confident that efforts to narrow the country's huge gap between access to, and need for, life-saving medicines to treat HIV/AIDS are back on track after the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria invited the country to apply for additional funding," IRIN reports.

17 Oct 2012

Peace Corps, USAID, Coca-Cola Company announce WASH training initiative

"The Peace Corps has announced a strategic partnership with the Water and Development Alliance (WADA) -- a long-standing public-private partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Coca-Cola Company (Coca-Cola) -- to improve local capacity to deliver sustainable water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services for the reduction of waterborne disease around the world," a Peace Corps press release reports.

17 Oct 2012

BioLineRx completes pre-clinical development of BL-8020 for HCV

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical development company, announced today that it has successfully completed the pre-clinical development of BL-8020, an orally available, interferon-free treatment for the Hepatitis C virus (HCV), and plans to commence a Phase I/II safety and efficacy study for BL-8020 in Europe during the first quarter of 2013.

17 Oct 2012

Adults with HIV can benefit from cognitive training exercises

As more effective antiretroviral therapy has evolved over the past 30 years, HIV/AIDS has shifted from an acute to a chronic condition. But as patients live longer, research indicates that they are experiencing cognitive impairments at a higher rate than people without the disease.

17 Oct 2012

Offering methadone treatment to drug users significantly reduces HIV infection, transmission risk, study shows

Offering methadone treatment to people who use injection drugs "substantially reduces the risk that they will get HIV or give it to anyone else," according to a BMJ study published this month that pools data from studies done in nine countries, the New York Times reports.

17 Oct 2012

Hepatitis C rapid and point of care tests highly accurate and reliable

Timely screening and diagnosis is critical to the success of new treatments and ultimately to the survival of hepatitis C patients. A new study led by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC) is the first to show that hepatitis C rapid and point of care tests with a quick turnaround time are highly accurate and reliable as conventional first-line laboratory tests.

16 Oct 2012

U.N. report shows francophone African countries lag behind in AIDS Treatment; NGOs call for increased funding

"Despite great progress within a short time, the 29 French-speaking countries of sub-Saharan Africa are lagging far behind other states in the region in the battle against HIV/AIDS and need a massive increase in international aid, according to a United Nations report" released Friday, the U.N. News Centre reports.

16 Oct 2012