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AHF members urge Congress to honor AIDS funding commitment

Five AIDS treatment clients and medical care providers from Uganda are visiting Washington, DC for a series of over 50 meetings this week on Capitol Hill with Senate and Congressional leaders to lobby Congress to honor the US' landmark commitment to PEPFAR (the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), the successful US global AIDS program.

2 Jul 2010

First Edition: July 1, 2010

Today's health policy headlines highlight news about the launch of a government health insurance web site and the start of the high-risk health insurance pools mandated in the health reform law.

1 Jul 2010

Behavioral intervention program can reduce incidence of HIV, STIs among female sex workers: Researchers

A team of researchers from the University of California San Diego and Mexico has found that even a modest behavioral intervention program averaging just 35 minutes can measurably reduce the incidence of HIV and sexually transmitted infections among female sex workers in the U.S.-Mexico border region - and that the program succeeds at comparatively little expense.

1 Jul 2010

World Bank, WHO, UNAIDS report offers comprehensive look at HIV/AIDS in Middle East, N. Africa

The World Bank, WHO and UNAIDS on Monday released a joint report that pulls together data characterizing the HIV/AIDS epidemic from 23 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region, IRIN reports (6/30).

1 Jul 2010

Call for incorporation of scientific evidence into illicit drug policies

Three leading scientific and health policy organizations today launched a global drive for signatories to the Vienna Declaration, a statement seeking to improve community health and safety by calling for the incorporation of scientific evidence into illicit drug policies. Among those supporting the declaration and urging others to sign is 2008 Nobel Laureate and International AIDS Society (IAS) Governing Council member Prof. Fran-oise Barr--Sinoussi, co-discoverer of HIV.

30 Jun 2010

AHF rejects Obama trial balloon of $30M for nation's ADAP

AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the largest global AIDS organization, is rejecting a trial balloon floated by Obama Administration officials that suggests $30 million in additional funding could adequately help close a gaping $126 million hole in funding for the nation's AIDS Drug Assistance Program, the federal and state funded, state run network of assistance programs that supply lifesaving AIDS drugs to low-income Americans in need.

28 Jun 2010

New affiliation formed to accelerate nation's progress in fighting HIV/AIDS

Two leading institutions in public health and health policy are joining forces to accelerate the nation's progress in fighting HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and tuberculosis in Washington – the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research and the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health.

28 Jun 2010

U.N. Secretary-General to ask G20 for additional $60B over 5 years for maternal, child health

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he plans to ask the G20 to follow through on aid promises and to commit an additional $60 billion over five years for lowering maternal and child mortality rates worldwide, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.

25 Jun 2010

FDA approves Abbott's ARCHITECT HIV Ag/Ab Combo assay

Every nine and a half minutes, someone in the United States is infected with HIV, and one out of every five of these individuals doesn't know it. To help stem the spread of this disease, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved an innovative new diagnostic tool, which will allow patients to be diagnosed earlier than ever before.

21 Jun 2010

Nurse-monitored ART found to be as safe, effective as therapy monitored by doctors in South African trial

"HIV drugs can be administered as effectively by nurses as by doctors, a finding that could yield major benefits in the fight against AIDS in Africa," according to a study published online Wednesday in the Lancet, Agence France-Presse reports.

18 Jun 2010

Maternal, infant ART drives down mother-to-child HIV transmission through breast-feeding, studies show

According to two new studies, "giving pregnant and nursing women triple antiretroviral drug therapy, or treating breast-fed infants with an antiretroviral medication, can dramatically cut transmission rates, enabling moms to both breast-feed and to protect nearly all children from infection," HealthDay News/Bloomberg Businessweek reports (Goodwin, 6/16).

18 Jun 2010

Infant nevirapine more effective in preventing HIV transmission than maternal antiretroviral therapy

The largest study to date to examine methods to prevent HIV infection among breastfeeding infants concludes that giving antiretroviral drugs to HIV-infected breastfeeding mothers in sub-Saharan Africa or giving an HIV-fighting syrup to their babies are both effective.

17 Jun 2010

Opinions: Maintain fight against HIV/AIDS; Ending PMTCT; Impact of U.S. health reform on foreign-trained physicians

Following a recent trip to the largest HIV/AIDS clinic in Uganda, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon reflects on the recent progress made in the fight against the disease in a McClatchy opinion piece. Though "Uganda was the epicenter of the AIDS epidemic. …Uganda is also a success story," Ban writes. "A decade ago, fewer than 10,000 people were on the new generation of antiretroviral drugs that suppress the disease and offer the promise of a normal life.

17 Jun 2010

Washington Post examines trial in Africa of long-acting vaginal ring for HIV prevention

"The first test of a long-acting vaginal ring loaded with an HIV-preventing drug has begun enrolling women in southern Africa," the Washington Post reports. The study, according to the newspaper, marks the 15th trial led by the nonprofit group, International Partnership for Microbicides, which "has helped lead the search for a discreet, woman-controlled means of protection" against the virus.

16 Jun 2010

AIDS activists to protest BMS' Reyataz pricing, policies at Goldman Sachs Global Healthcare Conference

“All of AHF's efforts, including this protest, are designed to let people know that BMS is causing great harm to people with HIV/AIDS with its unwarranted pricing of Reyataz”

15 Jun 2010

TIME series examines global health

As part of a special package about global health, TIME magazine visits what is known as "the most malarial town on earth" - Apac, Uganda - and examines global malaria control and efforts to eradicate the disease.

14 Jun 2010

Community-based model of DOT improves HIV patient survival: Researchers

When applied to HIV care, the community-based model of directly observed therapy has no effect on virologic outcomes, but significantly improves patient survival. This is according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in collaboration with colleagues at University of Cape Town, South Africa, who conducted the first randomized controlled trial of patient-nominated treatment-supporters providing partial DOT in resource-limited settings.

11 Jun 2010

First clinical trial among African women to test vaginal ring that prevents HIV transmission

The nonprofit International Partnership for Microbicides today announced the initiation of the first trial among women in Africa testing a vaginal ring containing an antiretroviral drug that could one day be used to prevent HIV transmission during sex. The clinical trial, known as IPM 015, tests the safety and acceptability of an innovative approach that adapts a successful technology from the reproductive health field to give women around the world a tool to protect themselves from HIV infection.

9 Jun 2010

Updated HIV treatment guidelines may benefit individuals infected with HIV: Researchers

Researchers from the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and the University of British Columbia today released a comprehensive study revealing that the 2008 IAS-USA therapy guidelines for commencing HIV treatment would create significant benefits for individuals infected with HIV and society as a whole.

8 Jun 2010

AHF applauds Gilead for offering pricing, access concessions to AIDS Drug Assistance Programs

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) lauded Gilead Sciences, maker of several key AIDS drugs, for its announcement earlier today that it will offer significant pricing and access concessions for the nation's beleaguered AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs), the federally funded, state run programs that supply lifesaving AIDS drugs to low-income Americans in need.

5 Jun 2010

Antiretroviral News and Research

AHF members urge Congress to honor AIDS funding commitment

First Edition: July 1, 2010

Behavioral intervention program can reduce incidence of HIV, STIs among female sex workers: Researchers

World Bank, WHO, UNAIDS report offers comprehensive look at HIV/AIDS in Middle East, N. Africa

Call for incorporation of scientific evidence into illicit drug policies

AHF rejects Obama trial balloon of $30M for nation's ADAP

New affiliation formed to accelerate nation's progress in fighting HIV/AIDS

U.N. Secretary-General to ask G20 for additional $60B over 5 years for maternal, child health

FDA approves Abbott's ARCHITECT HIV Ag/Ab Combo assay

Nurse-monitored ART found to be as safe, effective as therapy monitored by doctors in South African trial

Maternal, infant ART drives down mother-to-child HIV transmission through breast-feeding, studies show

Infant nevirapine more effective in preventing HIV transmission than maternal antiretroviral therapy

Opinions: Maintain fight against HIV/AIDS; Ending PMTCT; Impact of U.S. health reform on foreign-trained physicians

Washington Post examines trial in Africa of long-acting vaginal ring for HIV prevention

AIDS activists to protest BMS' Reyataz pricing, policies at Goldman Sachs Global Healthcare Conference

TIME series examines global health

Community-based model of DOT improves HIV patient survival: Researchers

First clinical trial among African women to test vaginal ring that prevents HIV transmission

Updated HIV treatment guidelines may benefit individuals infected with HIV: Researchers

AHF applauds Gilead for offering pricing, access concessions to AIDS Drug Assistance Programs

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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