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U.N. holds panel discussion regarding strategic AIDS financing

"Coinciding with the 2012 General Assembly AIDS review, the Permanent Missions of Malawi and Luxembourg to the United Nations and UNAIDS organized a panel discussion to further understand the strategic investments needed for the AIDS response," a UNAIDS reports in a feature story on its webpage, adding, "The discussion brought together representatives of member states, U.N. organizations and civil society."

14 Jun 2012

New chemical-screening method can discover compounds against HIV

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have used a powerful new chemical-screening method to find compounds that inhibit the activity of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS.

14 Jun 2012

Brazil's HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention program may be in jeopardy, some experts say

The Miami Herald reports on Brazil's national HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention program, writing, "By the mid-1990s, more effective and powerful antiretroviral therapies replaced the older treatments, and in 1996 Brazil declared that it would offer free antiretroviral treatment to all citizens with AIDS."

14 Jun 2012

If health continues to wane on G8 agenda, a serious void will be left

In this post in the Global Health Governance blog, Jenilee Guebert, director of research for the global health diplomacy program and G8 research group at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs, writes that, "for the second year in a row, the amount of attention devoted to global health" at the annual G8 summit, which took place at Camp David in Maryland in May, has declined.

13 Jun 2012

Lawmakers push to protect health care programs in Calif. budget plan

Lawmakers set to move a budget through the California legislature are pushing back against a plan by Gov. Jerry Brown to cut health care benefits -- notably for in-home care, kids, the elderly and the disabled.

13 Jun 2012

Child Survival Call to Action event signals a 'hopeful moment' in global health

"Helping mothers give birth to HIV-free children is an essential piece of the puzzle of ending preventable child deaths," U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby writes in this post in the AIDS.gov blog, adding, "Yet 390,000 infants around the globe were born with the virus in 2010."

13 Jun 2012

Despite progress, efforts to end HIV/AIDS epidemic must be redoubled, U.N. officials say

"Despite the tremendous progress that has been achieved in the response to HIV/AIDS, it is urgent that efforts be redoubled to end this global epidemic, top United Nations officials stressed Monday, highlighting in particular the need to expand services and scale up resources," the U.N. News Centre reports.

13 Jun 2012

Caspase-11 enzyme plays an important role in Legionella infection

New research shows that an enzyme that has long been considered relatively useless to the immune response instead has an important role in setting up immune cells to kill infection-causing bacteria.

13 Jun 2012

Investment in global health programs protects national security, promotes economic growth

"Investment in global health programs protects our national security, promotes economic growth, and upholds humanitarian values," Jenny Eaton Dyer, executive director of Hope Through Healing Hands and a member of the Tennessee State Advisory Committee of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, writes in this opinion piece in the Tennessean.

13 Jun 2012

New data on individuals with natural ability to fight off AIDS

"Scientists on Sunday said they had found a key piece in the puzzle as to why a tiny minority of individuals infected with HIV have a natural ability to fight off the deadly AIDS virus," Agence France-Presse reports.

12 Jun 2012

New campaign urges Americans to get tested for HIV

Greater Than AIDS, a leading national public information response to the domestic epidemic, today unveiled new outdoor media messages urging Americans to get tested for HIV. The “I Got Tested” campaign features real people’s stories of testing and encourages others to “join the movement.”

12 Jun 2012

GlobalPost launches new special reporting series on fight against AIDS

GlobalPost on Monday launched a new special reporting series called "AIDS: A Turning Point," according to an email alert from the new service. "In the lead up to July's International AIDS Conference in Washington -- the first such conference on U.S. soil in 22 years -- the world news site GlobalPost presents a deep look at both the global struggle to reduce HIV infection rates as well as some surprising lessons on the effective approaches that Southern Africa has to teach America," the email alert reports.

12 Jun 2012

Chagas disease – ‘the AIDS of the Americas’

A recent editorial published in the Public Library of Science's Neglected Tropical Diseases called Chagas disease, a parasite which kills about 20,000 people a year, "the AIDS of the Americas." The disease can be transferred to a child from its mother or by blood transfusions. About 20 percent of those infected can develop life-threatening illness that includes enlarged hearts or intestines, and the drugs used today to treat the disease can take months to work.

12 Jun 2012

China amends intellectual property laws to allow for issuance of compulsory licenses

"China has overhauled parts of its intellectual property laws to allow its drug makers to make cheap copies of medicines still under patent protection in an initiative likely to unnerve foreign pharmaceutical companies," Reuters reports.

12 Jun 2012

No link between alcohol consumption and disclosure of HIV status in Russians

Disclosure of HIV positive serostatus to sexual partners is considered an important public health goal to prevent new infections. Disclosure can motivate sex partners to make informed choices and change behavior through negotiation of safer sex practices. It might also prompt partner testing and counseling.

12 Jun 2012

UNAIDS governing body calls for range of recommendations to strengthen global HIV response

"The Programme Coordinating Board -- governing body of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) -- concluded its 30th session on 7 June calling for a range of recommendations to strengthen the global HIV response," a UNAIDS press release reports.

12 Jun 2012

India to host parallel conference for those who can't attend International AIDS Conference in U.S.

"When stakeholders from across the world converge at Washington next month to participate in the International AIDS Conference (IAC) to share their experience and evaluations and to influence both popular and official perceptions and practices for curbing HIV/AIDS, India will host a parallel event for those who cannot make it there," the Hindu reports.

12 Jun 2012

Hepatitis C more prevalent among homeless adults in downtown Los Angeles

Recent government studies show that hepatitis C, which can destroy the liver and necessitate a liver transplant, now kills more American adults than AIDS, and new UCLA research shows just how prevalent the disease is among homeless adults in downtown Los Angeles.

12 Jun 2012

ColoPrint aids prediction of colorectal cancer relapse

A novel microarray-based 18-gene expression tool known as ColoPrint significantly improves prognostic accuracy in stage II colon cancer patients who have undergone surgery, suggest study findings.

11 Jun 2012

Subtype of CD4-positive immune cells in the gut may influence HIV infection outcome

The findings of a new study in monkeys may help clarify why some people infected with HIV are better able to control the virus. They also may pinpoint a target for treatment during early HIV infection aimed at increasing the supply of certain immune cells in the gut, which the study shows could be an important factor in limiting HIV growth in cells throughout the body.

11 Jun 2012