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Caribbean coalition on women, girls pledges to address HIV, gender-based violence

The Caribbean Coalition on Women, Girls and AIDS on Thursday pledged to address all aspects of female vulnerability to HIV -- including violence against women -- and cited growing concerns that current HIV/AIDS strategies are not adequately addressing their needs, Inter Press Service reports.

16 Mar 2009

U.N. member states agree to drug control policy

United Nations member states on Thursday agreed to a 10-year renewal of their anti-drug policy amid criticism that the strategy has contributed to the spread of HIV, Reuters reports.

16 Mar 2009

Efforts needed to increase HIV/AIDS education, prevention, experts, advocates say at California conference

California public health officials and other experts on Wednesday called for new ways to better educate people about HIV/AIDS prevention, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.

16 Mar 2009

American Indian youth group to perform in Minneapolis to mark native HIV/AIDS awareness day

An American Indian youth theater group on Friday will perform in Minneapolis to mark National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, which is scheduled for March 20, the AP/Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports.

16 Mar 2009

District of Columbia HIV/AIDS prevalence at 3%, report says

At least 3% of District of Columbia residents are living with HIV/AIDS, greater than the 1% level that constitutes a "generalized and severe" epidemic, according to a 2008 report to be released Monday by the city's HIV/AIDS Administration, the Washington Post reports.

16 Mar 2009

Malaria immunity trigger found for multiple mosquito species

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have for the first time identified a molecular pathway that triggers an immune response in multiple mosquito species capable of stopping the development of Plasmodium falciparum -the parasite that causes malaria in humans.

15 Mar 2009

A natural immune response to HIV in exceptional patients

For 25 years, researchers have tried and failed to develop an HIV vaccine, primarily by focusing on a small number of engineered "super antibodies" to fend off the virus before it takes hold.

15 Mar 2009

Rutgers AIDS researchers progress toward vaccine

Rutgers AIDS researchers Gail Ferstandig Arnold and Eddy Arnold may have turned a corner in their search for a HIV vaccine.

12 Mar 2009

Space-grown bacteria help explain Salmonella illness

Salmonella bacteria research from two recent NASA space missions discovered key elements of the bacteria's disease-causing potential that hold promise for improving ways to fight food-borne infections on Earth.

11 Mar 2009

Inadequacy of current guidelines for STIs

Adolescent girls reveal alarmingly high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) which remain largely undetected by recommended screening guidelines.

11 Mar 2009

New Stanford list of HIV mutations vital to tracking AIDS epidemic

In a collaborative study with the World Health Organization and seven other laboratories, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have compiled a list of 93 common mutations of the AIDS virus associated with drug resistance that will be used to track future resistance trends throughout the world.

5 Mar 2009

Challenge of a cure for HIV infection

A group including leading academic and industry scientists has issued a challenge to researchers in the field of HIV/AIDS: find a way to effectively purge latent HIV infection and eliminate the need for chronic, suppressive therapy to control this disease.

5 Mar 2009

Hendra and Nipah viruses shown to be susceptible to chloroquine

Two highly lethal viruses that have emerged in recent outbreaks are susceptible to chloroquine, an established drug used to prevent and treat malaria, according to a new basic science study by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in the Journal of Virology.

5 Mar 2009

Tanzania to introduce ACTs to prevent drug-resistant malaria

Tanzania's government plans to introduce artemisinin-based combination malaria treatments to prevent the development of drug resistance, the Guardian/IPP Media reports.

5 Mar 2009

Botswana to implement pilot HIV/TB program, redesign malaria program

Botswana's Health Minister Lesego Motsumi on Monday presented a pilot program to address HIV/tuberculosis coinfection and support health workers who are treating patients with HIV/TB coinfection, Mmegi reports.

5 Mar 2009

Texas bill to make HIV screening part of routine care would help efforts to curb virus

"More than two years after" CDC "recommended routine HIV screening, two state lawmakers" in Texas have proposed a bill to align the state with the federal recommendations, a Lubbock Avalanche-Journal editorial says.

5 Mar 2009

Antigua HIV/AIDS program manager announces plans for education campaign

Delcora Williams, Antigua's deputy program manager for the AIDS secretariat, on Tuesday announced that the secretariat is waiting for approval from the Board of Education to begin a new HIV/AIDS education and awareness campaign, the Antigua Sun reports.

5 Mar 2009

Video game aims to teach young people in Kenya about HIV/AIDS prevention

A video game in Kenya -- called Pamoja Mtaani and launched through a partnership between Warner Bros. Entertainment and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief -- is teaching young people in the capital of Nairobi about HIV/AIDS risks and prevention strategies, VOA News reports.

5 Mar 2009

HIV/AIDS advocates in Thailand urge government to maintain compulsory license program

HIV/AIDS advocates in Thailand plan to meet with officials to urge the government not to restrict its compulsory license program, which allows people in the country to access low-cost, generic versions of drugs such as antiretroviral medications, AFP/Google.com reports.

5 Mar 2009

New HIV cases reach record high in Hong Kong

Hong Kong in 2008 recorded 435 new HIV cases, the highest number of annual new cases since record-keeping began in 1984 and a 5% increase from the 414 cases reported in 2007, Hong Kong's The Standard reports.

5 Mar 2009