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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).

AHF/Magic Johnson ‘Testing America’ tour to conduct testing event at Albuquerque, New Mexico

AHF’s Magic Johnson ‘Testing America’ Tour, a six month, 48 state national cross country HIV testing tour, will tumble into Albuquerque, New Mexico for a testing event at El Mezquite Market from 10am to 2pm Friday January 22nd. Free testing will take place on AHF’s new, state-of-the-art ‘Testing America’ mobile HIV testing unit. AHF is working in conjunction with New Mexico AIDS Services, a respected local non-profit HIV/AIDS organization.

22 Jan 2010

OHAfrica reaches significant milestone in HIV/AIDS treatment program in Africa

For more than five years, OHAfrica - through Tšepong Clinic - has helped support HIV/AIDS treatment and testing in Lesotho, a small country in southern Africa with the third highest HIV infection rate in the world.

22 Jan 2010

Controversy around Merck's pricing for its AIDS drug Isentress

The controversy around Merck and Co. Pharmaceuticals’ pricing for its key AIDS drug Isentress — at nearly $13,000 per patient yearly, the most expensive first line AIDS therapy on the US market today — continued this week following Merck’s reaction to recent public criticism of its AIDS drug pricing. Merck ramped up its damage control PR efforts, issuing a press release that sought to rewrite the history of Isentress and deflect attention by claiming AIDS Healthcare Foundation has been unfairly attacking them.

22 Jan 2010

HIV infection causes premature aging of the brain

HIV infection or the treatments used to control it are prematurely aging the brain, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of California-San Diego have found.

22 Jan 2010

NABJ to hold annual conference on Health Disparities

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) will hold its annual conference on Health Disparities, March 4-6, 2010 at the Barbara Jordan Conference Center at Kaiser Family Foundation in Washington, D.C. The conference will provide journalists the tools to effectively report on the impact of health, health policy and health care reform on communities of color.

21 Jan 2010

New research suggests prolong breastfeeding is critical for reducing risk of gastroenteritis in infants

For African infants with HIV-positive mothers, reducing exposure to breast milk can lower the rate of HIV transmission. But new research suggests that longer periods of breastfeeding—at least 6 months—are critical for reducing the risk of potentially fatal gastroenteritis.

21 Jan 2010

Study: PrEP treatment offers protection against HIV transmission in humanized mice

Systemic pre-exposure administration of antiretroviral drugs provides protection against intravenous and rectal transmission of HIV in mice with human immune systems, according to a new study published January 21, 2010 in the online journal PLoS ONE.

21 Jan 2010

Acyclovir does not reduce risk of HIV transmission for people infected with both HIV and HSV-2

A five-year international multi-center clinical trial has found that acyclovir, a drug widely used as a safe and effective treatment taken twice daily to suppress herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2), which is the most common cause of genital herpes, does not reduce the risk of HIV transmission when taken by people infected with both HIV and HSV-2.

21 Jan 2010

GSK to offer scientists access to compounds, lab space to fight malaria

Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)'s Chief Executive Officer Andrew Witty on Tuesday unveiled the company's plans to allow "free access to its library of 13,500 potential malaria treatments and devote the profits from its experimental [RTS,S] vaccine to battling tropical illnesses that beset poor countries," Bloomberg reports (Randall, 1/20).

21 Jan 2010

Circumcising newborn males cost effective strategy for HIV prevention, Rwandan study finds

Performing circumcisions on newborn boys to lower their risk for HIV infection later in life is more cost-effective than adolescent or adult circumcision, according to researchers at Rwanda's health ministry, Reuters reports.

21 Jan 2010

QuantRx Biomedical's developments in genetics-based technology

QuantRx® Biomedical Corporation, a broad-based diagnostic company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative diagnostic products, today provided an update from Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Walter Witoshkin on its involvement in genetics-based personalized medicine and disease prevention.

20 Jan 2010

UCI finding could complicate quest to eradicate deadly disease in humans

Chimpanzees were known to carry the parasite Plasmodium reichenowi, but most scientists assumed the two parasites had existed separately in humans and chimpanzees for the last 5 million years.

20 Jan 2010

National Institutes of Mental Health awards $8M for HIV research

A multidisciplinary research team at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has been awarded $8 million in funding by the National Institutes of Mental Health to develop methods to rid the body of HIV.

20 Jan 2010

Preliminary data from Phase 1 study of Sangamo BioSciences' SB-728-T announced

Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. announced today that preliminary data from the University of Pennsylvania investigator sponsored Phase 1 safety study of Sangamo's zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) based product, SB-728-T, for HIV/AIDS were presented on Friday, January 15, 2010 at the Keystone Symposium Session "HIV Biology and Pathogenesis."

20 Jan 2010

CytoDyn commences enrollment in Cytolin clinical trial

Following approval of the Institutional Review Board, CytoDyn, Inc. has discharged its duty to register a clinical trial of Cytolin®, the Company’s lead product, with the government’s website at www.clinicaltrials.gov, ID NCT01048372. The public has online access to this federal database, which describes the key elements of clinical trials and their status.

19 Jan 2010

California limits HMO wait times

The regulations by the California Department of Managed Health Care, in the works for much of the last decade, will require that patients be treated by HMO doctors within 10 business days of requesting an appointment, and by specialists within 15.

19 Jan 2010

National cross country HIV testing tour in Phoenix

The AHF/Magic Johnson ‘Testing America’ Tour, a six month, 48 state national cross country HIV testing tour, rolls into Phoenix, Arizona, for a testing event from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday, January 19th. Free testing will take place on AHF’s new, state-of-the-art ‘Testing America’ mobile HIV testing unit at the One Voice LGBT Community Center (725 West Indian Road, Phoenix, 85013).

19 Jan 2010

New issue from Annals of Internal Medicine

Prescriptions of some opioids, such as oxycodone, have increased significantly over the past decade. As long-term opioid therapy for chronic noncancer pain becomes more common, the deaths associated with opioids increase.

19 Jan 2010

Abbott to provide critical pharmaceutical and nutritional products for Haiti relief efforts

Working directly with humanitarian partners to help address the growing health care crisis, Abbott is expanding its support for relief efforts in Haiti. The company will provide $2.5 million in grant funding and donations of critical pharmaceutical and nutritional products to humanitarian aid organizations.

19 Jan 2010

CARE's disaster-response teams teach water purification techniques in earthquake-ravaged Haiti

CARE's disaster-response teams find themselves in a race against time in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, coaching survivors how to purify contaminated water and preparing hygiene kits to help prevent a secondary crisis: the outbreak of disease.

19 Jan 2010