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Global AIDS Coordinator Goosby believes Zimbabwe's ailing health system can be strengthened

Concluding his recent trip to Zimbabwe, the Global AIDS Coordinator for PEPFAR Eric Goosby said the country can rebuild and strengthen its health care delivery systems, the Zimbabwean reports. "I have seen fatigue in health care delivery in the country. A fatigue that that has come out of sustaining the response (to HIV and AIDS) with diminishing resources, but at the same time a feeling of hope and anticipation that they have hit bottom and are now on the return," Goosby said (9/4).

9 Sep 2009

Criminal pricing of Merck’s HIV/AIDS drug Isentress challenged by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation

As part of its ongoing campaign to lower drug prices and increase access, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today unveiled its latest advocacy campaign challenging Merck and Co. Pharmaceuticals over the steep price of its key HIV/AIDS drug, Isentress (raltegravir). The first phase of the public awareness campaign includes a postcard mailer, scheduled to arrive this week in the mailboxes of residents of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, where Merck is headquartered.

3 Sep 2009

Single-dose H1N1 vaccine wins approval in China

The Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech Ltd. on Monday announced its H1N1 (swine) flu vaccine won the approval of a panel of experts from China's State Food and Drug Administration, the Associated Press/Forbes reports. The company expects to obtain a production license later this week. According to the company, clinical trials of the H1N1 vaccine showed a single shot produced an immune response capable of protecting against H1N1 (8/31).

2 Sep 2009

Also in Global Health news: ARVs in Uganda; Brazil's fight against HIV/AIDS

Zainab Akol, Uganda's AIDS Control Program director, said the health ministry has acquired enough antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to provide treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS until the end of the year, New Vision reports. In addition to 30 tons of drugs, the ministry received at the beginning of August from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, it also purchased ARVs worth about $20 million this month, Akol said (Kagolo, 8/27).

29 Aug 2009

EDCTP welcomes proposals for tuberculosis vaccines and HIV/AIDS treatment projects

EDCTP welcomes project proposals as a response to the following calls: Tuberculosis vaccines, HIV/AIDS treatment and Member States Initiated projects.

27 Aug 2009

Recent releases: limiting corruption; mental health; U.S. global health policies; non-physician administered ARV; African health ministers

A Lancet Infectious Diseases Reflection and Reaction piece says while PEPFAR's "investment of over US$228 million into Mozambique in 2008 alone" resulted in "an exponential increase in the number of people on" ARVs and boosted prevention programs, "[t]here is more money available for HIV/AIDS than can reasonably be spent, especially given Mozambique's poor infrastructure and large geographical area. Unfortunately, one side-effect has been an associated increase in corruption." To maximize aid money and limit corruption, "careful and creative resource management will be needed," the author concludes (Johnson, 9/09).

24 Aug 2009

Chemical components of elderberry, cinnamon and green tea extracts block HIV viruses from infecting cells

The development of new antiviral drugs has had a tremendous impact on the quality of life and life expectancy of HIV-positive and AIDS patients, as the drugs effectively disrupt the replication cycle of the HIV virus. Yet the regular use of those drugs - such as zidovudine (also known as azidothymidine or AZT), protease inhibitors, and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) involving multidrug therapies - has led to resistant HIV strains.

20 Aug 2009

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

InterMune receives $20 million event payment from Roche for initiating the Phase 2b trial of RG7227/ ITMN-191

Roche (SIX: ROG.VX; RO.S, OTCQX: RHHBY) and InterMune, Inc. (Nasdaq: ITMN) today announced that the first patient has been dosed in a Phase 2b study evaluating the hepatitis C virus (HCV) protease inhibitor, RG7227/ ITMN-191, in combination with PEGASYS(R) (pegylated interferon alfa-2a) and COPEGUS(R) (ribavirin). The study, to be conducted at 45 sites globally, will further define the safety and efficacy profile of RG7227/ ITMN-191, for a treatment duration of up to 24 weeks. Approximately 300 treatment-naive patients chronically infected with HCV genotype 1 - the most difficult to treat form of the virus - will participate.

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

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

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

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

HIV-treating clinicians support health care reform, express caution

The International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC), which represents approximately 4,000 HIV-treating clinicians in the United States [out of a global membership of over 13,000], today released results of a nationwide survey indicating that while supportive of ongoing health care reform efforts, a significant percentage of its U.S. membership is concerned about issues ranging from increased patient caseloads to the possibility of rationing HIV care.

11 Aug 2009

Clinton signs new $10 million agreement on HIV/AIDS with Angola, says U.S. 'stands ready' to work with South Africa on HIV/AIDS

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signed a new agreement with Angola aimed at controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS, the Associated Press reports. "The Obama administration will more than double funding for Angola to combat the disease, from $7 million to $17 million," the news service writes (Lee, 8/10).

10 Aug 2009

TB alliance appoints Marshall Burke as the organization's Head of External Affairs

The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance), a not-for-profit product development partnership accelerating the discovery and development of new drugs to fight tuberculosis (TB), today announced the appointment of Marshall Burke, Ph.D. as the organization's Head of External Affairs.

7 Aug 2009

Bill Clinton, Pfizer, and Mylan announce new agreements to lower prices of antiretrovirals for HIV/AIDS in the developing world

President Bill Clinton announced two important and complementary agreements today to enable better, more affordable treatments for patients on second-line antiretroviral (ARV) therapy for HIV/AIDS in the developing world.

6 Aug 2009

AHF launches HIV prevention campaigns in Uganda

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is proud to announce the launch of its popular ‘STAY NEGATIVE’ and ‘Love Condoms’ Campaign in Uganda, on Thursday, August 6th.

5 Aug 2009

IPS examines legislative measures to fight HIV/AIDS

Inter Press Service examines several civil society organizations' argument that legislative measures aimed at fighting HIV/AIDS, "hurt more" than they "help." There are 58 countries with laws in place to "prosecute HIV transmission" and 33 others where such legislation is being considered, according to the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

31 Jul 2009

HIV/AIDS research initiative launched in South Africa

South Africa's Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor on Tuesday announced a government-sponsored research initiative that "aims to combat HIV and AIDS through scientific and technological research, the development of new drugs, diagnostic tests and vaccines," SAPA/IOL reports (7/28).

30 Jul 2009

Antiretroviral News and Research

Global AIDS Coordinator Goosby believes Zimbabwe's ailing health system can be strengthened

Criminal pricing of Merck’s HIV/AIDS drug Isentress challenged by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation

Single-dose H1N1 vaccine wins approval in China

Also in Global Health news: ARVs in Uganda; Brazil's fight against HIV/AIDS

EDCTP welcomes proposals for tuberculosis vaccines and HIV/AIDS treatment projects

Recent releases: limiting corruption; mental health; U.S. global health policies; non-physician administered ARV; African health ministers

Chemical components of elderberry, cinnamon and green tea extracts block HIV viruses from infecting cells

Some HIV-positive Ugandans' not receiving antiretrovirals

InterMune receives $20 million event payment from Roche for initiating the Phase 2b trial of RG7227/ ITMN-191

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

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

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

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

HIV-treating clinicians support health care reform, express caution

Clinton signs new $10 million agreement on HIV/AIDS with Angola, says U.S. 'stands ready' to work with South Africa on HIV/AIDS

TB alliance appoints Marshall Burke as the organization's Head of External Affairs

Bill Clinton, Pfizer, and Mylan announce new agreements to lower prices of antiretrovirals for HIV/AIDS in the developing world

AHF launches HIV prevention campaigns in Uganda

IPS examines legislative measures to fight HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS research initiative launched in South Africa

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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