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Ghanaian officials urge media to contribute to tuberculosis awareness

The media should contribute to addressing tuberculosis in Ghana by disseminating information about TB transmission and encouraging the public to attend screenings, Frank Bonsu, program manager for the country's National Tuberculosis Control Program, said recently, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation reports. Bonsu spoke during a one-day TB advocacy workshop for media at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.

23 Mar 2009

U.S. tuberculosis rate in 2008 at record low

Tuberculosis rates in the U.S. reached a record low in 2008, but the disease still disproportionately affects minority and immigrant populations, according to a CDC report released Thursday in the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Reuters reports.

23 Mar 2009

NGOs, businesses, health officials should collaborate on malaria control efforts, Ghanaian health official says

Nongovernmental organizations, businesses and health officials should collaborate to fight malaria in Ghana, Anthony Ofori, coordinator of Ghana's Malaria Control Program for the Brong Ahafo region, said recently at a one-day workshop for NGOs and other stakeholders in Fiapre, Ghana, the Ghanaian Times reports.

23 Mar 2009

Asian countries should strengthen health systems to address increasing drug-resistant tuberculosis

World Health Organization officials on Monday ahead of World TB Day on March 24 said that Asian countries should increase efforts to strengthen health systems to address an increase in cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis, AFP/Google.com reports.

23 Mar 2009

Drug-resistant tuberculosis increasing among U.S. immigrant populations

Although tuberculosis rates have declined in the U.S., drug-resistant strains of the disease are becoming increasingly prevalent in states with large immigrant populations, the AP/Google.com reports.

23 Mar 2009

Reproductive health group in Cambodia reports increase in HIV testing among women

A report released on Monday by the Reproductive Health Association of Cambodia found that 40,587 women in the country underwent HIV tests in 2008 -- up from 38,660 who were tested in 2007 -- the Phnom Penh Post reports.

23 Mar 2009

Advocates, Vatican respond to Pope statement that condom distribution will not curb HIV/AIDS in Africa

Pope Benedict XVI's statement on Tuesday that condom distribution will not curb the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa has "sparked an international outcry" among HIV/AIDS advocates and prompted a response from the Vatican, AFP/Google.com reports (AFP/Google.com, 3/18).

23 Mar 2009

HIV testing campaign in launched Washington, D.C.

Mayor Adrian Fenty and top health officials in Washington, D.C., on Monday announced a new initiative aimed at increasing HIV testing in the city, the Washington Post reports. The testing campaign follows a report that found an HIV/AIDS prevalence of 3% in the district.

23 Mar 2009

Responses to Pope's statement on condoms, HIV/AIDS

Newspapers recently published editorials and opinion pieces responding to Pope Benedict XVI's recent statement that condom distribution will not curb the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa.

23 Mar 2009

Report on HIV/AIDS in Washington, D.C., raising concerns among health officials in South Carolina

A recent report finding that HIV/AIDS prevalence in Washington, D.C., has reached 3% is "raising alarm bells" in South Carolina's Lowcountry region, the Charleston Post and Courier reports.

23 Mar 2009

Mozambican health officials advising HIV-positive women to breastfeed in some circumstances

Health officials in Mozambique are advising HIV-positive women to breastfeed their infants in certain circumstances, despite the risk of mother-to-child transmission of the virus, AIM/AllAfrica.com reports.

23 Mar 2009

Texas Senate approves bill to allow needle-exchange programs

The Texas Senate on Wednesday voted 23-7 to approve a bill (S.B. 188) that would allow local state health agencies to run needle-exchange programs to help curb the spread of HIV and other bloodborne diseases among injection drug users, the Dallas Morning News reports. Texas is the only state that currently prohibits needle-exchange programs, according to the Morning News.

23 Mar 2009

Record number of HIV diagnoses reported in New Zealand

New Zealand reported 184 HIV diagnoses last year, the highest on record, according to recently released statistics from University of Otago's AIDS Epidemiology Group, the NZPA/New Zealand Herald reports.

23 Mar 2009

U.S., South African scientists launch $60 million HIV/TB research initiative

Scientists from the U.S. Howard Hughes Medical Institute and South Africa's University of KwaZulu Natal on Wednesday announced the launch of a $60 million, 10-year initiative to establish a new research facility to examine the associations between HIV and tuberculosis, the Boston Globe reports.

23 Mar 2009

Kansas House Committee approves bill that would require HIV testing among pregnant women

The Kansas House Committee on Health and Human Services last week approved a bill (S.B. 147) that would require doctors to test pregnant women and some infants for HIV, the Kansas Health Institute News reports.

23 Mar 2009

Key trends 'lost amid alarm' over District of Columbia HIV/AIDS report

A recent report that showed an HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of about 3% in the District of Columbia "brought new attention to AIDS" in the city, but several "key trends shown in the report got lost amid the alarm," Washington Post reporter Craig Timberg writes in a recent article.

23 Mar 2009

Christian Science Monitor examines effect of economy on U.S. foreign aid targets

The Christian Science Monitor on Monday examined how the Obama administration is "hinting that the economic downturn means the president is unlikely to reach his goal of doubling foreign aid by the end of his four-year term.

23 Mar 2009

Increased schooling slowing HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa

Increased schooling across sub-Saharan Africa may be lowering new HIV infections among younger adults, according to sociologists, suggesting a shift in a decades-long trend where formal education is considered an AIDS risk factor.

22 Mar 2009

New tuberculosis test dramatically cuts diagnosis time

Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and The University of Pittsburgh have developed an onsite method to quickly diagnose tuberculosis (TB) and expose the deadly drug-resistant strains that can mingle undetected with treatable TB strains.

20 Mar 2009

Interventions helped reduce MRSA rates up to 62% in study hospitals

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Plexus Institute (Plexus) has announced results from an analysis of a multifaceted methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) prevention program that employed positive deviance (PD), a novel approach to social and behavioral change, to trigger significant reductions in MRSA incidence ranging from 26 to 62 percent at participating hospitals.

20 Mar 2009

Disease/Infection News

Ghanaian officials urge media to contribute to tuberculosis awareness

U.S. tuberculosis rate in 2008 at record low

NGOs, businesses, health officials should collaborate on malaria control efforts, Ghanaian health official says

Asian countries should strengthen health systems to address increasing drug-resistant tuberculosis

Drug-resistant tuberculosis increasing among U.S. immigrant populations

Reproductive health group in Cambodia reports increase in HIV testing among women

Advocates, Vatican respond to Pope statement that condom distribution will not curb HIV/AIDS in Africa

HIV testing campaign in launched Washington, D.C.

Responses to Pope's statement on condoms, HIV/AIDS

Report on HIV/AIDS in Washington, D.C., raising concerns among health officials in South Carolina

Mozambican health officials advising HIV-positive women to breastfeed in some circumstances

Texas Senate approves bill to allow needle-exchange programs

Record number of HIV diagnoses reported in New Zealand

U.S., South African scientists launch $60 million HIV/TB research initiative

Kansas House Committee approves bill that would require HIV testing among pregnant women

Key trends 'lost amid alarm' over District of Columbia HIV/AIDS report

Christian Science Monitor examines effect of economy on U.S. foreign aid targets

Increased schooling slowing HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa

New tuberculosis test dramatically cuts diagnosis time

Interventions helped reduce MRSA rates up to 62% in study hospitals

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

Global and Local Efforts to Take Action Against Hepatitis

Addressing Important Cardiac Biology Questions with Shotgun Top-Down Proteomics

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