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WHO welcomes UN General Assembly resolution on prevention, control of noncommunicable diseases

WHO welcomes the adoption last night of the United Nations General Assembly resolution on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases - mainly cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes - which kill nearly 35 million people each year, including almost 9 million before the age of 60.

15 May 2010

Miami-area resident charged in $23M HIV infusion Medicare fraud scheme

A Miami-area resident who owned and operated an HIV infusion clinic was arrested today and charged for her alleged participation in a $23 million HIV infusion Medicare fraud scheme, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS) announced.

15 May 2010

HSPH researchers succeed in locking malaria parasites within infected blood cells

Harvard School of Public Health researchers and colleagues seeking to block invasion of healthy red blood cells by malaria parasites have instead succeeded in locking the parasites within infected blood cells, potentially containing the disease.

15 May 2010

Inhibitex commences trials on INX-189 for treatment of Hepatitis C infections

The first clinical trials have started on a new investigational drug, discovered by researchers at Cardiff University, which is being developed to treat infections caused by Hepatitis C virus.

15 May 2010

UC researchers explore dynamics of bacterial evolution

Researchers found that as dominant members of the population surrendered to host immune defenses, they were replaced by a hyperaggressive, mutant minority population that thrived and took over the abandoned community to become the new majority.

15 May 2010

Opinions: Africans fight malaria; Access to AIDS treatment; Noncommunicable disease summit; Maternal, child health efforts

In an East African opinion piece, U.N. Special Envoy for Malaria Ray Chambers; Mark Green, the director of the Malaria No More Policy Center; and John Bridgeland, vice chairman of Malaria No More, highlight Africans' involvement in addressing malaria on the continent.

15 May 2010

Science special issue reports on Malaria

This week's issue of Science features news articles focusing on recent progress on malaria control in Africa and discussing future challenges, including drug resistance.

15 May 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

As the 193 WHO member states gather at next week's World Health Assembly (WHA) "a draft global code of practice on the international recruitment of health personnel will be on the agenda. Negotiation and adoption of a WHO code of practice is an unprecedented opportunity to advance global consensus to address the critical challenges of migration of health workers and its effect on health systems worldwide," the authors of a Lancet Comment write.

15 May 2010

U.S. healthcare practitioners can resume use of Rotarix, says FDA

GlaxoSmithKline announced that the Food and Drug Administration has determined that U.S. healthcare practitioners can resume the use of Rotarix (Rotavirus Vaccine, Live, Oral), effective immediately. This action supersedes the FDA's recommendation from March 22, 2010 and reflects the agency's assessment that the presence of porcine circovirus type 1 in the vaccine poses no safety risk.

15 May 2010

CSL Behring donates life-saving medicines to assist earthquake victims in Haiti

Direct Relief International announced today that CSL Behring has donated life-saving medicines valued at more than $100,000 to assist earthquake victims in Haiti who are at risk of tetanus or hepatitis B infections. The products will be used in clinics at Hopital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles.

14 May 2010

Scientists look for new ways to fight TB

Scientists looking for new ways to fight tuberculosis have their sights set on a structure essential to the bacterium's survival. Disabling this structure could kill the microbes in the infected host and thwart TB infections. In a study appearing online May 11, 2010, in EMBO J, the journal of the European Molecular Biology Organization, scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, Stony Brook University, and Weill Cornell Medical College describe new features of how this structure, known as a proteasome, is put together and how it works.

14 May 2010

SQI announces poster presentations on novel diagnostic assays at 7th International Congress on Autoimmunity

SQI Diagnostics Inc., a medical systems automation company focused on evolving laboratory-based biomarker testing, today announced data from oral and poster presentations that highlights the Company's leadership position in the autoimmune diagnostics space.

14 May 2010

Scientists to discuss opportunities and challenges for combating HIV, TB

As alarms sound about a weakening international commitment to global AIDS, scientists will gather in Washington, DC to report on potentially transformative new tools in the battle against this deadly epidemic. US policy is moving backwards at a time when the science is more promising than ever.

14 May 2010

NanoViricides signs research and development agreement with Dr. Ken S. Rosenthal's laboratory

NanoViricides, Inc., reports that it has signed a research and development agreement with Dr. Ken S. Rosenthal's laboratory at Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy.

14 May 2010

Leaving food out in the sun can put you at risk for food-borne illness

Leaving food out in the sun too long can put a damper on your summer picnic.

14 May 2010

SPIROCOR's RSR non-invasively measures presence of significant coronary artery disease

Newly published data confirm a non-invasive Respiratory Stress Response (RSR) can quickly and accurately measure the presence of significant coronary artery disease (sCAD), the leading cause of cardiovascular death worldwide. Patients in the study with sCAD had a lower RSR compared to patients without.

14 May 2010

U.N. Secretary-General discusses G8, G20 commitments during visit to Ottawa

On Wednesday, ahead of a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed several topics in a "speech warning that leaders of the G8 and G20 countries should not use global economic and financial difficulties as 'an excuse' to neglect previous pledges of billions of dollars for the world's poor - for doubling aid to Africa, food security, malaria and AIDS programs and maternal and child health care," Canwest News Service/Calgary Herald writes (O'Neill, 5/12).

14 May 2010

Novel vaccines for deadly diseases to be presented at AAPS' NBC

Novel vaccines for diseases ranging from the flu to HIV highlight a week's worth of biotechnology research at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' National Biotechnology Conference. Scientists from academia, industry, and government will gather at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square Sunday, May 16 -Thursday, May 20 to share research and advances in biotherapeutics.

14 May 2010

Mild-mannered organelles can detect virus invasion signals: Researchers

Within cells, an ancient antiviral duo can deliver a one-two knockout to thwart invading viruses, report researchers who have just unmasked the cellular sidekick that throws the first punch. The findings mean scientists must rethink the design of antiviral immunity and how the body fends off viruses of all types, including influenza and HIV.

14 May 2010

Report of 2009 H1N1 influenza VLP vaccine published online

Novavax, Inc. announces the first report of a vaccine protecting ferrets against the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus has been published in the journal Vaccine May 12, 2010 online issue.

14 May 2010