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Summary of FDA's approval of silicone breast implants

Two editorials respond to FDA's approval on Friday of the use of silicone breast implants manufactured by Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Mentor and Irvine, Calif.-based Allergan for breast reconstruction and cosmetic breast augmentation.

23 Nov 2006

TB drug isoniazid could reduce AIDS-related illnesses among children

The inexpensive tuberculosis drug isoniazid could help reduce by half the number of deaths from AIDS-related illnesses among children, according to a study published earlier this month in BMJ, the Pretoria News reports.

23 Nov 2006

Reproductive health agendas hampered by global focus on HIV/AIDS programs, controversies over abortion, other issues

The global focus on HIV/AIDS initiatives and "ideological controversies" surrounding issues such as abortion have "marginalized" reproductive and sexual health in the global health agenda, according to a panel of public health experts said on Friday at a news conference on Friday, CQ HealthBeat reports.

23 Nov 2006

40 million with HIV/AIDS

The number of people living with HIV/AIDS over the past two years has increased and the worldwide total now stands at nearly 40 million, according to a report released on Tuesday by UNAIDS and the World Health Organization, Reuters UK reports.

23 Nov 2006

U.S. law banning HIV-positive foreigners from entering country harming testing efforts

A provision of U.S. law that bans HIV-positive foreigners from entering the country is harming testing efforts and excluding eligible candidates for citizenship, according to members of a panel held by the Global Health Council on Nov. 15, CQ HealthBeat reports.

23 Nov 2006

Hospital-acquired infections in most cases are the result of poor hygiene

Hospital-acquired infections in most cases are the result of poor hygiene within the facilities and not of how sick patients were at the time of admission, according to three studies published on Monday in the American Journal of Medical Quality, the Washington Post reports.

23 Nov 2006

Reaction to UNAIDS/WHO report on HIV/AIDS

Health officials on Tuesday reacted to a report from UNAIDS and the World Health Organization showing that the number of people living with HIV/AIDS over the past two years has increased and that the worldwide total now stands at nearly 40 million, the New York Times reports (Altman, New York Times, 11/22).

23 Nov 2006

Number of reported HIV/AIDS cases in China increased 28% in 2006

The number of reported HIV/AIDS cases in China increased by 28% in the first 10 months of 2006, and the virus appears to be spreading to a broader population, China's Ministry of Health said Wednesday in a report posted on its Web site, Reuters reports.

23 Nov 2006

Wal-Mart generic drug discount program indicates markets can provide medications at affordable prices

The generic prescription drug discount program introduced earlier this year by Wal-Mart Stores indicates that "markets are, in fact, capable of providing medicines at affordable prices," Peter Pitts, director of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and a former associate commissioner at FDA, writes in a Baltimore Sun opinion piece.

23 Nov 2006

Handbook on Developing pharmacy practice - A focus on patient care

The traditional role of pharmacists is to manufacture and supply medicines. More recently, pharmacists have been faced with increasing health demands: an ever-growing and complex range of medicines, and poor adherence to prescribed medicines, have forced the evolution of the pharmacist’s role into a more patient centred approach (known as pharmaceutical care).

23 Nov 2006

New York Health Care Commission approves recommendations for financing changes

The New York Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century on Monday approved a list of policy recommendations that would change the way health care is financed in the state, the New York Times reports.

23 Nov 2006

Federal Appeals Court agrees to rehear case on whether people should have access to experimental medications

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Tuesday vacated an earlier decision that would have provided terminally ill patients with expanded access to experimental medications and likely will rehear the case next summer, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal reports (Wilde Mathews, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal, 11/21).

23 Nov 2006

Major Alzheimer’s test for highest resolution clinical PET camera in the world

The University of Manchester's Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre will carry out its first positron emission tomography (PET) brain scan on a patient volunteer this Friday (24 November 2006) at 10.00.

From The University of Manchester 23 Nov 2006

Study aims to improve information needs of stroke survivors and their families

A team from the Centre for Health Services Studies (CHSS), University of Kent, and East Kent Hospitals Trust is to undertake a study on the information needs of stroke survivors and their families in Kent.

23 Nov 2006

Report finds most programs ineffective for indigenous Australian children

The largest survey ever undertaken of Aboriginal children and families has thrown new light on why most existing intervention programs are failing to produce results needed for overcoming the present levels of Indigenous disadvantage.

23 Nov 2006

Call for safe access for polio vaccinators in Afghanistan's south

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, concerned about the health of all people in Afghanistan, especially the health of children, called for the safe access of local health workers and vaccinators during polio immunization campaigns and other health activities all over Afghanistan, but particularly in the Southern Region.

23 Nov 2006

VNUS Medical Technologies announces favorable ruling in patent case

VNUS Medical Technologies, Inc has announced that United States District Judge Maxine M. Chesney of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued a Markman order in the litigation brought by VNUS Medical Technologies against Diomed Holdings, Inc. and Diomed, Inc., AngioDynamics, Inc. and Vascular Solutions, Inc. (the "defendants").

23 Nov 2006