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Cuts to U.S. global health spending would mean 'stark future' for millions

Disregarding advances "that have the potential to significantly reduce the death toll from HIV/AIDS, malaria, malnutrition, and other insidious killers, ... both the House and the Senate are pushing significant cuts to the 2012 Obama request for global health funding," Matthew Spitzer, president of the U.S. section of Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres, writes in an opinion piece on the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog.

19 Nov 2011

Recent scientific progress in developing new HIV/AIDS interventions

Kaitlin Christenson, coalition director for the Global Health Technologies Coalition, "reflects on recent progress made by the scientific community in developing new interventions to combat HIV/AIDS as a result of leadership from the U.S. government" in this ONE blog post.

19 Nov 2011

Sony Corporation, Global Fund enter into partnership to implement behavior change projects

"Sony Corporation and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria have entered into a partnership for the implementation of behavior change projects, in which Sony provides state of the art equipment and movies and the Global Fund ensures it gets to agencies best able to reach communities most in need," a Global Fund press release states, noting, "This partnership is the first pilot case that combines pro bono and in-kind contribution."

19 Nov 2011

HVTN debunks top 10 myths about HIV vaccine research

Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day, and in commemoration of the occasion, the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, headquartered at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, debunks the top 10 myths about HIV vaccine research.

18 Nov 2011

Efforts to end AIDS could also reduce TB burden with proper funding

In response to Michael Gerson's November 11 column in which he said the end of AIDS is possible because of combination prevention and treatment innovations, David Bryden, the Stop TB advocacy officer at RESULTS, writes in a Washington Post letter to the editor, "Another benefit of [HIV] treatment is that it sharply reduces deaths from tuberculosis [TB], which is the primary killer of people living with HIV/AIDS."

18 Nov 2011

Future research critical to ending AIDS epidemic

Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention and a founding member of the Global Health Technologies Coalition, writing in The Hill's "Congress Blog," welcomes Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's November 8 announcement of "an additional $60 million for implementation of a combination of prevention strategies in four sub-Saharan African countries and evaluation of their impact," adding that "this funding can only be viewed as a down payment on the work that needs to be done."

18 Nov 2011

Examining funding in light of new evidence on HIV prevention, treatment strategies

In this Huffington Post opinion piece, Nancy Birdsall, president of the Center for Global Development, reports on a World Bank- and USAID-sponsored debate she moderated last week as part of a series on HIV/AIDS issues, the topic of which was "Countries should spend a majority of what is likely to be a flat or even declining HIV prevention budget on 'treatment as prevention.'"

18 Nov 2011

World's fastest program to examine interactions between molecules

Creating new, improved pharmaceuticals is sometimes very similar to cracking the code of a combination lock. If you have the wrong numbers, the lock won't open. Even worse, you don't know if your numbers are close to the actual code or way off the mark. The only solution is to simply guess a new combination and try again.

18 Nov 2011

South African public health experts urge countries to use TRIPS to produce generic drugs, IPS reports

South African public health experts from Medecins San Frontieres (MSF) South Africa and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) "are calling on governments to use legally available mechanisms to promote the production or import of generic drugs in their countries," Inter Press Service reports.

18 Nov 2011

Swaziland government failed to pay more than $10M to children orphaned by AIDS, IMF official says

"Swaziland's government has failed to pay more than $10 million ... in grants to AIDS orphans because of its financial crisis, an IMF official has said" in a statement after visiting the country, BBC News reports.

18 Nov 2011

Annual report on sexually transmitted infections reveals rising trends

New figures reveal that cases of some common sexually spread diseases continue to increase in the United States. These numbers come in the annual report on sexually transmitted disease released by health officials this Thursday.

17 Nov 2011

Ban smoking in cars urges BMA

The British Medical Association is calling for a ban on smoking in all cars. The BMA says research shows levels of toxins in a car after a cigarette has been smoked are up to 23 times higher than they would be in a smoky bar.

17 Nov 2011

LGBT seniors face higher rates of disability, physical and mental distress

Aging and health issues facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender baby boomers have been largely ignored by services, policies and research. These seniors face higher rates of disability, physical and mental distress and a lack of access to services, according to the first study on aging and health in these communities.

17 Nov 2011

Study highlights gaps in policy and research on LGBT older adults

The National Academy on an Aging Society and Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) today released the first-ever issue of the acclaimed Public Policy & Aging Report (PPAR) on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) aging, highlighting gaps in policy and research on LGBT older adults, and current and future solutions to address the needs of LGBT elders.

17 Nov 2011

FrontlineSMS technology useful communication tool in HIV care

Ben Parfitt, a member of the Ugunja Research Team in Kenya, writes in the FrontlineSMS blog about using the open-source text and communication software to improve HIV care for patients using Kenyan health clinics.

17 Nov 2011

PlusNews examines shortages of HIV treatment supplies in Swaziland

PlusNews examines Swaziland's national shortages of antiretroviral (ARV) stocks, HIV tests, and lab tests necessary to initiate and manage HIV patients on treatment, and the country's efforts to find funding to prevent stock-outs of these supplies.

17 Nov 2011

Malawi government addressing drug, medical supply shortages in wake of aid withdrawals

As international donors "remain reluctant to release aid meant for the health sector" in Malawi "amid allegations of pilfering and corruption in the procurement of drugs," "patients seeking medical treatment at government-run medical facilities are unable to access medication such as antiretrovirals (ARVs), anti-malarial drugs and even painkillers," Inter Press Service reports, adding, "Health facilities are also experiencing a shortage of medical equipment such as gloves, and malaria and HIV/AIDS testing kits."

17 Nov 2011

Austerity measures in Europe may cause rise in drug-related HIV infections, report says

"Austerity measures brought in to tackle Europe's economic crisis may cause a rise in drug-related HIV infections as stretched health services struggle to cope, the E.U.'s narcotics agency said on Tuesday," Reuters reports.

17 Nov 2011

First clinical trial of dapivirine-maraviroc ring to treat HIV in women

In the first clinical trial of a vaginal ring combining two antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, researchers from the Microbicide Trials Network (MTN) are collaborating with the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) to evaluate whether the ring is safe for use in women.

16 Nov 2011

High school health classes fail to endorse safe sex habits

High school health classes fail to help students refuse sexual advances or endorse safe sex habits when teachers focus primarily on testing knowledge, a new study reveals.

16 Nov 2011