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Congress lifts federal ban on needle exchange programs

The Minnesota Independent: "An appropriations bill passed by Congress last weekend is being hailed by public health advocates for ending funding for abstinence-until-marriage sex education and eliminating the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs" (Birkey, 12/17).

18 Dec 2009

First Edition: December 18, 2009

The highlights from today's headlines focus on continuing movement in the Senate toward a pre-Christmas health overhaul vote -- but many questions about its cost, and how many votes it can attract, persist.

18 Dec 2009

UAB professors honored for scientific contributions and outstanding mentorship

Three University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) professors have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

18 Dec 2009

SAIC receives multiple-award contract to support BUMED throughout the U.S.

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) today announced it has been awarded a prime contract by the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Acquisition Center - Natick Contracting Division to support the U.S. Navy's Chief Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) for Medical Research and Development, and their subordinate research and development commands.

18 Dec 2009

Fine print of Senate health reform bill would lead to pre-emption of state patient protection laws

Key members of the U.S. House of Representatives have sent a warning to Senate and House leaders that the fine print of the Senate health reform bill would strip many states, including California and Maine, of hard-won patient rights and benefit requirements, reported Consumer Watchdog.

18 Dec 2009

AHF praises California Assembly members' initiative to protect state’s AIDS drug program funding

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today praised the action taken by thirty-eight members of the California Assembly who, in a signed letter, urged Governor Schwarzenegger to protect funding for California’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). The Governor, who is currently completing his 2010-11 budget, could propose up to $70 million in cuts to ADAP in his upcoming budget, a move which, if enacted, will gut the state’s lifesaving AIDS drug program currently serving more than 35,000 low-income Californians living with HIV/AIDS.

18 Dec 2009

New WHO report shows considerable progress in malaria

According to the World Health organization’s World Malaria Report 2009 released earlier this week, more than one third of affected countries included in the study have witnessed reduction in malaria cases by more than 50 percent between 2000 and 2008.

18 Dec 2009

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grants funds for visceral leishmaniasis research

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases has received a $5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for research into visceral leishmaniasis.

18 Dec 2009

Calorie-intake restriction can benefit longevity and help prevent cancer

Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have discovered that restricting consumption of glucose, the most common dietary sugar, can extend the life of healthy human-lung cells and speed the death of precancerous human-lung cells, reducing cancer's spread and growth rate.

18 Dec 2009

Hebrew University of Jerusalem receives $5 million grant from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

17 Dec 2009

PRPS1 gene associated with DFN2 identified by researchers

A gene associated with a rare form of progressive deafness in males has been identified by an international team of researchers funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

17 Dec 2009

PEPFAR decisions to be grounded in scientific evidence, Goosby says

U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby "said future programmes to prevent HIV infection would be those supported by the best scientific evidence," reports the Financial Times. Goosby told the Financial Times in an interview: "I will always wrap myself in the science as the justification of decision-making. I will not factor in an ideological rationale."

17 Dec 2009

African AIDS vaccine conference addresses future trials in Africa, lower participation rates among women

During the Forum of the African AIDS Vaccine Program (AAVP) in Kampala, Uganda, on Wednesday, Alan Bernstein, the director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, discussed ongoing efforts to launch an experimental HIV vaccine trial - similar to the recent trial in Thailand - in Africa, the Daily Monitor reports.

17 Dec 2009

Hebrew University of Jerusalem granted $5M for research into visceral leishmaniasis in Ethiopia

17 Dec 2009

MIT to host community-wide Caregiver Kit Build Event

Boston AIDS Africa, a Boston-based initiative to respond to the AIDS pandemic in Africa by providing vital supplies to care for those suffering with HIV/AIDS in Africa, announced today that it has partnered with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, who will host a community-wide Caregiver Kit Build Event on April 3, 2010 at the MIT Johnson Ice Rink.

17 Dec 2009

ASA offers practical ways for sufferers to take active role in treatment of pain

Whether the result of injury, illness or a chronic condition, 70 million Americans experience pain annually. The individual pain sufferer may experience a diminished quality of life, lack of mobility and added stress.

17 Dec 2009

Survey examines disease R&D investment in 2008

According to an annual survey released Tuesday by the George Institute for International Health that looks at research and development (R&D) funding of diseases that affect the developing world, the U.S. government in 2008 "remained the single biggest contributor as it again provided almost half of the total funding but the report notes developing countries like Brazil [and] India ... were becoming a growing force," AAP/Sydney Morning Herald reports (Rose, 12/15).

17 Dec 2009

Also in global health news: Kenya HIV/AIDS; Uganda bill; water project in Philippines; U.N. appeal for Yemen

U.S. Ambassador Michael Ranneberger on Wednesday announced the U.S. would provide $26.5 million (2.7 billion Kenyan shillings) between 2009 and 2013 to fight HIV/AIDS in Kenya, the Daily Nation reports (Sinundu, 12/16). In related news, the Standard reports the Kenyan government will be begin the gradual phase out of the antiretroviral drug, Stavudine, which is known to cause adverse side effects (Mwai, 12/15).

17 Dec 2009

Opinions: HIV prevention; PEPFAR; H1N1 vaccine donation; developing country R&D; climate change

"For nearly 30 years scientists have been trying to break the back of the AIDS epidemic," but the recent microbicide gel study and an AIDS vaccine trial in Thailand "show just how difficult and how distant that goal is," according to a Washington Post editorial. "While scientists continue searching for a vaccine or a cure, prevention remains paramount," the Washington Post concludes (12/16).

16 Dec 2009

More details emerge about UNITAID's plan for patent pool for HIV/AIDS drugs

News outlets continued to follow UNITAID's recent announcement to create a patent pool aimed at lowering the cost of HIV/AIDS drugs for low- and middle-income countries. Though UNITAID's board "voted Monday to create a board to run the new patent pool, and set a target of having five AIDS drugs in the pool by mid-2010," the group "punted on the thorny issue of which countries outside of Africa to include in the pool," Forbes reports.

16 Dec 2009

AIDS News and Research

Congress lifts federal ban on needle exchange programs

First Edition: December 18, 2009

UAB professors honored for scientific contributions and outstanding mentorship

SAIC receives multiple-award contract to support BUMED throughout the U.S.

Fine print of Senate health reform bill would lead to pre-emption of state patient protection laws

AHF praises California Assembly members' initiative to protect state’s AIDS drug program funding

New WHO report shows considerable progress in malaria

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grants funds for visceral leishmaniasis research

Calorie-intake restriction can benefit longevity and help prevent cancer

Hebrew University of Jerusalem receives $5 million grant from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

PRPS1 gene associated with DFN2 identified by researchers

PEPFAR decisions to be grounded in scientific evidence, Goosby says

African AIDS vaccine conference addresses future trials in Africa, lower participation rates among women

Hebrew University of Jerusalem granted $5M for research into visceral leishmaniasis in Ethiopia

MIT to host community-wide Caregiver Kit Build Event

ASA offers practical ways for sufferers to take active role in treatment of pain

Survey examines disease R&D investment in 2008

Also in global health news: Kenya HIV/AIDS; Uganda bill; water project in Philippines; U.N. appeal for Yemen

Opinions: HIV prevention; PEPFAR; H1N1 vaccine donation; developing country R&D; climate change

More details emerge about UNITAID's plan for patent pool for HIV/AIDS drugs

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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