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Some HIV-positive Ugandans' not receiving antiretrovirals

Some HIV-positive people in Uganda "cannot be put on the national antiretroviral [ARV] programme because it is already saturated and funds for new patients are not available," the Independent reports. According to the newspaper, roughly 360,000 HIV-positive Ugandans are eligible for antiretroviral treatment because their CD4 counts are below the WHO's threshold of 350; however, about half of them currently do not have access to ARVs.

20 Aug 2009

Inovio Biomedical records $2.9 million revenues in the six months ended June 30, 2009

Inovio Biomedical Corporation (NYSE AMEX: INO) (“Inovio”) today reported financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2009. Total revenue of $2.5 million and $2.9 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2009, compared to $663,000 and $1.3 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2008, respectively.

20 Aug 2009

Nurses and clinical officers in Africa know when a person should receive antiretroviral therapy

Nurses and clinical officers (non-physician clinicians, NPCs) are capable of determining when a person should receive antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV/AIDS. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Human Resources for Health suggest that this should ease the strain on overstretched doctors in sub-Saharan Africa and thereby help increase access to antiretroviral therapy, particularly in rural areas.

19 Aug 2009

The Gambia introduces pneumococcal immunisation programme

The Gambia, Minister of Health Dr. Mariatou Jallow administered the first dose of the pneumococcal vaccine to Gambian children at a rural clinic outside Banjul today. Joined by the Gambia’s Vice President, Mrs. Isatou Njie-Saidy, Dr. Jallow and hundreds of Gambian citizens celebrated this historic event, which marks the first step in the rollout of the Gambia’s national pneumococcal immunisation programme.

19 Aug 2009

U.S. Food and Drug Administration launches new Center for Tobacco Products

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today launched its new Center for Tobacco Products in an historic effort to curb the hundreds of thousands of deaths caused by those products each year.

19 Aug 2009

U.S. FDA approval of miconazole MBT represents a significant milestone for Strativa Pharmaceuticals

Strativa Pharmaceuticals, the proprietary products division of a wholly owned subsidiary of Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc. (NYSE: PRX), today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the new drug application (NDA) for miconazole Lauriad((R)) mucoadhesive buccal tablets (MBT) to treat oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC).

19 Aug 2009

Discovery of mechanism that allows hepatitis C virus to remain in the body for decades

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) shows that the virus blocks the actions of a specific ion channel in the cell membrane that would usually trigger apoptosis - the cell's self-destruct programme - and in doing so, has evolved another way of protecting itself from being eliminated from the body.

19 Aug 2009

BioAlliance Pharma's new drug application for oropharyngeal candidiasis treatment accepted by the FDA

BioAlliance Pharma SA (Paris:BIO), a company dedicated to the treatment and supportive care of cancer and AIDS patients, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the new drug application (NDA) for miconazole Lauriad® (Loramyc®) Mucoadhesive Buccal Tablets (MBT) to treat oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC). Miconazole Lauriad® delivers the antifungal miconazole via a mucoadhesive buccal tablet that is designed to enable once-daily dosing of the active ingredient at the site of infection.

19 Aug 2009

Medical fraud creates unknown amount of waste

Lawmakers seek a reduction in the amount of money lost each year to medical fraud. Meanwhile, two Miami doctors are convicted of Medicare fraud.

19 Aug 2009

Bloomberg reports on HIV-treatment failure in China; New York Times examines ARV shortage in Romania

An analysis of 48,785 HIV-positive patients enrolled in China's National Free Antiretroviral Treatment Program over a five-year period revealed that "[h]alf of China's AIDS patients stopped responding to treatment over five years and didn't have access to the back-up drugs available in developed nations," according to an Annals of Internal Medicine study, Bloomberg reports.

19 Aug 2009

New findings on how hepatitis C survives for so long in the body

Researchers at the University of Leeds have discovered a previously unknown mechanism that allows the hepatitis C virus (HCV) to remain in the body for decades.

18 Aug 2009

Opinion: Chronic disease in Africa; education can help combat disease; climate change and health; TB vaccine

"An epidemic of chronic, non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, mental illness, cancer, diabetes, and obesity is growing in Africa, a continent still struggling with infectious and nutritional diseases," according to a Boston Globe opinion piece by Michelle Holmes and Shona Dalal.

18 Aug 2009

New consortium to tackle African sleeping sickness and Leishmaniasis

A new consortium has been formed to boost drug development for the treatment of two deadly diseases, African sleeping sickness and Leishmaniasis, which affect millions of people worldwide.

17 Aug 2009

PEPFAR partners with BD to improve blood collection safety in Africa

PEPFAR and the global medical technology company BD announced an iniative Tuesday that will work to improve blood collection safety in clinics and hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa – an issue that PANA/Afrique en ligne reports has "become more critical than ever in sub-Saharan nations and other developing countries severely impacted by the HIV/AIDS pandemic" (8/12).

16 Aug 2009

New microneedle-based injection device from Nanopass

Following the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of a swine flu pandemic, NanoPass Technologies Ltd. (NanoPass) announced today that it has successfully developed a microneedle-based injection device that could dramatically enhance both the effectiveness and supply of pandemic flu vaccines.

14 Aug 2009

Updated, evidence-based guidelines highlight primary care needs of HIV patients

With HIV patients living longer thanks to advances in treatment, the primary care needs of those living with HIV have never been more important. Updated, evidence-based guidelines from the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) are designed to help providers manage the care of those living with this complex chronic infection.

14 Aug 2009

HIV/AIDS funding, treatment standards, empowering women addressed at ICAAP

Funding to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific has fallen short of the demand, and the majority of available money has missed reaching those at highest risk -- Swarup Sarkar, director of Asia unit for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria -- said during a session at the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) in Bali, Indonesia, the Jakarta Post reports.

13 Aug 2009

Human trafficking, HIV; Zimbabwe doctors; Lay health care workers

"Up to a quarter of a million women and girls in Southeast Asia, mostly adolescents, are forced into prostitution each year and face violence and the prospect of contracting HIV/AIDS," researchers said on Wednesday in a report about criminal activity in Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand, Reuters reports.

13 Aug 2009

Medical imaging: The good, the bad and the ugly

In the political minefield of healthcare reform, medical imaging has emerged as a microcosm of this contentious debate. Congress has been charged with a high stakes, high wire balancing act: to create a bill preserving quality and access while trimming unethical and unnecessary spending. Medical imaging represents such a challenge, with its undeniable benefits tainted by inappropriate use.

13 Aug 2009

UNICEF issues $1.5 million urgent appeal for malnourished children in Central African Republic

UNICEF on Tuesday issued an urgent appeal for $1.5 million to provide thousands of acutely malnourished children in the Central African Republic (CAR) with "life-saving therapeutic foods, drugs and other supplies" over the next six months, VOA News reports (Schlein, 8/11).

12 Aug 2009

HIV News and Research

Some HIV-positive Ugandans' not receiving antiretrovirals

Inovio Biomedical records $2.9 million revenues in the six months ended June 30, 2009

Nurses and clinical officers in Africa know when a person should receive antiretroviral therapy

The Gambia introduces pneumococcal immunisation programme

U.S. Food and Drug Administration launches new Center for Tobacco Products

U.S. FDA approval of miconazole MBT represents a significant milestone for Strativa Pharmaceuticals

Discovery of mechanism that allows hepatitis C virus to remain in the body for decades

BioAlliance Pharma's new drug application for oropharyngeal candidiasis treatment accepted by the FDA

Medical fraud creates unknown amount of waste

Bloomberg reports on HIV-treatment failure in China; New York Times examines ARV shortage in Romania

New findings on how hepatitis C survives for so long in the body

Opinion: Chronic disease in Africa; education can help combat disease; climate change and health; TB vaccine

New consortium to tackle African sleeping sickness and Leishmaniasis

PEPFAR partners with BD to improve blood collection safety in Africa

New microneedle-based injection device from Nanopass

Updated, evidence-based guidelines highlight primary care needs of HIV patients

HIV/AIDS funding, treatment standards, empowering women addressed at ICAAP

Human trafficking, HIV; Zimbabwe doctors; Lay health care workers

Medical imaging: The good, the bad and the ugly

UNICEF issues $1.5 million urgent appeal for malnourished children in Central African Republic

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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