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Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

House Subcommittee approves $52.7B FY11 Foreign Ops appropriations bill

The Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs approved a $52.7 billion FY 2011 spending bill on Wednesday that withheld $3.9 billion in aid for Afghanistan over concerns about corruption in the country, CongressDaily reports. The bill "already cut $4 billion from President Obama's request to fund the State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development and dozens of foreign assistance and cooperation programs," the publication writes.

2 Jul 2010

Book on governance, social justice and epidemic diseases

Recent disease events such as SARS, H1N1 and avian influenza, and haemorrhagic fevers have focussed policy and public concern as never before on epidemics and so-called 'emerging infectious diseases'. Understanding and responding to these often unpredictable events have become major challenges for local, national and international bodies.

2 Jul 2010

American Abroad Media examines intersection of religion and public health in Africa

American Abroad Media examines how religious groups and leaders are dealing with public health issues in Africa. The program consists of five segments.

2 Jul 2010

New York Times: AIDS drug program has growing waiting list

The New York Times: "The weak economy is crippling the government program that provides life-sustaining antiretroviral drugs to people with H.I.V. or AIDS who cannot afford them. Nearly 1,800 have been relegated to rapidly expanding waiting lists that less than three years ago had dwindled to zero. ...

2 Jul 2010

AHF members urge Congress to honor AIDS funding commitment

Five AIDS treatment clients and medical care providers from Uganda are visiting Washington, DC for a series of over 50 meetings this week on Capitol Hill with Senate and Congressional leaders to lobby Congress to honor the US' landmark commitment to PEPFAR (the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), the successful US global AIDS program.

2 Jul 2010

FIOCRUZ receives Brazil's Anvisa regulatory approval to market Chembio's Dual Path Platform HIV 1/2 rapid test

Chembio Diagnostics, Inc., which develops, manufactures, markets and licenses point-of-care diagnostic tests, has been notified that Bio-Manguinhos, a division of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation of Brazil ("FIOCRUZ"), has received regulatory approval from Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) to market Chembio's Dual Path Platform (DPP®) HIV 1/2 rapid test for use with oral fluid, blood, serum or plasma samples. The approval triggers $400,000 in license revenues payable to Chembio within 120 days of the date of approval.

1 Jul 2010

First Edition: July 1, 2010

Today's health policy headlines highlight news about the launch of a government health insurance web site and the start of the high-risk health insurance pools mandated in the health reform law.

1 Jul 2010

Kilimani Sesame benefits Tanzanian children

There are 8.3 million children who are 5 years and younger living in Tanzania. With limited access to formal education, can media intervention make a positive and significant impact on what these children learn? Sesame Workshop, which produces Kilimani Sesame, the Tanzanian version of Sesame Street, recently commissioned researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in full collaboration with a Dar es Salaam-based research team, to examine the effects of a six-week intervention delivering Kilimani Sesame content to 223 children.

1 Jul 2010

Mass. reports on people who buy insurance only when sick; Wash. board considers aiding consumers get 'Plan B' referrals; ACLU sues R.I. over electronic records

The Boston Globe: "The number of people who appear to be gaming the state's health insurance system by purchasing coverage only when they are sick quadrupled from 2006 to 2008, according to a long-awaited report released yesterday from the Massachusetts Division of Insurance. The result is that insured residents of Massachusetts wind up paying more for health care, according to the report. … The report was released as state lawmakers consider proposals to make it harder for consumers to jump in and then dump their health insurance coverage" (Lazar, 6/30).

1 Jul 2010

Secondhand smoke exposure during pregnancy causes permanent genetic damage in newborns

Newborns of non-smoking moms exposed to secondhand smoke during pregnancy have genetic mutations that may affect long-term health, according to a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health study published online in the Open Pediatric Medicine Journal. The abnormalities, which were indistinguishable from those found in newborns of mothers who were active smokers, may affect survival, birth weight and lifelong susceptibility to diseases like cancer.

1 Jul 2010

Behavioral intervention program can reduce incidence of HIV, STIs among female sex workers: Researchers

A team of researchers from the University of California San Diego and Mexico has found that even a modest behavioral intervention program averaging just 35 minutes can measurably reduce the incidence of HIV and sexually transmitted infections among female sex workers in the U.S.-Mexico border region - and that the program succeeds at comparatively little expense.

1 Jul 2010

Ecolab launches Virasept to treat Clostridium difficile spores

Ecolab Inc. today announced the launch of Virasept, Ecolab's first ready-to-use (no mixing required) hard surface disinfectant approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to be effective against Clostridium difficile spores.

1 Jul 2010

World Bank, WHO, UNAIDS report offers comprehensive look at HIV/AIDS in Middle East, N. Africa

The World Bank, WHO and UNAIDS on Monday released a joint report that pulls together data characterizing the HIV/AIDS epidemic from 23 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region, IRIN reports (6/30).

1 Jul 2010

GeoVax Labs postpones proposed public offering

GeoVax Labs, Inc., a biotechnology company dedicated to developing vaccines that prevent and fight human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), today announced that it has decided to postpone its proposed public offering of units, each consisting of a share of common stock and a warrant to purchase another share.

1 Jul 2010

Call for incorporation of scientific evidence into illicit drug policies

Three leading scientific and health policy organizations today launched a global drive for signatories to the Vienna Declaration, a statement seeking to improve community health and safety by calling for the incorporation of scientific evidence into illicit drug policies. Among those supporting the declaration and urging others to sign is 2008 Nobel Laureate and International AIDS Society (IAS) Governing Council member Prof. Fran-oise Barr--Sinoussi, co-discoverer of HIV.

30 Jun 2010

Repeated viral screening for ART patients unnecessary with each donation

European legislation that requires all couples undergoing assisted reproduction treatment (ART) to be screened for HIV and hepatitis at the time of every sperm or egg donation is unnecessary, expensive, and potentially distressing for patients, the 26th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology heard today (Monday).

30 Jun 2010

Cal/OSHA explores ways to strengthen adult film worker safety regulations

California's of Department Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) convened its first meeting of an Advisory Panel to explore strengthening adult film worker safety regulations in California today in downtown Los Angeles. In March, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board voted unanimously to convene the Advisory Panel in order to take public comment from health advocates, industry officials and the general public on whether—and how—to amend state health statutes to better protect adult film workers.

30 Jun 2010

Original viral genetic sequences still present months after initial infection, says study

Scientists have been surprised to learn that, despite thousands of changes that viruses like HIV undergo in rapid fashion to evade the body's immune system, the original version that caused the infection is still present in the body months later.

30 Jun 2010

White House to release domestic strategy against AIDS

The White House is poised to release the country's first comprehensive domestic strategy against AIDS, as funds to prevent infections have failed to halt the epidemic in those most at risk of the disease, AIDS groups said. Release of the National AIDS Strategy may come as early as today, fulfilling Obama's campaign pledge to unify priorities among federal agencies and state partners, said Mitchell Warren.

30 Jun 2010

UCLA School of Dentistry awarded NIH grant to study methamphetamine's oral, dental health consequences

The abuse of methamphetamine - a powerful and highly addictive psychostimulant that is toxic to the nervous system - has reached epidemic proportions in many parts of the United States. The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that more than 10 million Americans have tried methamphetamine, while more than 1.4 million are habitual users.

30 Jun 2010

HIV/AIDS News and Research

Further Reading

House Subcommittee approves $52.7B FY11 Foreign Ops appropriations bill

Book on governance, social justice and epidemic diseases

American Abroad Media examines intersection of religion and public health in Africa

New York Times: AIDS drug program has growing waiting list

AHF members urge Congress to honor AIDS funding commitment

FIOCRUZ receives Brazil's Anvisa regulatory approval to market Chembio's Dual Path Platform HIV 1/2 rapid test

First Edition: July 1, 2010

Kilimani Sesame benefits Tanzanian children

Mass. reports on people who buy insurance only when sick; Wash. board considers aiding consumers get 'Plan B' referrals; ACLU sues R.I. over electronic records

Secondhand smoke exposure during pregnancy causes permanent genetic damage in newborns

Behavioral intervention program can reduce incidence of HIV, STIs among female sex workers: Researchers

Ecolab launches Virasept to treat Clostridium difficile spores

World Bank, WHO, UNAIDS report offers comprehensive look at HIV/AIDS in Middle East, N. Africa

GeoVax Labs postpones proposed public offering

Call for incorporation of scientific evidence into illicit drug policies

Repeated viral screening for ART patients unnecessary with each donation

Cal/OSHA explores ways to strengthen adult film worker safety regulations

Original viral genetic sequences still present months after initial infection, says study

White House to release domestic strategy against AIDS

UCLA School of Dentistry awarded NIH grant to study methamphetamine's oral, dental health consequences

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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