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AIDS Healthcare Foundation praises Thailand for drug stance

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has lauded the Government of Thailand for its vow to continue with plans to issue compulsory licenses for the manufacturing and importing of generic versions of lifesaving drugs, including AIDS drugs, despite the fact that the office of United States Trade Representative (USTR), elevated Thailand to its 'Priority Watch' List.

4 May 2007

Australian Health Minister approves plan to genetically track HIV cases

Australian Health Minister Tony Abbott earlier this month approved a plan to develop a genetic profile of HIV in people living with the virus nationwide, Australia's The Age reports.

2 May 2007

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria aims to triple spending

The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on Friday announced that it will need to triple its annual spending to between $6 billion and $8 billion by 2010 to meet the needs of developing countries, Reuters AlertNet reports.

2 May 2007

U.S. trade rep places Thailand on priority watch list in annual report

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in its annual report released on Monday placed Thailand on its Priority Watch List in part because the country recently issued compulsory licenses for several medicines, including two antiretroviral drugs, CongressDaily reports.

2 May 2007

Illinois House considers bill to remove written consent requirement for HIV tests

The Illinois House is considering a bill (HB 980) that would remove a state requirement that people receiving HIV tests provide written consent prior to undergoing the test, the Chicago Tribune reports.

2 May 2007

Adverse health outcomes after Hurricane Katrina among children and adolescents with chronic conditions

Children and teenagers in New Orleans with chronic medical conditions at the time of Hurricane Katrina were more likely than other children to have worsening of physical and psychological symptoms, develop new symptoms, miss doctor appointments and run out of medications in the wake of the disaster.

2 May 2007

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center establishes new vaccine and disease institute

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has established a new Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute to develop and implement prevention strategies for globally important infectious diseases, including HIV, malaria and cancer.

2 May 2007

Green tea shows potential for HIV-associated dementia prevention

A compound derived from green tea greatly diminished the neurotoxicity of proteins secreted by the human immunodeficiency virus, suggesting a new approach to the prevention and treatment of HIV-associated dementia, also known as AIDS dementia complex.

2 May 2007

New human medications found in fish in Texas

Baylor University researchers have found the residue of three new human medications in fish living in the Pecan Creek in North Texas.

2 May 2007

PEPFAR 'on track' to meet goals when authorization expires, Dybul says

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is "dead on track" to meet its goal of providing antiretroviral drugs to two million people when it's five-year authorization expires in 2008, Ambassador Mark Dybul, who serves as the U.S. global AIDS coordinator and administers PEPFAR, said Thursday in an interview during a visit to San Francisco, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

1 May 2007

Oregon, Texas HIV/AIDS, STI awareness efforts focus on black youth

The following summarizes recent newspaper coverage of efforts in Texas and Oregon to increase HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections awareness among black youth.

1 May 2007

Mechanisms of glucose homeostasis and early diabetes

Glucose homeostasis, the appropriate balancing of blood sugar levels, is impaired early in patients who become diabetic, causing life-threatening complications such as kidney failure and heart attacks.

1 May 2007

Drg resistant HIV quickly hides in infants' cells

New evidence shows that drug-resistant virus passed from mother-to-child can quickly establish itself in infants, CD4+ T cells where it can hide for years, likely limiting their options for future treatment.

1 May 2007

Gambian President Jammeh is giving people false hope

Leading HIV experts are alarmed that the government of The Gambia is encouraging citizens living with HIV to stop taking antiretroviral medications in order to try an unproven herbal remedy.

1 May 2007

UNESCO launches programs to build capacity of education sector in southern Africa to address HIV/AIDS

UNESCO is launching programs aimed at building the capacity of the education sectors throughout Southern Africa to help fight HIV/AIDS in the region, UNESCO Zimbabwe Representative Juma Shabani said Tuesday at an HIV/AIDS skills-building meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe, Xinhua/People's Daily reports.

30 Apr 2007

Panel calls on G8 to deliver on 2005 promises made for Africa

The Africa Progress Panel on Tuesday in Berlin called on the Group of Eight industrialized nations to fulfill commitments made at its 2005 summit regarding aid to Africa, including HIV/AIDS funding, the Washington Post reports (Williams, Washington Post , 4/25).

30 Apr 2007

60% of HIV-positive people in India live in rural areas

About 60% of the approximately 5.2 million adults living with HIV/AIDS in India live in rural areas, according to a report recently released by the World Health Organization, PTI/Financial Express reports.

30 Apr 2007

Health advocates, drug industry reps lobby lawmakers for support in Thailand drug licensing dispute

International health advocates and drug industry representatives are lobbying U.S. lawmakers and the Bush administration for their support in the dispute over Thailand's decision to issue compulsory licenses for medications, including some antiretroviral drugs, CongressDaily reports (Vaughan, CongressDaily , 4/26).

30 Apr 2007

Brazilian Health Minister says country will purchase generic version of Merck antiretroviral if price not lowered

Brazilian Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao on Wednesday signed a decree declaring that the country would purchase from an India-based drug maker a generic version of Merck 's antiretroviral Efavirenz if the company does not offer the drug at a lower price, the AP/Forbes reports.

30 Apr 2007