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Global pandemic influenza action plan to increase vaccine supply

If an influenza pandemic were to occur in the near future, there would be a shortage of several billion doses of the pandemic influenza vaccine needed to protect the global population.

18 Oct 2006

HIV exploits competition among T cells - points to new strategy for AIDS vaccination

A new HIV study shows how competition among the human immune system's T cells allows the virus to escape destruction and eventually develop into full-blown AIDS.

17 Oct 2006

HIV/AIDS education classes cause controversy in China

A lecture in Harbin, China, led by the Harbin Municipal Disease Prevention and Control Center that informed commercial sex workers about HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections has "sparked a strong rebuke" from some authorities and residents, Reuters reports (Reuters, 10/15).

17 Oct 2006

Increased Ryan White CARE Act funding to rural areas should not come at expense of urban areas

Reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act, which provides funding for HIV/AIDS programs in the U.S., has stalled in Congress for months because of the "cynical assumption that a Solomon-like choice must be made between two groups of states," a Newark Star-Ledger editorial says.

17 Oct 2006

HIV/AIDS pandemic and food shortages connected and must be addressed together

The HIV/AIDS pandemic and food shortages are connected and must be addressed together, according to panelists at a discussion on Monday at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., CQ HealthBeat reports.

17 Oct 2006

Chikungunya fever in India

From February 2006 to 10 October 2006, the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia has reported 151 districts in 8 states/provinces of India affected by chikungunya fever.

17 Oct 2006

Measures to combat XDR-TB worldwide

Health experts have confirmed that the emergence of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) poses a serious threat to public health, particularly when associated with HIV.

17 Oct 2006

Four more test positive for deadly flesh eating bug in NZ hospital

Four more cases of a deadly bug which has already killed three people since September 29 people, have been discovered in a New Zealand hospital.

17 Oct 2006

Discovery of mechanism by which Ebola and Marburg viruses cause disease

Researchers in the Greene Infectious Disease Laboratory at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Caribbean Primate Research Center have discovered a key mechanism by which the Filoviruses, Ebola and Marburg, cause disease.

16 Oct 2006

GPs crucial in coping with pandemic influenza outbreak

General practitioners would be crucial in avoiding large numbers of deaths in Australia as a result of a pandemic influenza outbreak, researchers at The Australian National University have shown.

16 Oct 2006

Bird flu death toll in Indonesia reaches 55

There have been another two confirmed deaths from bird flu in Indonesia which has taken the death toll there to 55.

16 Oct 2006

Thai temple providing HIV/AIDS services becomes overcrowded as people live longer with disease

A temple in Thailand that offers medical care and shelter for HIV-positive people is becoming "overcrowded by the living," as antiretroviral drugs provided by the government are enabling people to live longer with the disease, the International Herald Tribune reports.

16 Oct 2006

IRIN/PlusNews profiles initiative that recruits local community members to help raise AIDS orphans in Rwanda

IRIN/PlusNews has profiled the Rwanda-based initiative Nkund'abana -- which stands for "I love children in Kinyarwanda" -- that involves local community members in raising children whose parents or guardians have died of AIDS-related illnesses.

16 Oct 2006

Myanmar's HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB fund to begin operations

Myanmar's Three Diseases Fund, which aims to combat malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS in the country, is scheduled to begin operations on Thursday, AFP/Khaleej Times reports (AFP/Khaleej Times, 10/10).

16 Oct 2006

Apple begins selling iPod under product RED label

Apple Computer on Friday began selling a red-colored iPod Nano and $25 iTunes gift cards under the label of Product RED -- a project created by Irish musician Bono and Bobby Shriver that aims to raise money for the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria by donating a portion of profits from a range of branded products -- the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.

16 Oct 2006

New Jersey Senate committee approves measure that would establish needle-exchange program in six cities

The New Jersey Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on Thursday voted 8-6 to approve a compromise version of a bill (S 494) that would establish a needle-exchange program in six cities and provide $10 million to drug treatment programs in the state, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.

16 Oct 2006

Boston Globe examines influence religious conservatives might have on USAID

The Boston Globe as part of a series examined the amount of influence religious conservatives might have on grants administered by USAID, including HIV prevention grants for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

16 Oct 2006

HIV prevalence in Kenya has declined

HIV prevalence in Kenya has declined to 5.9% this year from 6.1% last year, and HIV prevalence among women in the country is 7.7%, compared with 4% among men, according to statistics released Wednesday by Kenya's National Aids Control Council, the East African Standard/AllAfrica.com reports.

16 Oct 2006

Solutions to fight spread of HIV in Vietnam

Members of a World Health Organization mission to Vietnam on Tuesday highlighted potential measures to fight the spread of HIV in the country, Xinhua/People's Daily reports (Xinhua/People's Daily, 10/11).

16 Oct 2006

Chronic diseases largely ignored by policy makers

Chronic diseases are being overlooked worldwide even though they kill more people than any other type of illness, according to a panel on Thursday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, CQ HealthBeat reports.

16 Oct 2006