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Ortho-McNeil to lower the price of contraceptive pills and patches

Ortho-McNeil - which supplies contraceptives to the majority of family planning clinics nationwide - on Thursday announced it will lower the price of its contraceptive pills and patches, according to officials, the Chicago Tribune reports.

30 Aug 2006

California Senate happy to allow groups to distribute condoms to prison inmates

The California Senate on Thursday voted 22-16 to approve a bill (AB 1677) that would allow not-for-profit or public health organizations to distribute devices - such as condoms or dental dams - that can protect against sexually transmitted infections to the state's 162,000 prison inmates, the AP/San Jose Mercury News reports (Young, AP/San Jose Mercury News, 8/24).

30 Aug 2006

Increasing helmet use promoted as an effective method of reducing road injuries and deaths

Each year about 1.2 million people die as a result of road traffic crashes, and millions more are injured or disabled.

28 Aug 2006

More children around the world now have allergies and asthma

Researchers in Auckland, New Zealand say that the number of children with allergies and asthma is increasing around the world and especially among the youngest.

28 Aug 2006

Women's health policy highlights

Highlights recently released from journal articles on women's health issues

24 Aug 2006

New Jersey Gov. Corzine signs bill to track company employees enrolled in public health insurance programs

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) this week signed a bill (S539) that will track how many employees at large companies are enrolled in the state's public health insurance programs, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.

24 Aug 2006

Fat people shorten their lives

A new study has found that being obese is not just unhealthy, it can in fact seriously increase the risk of death.

24 Aug 2006

Search for Aussie patients of HIV positive dentist

Health authorities in Australia are trying to contact hundreds of people who were treated by a female dentist who has been diagnosed as HIV positive.

24 Aug 2006

Parasite in crabs causes to lung infection

Californians have been warned by public health officials about eating freshwater crabs after two people contracted a lung infection from eating them.

21 Aug 2006

FDA orders two companies to cease manufacturing human cells and tissues

FDA orders Donor Referral Services (DRS), a human tissue-recovery firm, of Raleigh, NC, and its owner, Philip Guyett, to immediately cease all manufacturing operations.

20 Aug 2006

School-based programs can curb aggressive behaviors in students

According to the authors, the most effective programs are those that help students learn key social skills such as listening, thinking about the feelings of others, working cooperatively and being assertive in constructive ways.

17 Aug 2006

All forms of tobacco use or exposure are harmful

All forms of tobacco exposure - smoking, chewing or inhaling second hand smoke - increase the risk of heart attack up to three times, according to an Article in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

17 Aug 2006

People in China getting fatter

People in China are becoming overweight and obese at an alarmingly fast rate, according to an editorial in this week's British Medical Journal.

17 Aug 2006

Thailand's antiretroviral drug provision program should serve as a model for other poorer countries

Thailand's HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs should serve as a model for other countries with limited resources to fight the disease, according to a World Bank report released on Wednesday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Reuters UK reports.

17 Aug 2006

1.65 million worldwide now receiving antiretrovirals

The number of people in sub-Saharan Africa with access to antiretroviral drugs has increased tenfold in three years, and 1.65 million people in low- and middle-income countries were receiving the drugs by the end of June.

17 Aug 2006

Long-term health effects from West Nile illnesses

More than a year after being diagnosed with a West Nile virus infection, half of the patients have ongoing health complaints including fatigue, memory problems, headaches, depression, and tremors, according to an article in the Sept. 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

16 Aug 2006

Genotoxic bacteria in the digestive tract

Escherichia coli is a commensal bacterium, which lives peacefully in our digestive tract. However, certain strains are pathogenic and are frequently incriminated in a broad spectrum of infections, affecting both farmed animals and humans (diarrhoea, urinary tract infections, food poisoning, septicaemia, neonatal meningitis, etc.).

16 Aug 2006

AIDS vaccine still long way off

Researchers are optimistic about a potential HIV/AIDS vaccine, even though none of the vaccines in development is likely to completely protect people from HIV transmission, participants at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto said at a news conference Tuesday, Reuters reports.

16 Aug 2006

About 4 million additional health workers needed worldwide to fight HIV/AIDS, WHO says

More than four million additional health workers will be needed in 60 countries to fight HIV/AIDS, according to a strategy the World Health Organization released Tuesday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, the Wall Street Journal reports.

16 Aug 2006

HIV treatment access reaches over 1 million in sub-Saharan Africa

WHO HIV/AIDS Director Dr Kevin De Cock reported that the number of people receiving HIV antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa has surpassed 1 million for the first time, a ten-fold increase in treatment access in the region since December 2003.

16 Aug 2006