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Complaint filed against pharmacists for declining to fill emergency contraception prescription refills

The New York Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday filed complaints with the New York State Department of Education's Office of Professions alleging that CVS and Rite Aid pharmacists refused to dispense refills of prescriptions for emergency contraception -- which can prevent pregnancy if taken up to 72 hours after sexual intercourse -- the AP/Long Island Newsday reports.

17 Aug 2006

Few children in need of HIV/AIDS medications receiving them

Five percent of the children who urgently need HIV/AIDS medications are receiving them, according to research released Tuesday by Medecins Sans Frontieres at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Reuters AlertNet reports.

17 Aug 2006

Mammography: Current nationwide capacity adequate, but access problems may exist in certain locations

The mammography capacity nationwide is adequate, but some area shortages, in both the number of facilities and medical personnel, might make it difficult for some women to undergo the procedure, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Wednesday, CQ HealthBeat reports (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 8/16).

17 Aug 2006

China taking steps to control the spread of HIV

Zunyu Wu, director of the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention at China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto said the country plans to continue taking steps to control the spread of HIV in the country, AFP/Today Online reports.

17 Aug 2006

Wal-Mart criticized for substandard wages and health care benefits

A number of Democrats this week in Iowa and this month nationwide have criticized Wal-Mart Stores, the largest private employer in the U.S., "for what they say are substandard wages and health care benefits," the New York Times reports.

17 Aug 2006

Rate of disabilities higher among U.S. residents with lower incomes

U.S. residents ages 55 and older with annual incomes less than the federal poverty level are more likely to have disabilities that limit routine physical activities than those with higher incomes, according to a study published on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, Bloomberg/Dallas Morning News reports.

17 Aug 2006

Appointee to head National Cancer Institute discusses research funding cuts

John Niederhuber, a surgeon whom President Bush on Tuesday appointed as National Cancer Institute director, on Wednesday said that he hopes to find new nontoxic cancer medications but added that the agency likely will have to eliminate some programs because of budgetary issues, the New York Times reports.

17 Aug 2006

Chemotherapy and breast cancer - side effects underestimated

Researchers believe that the side effects of chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer are probably higher than thought.

16 Aug 2006

Date set for trial of Chinese human rights advocate Chen Guangcheng

The trial of human rights advocate Chen Guangcheng, who was arrested in the country's Shangdong province after trying to expose alleged human rights abuses associated with the enforcement of the country's one-child-per-family policy, is scheduled to begin on Friday in county court in Yinan, China, according to Chen's attorney Li Jinsong, the Associated Press reports.

16 Aug 2006

Anxiety during pregnancy does not negatively impact infant's health

A pregnant woman's feelings of anxiety do not negatively impact the outcome of her pregnancy, according to study published online in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the New York Times reports.

16 Aug 2006

Breast cancer sufferers experience more side effects from chemo than previously thought

Women with breast cancer ages 64 and younger experience three to four times more serious side effects from chemotherapy than previously hypothesized, according to a study published in the Aug. 16 edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

16 Aug 2006

Average Medicare drug benefit premium to remain unchanged at $24 in 2007

Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the program's prescription drug benefit in 2007 will pay an average monthly premium of about $24, the same as the average monthly premium for this year, CMS Administrator Mark McClellan said Tuesday, the New York Times reports.

16 Aug 2006

Black leaders call for urgent program to increase HIV testing

U.S. black leaders on Monday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto pledged to make efforts to increase access to care and treatment for black U.S. residents and called for an urgent campaign to increase HIV testing and awareness among blacks in the country, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

16 Aug 2006

AIDS vaccine still long way off

Researchers are optimistic about a potential HIV/AIDS vaccine, even though none of the vaccines in development is likely to completely protect people from HIV transmission, participants at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto said at a news conference Tuesday, Reuters reports.

16 Aug 2006

About 4 million additional health workers needed worldwide to fight HIV/AIDS, WHO says

More than four million additional health workers will be needed in 60 countries to fight HIV/AIDS, according to a strategy the World Health Organization released Tuesday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, the Wall Street Journal reports.

16 Aug 2006

HIV treatment access reaches over 1 million in sub-Saharan Africa

WHO HIV/AIDS Director Dr Kevin De Cock reported that the number of people receiving HIV antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa has surpassed 1 million for the first time, a ten-fold increase in treatment access in the region since December 2003.

16 Aug 2006

Thailand shows how free access to life-saving HIV/AIDS drugs can be affordable

A new report on Thailand's experience of giving free anti-retroviral drugs (ART) to people living with AIDS suggests that even developing countries with few resources may be able to deliver the life-saving drugs on a large scale, according to the World Bank and the Thailand Ministry of Public Health.

16 Aug 2006

New plan to confront HIV-related health worker shortages

Launch of a coordinated global plan to address a major and often overlooked barrier to preventing and treating HIV/AIDS: the severe shortage of health workers, particularly in developing nations.

15 Aug 2006

Male circumcision, microbicides and other tools set to change HIV prevention landscape

In a new report released this week, fifty top AIDS experts warn that a range of promising new HIV prevention approaches are nearing completion of clinical trials, but the world is unprepared to ensure widespread access for those in need.

15 Aug 2006

Serious gaps in Indian public knowledge about HIV

As India gears up implementation of national plans to fight HIV, infectious diseases experts at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere are pointing out serious gaps in public knowledge about the disease and identifying early problems in private clinics, where 70 percent of HIV-infected Indians receive their everyday medical care.

15 Aug 2006