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'Better Vision' app can support visually impaired and dyslectic people

To support visually impaired and dyslectic people in their efforts to read, the 'Better Vision' app has been developed: a functional and handy all-in-one app that magnifies text and reads English, German, Spanish or Dutch text out loud on iPhones, iPads (mini) and Android devices.

6 Feb 2013

South African government should take responsibility for HIV/AIDS treatment

Noting the many successes of PEPFAR, Stuart Rennie, co-principal investigator of NIH/Fogarty bioethics grants for the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa, writes in his "Global Bioethics Blog," "HIV requires lifelong treatment, and it is not healthy to have your existence depend on the decisions of a foreign government, especially an economically sputtering and lurching superpower."

6 Feb 2013

Researchers, organizations urge Secretary of State Kerry to support AIDS funding

"Saying they are 'gravely concerned about reports that the Obama Administration's FY 2014 budget requests for PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria fail to provide adequate resources,' researchers and physicians from programs, centers and institutions leading the international AIDS response sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry Friday, urging him to speak up for funding that will back policy and pursue the goal of an AIDS-free generation," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports.

6 Feb 2013

Viewpoints: Sen. Hatch's prescription for safeguarding entitlements; Medicare crackdown on CVS drug program; JFK's mental health vision failing

American families are used to working with dollar amounts starting with hundreds and thousands. But the fiscal situation of our country requires us to act in terms of billions and trillions. ... Unfortunately, waiting until the last minute to stop a crisis has become standard operating procedure in Washington. But that isn't how we should be tackling our debt or safeguarding Medicare and Medicaid.

5 Feb 2013

Will Secretary Kerry influence the White House AIDS budget?

As John Kerry begins his role as Secretary of State, "some very important decisions will be being made, including the budget for the coming year for key development programs. Will Secretary Kerry fix the administration's AIDS budget problem?" AIDS and human rights activist Matthew Kavanagh writes in the Huffington Post "Politics" blog.

5 Feb 2013

Kaiser Family Foundation releases primer on U.S. engagement in global health issues

A new Kaiser Family Foundation primer "provides a comprehensive overview of the U.S. government's engagement in global health issues, including a look at the federal programs that support these efforts," according to an email alert from the foundation.

2 Feb 2013

DHEA-S may prevent neurocognitive impairment that affects AIDS patients

A team of scientists from Canada, Thailand and Morocco have found that DHEA-S may prevent neurocognitive impairment that affects a significant percentage of AIDS patients. In a report appearing in the February 2013 issue of The FASEB Journal, they describe how a network of steroid molecules found in the brain, termed "neurosteroids," is disrupted during HIV infection leading to brain damage.

2 Feb 2013

Moderate gum disease causes severe infection and inflammation in AIDS animal model

Texas Biomed scientists in San Antonio have found that moderate gum disease in an animal model exposed to an AIDS- like virus had more viral variants causing infection and greater inflammation. Both of these features have potential negative implications in long term disease progression, including other kinds of infections, the researchers say in a new report.

1 Feb 2013

Condom use expectations less than 50% for all types of sexual encounters: Study

Researchers have found that African American women exhibit a higher risk for sexually transmitted infections including HIV/Aids. But what motivates this group of women to have sex? And when are they more likely to use protection?

31 Jan 2013

C. albicans capable of sexual reproduction

Like many fungi and one-celled organisms, Candida albicans, a normally harmless microbe that can turn deadly, has long been thought to reproduce without sexual mating. But a new study by Professor Judith Berman and colleagues at the University of Minnesota and Tel Aviv University shows that C. albicans is capable of sexual reproduction.

31 Jan 2013

Global Fund Observer reports on new funding model progress

Aidspan, an independent watchdog of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, on Tuesday published Issue 208 of its "Global Fund Observer." Among others, the issue contains two stories on the new funding model (NFM), which, according to the first article, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria expects to launch by the end of February.

31 Jan 2013

Government mistrust and conspiracy fears deter older adults from getting tested for HIV

One out of every four people living with HIV/AIDS is 50 or older, yet these older individuals are far more likely to be diagnosed when they are already in the later stages of infection. Such late diagnoses put their health, and the health of others, at greater risk than would have been the case with earlier detection.

31 Jan 2013

International community must continue to fund efforts to stop spread of infectious diseases

Writing in the Huffington Post's "The Big Push" blog, Dirk Niebel, Germany's federal minister of economic cooperation and development, discusses "why Germany announced last week that it is committing one billion euros over five years to the Global Fund."

31 Jan 2013

Central field loss creates driving hazard

People with central field loss experience a range of difficulties when driving that could pose a danger to themselves and pedestrians, researchers believe.

30 Jan 2013

HIV/AIDS Legal Assessment Tool aims to tackle HIV-related discrimination

Writing in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Jennifer James, founder of Mom Bloggers for Social Good, examines the HIV/AIDS Legal Assessment Tool created by the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative.

30 Jan 2013

Blog examines next steps should a therapeutic AIDS vaccine be developed

In a post in the "Tomorrow Global" blog, Danielle Parsons, an HIV/AIDS specialist, highlights a number of advances made in the search for an AIDS vaccine, writing, "All of this work is promising, and it's starting to feel like we're back on track for a successful therapeutic vaccine in the next decade."

30 Jan 2013

Apolipoprotein E-4 useful in promoting neuron growth in the lab

A protein associated with neuron damage in people with Alzheimer's disease is surprisingly useful in promoting neuron growth in the lab, according to a new study by engineering researchers at Brown University.

30 Jan 2013

U.S. Supreme Court should end 'counterproductive' federal anti-prostitution pledge

In the Huffington Post's "Politics" blog, journalist and author John-Manuel Andriote notes the U.S. Supreme Court this month agreed to hear a case challenging the federal anti-prostitution pledge, which requires groups that receive federal funding for overseas HIV/AIDS programs to sign a pledge denouncing prostitution and sex trafficking as a condition for receiving funding, and describes the history of the policy.

30 Jan 2013

HIV-positive patients have higher incidence of non-melanoma skin cancers

HIV-positive patients have a higher incidence of non-melanoma skin cancers, according to a Kaiser Permanente study that appears in the current online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Specifically, basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas occur more than twice as often among HIV-positive individuals compared to those who are HIV-negative.

30 Jan 2013

Mary Ann Liebert to launch new LGBT Health journal

Over 4 million adults in the United States identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual and approximately 700,000 identify as transgender. An NIH-sponsored investigation by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded that the health status and healthcare needs of this sizable population are poorly understood and likely inadequately met. A journal is urgently needed to support, promote, and address the unique healthcare needs of each population that comprises the LGBT community, in the United States and worldwide.

29 Jan 2013