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Australia's top medical researchers for 2012 announced

Finalists for one of Australia’s longest running and most prestigious awards for medical research were announced today. This year’s winner will join a list of alumni winners that includes many of the country’s most respected scientists.

31 Jul 2012

IPS examines progress on HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean

Inter Press Service reports on HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, a region with "the second highest incidence of HIV/AIDS after sub-Saharan Africa." The news service highlights a report, titled "Together We Will End AIDS" and released by UNAIDS ahead of the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) in Washington, D.C., last week, that "noted that AIDS-related deaths in the Caribbean have declined by almost 50 percent in 10 years."

31 Jul 2012

Treatments for peripheral neuropathic pain compared

The first study to compare the 8% capsaicin patch with pregabalin as a treatment for peripheral neuropathic pain begins, with enrolment of the first patient.

31 Jul 2012

GlobalPost examines debate surrounding PrEP

GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog examines questions surrounding the use of the antiretroviral Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of HIV infection among people at high risk, as studies released and panel discussions held last week at the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) "raised concerns about the drug's effect on the future of the AIDS fight."

31 Jul 2012

CSIS blog examines definition of 'AIDS-free generation'

"Charged by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with developing a blueprint for the next phase of the U.S. government's involvement in the fight against HIV and AIDS, [U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby] ... will lead an interagency effort to give clearer meaning to the term, 'AIDS-free generation,' and provide a basis for programming," Sharon Stash, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic & International Studies' (CSIS) Global Health Policy Center, writes in the CSIS "Smart Global Health" blog.

31 Jul 2012

Bloomberg Businessweek examines debate surrounding circumcision

Bloomberg Businessweek reports that "circumcision is in the spotlight again after a German court ruling has pitted those who support it for religious and health reasons against those who say boys should have the right to decide for themselves" and discusses how the procedure's role in "helping prevent the spread of AIDS in Africa" is "lost in the debate."

31 Jul 2012

Advocacy, commitment, investment needed to continue HIV/AIDS response

Some members of Congress "are advocating deep cuts to funding for domestic programs such as the Ryan White CARE Act and international programs such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and PEPFAR," but "what these critics fail to realize is that though we have won a multitude of battles, we are still losing the war in many communities," Rep. Michael Honda (D-Calif.) writes in a U.S. News & World Report opinion piece.

31 Jul 2012

Inclusion of 'marginalized and criminalized' populations essential to HIV/AIDS response

In this post in the Human Rights and HIV/AIDS "Now More Than Ever" blog, Michel Kazatchkine, the former executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and newly appointed special envoy to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, examines why human rights are "so central to the AIDS response."

31 Jul 2012

Blog posts examine issues discussed at AIDS 2012

Laurie Garrett, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, published three new blog posts last week examining issues discussed at the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012).

31 Jul 2012

'AIDS-free generation' possible with available tools for prevention, but not without political will

Noting that "the XIX International AIDS Conference [AIDS 2012] has just come to a close amid much talk of the beginning of the end of AIDS, turning the tide on HIV and even a potential cure," Julio Montaner, former president of the International AIDS Society (IAS) and director of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, writes in a Globe and Mail opinion piece, "It is now more certain than ever that we have the tools, medicines and expertise to stop this epidemic."

31 Jul 2012

Views on AIDS: More funding will be needed for new attack on HIV; The epidemic hits hard in the South

The international AIDS conference in Washington has already made two points clear. There is no prospect that scientists will any time soon find the ultimate solutions to the AIDS epidemic, namely a vaccine that would prevent infection with the AIDS virus or a "cure" for people already infected with the virus.

31 Jul 2012

Roundup: N.J. public may decide if judges should pay more for health care; Ore. Medicaid experiment to launch; Uncertainty around Va. abortion clinic rules

The New Jersey State Assembly is set to consider a measure that would allow voters to decide whether New Jersey judges should pay more for their pensions and health benefits. The state Supreme Court ruled last week that judges don't have to contribute more toward pensions and health care despite a new law requiring them to do so. The court said the law diminishes judges' salaries, which are protected by state law.

31 Jul 2012

HPV co-testing prospect for HIV-infected women

The risk for cervical precancer and cancer is similar in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected women with normal cervical cytology and no evidence of oncogenic human papillomavirus infection, research shows.

30 Jul 2012

Hydroxychloroquine fails to modify HIV in patients not taking ART

The use of hydroxychloroquine does not reduce CD8 cell activation in HIV-infected patients not taking antiretroviral therapy, research shows.

30 Jul 2012

XIX International AIDS Conference concludes in Washington, D.C.

"The XIX International AIDS Conference [AIDS 2012] drew to a close Friday without the physical presence of President Obama but with a full cast of other high-profile U.S. politicians who expressed their commitment to ending the disease," CQ HealthBeat reports (Norman, 7/27).

30 Jul 2012

Some AIDS experts view health law coverage expansion with hope

Meanwhile, the Obama administration announced it would add new funds to increase access to HIV/AIDS care, but questions remain about whether it will be enough to address waiting lists for the drug assistance program. Also in the news, reports on treatment developments.

30 Jul 2012

First Edition: June 30, 2012

Today's headlines include recent reports about both the policies and politics related to the health law's implementation.

30 Jul 2012

EASL calls on the UN to take action to fight against viral hepatitis infection

Marking World Hepatitis Day, the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) calls on the different organizations which make up the United Nations systems to take action to fight against Viral Hepatitis (Hepatitis B and C), a potentially fatal infection of the liver which affects 500 million people.

30 Jul 2012

Study examines how heterosexual men with HIV seek health care and support services

Heterosexual men make up a small but growing number of people infected with HIV in Canada. Yet a new study has found that many of them feel existing HIV-related programs and services don't meet their needs and are geared primarily or exclusively toward gay men and heterosexual women who are living with the virus.

30 Jul 2012

Health systems must prepare for aging population living with HIV

"Many health systems are not ready to cope with the relatively new phenomenon" of people living with HIV (PLHIV) growing older, PlusNews reports. "Data on aging with HIV is largely restricted to the developed world and very little is known about older Africans living with virus, despite the high caseload in this region," the news service writes, adding, "A July 2012 supplement of the medical journal, AIDS, notes that an estimated three million people in sub-Saharan Africa aged 50 and older are HIV-positive -- 14 percent of all infected adults.

30 Jul 2012