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Scientists identify nicotinamidase enzyme as new drug target for Leishmaniasis

IRD scientist and their research partners recently identified the key role of nicotinamidase, an enzyme in the parasite Leishmania, essential for its survival but which does not exist in humans. The pathogen is incapable of developing in mammals In the absence of this enzyme. Specific targeting of this enzyme could lead to more effective ways of controlling this neglected tropical disease.

29 Oct 2011

NYUCN to study 'Test and Linkage to Care Among Injecting Drug Users Kenya'

New York University College of Nursing (NYUCN) received a five-year, $4,161,665.00 grant from the National Institute of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH/NIDA) to research "Test and Linkage to Care Among Injecting Drug Users (TLC_IDU) Kenya."

29 Oct 2011

NIH awards NYUCN $7.56M grant to study HIV risk among heterosexuals

New York University College of Nursing (NYUCN) received a five-year, $7.56 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to evaluate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a peer-driven intervention to seek out heterosexuals at high risk for HIV in their communities, test them for HIV, and link them to care in a timely fashion if they are found to be HIV infected.

29 Oct 2011

Atwater collection of AIDS education posters now available online

When Edward Atwater, M.D., boarded a subway car on Boston's Red Line in the early 90s, he found himself staring at a poster unlike any he had seen before. It showed two hands, a condom wrapper, and text reading, "Prevent AIDS. Use One." Intrigued by what he saw, Atwater began to track how different societies viewed and responded to the worldwide epidemic through posters and other public messages, eventually gathering together the largest collection of AIDS posters in the world.

28 Oct 2011

International community must help women fight HIV/AIDS in Swaziland

Women living with HIV in Swaziland "fight a tireless tripartite battle against HIV, the stigma it places on them, and their inferior status in Africa's last absolute monarchy," freelance journalist Gary Nunn writes in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog."

28 Oct 2011

IFPA event to raise awareness of psoriasis on Oct. 29

Psoriasis can be a truly devastating disease, as it not only affects your health but can also have a severe impact on how you live your life. Many people with psoriasis experience social stigmatization and discrimination on a more or less daily basis, in a wide range of settings; at school, at work, at the gym, in public bath houses.

28 Oct 2011

Intracellular nucleic acid sensors can trigger autoimmune disease

Bruce Beutler, MD, a co-recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Medicine, has coauthored an article describing a novel molecular mechanism that can cause the body to attack itself and trigger an autoimmune disease.

28 Oct 2011

Foreign aid investment saves millions of lives, reflects American leadership

Chris Collins, vice president and director of public policy at the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), and Khai Hoan Tram, an Allan Rosenfield Fellow at amfAR, write in this Huffington Post opinion piece that what's missing from the discussion of foreign aid -- which accounts for approximately one percent of the U.S. national budget -- "is the fact that [it] is actually used to aid those in need while advancing our country's humanitarian and diplomatic goals.

28 Oct 2011

State roundup: Ohio voters will determine public employee benefits

On Nov. 8, Ohio voters will decide the fate of the law, which allows public employees to bargain for wages and working conditions but prohibits strikes. Workers will also have to pay for healthcare insurance and pensions. The law is on hold pending the referendum.

27 Oct 2011

Study examines Global Fund's resource allocation decisions for HIV programs

A study published Wednesday in the Journal of the International AIDS Society assessed how the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's "investments in HIV programs were targeted to key populations in relation to disease burden and national income," concluding, "There has been a sustained scale up of the Global Fund's support to HIV programs.

27 Oct 2011

Disconnecting global AIDS from reproductive health stalled efforts to expand family planning services, UNFPA head says

Babatunde Osotimehin, the executive director of the U.N. Population Fund (UNPFA), said in an interview with the Guardian that "efforts to expand family planning services in the developing world stalled for a decade while global health organizations turned their energies to fighting HIV/AIDS. 'We made a mistake. We disconnected HIV from reproductive health. We should never have done that because it is part and parcel,' he said."

27 Oct 2011

Bacterin reports results of two-year study for OsteoSponge

Bacterin International Holdings, Inc., a leader in the development of revolutionary bone graft material and antimicrobial coatings for medical applications, reported results of a two-year study for OsteoSponge.

27 Oct 2011

Anti-HIV vaginal gel could also reduce genital herpes by half: Study

The study appears this week in the journal Cell Host & Microbe that tested the gel on women in South Africa (where the risk of HIV and herpes is great) found that the anti-HIV/AIDS drug tenofovir reduced herpes infections by 51% and HIV infections by 39%.

24 Oct 2011

Using spousal communication to increase family planning in Africa

Helen Epstein, author of "The Invisible Cure: Africa, the West and the Fight Against AIDS," examines the implications of the world's growing population for Africa in this New York Times opinion piece, writing, "Before this century ends, there could well be 10 billion of us, a billion more than previously expected.

24 Oct 2011

Tenofovir gel confirmed to be effective against herpes in lab experiment, study shows

Data from lab experiments published online by the journal Cell Host and Microbes last week show that the gel form of the antiretroviral tenofovir, which is being investigated as an HIV prevention method, works to inhibit the reproduction of herpes virus in tonsil and cervical tissue, the New York Times reports.

24 Oct 2011

Together for Girls Partnership works to end sexual violence

In this post on the State Department's "DipNote" blog, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby writes about the Together for Girls Partnership, an initiative that "generates a powerful advocacy platform to stop sexual violence by supporting countries' efforts to fully understand and cope with the scope of the epidemic."

24 Oct 2011

House to consider bill to scale back health law's Medicaid expansion

In other Medicaid news, AIDS experts worry that the current model of HIV/AIDS care could be put at risk by fiscal pressures and the changes that will occur as a result of the health law.

24 Oct 2011

HIV/AIDS clinic in Pakistan working to fight stigma, provide treatment

Inter Press Service reports on the Family Care Centre for people living with HIV/AIDS in Pakistan, which opened in Peshawar on September 1 "in the hope of breaking the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS" in a region where myths surrounding the disease and its transmission are prevalent.

22 Oct 2011

Committed action, continued funding needed in global campaign against TB

A Lancet editorial responds to WHO's sixteenth annual report on global tuberculosis (TB) control, released on Oct 11, which shows that the incidence of tuberculosis has been falling worldwide since 2002, writing, "Successes in disease control in China and other countries show what sustained political and economic support can achieve. Rather than waiting for the elixir of economic success to arrive in all high-burden countries, committed action by donors, agencies, and governments in the most challenging settings is needed in the global campaign against tuberculosis."

22 Oct 2011

JAMA examines KFF/UNAIDS analysis on global HIV/AIDS funding

A news and perspectives piece in the current issue of JAMA examines a recent funding analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation and UNAIDS showing that "governments that support treatment and services for people with HIV/AIDS in low- and middle-income countries cut their annual contributions in 2010 by 10 percent," spending $6.9 billion last year compared with $7.6 billion in 2009.

22 Oct 2011