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Vaccine candidate produces immune response to antigen in all strains of influenza A

A universal influenza vaccine targeting a protein common to all strains of influenza A has safely produced an immune response in humans. If proven effective, the vaccine could eliminate the practice of creating a new flu vaccine annually to match predicted strains, with major implications for global health.

8 Jun 2011

AstraZeneca receives AmeriCares' Power of Partnership Award for global health programs

AmeriCares has awarded its annual Power of Partnership Award to AstraZeneca for its outstanding commitment to increasing access to health care for people in need both here at home and throughout the developing world.

7 Jun 2011

PATH malaria vaccine initiative to collaborate with GSK and Crucell in development of 2nd-generation malaria vaccine

The PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) announced today that it has entered into a collaboration with Dutch biopharmaceutical company Crucell N.V. and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). This collaboration is aimed at developing a second-generation vaccine against malaria—a deadly disease that kills close to 800,000 people annually, most of them young children under age five in Africa. MVI drives the development of malaria vaccines by joining its scientific, managerial, and field expertise with companies, universities, and governments to test potential malaria vaccines and invest in those with the most promise.

6 Jun 2011

GAVI welcomes lower pentavalent vaccine price

In the lead up to its first pledging conference on June 13, the GAVI Alliance announced today it has achieved commitments from two emerging market vaccine manufacturers to lower prices for the life-saving pentavalent vaccine, which protects against five deadly diseases. Developed country manufacturers have also offered price reductions on rotavirus and human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccines.

5 Jun 2011

Reviewing evidence and efficacy of global health interventions

The Kaiser Family Foundation launched a web-based tool, called "Global Health Interventions: A Review of Evidence," as part of an effort to provide policy-relevant and accessible information on the efficacy of key global health interventions, including the strength of the evidence.

4 Jun 2011

Political engagement with China influences involvement in health

After discussing the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's decision to freeze grant payments to China, Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, writes on the council's "Asia Unbound" blog, "In order to encourage the participation of China's civil society groups in global health, it is important to allay the fears of Chinese leaders.

4 Jun 2011

Study assesses public's willingness to consider pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention

In a recent clinical trial, non-HIV-infected individuals who used the antiretroviral drug Truvada on a daily basis cut their risk of becoming infected with HIV by 44 percent.

4 Jun 2011

New Kaiser Family Foundation tool shows which global health interventions are working

Today, the Kaiser Family Foundation unveiled an innovative, online tool that allows users to learn quickly and easily about which global health interventions work. The Global Health Intervention Review (GHIR) compiles the latest information on the efficacy of key global health interventions, including the strength of the evidence, and presents the information in a variety of accessible formats. Users can view a comprehensive overview and a key findings table.

2 Jun 2011

Relatives of women who died in childbirth in Uganda sue government

"Relatives of two woman who died in childbirth launched a landmark lawsuit against the Ugandan government Friday to highlight the failure to provide adequate maternal healthcare," Sapa/Agence France-Presse/IOL reports.

2 Jun 2011

Experts to present latest information on paediatric infectious diseases at ESPID 2011

The Annual ESPID Meeting has become the world's largest meeting in the field of Paediatric Infectious Diseases (PID): it provides the latest information on the number one threat to global child health.

1 Jun 2011

The Economist examines lack of attention to Plasmodium vivax malaria parasite

The Economist profiles Plasmodium vivax, a type of malaria that affects between 80 million to 390 million people worldwide annually with a cost to sufferers between $1.4 billion and $4 billion each year.

27 May 2011

Recent releases in Global Health

As the G8 summit began in Deauville, France, on Thursday, David Olson, the council's director of policy communications, wrote on the Global Health Council's "Blog 4 Global Health" that "global health is nowhere visible on the agenda," which "is in striking contrast to the final communique of the G8 Muskoka, which devoted a significant amount of space to health" (5/26).

27 May 2011

Global health, development issues not likely to be focus of Deauville G8 meeting, IPS reports

"When leaders of the Group of 8 (G8) industrialised nations meet in Deauville, France, later this week, there is a strong possibility that politics will take precedence over traditional socioeconomic issues like food security and development aid, which are being overshadowed by the Arab revolution and Palestinian statehood," Inter Press Service writes of the G8 meeting, which begins on Thursday.

27 May 2011

NHLBI stops AIM-HIGH combination clinical trial in high blood cholesterol

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health has stopped a clinical trial studying a blood lipid treatment 18 months earlier than planned. The trial found that adding high dose, extended-release niacin to statin treatment in people with heart and vascular disease, did not reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and stroke.

27 May 2011

Opinion: Bipartisan consensus on medical research

"Good health makes good politics," Michael Castle, a former Republican Congressman from Delaware, and Kaitlin Christenson, director of the Global Health Technologies Coalition, write in a Roll Call opinion piece that makes a case for widespread support of medical research that aims to improve global health.

27 May 2011

Opinion: How universities can advance global health

"I am glad to see that U.S. research universities, too, now all seem to boast programs in global health. But claiming to have programs in global health is not the same thing as creating programs that can make a difference to populations facing poverty and ill health," Paul Farmer, chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and founding director of Partners In Health, writes in the Harvard Crimson.

27 May 2011

Small pox virus destruction pushed back to 2014

The last existing vials of smallpox virus in the U.S. and Russia and due for destruction, have won at least another three years in existence. This is suggesting other countries concur with the U.S. about their value, one leading health official said. The experts and delegates at the annual meeting of the World Health Organization agreed on Tuesday to wait until 2014 to decide on a firm deadline for the final destruction of the lethal virus.

24 May 2011

WHO member states adopt resolutions on financing, reform and flu pandemic at World Health Assembly

A committee of WHO member governments this week at the World Health Assembly in Geneva "adopted a resolution on the future financing of the organisation and a broad set of reforms, as well as a resolution on the WHO's management of [the H1N1] influenza pandemic showing no evidence of wrongdoing," Intellectual Property Watch reports.

21 May 2011

OPINION: Global health community must recognize merits of HIV treatment as prevention

"Many interesting research questions now lie ahead. But most urgent will be the assessment of the practical impact of these findings and their public health importance in generalised epidemics," according to a Lancet editorial about last week's release of study results showing early HIV treatment dramatically reduces transmission risk.

21 May 2011

Global health partnership announces first-, second-line AIDS drugs price reductions in developing world

The Clinton Health Access Initiative, UNITAID, and the U.K.'s Department for International Development "said on Tuesday they had secured price reductions on key AIDS drugs for HIV-positive patients in poorer countries," Reuters reports.

19 May 2011

Global Health News and Research

Vaccine candidate produces immune response to antigen in all strains of influenza A

AstraZeneca receives AmeriCares' Power of Partnership Award for global health programs

PATH malaria vaccine initiative to collaborate with GSK and Crucell in development of 2nd-generation malaria vaccine

GAVI welcomes lower pentavalent vaccine price

Reviewing evidence and efficacy of global health interventions

Political engagement with China influences involvement in health

Study assesses public's willingness to consider pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention

New Kaiser Family Foundation tool shows which global health interventions are working

Relatives of women who died in childbirth in Uganda sue government

Experts to present latest information on paediatric infectious diseases at ESPID 2011

The Economist examines lack of attention to Plasmodium vivax malaria parasite

Recent releases in Global Health

Global health, development issues not likely to be focus of Deauville G8 meeting, IPS reports

NHLBI stops AIM-HIGH combination clinical trial in high blood cholesterol

Opinion: Bipartisan consensus on medical research

Opinion: How universities can advance global health

Small pox virus destruction pushed back to 2014

WHO member states adopt resolutions on financing, reform and flu pandemic at World Health Assembly

OPINION: Global health community must recognize merits of HIV treatment as prevention

Global health partnership announces first-, second-line AIDS drugs price reductions in developing world

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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