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AHF applauds Merck for doubling Isentress discount rebates and freezing price for ADAPs

Following an innovative, years long advocacy campaign spearheaded by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) that targeted Merck and Co. Pharmaceuticals over the pricing of its AIDS drug Isentress—one of the most expensive first line AIDS therapies on the US market today—officials from AHF lauded Merck today for significant concessions that the drug giant is putting in place on its pricing and rebate policies for the nation's AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAP), the federally funded, state run programs that supply lifesaving AIDS drugs to low-income Americans in need.

28 Apr 2010

Causes of death in AIDS patients

New research shows that Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) continues to dramatically reduce rates of mortality from HIV infection in high-income countries, such that non-AIDS-related deaths exceed AIDS deaths after approximately four years of taking ART.

28 Apr 2010

State Round-up: Federal prosecutors investigate bid rigging at New York hospitals; Montana prepares for health reform implementation; and Florida spares Medicaid from budget cuts

The Wall Street Journal: "Federal prosecutors are investigating allegations that bid rigging and fraud at Mount Sinai Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital resulted in the hospitals awarding contracts worth tens of millions of dollars to outside contractors. Purchasing officials at the hospitals ... are alleged to have gotten more than a million dollars in payments from companies that were then given lucrative contracts to perform work such as re-insulating pipes and removing asbestos, according to documents filed in the Southern District of New York.

28 Apr 2010

Trade negotiations between EU, India could affect access to low-cost generics

The Associated Press examines the ongoing free-trade negotiations between the EU and India - a country that according to PricewaterhouseCoopers currently "makes one-fifth of the world's generics." The negotiations "could make it harder for millions … across the developing world to get lifesaving drugs. The deal is taking shape as India tries to transform itself from a generics powerhouse into a base for drug discovery - a trend that could ultimately do more than any trade agreement to curtail its reign as a pharmacy to the poor."

28 Apr 2010

China lifts ban on tourists suffering from HIV/AIDS

In a new development China has lifted its decades old reservations towards travelers and tourists suffering from HIV and AIDS in the wake of the Shanghai World Expo this weekend.

28 Apr 2010

WHO welcomes China's decision to remove entry, travel restrictions for people living with HIV

"China's decision to categorically remove HIV/AIDS from the list of conditions subject to entry restrictions is a significant step in the right direction," said Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General. "This decision should inspire other nations to change laws and policies that continue to discriminate against people living with HIV."

28 Apr 2010

Report looks at AIDS funding in developing countries

"A global pullback on commitments to fund and fight AIDS is resulting in restrictions on the number of people being enrolled into treatment programmes, more frequent drug shortages, and reduced national AIDS budgets," according to a report released Monday by the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition, BMJ News reports.

28 Apr 2010

International initiative seeks to reduce heterosexual HIV transmission

Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute has received a $350,000 grant to study the safety of a gel designed to reduce the heterosexual transmission of HIV from the International Partnership for Microbicides, a nonprofit global initiative to develop products to reduce HIV transmission, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Institute announced today.

28 Apr 2010

Scientists develop rapid point-of-care diagnostic test to measure CD4 T-cells

Scientists at Australia's Burnet Institute have developed a rapid point-of-care diagnostic test for the measurement of CD4 T-cells, a marker of the immune system for people living with HIV and AIDS.

27 Apr 2010

Opinions: G8 summit; World Malaria Day; Family planning; Global Food Security Act

As G8 development leaders gather in Halifax, Nova Scotia, this week to discuss priorities for the upcoming summit, Josette Sheeran, executive director of the WFP, calls for world leaders to focus on the nutritional needs of mothers and children in developing countries in a Toronto Star opinion piece.

27 Apr 2010

News outlets examine World Malaria Day 2010

Ahead of Sunday's World Malaria Day, news outlets examined global efforts to combat the disease and the mood among advocates.

27 Apr 2010

Experts warn doctors to be aware of new requirements in health bill's false claims act

"A longtime Miami-Dade healthcare operator and his son have been charged with bilking more than $2.8 million from Medicare in an undercover FBI case. The father has fled the country and the son is cooperating with authorities. Ernesto Angel Montaner and his son, Ernesto Montaner, are accused of operating a network of physical rehabilitation clinics in Miami-Dade that submitted millions of dollars in phony bills to the federal healthcare program for the elderly and disabled between 2003 and 2008" (Weaver, 4/24).

26 Apr 2010

Napo Pharmaceuticals announces formation of Finder's Agreement with Luye Pharma Group

Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which focuses on the development and commercialization of proprietary pharmaceuticals for the treatment of diarrheal diseases in the global marketplace in collaboration with local partners, is pleased to announce the formation of a Finder's Agreement with its licensee for crofelemer in China, Luye Pharma Group Ltd. (formerly Asiapharm).

26 Apr 2010

Research documents early warning signs resulting from global pullback on AIDS funding

Rationing Funds, Risking Lives: World Backtracks on HIV Treatment, the new report from the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition, documents early warning signs resulting from the global pullback on AIDS commitment and funding: caps on the number of people enrolled in treatment programs, more frequent drug stock outs, and national AIDS budgets falling short.

26 Apr 2010

Federal allocation not adequately addressing needs of minority AIDS community

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies Health Policy Institute will unveil a study "Following the Money: Tracking Federal AIDS Appropriations to Address Disparities in HIV and AIDS Treatment in the United States." The study looks at funds and resources provided under the Ryan White Act and concludes that the allocation does not adequately address the needs of the minority AIDS community and fails to reflect the rapid rise in AIDS infection rates in rural, Southern communities, which are primarily African American communities.

26 Apr 2010

Promising research on cryptosporidiosis could lead to effective treatment: Brandeis University biochemist

Discovered in 1976, cryptosporidium lurks worldwide in water, contaminating swimming pools, water parks, and drinking water supplies. Although it has even been featured on the comedy show The Colbert Report, it is no laughing matter-this microscopic pathogen is a leading cause of diarrhea and malnutrition and the most common source of infection in immune-weakened people such as AIDS patients.

26 Apr 2010

Physician panel to discuss issues related to Qutenza at Investor Day

NeurogesX, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing novel pain management therapies, announced today that Anthony DiTonno, President and CEO, and members of the NeurogesX management team, will host an Investor Day on Friday, April 30, 2010, from 8:15am-11:00am EDT in New York City

24 Apr 2010

Myths and facts about pediatric cancer

"Your child has cancer." They are words every parent can't imagine hearing.

24 Apr 2010

Senate Budget Committee approves FY 2011 budget resolution with cuts to foreign aid

The Senate Budget Committee has approved a budget resolution that adheres to President Barack Obama's "proposal to freeze non-defense spending, then goes a bit further" with cuts to "the State Department and other international programs," the Washington Post reports (Montgomery, 4/23).

24 Apr 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

"What is still needed [to fight malaria] is the only tool that has ever truly conquered any infectious disease: an effective and affordable vaccine. And here, the global malaria community has been too complacent," a Lancet editorial asserts in an article highlighting achievements and drawbacks in attempting to provide universal access to malaria prevention and treatment.

24 Apr 2010

AIDS News and Research

AHF applauds Merck for doubling Isentress discount rebates and freezing price for ADAPs

Causes of death in AIDS patients

State Round-up: Federal prosecutors investigate bid rigging at New York hospitals; Montana prepares for health reform implementation; and Florida spares Medicaid from budget cuts

Trade negotiations between EU, India could affect access to low-cost generics

China lifts ban on tourists suffering from HIV/AIDS

WHO welcomes China's decision to remove entry, travel restrictions for people living with HIV

Report looks at AIDS funding in developing countries

International initiative seeks to reduce heterosexual HIV transmission

Scientists develop rapid point-of-care diagnostic test to measure CD4 T-cells

Opinions: G8 summit; World Malaria Day; Family planning; Global Food Security Act

News outlets examine World Malaria Day 2010

Experts warn doctors to be aware of new requirements in health bill's false claims act

Napo Pharmaceuticals announces formation of Finder's Agreement with Luye Pharma Group

Research documents early warning signs resulting from global pullback on AIDS funding

Federal allocation not adequately addressing needs of minority AIDS community

Promising research on cryptosporidiosis could lead to effective treatment: Brandeis University biochemist

Physician panel to discuss issues related to Qutenza at Investor Day

Myths and facts about pediatric cancer

Senate Budget Committee approves FY 2011 budget resolution with cuts to foreign aid

Recent releases in Global Health

Professor Nancy Ip: Pioneering New Paths in Neurodegenerative Therapy

Utilizing process Raman in optimizing cultivated meat production

Exploring the G:Box and for high-quality imaging

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