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New York Times examines 30 years of AIDS

The New York Times looks at the evolution of the battle against AIDS since the first federal announcement of the disease 30 years ago this week. "The epidemic has brought a new focus on the power of epidemiology to identify a disease's transmission patterns long before discovery of its cause.

1 Jun 2011

Emory University launches AIDSVu interactive online map for public

On Wednesday, June 1, the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University will launch AIDSVu, an interactive online map that, 30 years into the epidemic, provides for the most detailed publicly available view of the impact of HIV across the United States by state and county.

1 Jun 2011

State roundup: Texas budget cuts; Florida's 'F' in kids' teeth; new insurance programs for Conn., Maine

Texas lawmakers adopted a state budget Saturday night ... Facing a massive revenue shortfall, lawmakers crafted the $172 billion budget by making cuts and using deferrals rather than raising taxes or dipping into the $10 billion reserve fund.

1 Jun 2011

Chronic fatigue syndrome and mouse virus – no association

An earlier study published in 2009 had claimed that a mouse virus was the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome. New evidence suggests that this assumption is wrong. According to latest evidence the earlier study findings were likely based on contaminated lab samples, US researchers said Tuesday.

1 Jun 2011

Viewpoints: Political impact of Ryan plan; would VA health system work for all?; Calif. insurance rates

Representative Paul Ryan is rebutting critics of his plan to turn Medicare into a "premium support" program, pointing to two existing programs that he says prove his approach would be better for beneficiaries. Don't believe it. The two programs he cites as prototypes — the insurance program for members of Congress and the Medicare prescription drug program — differ in critical respects from his proposal to sharply limit federal spending. The losers will be the beneficiaries who have to pay more.

1 Jun 2011

AIDS epidemic turns 30

It is 30 years since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. It was fatal then but has now become a treatable, if still incurable, chronic illness. AIDS therapy now has tools that prolong the lives of people infected with the virus and prevent others from acquiring it. They range from antiretroviral therapy (ART), to circumcision and campaigns to reduce promiscuity. On the horizon are gels and pills that protect against infection during intercourse. Even the outlook for an AIDS vaccine is no longer as bleak as it used to be.

31 May 2011

First Edition: May 31, 2011

Today's headlines include articles on the federal efforts to improve hospital quality, the politics of Medicare and the move by some GOP governors to set up health exchanges.

31 May 2011

U.N., U.S. re-evaluate HIV/AIDS treatment targets

Ahead of the U.N. High Level Meeting on AIDS, scheduled for June 8-10 in New York, "public-health leaders face a paradox: New evidence suggests the epidemic can finally be controlled, but that would demand increased spending at a time of severe global budget restraints," the Wall Street Journal reports.

27 May 2011

Current efforts not enough to halt HIV/AIDS in Philippines, UNAIDS country coordinator says

"The Philippines has not been making progress in meeting its sixth Millennium Development Goal, which is halting and reversing the spread of ... HIV/AIDS..., according to the country coordinator of the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)," the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports.

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

Obama, Medvedev reaffirm efforts to eradicate polio ahead of G8 summit

President Barack Obama met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Deauville, France, ahead of the G8 summit, ABC News' "Political Punch" blog reports. "The two issued a number of joint statements and agreements on counterterrorism, civil aviation security, visa issues, the Bering Strait region, a joint report assessing 21st Century Missile Challenges, innovation, the rule of law, smart grid partnership, eradicating polio, and medical research," according to the blog.

27 May 2011

Kenya considers how PEPFAR technical guidance on MSM squares with laws against homosexuality

PEPFAR's recent release of its "Technical Guidance on Combination HIV Prevention" (.pdf) for men who have sex with men (MSM) "could force countries like Kenya who are strongly opposed to men having sex with men to backtrack," Nairobi Star/allAfrica.com reports. Because homosexual acts are illegal in some countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, "there are no policies or services targeting HIV interventions towards them," according to the publication.

27 May 2011

Nature special issue focuses on vaccines

The May 26 issue of Nature explores vaccines, which the journal says "are responsible for some of the world's greatest public health triumphs." Though new vaccines for deadly diseases have been developed in the past 10 years, and more are in development, "funding is tight, and unfounded doubts about the safety of vaccines persist." The issue features stories on polio, measles, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, as well as issues surrounding vaccine rejection and hysteria about risk.

27 May 2011

Los Angeles Times reports on case of Libyan children infected with HIV

The Los Angeles Times examines the case of more than 400 Libyan youth who were infected with HIV in a Benghazi hospital between 1997 and 1998, some say deliberately.

27 May 2011

Two national campaigns aim to reduce spread of HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases

Greater Than AIDS and GYT: Get Yourself Tested, two leading national campaigns committed to reducing the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, are teaming up for a second year to encourage Americans to get tested and know their status.

27 May 2011

Vatican newspaper article addresses condom use among married couples

Three days before the start of a Vatican conference focusing on "the centrality of care" in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, the Vatican's official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, on Tuesday printed a piece by Spanish theologian Juan Jose Perez-Soba arguing that married couples with one HIV-positive partner "should abstain from sex, because intercourse performed with a condom is, 'from the moral point of view, not a fully conjugal act,'" RNS/Beliefnet News reports.

26 May 2011

Recent advances in vaccine development for malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS

Collectively, malaria, TB & HIV/AIDS cause more than five million deaths per year - nearly the entire population of the state of Washington - and represent one of the world's major public health challenges as we move into the second decade of the 21st century.

26 May 2011

PET scans can help determine patients' response to treatment for HIV-MDR tuberculosis

With the deficiencies in knowledge of tuberculosis-as well as in the practices, programs and strategies used to combat the disease and co-infection with human immunodeficiency virus-the spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis poses a major problem for the health care community.

25 May 2011

Global Fund freezes grants to China over suspected misuse of funds

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has frozen "payments of grants to China worth hundreds of millions of dollars over suspected misuse of the money and the government's reluctance to involve community groups in the projects," the Associated Press reports.

25 May 2011

AFP examines expansion of Indian drug companies in South Africa

Agence France-Presse examines how Indian drug companies have infiltrated the South African market over the last few years in an effort to have a broader reach in Africa. India's pharmaceutical industry is now the second largest in the world by volume, according to AFP.

25 May 2011