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Cambodian health officials expand HIV/AIDS prevention education to primary schools

The Cambodian Ministry of Health has begun training primary education teachers in 12 provinces on HIV/AIDS prevention education, the Phnom Penh Post reports.

20 May 2009

Governments should increase efforts to reduce stigma, improve access to HIV services among MSM, UNAIDS Executive Director Sidibe says

Governments worldwide should take action to eliminate stigma and discrimination against men who have sex with men, women who have sex with women and transgender people and improve their access to HIV services, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe said recently, the Stabroek News reports.

20 May 2009

Georgia receives $63.9 million in Ryan White funding

Georgia has received $63.9 million in Ryan White Program grants to fund treatment and other services for people living with HIV, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

20 May 2009

HIV/AIDS, gay rights advocate McFarlane dies

Rodger McFarlane, a leader in gay rights and HIV/AIDS advocacy efforts, died on Friday in New Mexico at age 54, the New York Times reports.

20 May 2009

HIV/AIDS Vaccine Coalition urges continued funding for research amid economic crisis

A recently released AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition report says that although there has been a renewed focus on discovery, innovation and basic science in vaccine research, action is needed to ensure that research funding continues during the economic downturn, VOA News reports.

20 May 2009

HIV/AIDS advocates react to Obama's proposed global health initiative

Some HIV/AIDS advocates have voiced disappointment with the level of HIV/AIDS funding in President Obama's proposed $63 billion, six-year global health initiative, VOA News reports. According to VOA News, the advocates say that Obama has not met pledges he made as a presidential candidate, while other say that the "picture is more complicated."

20 May 2009

Atherotech receives patent for ApoB measurement for determining heart disease risk

Atherotech, Inc., developer of the VAP Cholesterol Test, has announced it has received a patent on its method to derive and report apolipoprotein B100 (apoB) using the Vertical Auto Profile (VAP) technology. The patent recognizes the unique ability of the VAP Cholesterol Test to accurately report apoB, the next milestone in heart disease risk assessment.

19 May 2009

People with darker skin might be more susceptible to nicotine addiction

Blacks and others with darker skin might be at greater risk for tobacco addiction than whites and those with lighter skin because the greater the amount of melanin, the coloring pigment in skin, the more nicotine appears to be stored, according to preliminary findings published in the journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, the New York Times reports.

19 May 2009

Pennsylvania House approves bill allowing young adults to remain on parents' health insurance policies up to age 29

The Pennsylvania House last week voted to approve a bill that allows state residents up to age 29 to be added to or remain on their parents' health insurance plans as long as they live in the state or are full-time students, the Harrisburg Patriot-News reports. They also must be single and not have dependents.

19 May 2009

Sixteen States, DOJ join whistle-blower lawsuits alleging Wyeth defrauded Medicaid programs

The U.S. Department of Justice and 16 states have joined two whistle-blower lawsuits filed in federal District Court in Massachusetts alleging that Wyeth defrauded the government by not offering the same discounts on two medications to Medicaid that it offered to hospitals, the Wall Street Journal reports.

19 May 2009

Hospital room design can have effect on patient care, outcomes, studies show

Hospital room design can help reduce medical errors, infections and falls, as well as patient stress, according to results emerging from more than 1,500 studies, the New York Times reports.

19 May 2009

Waits to see specialists in Boston increased to average of 50 days, study finds

The average time patients in Boston wait for an appointment to see a specialist has increased over the last five years to an average of 50 days and can be up to one year, despite the fact that the city has an "abundance" of specialists, according to a recent study, the Boston Globe reports.

19 May 2009

Los Angeles Times examines increase in Caesarean births, related rise in risk, cost

Caesarean sections -- which are performed in 31% of births, up from 4.5% in 1965 -- often are considered an unnecessary risk and "an example of how the intensive and expensive U.S. brand of medicine has failed to deliver better results and may, in fact, be doing more harm than good," the Los Angeles Times reports.

19 May 2009

Sen. Olympia Snowe holds private meetings to discuss fallback public plan

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) last week held a private meeting to discuss a compromise on health care reform legislation that would include a "fallback public plan," implemented in several years if private insurers do not take steps to make coverage more affordable and accessible, CongressDaily reports.

19 May 2009

Senate Finance Committee releases policy paper describing options to pay for health overhaul

Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Monday released a 41-page document outlining policy options for financing health care reform, The Hill reports (Young, The Hill, 5/18).

19 May 2009

Opinion piece examines efficacy of foreign aid

"President Obama signaled recently a major shift in the way the United States tries to help poor countries," Philip Stevens, policy director at the International Policy Network, writes in a Providence Journal opinion piece, adding, "Whereas the Bush presidency pushed to spend enormous sums on individual high-profile diseases such as AIDS, Obama says he will broaden U.S. aid to improve health more generally."

19 May 2009

Convicting HIV-positive people contributes to spread of virus, opinion piece says

The recent conviction of HIV-positive Toronto resident Johnson Aziga is "part of an upward trend," as more "charges and prosecutions for HIV transmission -- and even potential HIV exposure -- are popping up around the planet," Regan Hofmann, editor-in-chief of POZ, writes in a Dallas Morning News opinion piece.

19 May 2009

'Swift action driven by courage needed' to remove ban on federal funding for needle-exchange programs, letter to editor says

"The Obama administration's budget dealt a serious blow to those who support syringe exchange programs to prevent the transmission of HIV, hepatitis C and other infectious diseases," Paola Barahona, senior global health policy analyst for Physicians for Human Rights and founding executive director of Prevention Works!, writes in a Washington Post letter to the editor.

19 May 2009

Maryland County officials create State's first suburban HIV/AIDS commission

Anne Arundel County, Md., Executive John Leopold recently appointed 20 community leaders, government officials and health workers to serve on the county's first HIV/AIDS commission, which aims to understand and develop strategies for addressing the disease, the Baltimore Sun reports.

19 May 2009

Study shows decreased risk of death from opportunistic infections with earlier antiretroviral treatment

HIV-positive people with opportunistic infections who receive earlier antiretroviral treatment lower their risk of death compared with people who delay treatment, according to a new study conducted by the Stanford University School of Medicine and published in PLoS One, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

19 May 2009

Health Care News and Research

Cambodian health officials expand HIV/AIDS prevention education to primary schools

Governments should increase efforts to reduce stigma, improve access to HIV services among MSM, UNAIDS Executive Director Sidibe says

Georgia receives $63.9 million in Ryan White funding

HIV/AIDS, gay rights advocate McFarlane dies

HIV/AIDS Vaccine Coalition urges continued funding for research amid economic crisis

HIV/AIDS advocates react to Obama's proposed global health initiative

Atherotech receives patent for ApoB measurement for determining heart disease risk

People with darker skin might be more susceptible to nicotine addiction

Pennsylvania House approves bill allowing young adults to remain on parents' health insurance policies up to age 29

Sixteen States, DOJ join whistle-blower lawsuits alleging Wyeth defrauded Medicaid programs

Hospital room design can have effect on patient care, outcomes, studies show

Waits to see specialists in Boston increased to average of 50 days, study finds

Los Angeles Times examines increase in Caesarean births, related rise in risk, cost

Sen. Olympia Snowe holds private meetings to discuss fallback public plan

Senate Finance Committee releases policy paper describing options to pay for health overhaul

Opinion piece examines efficacy of foreign aid

Convicting HIV-positive people contributes to spread of virus, opinion piece says

'Swift action driven by courage needed' to remove ban on federal funding for needle-exchange programs, letter to editor says

Maryland County officials create State's first suburban HIV/AIDS commission

Study shows decreased risk of death from opportunistic infections with earlier antiretroviral treatment

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