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Sexuality changes throughout life but US policy and research fail to keep up

Americans will spend more than $17 billion on Valentine's Day, but far less on programs like sex education for adolescents. The editors of the new book, Sex for Life, From Virginity to Viagra, How Sexuality Changes Throughout Our Lives, argue that not only do our public policies on sex education need to be reevaluated, our entire concept of human sexuality needs to be broadened.

13 Feb 2012

Censorship of public health websites by Russian drug agency an 'assault' on HIV prevention

"Amidst pro-democracy protests, the Russian authorities have taken what is an ongoing assault on HIV prevention to the next level by moving to silence public health advocates whose only infraction has been to spread lifesaving information online and to criticize the government for its own failures," Eka Iakobishvili, a human rights analyst at Harm Reduction International, and Claudia Stoicescu, an analyst on Harm Reduction International's public health research team, write in this Huffington Post opinion piece.

13 Feb 2012

BIO President issues statement on FDA guidance for biosimilars

Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) President and CEO Jim Greenwood issued the following statement regarding the newly released U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidance for the review and approval of biosimilars.

13 Feb 2012

Recognizing Global Fund's integration of reproductive health into focus on AIDS, TB, malaria

Noting the successes of the first 10 years of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as well as the funding challenges it faces moving forward, Elisha Dunn-Georgiou, vice president of advocacy at Population Action International, writes in an opinion piece in GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog that the Fund "has always upheld the idea that their work contributes to achievement of all of the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)" and "always accepted and considered proposals that include reproductive, maternal, and child health interventions, when countries could demonstrate that they would have an impact on AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria."

13 Feb 2012

Proposed intellectual property agreement between E.U., India could affect generic drug exports, advocacy groups say

The Independent examines how "the cheap supply of antiretroviral drugs to people with AIDS across the world could be choked by an 'intellectual property' deal ... being negotiated on Friday at the 12th E.U.-India summit in New Delhi between the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh."

13 Feb 2012

Donor fatigue, funding cutbacks could mean another 50 years of AIDS epidemic, UNAIDS deputy executive director says

"With enough money spent in the right way, the world could soon reduce new HIV infections to zero, but global apathy and the financial crisis mean it might take another 50 years to stop the AIDS epidemic, a U.N. expert has said," AlertNet reports.

13 Feb 2012

Study reveals how SAMHD1 works to protect dendritic cells from HIV virus

A novel discovery by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center and colleagues reveals a mechanism by which the immune system tries to halt the spread of HIV. Harnessing this mechanism may open up new paths for therapeutic research aimed at slowing the virus' progression to AIDS. The study appears online ahead of print today in Nature Immunology.

12 Feb 2012

Scientists discover ferocity of immune system after viral infection

A scientific team led by researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Charité Berlin Medical University has made a completely unprecedented discovery showing how much our immune system is provoked into action when confronted by viral intruders.

10 Feb 2012

Administration officials announce new initiatives to promote innovations in global development

In a White House briefing on Wednesday, "senior Administration officials announced a series of new initiatives to promote game-changing innovations to solve long-standing development challenges" in response to President Obama's "call to harness science technology, and innovation to spark global development," Gayle Smith, special assistant to the president, and Tom Kalil, senior adviser for science, technology, and innovation, write in this post in the White House Blog.

10 Feb 2012

Health status of indigenous populations across Asia unknown, putting them at risk, experts say

"The health of millions of indigenous people across Asia is at risk, experts say, as lack of recognition of their legal status hinders data collection, making their medical problems invisible in most national health surveys," IRIN reports.

10 Feb 2012

Study investigates concept of 'additionality' in domestic health spending amid foreign donations

In this study published in Health Affairs this month, researchers investigated the concept known as "additionality," where donor nations and philanthropic organizations "require that funds provided for a specific health priority such as HIV should supplement domestic spending on that priority."

10 Feb 2012

Important to include men in HIV prevention, treatment programs

While a focus on HIV prevention and treatment among women and children has reduced infection rates among these populations, "men have received considerably less attention in the epidemic and receive less targeted HIV prevention and treatment programs," Edward Mills of the University of Ottawa and colleagues write in a PLoS Medicine essay, adding "Targeting men in prevention and treatment ... may have a large impact on mortality, new infections, and the economic impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa."

9 Feb 2012

India's ownership over polio eradication program contributed to success

"The key to India's success" in going a full year without recording a case of polio "was to take ownership of the problem and the solution, allowing for locals to learn from the expertise of the international community while not becoming dependent" on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international donors, William Thomson, a research assistant at the U.S. Naval War College, writes in The Diplomat's "India Decade."

9 Feb 2012

USAID-supported programs fighting TB, HIV in Brazil

In this post in USAID's "IMPACTblog," Ed Scholl, AIDSTAR-One project director, writes about HIV and tuberculosis (TB) care in Brazil, where "USAID has partnered with the Brazilian Ministry of Health to improve early TB detection, increase HIV counseling and testing, and provide medical treatment for both infections."

9 Feb 2012

NewsOne examines HIV in Caribbean

NewsOne examines HIV in the Caribbean, where one percent of the population is infected with the virus, "small in comparison to numbers found in the global scheme but significant enough to distinguish it as the second-highest region with HIV/AIDS outside of sub-Saharan Africa."

9 Feb 2012

Viewpoints: Political furor on contraceptive policy; Confusing estimates of Medicare's costs

The political furor over President Obama's birth-control mandate continues to grow, even among those for whom contraception poses no moral qualms, and one needn't be a theologian to understand why. The country is being exposed to the raw political control that is the core of the Obama health-care plan, and Americans are seeing clearly for the first time how this will violate pluralism and liberty.

9 Feb 2012

U.N. says Asia Pacific region making strides against HIV/AIDS, must address social and legal barriers to treatment, prevention

The U.N. Economic and Social Commission for the Asia Pacific (ESCAP) on Monday in Bangkok "opened a three-day meeting lauding impressive gains in recent years in the fight against HIV/AIDS," but the body cautioned "there are still legal and social barriers that significantly set back eradication efforts," VOA News reports.

8 Feb 2012

New smartphone can help people with mental health problems

Brooding in your apartment on Saturday afternoon? A new smart phone intuits when you're depressed and will nudge you to call or go out with friends. It's the future of therapy at a new Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine center where scientists are inventing web-based, mobile and virtual technologies to treat depression and other mood disorders. The phone and similar projects bypass traditional weekly therapy sessions for novel approaches that provide immediate support and access to a much larger population.

8 Feb 2012

World-renowned researcher to address NTDs at UH, Feb. 10

Dr. Peter J. Hotez, an internationally recognized clinician and investigator of neglected tropical diseases and vaccine development, will be giving a lecture at the University of Houston (UH) from 3 to 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10. Hotez is one of many prominent scientists with broad appeal who will be hosted by UH in support of the university's health initiative. The talk is free and open to the public.

8 Feb 2012

Forum for Collaborative HIV Research suggests new approach for conducting Phase 3 HIV clinical trials

As the war on HIV/AIDS begins its fourth decade, medical researchers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, patient advocates and government regulators face a new and unexpected scientific challenge: how to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of promising new antiretroviral drugs when the two traditional study designs – the superiority trial and the non-inferiority trial – are no longer useful in showing improvements in both "treatment experienced" patients and those who have never received drug therapy (treatment-naive patients).

7 Feb 2012

HIV News and Research

Sexuality changes throughout life but US policy and research fail to keep up

Censorship of public health websites by Russian drug agency an 'assault' on HIV prevention

BIO President issues statement on FDA guidance for biosimilars

Recognizing Global Fund's integration of reproductive health into focus on AIDS, TB, malaria

Proposed intellectual property agreement between E.U., India could affect generic drug exports, advocacy groups say

Donor fatigue, funding cutbacks could mean another 50 years of AIDS epidemic, UNAIDS deputy executive director says

Study reveals how SAMHD1 works to protect dendritic cells from HIV virus

Scientists discover ferocity of immune system after viral infection

Administration officials announce new initiatives to promote innovations in global development

Health status of indigenous populations across Asia unknown, putting them at risk, experts say

Study investigates concept of 'additionality' in domestic health spending amid foreign donations

Important to include men in HIV prevention, treatment programs

India's ownership over polio eradication program contributed to success

USAID-supported programs fighting TB, HIV in Brazil

NewsOne examines HIV in Caribbean

Viewpoints: Political furor on contraceptive policy; Confusing estimates of Medicare's costs

U.N. says Asia Pacific region making strides against HIV/AIDS, must address social and legal barriers to treatment, prevention

New smartphone can help people with mental health problems

World-renowned researcher to address NTDs at UH, Feb. 10

Forum for Collaborative HIV Research suggests new approach for conducting Phase 3 HIV clinical trials

Small solutions for big problems in drug discovery and delivery

Professor Nancy Ip: Pioneering New Paths in Neurodegenerative Therapy

Utilizing process Raman in optimizing cultivated meat production

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