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State HIV programs face cuts, CDC notes high prevalence in young African-Americans, gay men

NPR's Shots blog: "As states struggle with budget shortfalls, many are looking to trim costs by chopping health spending. And funding for HIV/AIDS programs has been a prime target. A proposed budget in South Carolina would eliminate funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and for help with buying drugs to treat the disease. 'South Carolina is thought to be the first state in the nation to propose the elimination of its entire HIV/AIDS budget,' the newspaper The State reported. Elsewhere, HIV/AIDS funding has been under pressure for a while.

27 Mar 2010

NIH awards $15M grant to UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School

For the second time in less than one month, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School has been awarded a coveted $15 million grant by the National Institutes of Health.

27 Mar 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

"Sub-Saharan Africa is affected by a disproportionately high prevalence of both HIV infection and food scarcity," write the authors of an American Journal of Clinical Nutrition article on the relationship between malnutrition and the progression of HIV/AIDS. "Underweight individuals will continue to represent a significant proportion of patients who present for HIV care in sub-Saharan Africa.

27 Mar 2010

Senate briefing to discuss TB and drug-resistant TB

A Senate briefing today will discuss TB and drug-resistant TB, including multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug resistant (XDR-TB), the impact on global health and the current state of surveillance, diagnosis and treatment around the world.

26 Mar 2010

World TB Day coverage: Lesotho, Armenia, drug resistance, HIV coinfection

"To mark World [Tuberculosis] Day on Wednesday, Medecins Sans Frontieres [MSF] drew attention to Lesotho, which has the world's third-highest prevalence of HIV ... and the fourth-highest prevalence of tuberculosis," the Associated Press reports

26 Mar 2010

Civil society groups urge G8 to follow through with AIDS funding commitments

"Civil society organisations from around the world on Wednesday made a coordinated appeal to the Canadian government to help pressure the Group of Eight (G8) into fulfilling its aid commitments in the fight against AIDS,"

26 Mar 2010

Independent DMC recommends continuance of enrollment in Eisai's Phase III ACCESS trial

Eisai Inc. announced today that the Phase III ACCESS (A Controlled Comparison of Eritoran and Placebo in Patients with Severe Sepsis) trial of the investigational compound eritoran (E5564) will continue enrolling to the preset goal of 2,000 patients. As part of a planned interim analysis, an independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) has evaluated efficacy and safety data on the first 1,500 subjects to complete the 28-day follow-up in the Phase III ACCESS trial.

26 Mar 2010

Medicare Roundup: Changes from health reform, payments for HIV patients

USA Today: "Perhaps the biggest factor in whether your Medicare costs will rise or fall depends on your Medicare plan. There are two: a traditional Medicare plan run by the federal government and Medicare Advantage, which is run by private insurance companies. Medicare Advantage costs more than the traditional plan, but provides more generous benefits.

26 Mar 2010

Innovation holds the key for solving healthcare's dilemmas, says Eli Lilly

In an address to the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany today, John C. Lechleiter, Ph.D., chairman, president and chief executive officer of Eli Lilly and Company, said that innovation holds the key to solving one of healthcare's thorniest dilemmas: how to improve quality and access while controlling costs.

25 Mar 2010

UCSF Study: HIV prevention services in clinical settings reduces risk behaviors

UCSF researchers have shown that delivering HIV prevention services to people living with HIV in clinical settings can sharply reduce their sexual risk behaviors.

25 Mar 2010

UNAIDS Executive Director calls for 'serious attention to TB' on World TB Day

In a statement marking World Tuberculosis Day, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe "warned Wednesday that double infections of HIV and TB could become the next new epidemic," the Associated Press reports. Sidibe said, "I'm calling for serious attention to TB, and serious attention to TB-HIV co-infection" (Corder, 3/24).

25 Mar 2010

Circumcision can protect from HIV transmission: Reports from Zimbabwe

Nearly 1.1 million people in Zimbabwe are HIV positive with 40% unaware of their status. 160,000 children are infected with counts rising by 17,000 yearly. Total HIV prevalence rate for Zimbabwe is 13.7%. There are 2,000 HIV related deaths in Zimbabwe every week. 25% of children in Zimbabwe are orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS related deaths according to UN agency reports.

25 Mar 2010

Religious leaders vow to fight HIV/AIDS stigma, discrimination

A two-day gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, of religious leaders to discuss the role people of faith can play in the fight against HIV/AIDS concluded Tuesday with a pledge to prevent discrimination against those living with the disease, the Associated Press reports

25 Mar 2010

Industry continues to give thumbs up to overhaul

On Tuesday, "[p]rovider groups hailed the president's historic signing of the Senate's healthcare reform bill, which seeks to overhaul the healthcare system through the establishment of a new insurance marketplace, expansions to Medicaid and various insurance reforms," Modern Healthcare reports.

25 Mar 2010

UK Government grants 8 MN GBP to the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation

Global efforts to combat tuberculosis gained momentum today when the government of the United Kingdom announced generous funding to the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation. The first-ever grant of - 8,000,000 (approximately US$ 13 million) is a significant show of support for Aeras in its mission to develop new TB vaccines.

24 Mar 2010

AHF to protest against Merck's pricing of Isentress

AIDS Healthcare Foundation will host a protest Wednesday morning, March 24th at 10:30am targeting Merck and Co. Pharmaceuticals over the pricing and policies for its key HIV/AIDS drug, Isentress, one of the most expensive first-line AIDS treatment in the US, during the Barclays Capital Global Healthcare Conference.

24 Mar 2010

Senate briefing on World TB Day

A Senate briefing, Bringing Established Methods to Scale: New Perspectives in the Changing World of TB, to discuss TB and drug-resistant TB, including multidrug-resistant TB and extensively-drug resistant, the impact on global health and the current state of surveillance, diagnosis and treatment around the world.

24 Mar 2010

Opinion: Repurposing wastewater; expanding global fund; financing global health needs

In an Economic Times opinion piece, Jeffrey Sachs of the Earth Institute at Columbia University outlines what he sees as "two huge challenges facing" the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria:

24 Mar 2010

Bioalliance Pharma's anti-emetic drug Setofilm receives European approval

BioAlliance Pharma SA, a company dedicated to the treatment and supportive care of cancer and AIDS patients, today announced approval for Setofilm® in 16 European countries.

24 Mar 2010

Aureus Pharma to participate in € 118 million BioIntelligence R&D programme

Aureus Pharma, a leading provider of knowledge management solutions to accelerate discovery in the life sciences industry, announces today it’s participation in a EUR118.2 million (USD 160 million) project. The project is the Biointelligence R&D programme designed to promote the use of systemic modeling and simulation tools to exploit biomedical databases to improve research efficiency.

23 Mar 2010