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Lancet calls for transparency in selection of new Executive Director for Global Fund

The secrecy surrounding the selection process for the next Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria could irrevocably damage the organisation's ability to improve global health, states an Editorial in this week's issue of The Lancet.

31 Aug 2006

MRSA - surveillance, rapid screening and hospital hygiene

The origins and future perspectives about meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are outlined in a Review in this week's issue of The Lancet.

31 Aug 2006

Excluding deer could be a counterproductive strategy for controlling tick-borne infections

Excluding deer could be a counterproductive strategy for controlling tick-borne infections, because the absence of deer from small areas may lead to an increase in ticks, rapidly turning the area into a potential disease hotspot, according to a team of U.S. and Italian researchers.

30 Aug 2006

HIV/AIDS fosters collaboration between traditional healers, western medicine in Zambia

The spread of HIV in Zambia is fostering collaboration between traditional healers and practitioners of Western medicine, IRIN News reports.

30 Aug 2006

Temple in Thailand providing HIV/AIDS services set to close

A temple in Thailand that provides medical care and shelter for HIV-positive people within three months is scheduled to close because of a lack of public resources, according to Chalermphol Pholmuk, secretary-general of the Dharmarak Foundation, the Bangkok Post reports.

30 Aug 2006

Nine million free condoms given away in New York

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene over the past six months has distributed more than nine million condoms at no cost via a Web site as part of an initiative to curb the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, the New York Post reports.

30 Aug 2006

Researchers say cut bird flu deaths by transfusions

Scientists in the U.S. say that research suggests that transfusions of blood products might help to cut deaths in the event of a bird flu pandemic.

30 Aug 2006

British tourist in Hong Kong has mad cow disease

A British tourist in Hong Kong has been struck down with what appears to be mad cow disease.

30 Aug 2006

Case definitions for human infections with influenza A (H5N1) virus

Prompt and accurate reporting of H5N1 influenza cases to WHO is the cornerstone for monitoring both the global evolution of this disease and the corresponding risk that a pandemic virus might emerge.

30 Aug 2006

13,000 plus wild birds in Alaska tested, no bird flu found

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has announced that their departments and the State of Alaska have tested more than 13,000 wild migratory birds for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in Alaska.

30 Aug 2006

New initiative to provide nutritional assistance to people in Ethiopia living with HIV/AIDS

About 54,000 people in Ethiopia living with or affected by HIV/AIDS will receive nutritional assistance from the U.N. World Food Programme under a new agreement announced Tuesday, the Daily Monitor/AllAfrica.com reports.

30 Aug 2006

HIV/AIDS is affecting the democratic process in Namibia

According to the report, HIV/AIDS is reducing the number of people who vote in elections, thus affecting the electoral process.

30 Aug 2006

South Carolina's HIV/AIDS problem is an enormous one

South Carolina's HIV/AIDS "problem is an enormous one," and state lawmakers "need to review the programs that fund HIV treatment" in the state, a Columbia State editorial says.

30 Aug 2006

XVI International AIDS conference characterized by 'guarded optimism'

The XVI International AIDS Conference, which was held Aug. 13 through Aug. 18 in Toronto, was characterized by "guarded optimism," the Los Angeles Times reports.

30 Aug 2006

California Senate happy to allow groups to distribute condoms to prison inmates

The California Senate on Thursday voted 22-16 to approve a bill (AB 1677) that would allow not-for-profit or public health organizations to distribute devices - such as condoms or dental dams - that can protect against sexually transmitted infections to the state's 162,000 prison inmates, the AP/San Jose Mercury News reports (Young, AP/San Jose Mercury News, 8/24).

30 Aug 2006

U.S. Senator Obama takes public HIV test during visit to Kenya

U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who for two weeks as part of a congressional delegation is traveling throughout Africa, on Saturday publicly took an HIV test to help combat the stigma surrounding the virus, the Chicago Sun-Times reports (Sweet, Chicago Sun-Times, 8/27).

30 Aug 2006

New York Times profiles Clinton's role in fight against HIV/AIDS

The New York Times on Tuesday profiled former President Clinton's role in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa, as well as in the rest of the world.

30 Aug 2006

Chinese scientists come up with safe and effective bird flu vaccine

According to official reports a bird flu vaccine for humans developed by Chinese researchers has proven to be both safe and effective.

29 Aug 2006

Fight against HIV/AIDS highlights interdependency of developed, developing nations

The global fight against HIV/AIDS highlights a "wider argument" about development issues, namely that the "prospects for advance in poor countries depend not just on programs launched within their borders, but also on programs launched in the rich world," a Washington Post editorial says.

28 Aug 2006

Sen. Rodham Clinton should allow passage of new formula to reauthorize Ryan White care act

While former President Clinton attended the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) was "hard at work with her own AIDS effort, albeit significantly more political and less noble," a Washington Times editorial says.

28 Aug 2006