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Global health Product Development Partners consortium select GVK BIO as preferred provider

GVK Biosciences, Asia's leading drug discovery research & development organization announced today that it has been selected as a preferred provider to a consortium of 14 global Product Development Partners (PDPs) for clinical services in Asia. GVK BIO is the only partner that is headquartered in India.

16 May 2011

Early HIV treatment can reduce transmission risk by 96%, preliminary study results show

Preliminary results from a multicountry clinical trial, sponsored by the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), show that HIV-positive people who take combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) can reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to their HIV-negative partners by 96 percent, U.S. researchers announced on Thursday " in what is being hailed as a breakthrough in HIV prevention," the Los Angeles Times reports.

16 May 2011

Computer games can improve patient's recovery from paralysis after stroke

Computer games are not just for kids. New research published in Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, a BioMed Central open access journal, shows that computer games can speed up and improve a patient's recovery from paralysis after a stroke.

16 May 2011

AIDS spread prevention by vaccine and anti HIV drugs

A latest vaccine against HIV/AIDS has shown to be effective in monkeys and has protected macaques the most widespread primate genus, against the monkey equivalent of HIV, Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). This could provide a fresh approach to an HIV vaccine, a study suggests. US researchers say the vaccine offered protection to 13 of 24 Rhesus macaques treated in the experiment. In 12 of the monkeys, the vaccine was still effective 12 months later.

15 May 2011

Early treatment of HIV makes infection transmission less likely: Study

“It's a game-changer,” Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, said. “I am completely amazed.” It was noted that anti-HIV drugs called antiretroviral drugs can suppress HIV in an infected patient and also help to prevent its spread through intercourse, he said. He predicted a rethink of the strategies that have evolved since the first cases of AIDS were recorded in June 1981. “The implications are multiple,” said Mr Sidibe. “However, money will be the major challenge.”

15 May 2011

Scientists 'tinker' with HIV drug chemistry hoping to reduce costs

The Clinton Health Access Initiative, founded by former President Bill Clinton, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.K. government, has hired former pharmaceutical company scientists "to tinker with the chemistry used to synthesize a key [HIV] drug, tenofovir" in an effort to reduce "the cost of manufacturing," the Wall Street Journal reports.

13 May 2011

AP reports on Global Fund commitment to transparency, fund responds

After an Associated Press story on Tuesday that reported the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's board "is considering scaling back its groundbreaking philosophy of full transparency about how it spends billions of dollars in health care in poor countries"

13 May 2011

Jamaican organizations will receive PEPFAR grants to fight HIV/AIDS stigma

Five Jamaican organizations on Tuesday signed agreements with the U.S. Ambassador's HIV Program to receive PEPFAR-funded grants totaling $58,000 for projects aimed at reducing HIV/AIDS-related stigma, the Jamaica Observer reports.

13 May 2011

PBS' NewsHour reports on Ukraine's efforts to fight HIV/AIDS

PBS' NewsHour on Wednesday featured a story on HIV/AIDS in the Ukraine, which has Europe's highest HIV/AIDS rate, increasing fears that the epidemic could spread to neighboring countries. The story focuses on attempts to implement drug substitution therapy programs for injecting drug users and prevent the virus from moving into the general population.

13 May 2011

New circumcision treatment can reduce HIV

Promising study results published in the May issue of JAIDS show that a novel medical device has the potential to revolutionize how male circumcision services are offered in countries hardest hit by the HIV epidemic.

13 May 2011

Early antiretroviral treatment can halt HIV spread in couples

A research study led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has made a major discovery in the effort to halt the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

13 May 2011

Antiretroviral therapy can reduce risk of HIV transmission in couples

When one partner in a couple is infected with HIV and the other is not, treatment with antiretroviral drugs can dramatically lower the chances of the infected partner passing along the disease to his or her mate, a new evidence review finds.

12 May 2011

VGTI, OHSU's new vaccine candidate may fight against HIV

Research conducted at Oregon Health & Science University's Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute has developed a vaccine candidate in non-human primates that may eventually lead to a vaccine against Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

12 May 2011

LogisticsWeek examines PEPFAR's Supply Chain Management System

LogisticsWeek looks at how "PEPFAR's Supply Chain Management System, a project made up of 13 health and development institutions working to procure and provide quality essential medicines at affordable prices," has been able to assist countries in quickly scaling up HIV/AIDS treatment.

12 May 2011

Reducing hearing aid cost does not improve device purchase

Lowering the cost of hearing aids isn't enough to motivate adults with mild hearing loss to purchase a device at a younger age or before their hearing worsens, according to researchers at Henry Ford Hospital.

11 May 2011

GlobalPost examines Pres. Obama's Global Health Initiative

GlobalPost has published two articles on President Barack Obama's Global Health Initiative. "In a series of reports over the coming months from Washington and in capitals around the world, GlobalPost will examine the behind-the-scenes decisions in the Obama administration as well as what diplomats and health experts are doing now in several countries to try to bring to life this new, but what some say is a stumbling approach in global health," the publication writes.

11 May 2011

More than half of all adolescents accept free rapid HIV test after risk assessment survey

Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends routine HIV testing for everyone between the ages of 13-64 as part of their regular medical care, testing rates remain low among adolescents.

10 May 2011

New York Academy of Sciences to host symposium on cutting-edge HIV/AIDS vaccine research

"Cracking the Safe: Advances in HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment" is a one-day symposium at the New York Academy of Sciences examining issues facing researchers working towards the development of an HIV/AIDS vaccine, including updates on current challenges and solutions.

10 May 2011

Opinions: Democracy needed in epidemic outbreaks; U.S. food aid; development partnerships in Africa

After mentioning the riots that broke out in Haiti after the start of the cholera epidemic last year, Richard Evans, a professor of history and president of Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge, writes in a Guardian opinion piece that "popular disturbances during epidemics are nothing new." He goes on to provide several other examples.

10 May 2011

Uganda: First vaccination for GMZ2 malaria vaccine trial

Today, the EDCTP-funded GMZ2 consortium starts volunteer enrolment for the phase IIb clinical trial of the candidate malaria vaccine GMZ2 in Uganda. This is the third trial site to initiate volunteer recruitment for this multi-country study. Vaccination is already underway at trial sites in Gabon (November 2010) and Burkina Faso (April 2011). The Uganda site is in the peri-urban area of Iganga/Mayuge, at the Iganga Hospital. Akin to most areas in Uganda, malaria is one of the major health problems in this district. A team from Makerere University (Kampala) is conducting the trial.

9 May 2011