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Kenyan AIDS official says country has sufficient funding to support programs through 2016

Kenya has sufficient funds to support HIV/AIDS treatment programs through 2016, the head of the National AIDS Control Council (NACC) said in a statement on Wednesday after activists protested on Monday in support of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Star reports.

4 Feb 2012

New approach can solve treatment-resistant problem in cancers

Free-flowing cancer cells have been mapped with unprecedented accuracy in the bloodstream of patients with prostate, breast and pancreatic cancer, using a brand new approach, in an attempt to assess and control the disease as it spreads in real time through the body, and solve the problem of predicting response and resistance to therapies.

4 Feb 2012

UTMB's international vaccine symposium to be held Feb. 7-9

An international vaccine symposium sponsored by the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and scheduled for Feb. 7-9 will reflect a dramatic shift in the world of vaccinology, according to Alan Barrett, director of UTMB's Sealy Center for Vaccine Development.

4 Feb 2012

Link between health and schooling among fleeing children

Refugee children have scant access to medical care and are particularly vulnerable to disease. Fresh research results from the University of Copenhagen show that just a few hours of schooling a week may have a pronounced positive impact on their health not only in childhood but later in life when they achieve adulthood.

4 Feb 2012

New editorial offers clarity on confusing drug and alcohol addiction terminology

A new editorial released this week offers clarity and structure on confusing drug and alcohol addiction terminology for prescribers, users and regulators. "Through a glass darkly: can we improve clarity about mechanism and aims of medications in drug and alcohol treatments?" is published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, the official journal of the British Association for Psychopharmacology, published by SAGE.

4 Feb 2012

New experimental device effectively removes blood clots in stroke patients

An experimental device for removing blood clots in stroke patients dramatically outperformed the standard mechanical treatment, according to research presented by UCLA Stroke Center director Dr. Jeffrey L. Saver at the American Stroke Association's 2012 international conference in New Orleans on Feb. 3.

4 Feb 2012

AACN launches Critical Care Pharmacology

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) and Elsevier | MC Strategies announce the launch of AACN: Critical Care Pharmacology, a comprehensive, evidence-based online nursing course to help nurses further develop their competencies in the safe administration of medications commonly used in critical care.

4 Feb 2012

Worldwide malaria death figures - a gross underestimate, finds latest research

According to latest research malaria kills twice as many people every year as formerly believed, taking 1.2 million lives and causing the deaths not only of babies but also older children and adults.

3 Feb 2012

Addiction could be a legacy from parents: Study

Researchers have found that like other inherited traits – addiction could be a legacy from parents. A child of drug-addicted parents is eight times more likely to become an addict than a child growing up in a drug-free home. However in families whose very brains seem primed for addiction, some children still go on to lead productive lives free of drugs, according to new research.

3 Feb 2012

Doctors, NPs often issue orders to HIV patients to maintain adherence- Problem solving rare

Take your medicine, Doctor's orders. It's a simple idea that may seem especially obvious when the pills are the antiretroviral (ARV) drugs that add decades to the lives of HIV-positive patients.

3 Feb 2012

Strategies to minimize side effects of oxaliplatin in metastatic colon cancer

The drug oxaliplatin is a major reason the prognosis for metastatic colon cancer has gone from an expected survival of several months to a couple years. Unfortunately, the drug can also carry with it debilitating neurological side effects, which generally start as the sensation of pins and needles in fingers and toes and can leave patients unable to walk or dress independently.

3 Feb 2012

Health policy positions offered by Romney, Santorum and Paul draw attention

In the midst of the GOP presidential primaries, Mitt Romney's comments about the safety net trigger strong reactions, while Rick Santorum delivers a speech in Colorado on health policy themes, and The Washington Post fact checks Ron Paul's comments about life before Medicare and Medicaid.

3 Feb 2012

Scientists identify molecular switch that controls ATF2's dual functions

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates that as many as one in 51 men and women will be diagnosed with melanoma-the deadliest form of skin cancer-at some point during their lifetimes. A research team led by Ze'ev Ronai, Ph.D. at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) is working to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying the development and progression of this disease in hopes of improving prevention and treatment strategies

3 Feb 2012

NCDB: Five-year survival rates higher among cancer patients treated in SCCA

Five-year survival rates among patients treated by Seattle Cancer Care Alliance for eight types of cancer are higher than for patients treated at other academic medical centers, as well as large and small community cancer centers nationwide, according to data compiled by the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB).

3 Feb 2012

Merck Serono enters development agreement with Threshold for hypoxia-targeted drug

Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, today announced that a global agreement was signed with Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc., South San Francisco, to co-develop and commercialize TH-302, Threshold's small molecule hypoxia-targeted drug.

3 Feb 2012

AHF calls for top to bottom shake-up of management at FDA

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today called for a top to bottom shake-up of the management at the Food and Drug Administration as well as a Congressional investigation following the publication of a Washington Post news article (1/31/12) that reported, "…the Food and Drug Administration secretly monitored the personal e-mail of a group of its own scientists and doctors after they warned Congress that the agency was approving medical devices that they believed posed unacceptable risks to patients."

3 Feb 2012